Name: Binghamton, NY
Rating: 0.0

( 23 Ratings )

Living in Binghamton, NY

Ranks better than 77% of areas Follow

Population

44,819

Median Age

35.6 Years

Binghamton Area Facts

Binghamton has a Livability Score of 77_/100, which is considered exceptional
Binghamton crime rates are 103% higher than the New York average
Cost of living in Binghamton is 27% lower than the New York average

What do the locals think about Binghamton?

7%

Family friendly

73%

Public transit is accessible

47%

Walkable to grocery stores

0%

Yards are well-kept

40%

Lots of parks

27%

Walkable to restaurants

Friendly neighbors

Safe at night

Pet friendly

Streets have sidewalks

7%

A quiet area

13%

Sense of community

Based on 15 votes from AreaVibes users. Take the poll

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Binghamton Reviews

Write a review about Binghamton Tell people what you like or don't like about Binghamton…

Been here 7 years. Run. 1.5 rating By Anonymous ( Jul 31, 2019) I came up here for school in 2012, and I've been trying to escape ever since. I'm NYC born, Yonkers raised, and let me tell you...Binghamton is TERRIBLE if you want life anywhere above a snail's pace. The town is situated in one of the cloudiest parts of the country, and if you'r ...Read More e prone to SAD like I am, you really won't be a happy camper here much of the year. The town constantly seems dusty and dim to me, and it definitely affects my mood as well. The restaurants that Binghamton touts as its pride and joy are alright, but you can visit them all in a week and have a pretty good idea about what they offer. There's been a push among those believing Binghamton's on the verge of a "renaissance" to establish this city as a foodie haven. To those people, all I want to say is don't hold your breath. Coming from a downstate New Yorker, your city ain't jack, let alone a hub for established epicureans.

The town's job market is atrocious, even after all this time. Despite having two degrees when I came up here and having recently acquired a third, I've had nothing but difficulty finding a job that will allow me to pay for my apartment, put some money down on student loans, and actually live life like a functional adult. For everyone saying how great life here is, you're forgetting roughly 1/3 of this city lives on or below the poverty level. That is pathetic, and you should take your head out of your own butt and realize that just because your life is peachy doesn't mean life here is good. I have three college degrees, I am willing to work, but I can't find anything besides what I didn't even have to go to college for at all. I have student loan payments to make, so Walmart and minimum wage call centers won't cut it. This place's job market S-U-C-K-S.

One thing i can say that is good here is that the people are mostly genuinely friendly and good-natured and will look out for you. That is, unless you're black, then they're just racist. (Yes, Binghamton is racist. You live in the middle of a very red county in a rural part of New York. Hold your tongue and accept it; trust me, I know this through experience.) But outside of those dunderheads I find that the people here will genuinely try to help you if you need them, and I actually like the local residents here way more than other college students.

There's some great organizations here trying to foster community and combat the pervasive issue of food insecurity (which, if you didn't know, tends to be a big problem in areas that have a large population of underemployed and impoverished people) like VINES, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, CHOW and the RHSC. They fight a series of pyrrhic battles, in my opinion, but damn if they don't try. If you're here and you can't afford to get food, trust me, there's such a wealth of good food pantries and agencies that you could literally buy groceries 3 times a year if that's your budget.

The city is also not close to any major metropolitan area; even Syracuse is going to take you a couple of hours' worth of driving to get to. Be aware of that. Despite being known as the Triple Cities region, there's a real risk of shut-in syndrome if you don't have access to a car to get to livelier places. The public transportation here is actually alright, but being this is the US, that's a fairly low bar when most places either don't have public transit or are actively trying to do away with what little vestigial service they even put in place. It's slow, occasionally unreliable and the drivers are hit and miss, but it's better than nothing.

Overall, I really don't recommend the area unless you value its proximity to rural America (I don't), already have a good job lined up (major employers include UHS, Our Lady of Lordes, some engineering/defense firms, and of course the University) or for some reason need cheap living and even cheaper thrills. I hate living here, don't try to hide the fact anymore, and spend every waking moment of the day trying to relocate. Read Less

Hell-hole y-Disgusting city in deplete -U home is worthless so can't get out 0.5 rating By Anonymous ( Jun 29, 2019) The title says it all. The place is just disgusting. A trip to the supermarket is like visiting the morgue. Everybody is depressed and most are living in abject poverty. They've yet to wake to the fact that the rest of the country isn't sinking further and further into economic ...Read More despair. For an entire decade the Salvation army imported men on probation and parole from all over the country, in violation of the interstate compact governing movement of convicts across state lines. At the same time then director of the Housing Authority (D.T) recruited people with no skills,no education to leave places like NYC to come to Binghamton to fill his Section 8/subsidized units-perhaps salary based on filling beds?ostensibly he wanted people to have better lives. Really?? in a community that could not even provide jobs to educated people who'd lived there for generations & where everyone with a degree was fleeing? . There was another motive for that, David, and the result is exactly as you'd expect. The place is now controlled by gangs-something the government idiots denied for decades-by suggesting people were making assumptions based on racism. Nope., I guess that BS ended when something like 50 gang members were rounded up. What now David? The place is unlivable . Yes it all started with the reduction in defense contracts but that would have been survivable. What D.T. and the Salvation Army did, by bringing in thousands of unemployed, unskilled, uneducated (and in some cases felons) doomed the area, To use the expression moribund to describe the city is an under statement. And about that large generic Binghamton State University in Vestal, it's no more than that. No Pubic Ivy. Not anything like state flagships in other stats. They can't even pay students from other states outside the NY met area to attend. And they are planning to stuff 20,000 students in a school that was fine with 10K students by next year. I'd not send my dog there. Read Less

Perspective is Everything 2.5 rating By Anonymous ( May 04, 2019) Reading some of the other contributions makes me wonder if the authors have been anyplace else. Let's talk Orlando, FL. Of course there's the sun and in August you dare not reach outside for your mail as the humidity is staggering. If you like to relax you can do that at every ...Read More traffic light, that is after the two hour delay on most of the highways...and "crashes"...every 15 minutes on the news they post the latest one as if a day without a car crash is so rare but then again, there's always fill-in stories about alligators in swimming pools and shootings, stabbings, robberies, and more things to keep you indoors.
But Binghamton....yes, the weather is seasonal but there are no hurricanes or tornados while there are snow storms just like other parts of the country.
Crime? Yes. Binghamton was once known as the Parlor City and then we incurred an influx of New York City Trash- there is no other way to describe it because it is a fact that the Mayor of Binghamton, Juanita Crabb, advertised in NYC for people to move to Binghamton. If this area is bad it is because of the amount of downstate people who came up here. Challenge me on this if you want to but look at your historical statistics and make your argument.
Home of IBM, they left when the taxes became a horror show. New York is liberal downstate and mostly conservative upstate. The seven million people in NYC are the main reason why we've had our Albany political leadership in office...and look at our results. So for those who want to bash this area you are probably the ones who voted for the politicians who made this area so depressed.
All of upstate has had a horrific past 20 years. But if you want to invest in potential development. And...we have the best Italian restaurants you could find and of course....spiedies....the spieide sandwich is the best marinated grilled sandwich in the world. State Fair Spiedie Sauce and the annual Spiedie Fest & Balloon Rally...over 100,000 visitors first weekend in August. Read Less

Misery loves company. 0.5 rating By Anonymous ( Mar 14, 2019) Any negative review you find about this area should be taken as gospel. Plenty of rare cancers, racist ignorance, belligerent attitudes, and the lowest quality of life you will find on the entire eastern seaboard. The Southern Tier should be walled off and used as a prison for th ...Read More e worst offenders. Read Less

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Perspective is Everything 2.5 rating By Anonymous ( May 04, 2019) Reading some of the other contributions makes me wonder if the authors have been anyplace else. Let's talk Orlando, FL. Of course there's the sun and in August you dare not reach outside for your mail as the humidity is staggering. If you like to relax you can do that at every ...Read More traffic light, that is after the two hour delay on most of the highways...and "crashes"...every 15 minutes on the news they post the latest one as if a day without a car crash is so rare but then again, there's always fill-in stories about alligators in swimming pools and shootings, stabbings, robberies, and more things to keep you indoors.
But Binghamton....yes, the weather is seasonal but there are no hurricanes or tornados while there are snow storms just like other parts of the country.
Crime? Yes. Binghamton was once known as the Parlor City and then we incurred an influx of New York City Trash- there is no other way to describe it because it is a fact that the Mayor of Binghamton, Juanita Crabb, advertised in NYC for people to move to Binghamton. If this area is bad it is because of the amount of downstate people who came up here. Challenge me on this if you want to but look at your historical statistics and make your argument.
Home of IBM, they left when the taxes became a horror show. New York is liberal downstate and mostly conservative upstate. The seven million people in NYC are the main reason why we've had our Albany political leadership in office...and look at our results. So for those who want to bash this area you are probably the ones who voted for the politicians who made this area so depressed.
All of upstate has had a horrific past 20 years. But if you want to invest in potential development. And...we have the best Italian restaurants you could find and of course....spiedies....the spieide sandwich is the best marinated grilled sandwich in the world. State Fair Spiedie Sauce and the annual Spiedie Fest & Balloon Rally...over 100,000 visitors first weekend in August. Read Less

Misery loves company. 0.5 rating By Anonymous ( Mar 14, 2019) Any negative review you find about this area should be taken as gospel. Plenty of rare cancers, racist ignorance, belligerent attitudes, and the lowest quality of life you will find on the entire eastern seaboard. The Southern Tier should be walled off and used as a prison for th ...Read More e worst offenders. Read Less

Do not come here 0.5 rating By Anonymous ( Sep 25, 2018) The review that discusses pollution is absolutely correct about everything they had to say. Binghamton is a horrible place to live. For those that are from here, we have seen firsthand the extreme level of crime and violence that occurs in this city. I live one town over (this wh ...Read More ole area is very interconnected) and I would never risk driving through Binghamton at night, let alone walk outside there. The college students who come here do not realize how truly awful and ghetto it is here, as they are blinded by the well-maintained public University (which by the way, is actually in Vestal) and clean student housing. For nightlife, there are two or three main bars/nightclubs that are actually busy, and this is thanks to the college kids. Otherwise, don’t expect much for nightlife. Fun things to do in general are hard to come by; most people go to Ithaca if they want to do anything outdoorsy. The heroin epidemic is extremely prevalent here; I have seen people shooting up even in the “nice” parts of town. Dirty and used needles are found in local parks. And as for jobs, good luck. Most people work(ed) at Lockheed and IBM, until the recession occurred and a majority of people were laid off. And it is true, the sun doesn’t shine in Binghamton or the whole “southern tier” in general. Look up news articles for Binghamton if you want to see what’s happening, I’ll almost guarantee you it is not good news. You might even stumble upon the New York Times article discussing the two University student murders that happened in the past year. The college kids were the only “safe” demographic, so these murders are significant. Otherwise people are shot and murdered regularly here. Neighboring town Johnson City is maybe slightly worse, locals will argue about which sucks more, but truly the whole map area including Endicott/Endwell, Vestal, Johnson City, and Port Dickinson is all usually referred to as “Binghamton” to visitors just to make things easier. If you really must move here, you are best off in Vestal or Endwell. I could go on and on about how bad this area is, and no, I am not personally angry about anything in particular. Locals just know that this is not the place to be. Everyone says they want to move away, but most don’t due to family or monitary restrictions. One good thing to say: downtown Binghamton has a few good (but expensive) restaurants. Read Less

Intractable abject poverty in a toxic polluted area with terrible weather 1 rating By Itsapit ( Sep 26, 2016) Students who come for college may like the town because it is cheap and they can hang with their high school buddies. But this is a horrible city. When the defense industry pulled funding in the 1990s, the city went into free fall. Housing values have been on the decline since th ...Read More at point. It is not a bubble it is a bottomless pit. The local talent, Tanenhaus-housing with the Salvation Army, got to work and invited the very worst element possible to the area from NYCity, Section 8 vouchers in hand. They are the ones to thank for the immense gang element that has made the area not just an economic cesspool but dangerous. College students regularly have their heads bashed in. Read the articles in the newspaper. The fact that IBM polluted the area, something that caused a childhood cancer cluster, does not help. Another problem is the fact that the city is isolated. There is no easy way in or out of the city. Every 4 years politicians come to the city, comment on how it looks like Appalachian poverty, and promise to work on getting high speed rails. But there are no rails at all. There is no reliable way to get the heck out of the place. Really, it should be condemned. If you move there, be sure not to move into a place that is in the plume which is the cancer corridor. Don't be fooled into thinking that the venting makes any difference at all. And, don't expect the sun to shine more than a few times a year. It is a gloomy, ugly, dank place. Read Less

Take heed.... 1.5 rating By nyaplustech ( Sep 17, 2015) ...DO NOT move over here...this "City" is like a roach motel, once you get in, you can't get out. The job market is absolutely horrendous to say the least (unless you plan on starting a career at the Weis supermarket, McDonald's or as an absurdly underpaid Java developer).

The ...Read More crime rate is MUCH higher than what other people claim. Stabbings or slashing at the club, roberry, burglary, drugs, you name it, it's out there and all concentrated into 11.16 miles of Binghamton, NY. Almost every park or neighborhood that you visit will at the very least have a touch of "ghetto". I moved here from NYC (BIG MISTAKE) to be with family, and for the first time in my life I felt compelled to (legally) purchase a gun to protect my family at home.

Nightlife is okay with all of the bars and lounges (assuming that you don't go to a ghetto one and get stabbed). Dining is okay with a couple of halfway decent places like Lost Dog Cafe and Burger Mondays. The "city's" pride are the Binghamton Mets, who are actually the Minor League club of the NY Mets. But really are a handful of restaurants, bars and a lame baseball team reason enough to move to such a dump?

It's a shame because the land itself actually is beautiful with it's mountains, streams and tons of trees. In any event, I am desperately looking to get my wife and kids out of this dump. I feel sorry for the kids growing up in this dilapidated community who typically have a schoolteacher mom and drug dealer dad, I know I'll be getting mine out of here that's for sure. Read Less

Binghamton, NY - A Great Community 4 rating By Anonymous ( Jul 27, 2012) I moved to Binghamton, New York from Kansas City, Missouri to attend Binghamton University about three years ago. I was nervous to move to a new city, but the community is great and very accepting of new comers. I attribute this to the University. Almost everyone I have come into ...Read More contact with has been helpful, from the campus to the local Walmart. I really love the older architecture of the city, but the younger atmosphere. This has made it much easier to live in Binghamton, than I expected.

I also have to mention the great restaurants here. Growing up in Kansas City, I had access to some of the best barbeque and Italian restaurants around. However, I have to say I have found some here that are even better, especially the Italian food. When you have time off from studies or work, you will have no problems finding something to do. The nightlife here is killer. You can go to a quiet lounge and sip on a martini or party the night away dancing in a club. This is another fortunate side effect of being a college town. You never get bored, no matter the time of day between the shops, eateries, and the nightlife.

The city itself is beautiful and so is the surrounding area. Binghamton boarders upper state Pennsylvania and is less than 100 miles from Syracuse, New York. The city sits in the middle of the Susquehanna River and the Chenango River, so there are several riverside hotels, restaurants, and living accommodations. Binghamton being a river city, it seems automatically to have that easy going atmosphere you find with many other river cities. I have really grown to love it here. In fact, I am thinking about relocating here once my schooling is over. The community here just grows on you, as does the city. Read Less