Everyone has concerns or needs when they select a home here. Traffic might be one concern, or parking, said Mary Tomlan, an alderwoman for the City of Ithaca Common Council (D-3rd Ward). All the controversy over the Redbud development helped to crystallize the University Hill neighborhood on the lower north end of the Cornell campus. Those who are thinking about moving to Fall Creek might have concerns about flooding in the spring, given its closeness to Ithaca and Cascadilla Falls.
DOWNTOWN
The most urban and urbane part of town, Downtown really means the Ithaca Commons and the surrounding blocks. The Commons, of course, boasts many fine restaurants, the movie theater Cinemapolis and many shops. While specialty items are easy to come by on The Commons, many find they need to look elsewhere for certain essentials. Since Woolworths closed its doors - now occupied by the Tompkins County Public Library - there is no department store downtown, and no large grocery stores like Tops or Wegmans, only smaller, corner-store businesses.
The State Theatre offers concerts, dance recitals and other events, and the Kitchen Theatre, located in the Clinton House on North Cayuga Street, offers a provocative slate of plays ranging from classics to new and experimental works year round. There are also many art galleries scattered about for art lovers of all stripes.
EAST HILL
East Hill is bounded on the north by Fall Creek Gorge, on the east by Stewart Avenue, lower Eddy and South Quarry streets, Six mile Creek on the south, and by Aurora and Linn streets. For Cornell students, this is the area, along with Collegetown, where most move when they leave campus. While there are plenty of residential properties, most of the houses on Stewart and Quarry streets have been converted into apartment complexes or divided into apartments.
FALL CREEK
Running from the North side of Aurora Street down to Ithaca High School, Fall Creek, with its bucolic, tree-lined streets, has a well-deserved reputation among families as a great place to raise children. Clustered around Fall Creek Elementary School, the neighborhood is defined largely by the families who have chosen to live there. With Fall Creek Pictures on the end of Tioga Street, and Ithaca Falls just one block east, Fall Creek has its share of culture and natural beauty as well. It also has its own fire station, located at 1012 Tioga Street.
SOUTH HILL
Considered the mirror neighborhood for Ithaca College (IC) students of what East Hill is for Cornellians, most of the streets surrounding IC on the hill, particularly Hudson, Prospect, Pleasant, Pennsylvania and Kendal, are either apartments buildings or houses rented by students. And, as with East Hill, noisy house parties are the rule, not the exception. Apart from the Common Ground, this neighborhood does not boast a student strip like College Avenue, stocked with bars, restaurants and stores, to serve their needs. This means that the students must trek down the hill, either on foot or in cars or cabs, to downtown.
SOUTHSIDE
Tomlan says, The Southside is another good example of a neighborhood that has a focal point or a major concern. Largely made of residences and apartment complexes, the Southside nexus seems to be the South Side Community Center on Plain Street. The Center has long been a recreational center for the neighborhood youth, and thanks to skills programs and camps run by Fe Nunn, among others, the Center also offers young people instruction in everything from music to video production.
Southsides location also makes it handy to get to the downtown area, as well as Tops and Wegmans, and the businesses on State Street in the West End.
WEST HILL
West Hill encompasses a sprawl of housing and development starting at the Floral Avenue line and includes Cayuga Medical Center and many other private medical practitioners on Route 96. Traveling up Elm Street, you will find the Lehman Alternative Community School on one side and Bruce abbots West Village Apartments on the other, with Candlewyck Apartments by the hospital.
Tomlan says, West Hill is interesting because it includes not only a couple of large apartment complexes, but also homes with fairly large lots. The central and west end portions of the neighborhood include some of the most generous lot sizes that exist in this city.
West Hill is almost completely residential, and if you choose to live on West Hill, youll need to use public transportation or drive in order to do almost all of your shopping. Not too many students live on West Hill, as its about as far from both campuses as you can get.
NORTH CENTRAL
Generally, North Central is the meeting point for several neighborhoods, but for our purposes, the area south of Cascadilla Street and east of Washington Park is termed Central, while the area north of Cascadilla Street is called Northside. This is the area where most year-round residents live, though some students can always be found here and there. There are many beautiful spots in this part of town, particularly the bridge over Cascadilla Creek at Monroe Street. Public housing can also be found in abundance on Hancock, Third, Madison and Fifth Streets.
THE INLET
The Inlet consists of the west end of State, Seneca, Buffalo, Court and Esty streets, running through what used to be the Octopus intersection through to Cliff Street (Route 96) and Floral Avenue. Floral Avenue is a mixture of residential and apartment housing, and at holiday time, Bill Lowers extravagant Christmas display is a favorite tourist spot. Cliff Street also tends to be a mix of private homes and those split up for apartment dwellers.
COLLEGETOWN
If you are a student planning to move to Collegetown, know that you are moving to Student Central. Yes, there are non-students who live in and around College Avenue, Dryden Road, Eddy Street and the streets above and below. But largely, the housing and apartments there are filled by students year in and year out. If you arent a student, well, youd better like the late-night scene and lots and lots of house parties that last into the wee hours.
The merchants on College, Eddy Street and Dryden Road largely cater to student needs: restaurants, bars, eateries and laundromats. If you want to buy lots of Big Red knickknacks, T-shorts and sweat shorts, youll be in luck. However, for more essential items like clothing and groceries, youll be heading up the hill to East Hill Plaza, to Pyramid Mall or the cluster of supermarkets and "big box" stores on South Meadow Street and Elmira Road.
CORNELL HEIGHTS
Also known as Cayuga Heights, this is the tony section of town, with more palatial estates at astronomical prices. The blocks to the north of Thurston Avenue, like Highland, Upland, Hanshaw and Cayuga Heights roads are upscale residential; the frat houses and sororities fade away by the time you reach the Parkway, and while you may never buy a house here, chances are your professor already has.
BELLE SHERMAN
As the blocks above College Avenue give way to the blocks surrounding Belle Sherman Elementary school, youre back in year-round residence land. Belle Sherman not only has an excellent reputation as an educational institution, but it also has long served as a significant home base for the local PTA and Boy Scouts.
Most of the single-family homes in the area between Mount Olivet Cemetery and the citys eastern boundary were built in the two decades following World War II. There is also one significant apartment complexes nestled between Dryden Road and Mitchell Street: Fairview Square, which comprises several low-rise apartment dwellings and one high rise in the center of the development.
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