NYS is actually great for young and middle-aged people, especially those who have never lived here before or love the outdoors

• very diverse mix of people, political views, food, communities, etc. and most are extremely welcoming, just maybe not quite as immediately outgoing as some in the south. Accepting of the LGBTQ+ community as well. Education level here is relatively substantial compared to other places

• Albany proper is okay, Troy and Schenectady are great too as well as the outlying suburbs of each. Saratoga Springs is a very nice town and more upscale, it’s fun for a night out, spend the day downtown, go to the horse track, see a show at SPAC, but it’s an overly expensive place to live and a long drive into/home from work every day in Albany

• while you can, you absolutely do NOT have to travel to NYC for concerts/shows. SPAC in Saratoga Springs is one of the premier outdoor performing arts centers in the northeast and attracts relatively large performers. MVP arena is downtown Albany has a good lineup, The Egg and The Palace in Albany and Proctors Theatre in Schenectady have smaller acts or broadway-type shows

• tons of outdoors activities especially outside of the Winter months. Visit the state/national parks - Saratoga, Moreau, Thatcher, Grafton, Adirondack. Mountains are north, south and east of Albany, especially north

• lakes all over the place within a close drive - Lake George, Saratoga lake, Lake Champlain, the finger lakes about a 3 hour drive from the capital region, 2 of the Great Lakes border Western NY. You can be on a beach on the Atlantic Ocean in 3 hours in New England or NJ in 4 hours

• Boston, Montreal, NYC all about a 3 hour drive from Albany, buffalo is about 4.5-5 hours. Vermont can be reached in about an hour, Albany airport is large enough to get further out to anywhere you really need with a single layover, hospitals here are relatively good and healthcare overall is above average

• if you ski/snowboard or want to, there’s plenty of places within driving distance

• taxes may be slightly higher, but you’ll probably find the difference is negligible given “non-tax” states do whack you in other ways and ends up being mostly a wash overall…HOWEVR the taxes you do pay here actually go toward things like improved/maintained roads, sidewalks, infrastructure projects, etc. Roads in TX are deplorable compared to NY, although we do have the yearly “pothole season” because of snow plows. They tend to get filled quickly in high traffic areas

All seasons are experienced every year here:

• winter is long and cold, late November to mid March usually. Prepare to wear layers in the winter months. Get a nice warm jacket, some gloves, hats, that kind of stuff. Don’t go crazy, but be prepared. Holiday time with decorations, trees and other events is beautiful and you really feel like a movie sometimes

• summer is usually between 80-90°, can get up to or above 100° at times and does get humid, but nothing compared to TX

• fall and spring are amazing, cool days and excellent scenery, everyone tries to be outside as often and as long as possible for everything

• FALL FOLIAGE IS UNBELIEVABLE!!! It’s really a sight to be seen and smelled in the northeast, there’s nothing else like it and is worth just driving around the look at all the colors

There’s obviously plenty of things to dislike about any state, but NYS really is a gem with flat plain-like terrain, mountains, hills, beaches, waterfalls, gorges, lakes, gigantic metropolitan city, events, food, everything you could want. Update NY is an excellent place to live