Ithaca, New York Relocation Guide

What makes Ithaca unique...?

Is it the towering waterfalls, lush ice-age gorges, endless panoramic views? Is it the hiking, the biking, the boating? Is it the beauty of Cayuga Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes? Perhaps.

But perhaps it's something more. Maybe it's the buzz from Cornell University and Ithaca College. You feel it everywhere--in our museums, our galleries, our many restaurants. You hear it in our theaters, our nightclubs, our festivals. You see it downtown on our pedestrian mall, the Ithaca Commons, where PhDs cross paths with street musicians, and families stroll the solar system on an interactive "planet walk." You can't put your finger on it, but there's something special going on here. The bumper stickers say "Ithaca is Gorges," but it's more than that. Ithaca is beautiful and smart and always unexpected. It's intense and laid-back and disdainful of convention. Ithaca is Ithaca. There's a vibe here unlike anywhere in America.

And experiencing it is the only way to discover it.

Ithaca is a major educational center in Central New York. The city is home to Ithaca College, situated on South Hill, and Cornell University, overlooking the town from East Hill. The Ithaca City School District, which encompasses Ithaca and the surrounding area, enrolls about 5,500 K-12 students in eight elementary schools, two middle schools, Ithaca High School, and the Lehman Alternative Community School, which provides its students wide-ranging freedom to choose their own curriculum. There are also several private elementary and secondary schools in the area, including Immaculate Conception School and the Cascadilla School. Almost half of our adult population holds a bachelor's degree or higher.

The economy of Ithaca is based on education and manufacturing with high tech and tourism in strong supporting roles. In 2009, Ithaca's economy is stable, anchored by its two largest employers, Cornell University and Ithaca College, and by the growth of its small, hi-tech manufacturers. We continue to draw commuters from the neighboring rural counties of Cortland, Tioga, and Schuyler, as well as from the more urbanized Chemung County.

With some level of success, Ithaca has tried to maintain a traditional downtown shopping area that includes the Ithaca Commons pedestrian mall and Center Ithaca, a small mixed-use complex built at the end of the urban renewal era. Two expanding commercial zones to the northeast and southwest of the old city contain large retail stores and restaurants run by national chains. Another commercial center, Collegetown, is located next to the Cornell campus. It features a number of restaurants, shops, and bars, and an increasing number of high rise apartments. Ithaca has many of the businesses characteristic of small American university towns: used bookstores, art house cinemas, craft stores, and vegetarian restaurants. The collective Moosewood Restaurant, founded in 1973, was the wellspring for a number of vegetarian cookbooks; Bon Appetit magazine ranked it among the thirteen most influential restaurants of the twentieth century.

Ithacans support the Ithaca Farmers Market, professional theaters (Kitchen Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Icarus Theatre), a civic orchestra, much parkland, the Sciencenter for children, and the Museum of the Earth. Local live music is prominent in the culture of Ithaca, the home of several nationally known bands. The Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts provides grants and Summer Fellowships at the Saltonstall Arts Colony for New York State artists and writers. Ithaca also hosts what is described as the third-largest used-book sale in the United States.

Protecting the environment is a way of life in Ithaca. EcoVillage Ithaca, a sustainable community surrounded by gardens and solar panels, is a model for low-impact living. Ithaca College is putting sustainability at the core of its business school curriculum, and making its LEED certified business school building a model of the curriculum it teaches. MotherPlants, a regional supplier of hardy plants for eco-friendly green roofs and living walls, is thriving in Ithaca as demand soars for environmental building solutions. Cornell University announced a goal of being carbon-emissions-free by 2050; with emissions already down 30 percent, it looks like Ithaca's largest employer will beat the deadline by decades. And Ithaca and surrounding Tompkins County recycle 60 percent of all solid waste, ranking the community among the greenest in New York. The effort was recognized nationally in 2008 when Tompkins County was named the first ever "Go Green County of the Year."

And then there's the natural beauty. There are more than 100 gorges and waterfalls within 10 miles of downtown, most with hiking trails, and unlimited recreation on Cayuga Lake, which, at 40 miles, is the longest of the Finger Lakes. There are two major city-owned waterfront parks within a mile of downtown, four major New York State Parks in the surrounding county, and 25,000 acres of state-owned forest land nearby for outdoor recreation. No wonder Outside magazine ranked Ithaca one of its "20 Best Towns in America" in 2008.

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