NY-IA-CA-BC info needed

So, does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of life in Ithaca, New York; Iowa City, Iowa;  Arcata, California; or Vancouver, Canada? Expensive housing? Nice place to live? Avoid like the plague? Anything?

Vancouver is expensive housing, but national health, if that helps.

So Ithaca is a quaint town. My aunt lived there. But, its also one of the suicide capitals of NY because of the university and weather. You need to drive, there's not a lot to do outside of the university, and it's icy/hilly. But it's not far to the finger lakes, lots of hikes and waterfalls, camping etc. I don't know what the cost of living is like (it's a college town so likely very inflated and dilapidated), but you can probably find places a bit further out of town that are affordable.

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So Ithaca is a quaint town. My aunt lived there. But, its also one of the suicide capitals of NY because of the university and weather. You need to drive, there's not a lot to do outside of the university, and it's icy/hilly. But it's not far to the finger lakes, lots of hikes and waterfalls, camping etc. I don't know what the cost of living is like (it's a college town so likely very inflated and dilapidated), but you can probably find places a bit further out of town that are affordable.

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Ew. Well, this would be info for the Daughter, who is looking at the uni there. I would imagine she'd be very busy with studies. She likes cloudy. I don't know what she'd do with the kind of snow they get there....

It's gotta be better than Rapid City, South Dakota, which has a federal job she's considering applying for. Curator of the nuclear missile silo museum or something. Pays very well. But South Dakota!!!? Oy. We lived in some really remote places when she was a kid. SD would give her a very different understanding of the term "rural".   There's a point where no amount of money is worth something. 

Got anything on Binghamton?  It looks like most of the upstate NY towns have seen better days, but since she'd only be there for a few years at the Uni and then moving on, as long as it didn't have like a coal seam on fire under it or an agent orange lagoon at the end of the block....

Ew. Well, this would be info for the Daughter, who is looking at the uni there. I would imagine she'd be very busy with studies. She likes cloudy. I don't know what she'd do with the kind of snow they get there....

It's gotta be better than Rapid City, South Dakota, which has a federal job she's considering applying for. Curator of the nuclear missile silo museum or something. Pays very well. But South Dakota!!!? Oy. We lived in some really remote places when she was a kid. SD would give her a very different understanding of the term "rural".   There's a point where no amount of money is worth something. 

Got anything on Binghamton?  It looks like most of the upstate NY towns have seen better days, but since she'd only be there for a few years at the Uni and then moving on, as long as it didn't have like a coal seam on fire under it or an agent orange lagoon at the end of the block....

I can ask a friend whose family still lives there. Is she looking at a school or work?

I will say, aside from the weather I miss a lot of things about Buffalo. The food, art and music culture, and welcoming attitude towards immigrants and decent doctors meant it was actually OK. If you live north of the city the snow is much less bad.

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Iowa City is my hometown and my parents still live there.  It's a lovely college town-the Iowa Writer's Workshop is the best creative writing programme in the country, so all sorts going on (University of Iowa is pretty big.) Gets very cold in the winter, etc., but easy to get around locally without a car. Everything you'd expect from a liberal oasis (although Iowa went Obama once!)

It's expensive relative to other parts in Iowa but not compared other similar college towns. 

I'm biased but I love it and love going 'home' to visit.  If any other questions, just ask, happy to help!

I can ask a friend whose family still lives there. Is she looking at a school or work?

I will say, aside from the weather I miss a lot of things about Buffalo. The food, art and music culture, and welcoming attitude towards immigrants and decent doctors meant it was actually OK. If you live north of the city the snow is much less bad.

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It's all about University...

Iowa City is my hometown and my parents still live there.  It's a lovely college town-the Iowa Writer's Workshop is the best creative writing programme in the country, so all sorts going on (University of Iowa is pretty big.) Gets very cold in the winter, etc., but easy to get around locally without a car. Everything you'd expect from a liberal oasis (although Iowa went Obama once!)

It's expensive relative to other parts in Iowa but not compared other similar college towns. 

I'm biased but I love it and love going 'home' to visit.  If any other questions, just ask, happy to help!

Thanks! I think you probably gave us some of the most important bits:  liberal college town; don't need a car (she doesn't want to have to have one); cold in winter; not expensive compared to other college towns. I did check a real-estate website for the cost of renting something there, and for what I would have had to have paid for a parking place in SoCalif you can get a nice two bedroom apartment.   So that's all in its favor. Know anything about the University there? That would be the most important thing.

It's a fantastic public university.  Likely depends on what your daughter wants to study there, as it's massive but as I said, the arts are great, very good law school, medical school, etc.

You'll get a lot of people in-state as I said, very well-regarded, solid programmes and plenty of graduates go on to do fantastic stuff.

The Writer's Workshop/MFA is the best in the country (in case she wants to do creative writing/poetry!) Obviously not all programmes are the same, so will depend on what she's hoping to do!

Thanks for the info.

So, one further - is it safe for her to be walking around by herself there after dark?