Can anyone give me info on the saratoga springs/ballston spa, ny area...would like info on housing market, schools and hospitals in the area. My husband may be taking a job in amsterdam, ny and we are looking to live in the saratoga springs area.

A good way to start is to do a general search on Saratoga Springs, etc. You can get a lot of good info on Chamber of Commerce sites and take it from there!

Many good schools and health care, but housing costs in Saratoga have skyrocketed!

We have done a lot of online research and it looks like a beautiful area..we are coming from Raleigh, NC so we are used to high housing costs..my husband would be working in amsterdam but this did not seem like a desirable place to live? Could not find much info about it..the only other area that we found to be appealing was ballston spa? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks again!

My advice my be a bit out of date...but we lived just outside of Ballston Spa back in '95-'97. The only thing I remember about Amsterdam was the super KMart there...there wasn't much else out there, lol!

One town sort of between the two is Galway. That is where one of our children went to school for a very short time...and from how it was then anyway, I would recommend against that school district.

Not sure if you need preschool advice, but there was an absolutely fantastic one on Saratoga called The Beagle Schoool. Very well known and excellent! Both of our children went there and I cannot speak highly enough about it.

There was one hospital in Saratoga and having small children, we were there our fair share of times. Always had excellent care!!!

We had friends in both Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa and they were pleased with the schools. The one elementary school in Saratoga that I remember had a very good reputation was on Caroline street or called Caroline...sorry I can't remember precisely!

I wish I were more help, but like I said its been a few years since we lived there. If you have any questions though just ask

Saratoga Springs is a beautiful city, but I don't think I'd want to commute to Amsterdam from there.

Yes, there is a hospital there, but there's also 2 (St. Marys and Amsterdam Memorial) in Amsterdam. Schenectady, 15 miles from Amsterdam has St. Clares, Ellis, and Bellevue Womans Hospital. Gloversville, maybe 12 mi from Amsterdam, has Nathan Littauer Hospital - where I had some bone surgery & was pleased with the treatment, facilities, and staff.

The Super KMart is closed. KMart was also building a GIGANTIC distribution center on the other side of the Mohawk, but that was on-hold for sometime until Target decided they wanted it.

Amsterdam, in Montgomery County, faces some of the worse employment numbers in NY state. However, it does have both some nice neighborhoods (like near St Marys) and not-so-nice. If you have kids approaching college age, Fulton Montgomery Community College is nearby, and both Union College and Schenectady Community again, about 16 miles. Amsterdam has a small Amtrak station, and Albany International Airport is maybe 25-30 miles.

There are a lot of decent deals to find for country living in the area. Up around Duanesburg, Florida, or out in the areas near Perth, Galway, or Johnstown. Galway schools seem to have a good reputation in this area ... and NOT so for Amsterdam.

My husband would actually be working in management at the new Target Distribution center...mapquest puts the commute at 32 miles or about 40 minutes? Our son is 10 so excellent schools are a must, which is another reason we were looking into saratoga springs and ballston spa. I am an RN and can pretty much find a job at any hospital. We would rather have a longer commute and live in a good area. Also, our son play competative baseball here in raleigh..he is on the all-stars and travel teams. Does anyone know anything about youth baseball in the area? Thanks again..you guys are great! Feel free to email me as well at [email protected]

You may wish to look into Niskayuna for a good city school district then ... it's at the edge of Schenectady, and Belleview Womans Hospital is in Nisky. Without kids in school, I can't comment very well on schools, only that Nisky has long been considered the better schools ... maybe due to all the kids of employees of General Electric R&D Center and Knolls Atomic Labs? Scotia-Glenville (closer to Amsterdam than NisK) seems to have good rep too.

Don't dismiss the potential problems of a longer commute if you haven't done much winter driving. The routes between Amsterdam and Saratoga county locations are not interstates, although generally they are kept in pretty decent condition. Welcome to the area -- I am in Rotterdam.

As far as winter driving..we are used to it..we are originally from PA..not as much snow as upstate NY but we had our fair share. I will look into the areas you mentioned. Ballston Spa seems to be a little closer than saratoga springs..how is Rotterdam?

Rotterdam has signs as you enter with a windmill on it and the slogan "A good place to live", and it is. There are two school districts in this town, "Mohoneson" and "Shalmont". While I guess they're ok districts, I don't think anyone considers them great. Our taxes are low, for now, as for the first time in 50 years there's going to be complete reassessment. Water is not metered, and billed at $25 a year ... but there are areas NOT served by town water too. Much of the area is blue collar, and Italian/Pizza type restaurants are plenty. I moonlight at a hotel that has an Indian restaurant that's pretty good (("Sapna"), but most of the locals aren't adventuresome enough to try it.

Ballston Spa - the village itself, has many beautiful old Victorian homes. I don't know how their school system rates, and there's not a heck of a lot in that town either. (We're all a bunch of Adirondack-Hillbillys!!)

I think that "school report cards" is a NYS Dept of Education program (or is it Federal??) but I seem to recall that there is a website where you can check on how various schools are doing. Maybe if you "googled" on New york school report cards you could find it.

I live in Saratoga County and I don't see a problem with living there and commuting to Amsterdam - it's about 20 miles b/w Ballston Spa and Amsterdam and you don't want to live in Amsterdam, I promise you. Plus, there shouldn't be a lot of traffic on Route 67 which is what he would more than likely be taking. Plus Saratoga is a great place to live, a beautiful area, I really think you will like it.

radiofanatic....thanks for the info. From what I have read about Saratoga and ballston spa they both seem to be great areas. Saratoga seems to be a bit more lively. How is Saratoga hospital?

Saratoga Hospital is okay - it's actually in Ballston Spa. We are lucky, however, because the Capital Region (what we call the Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga region) has several nationally known amazing hospitals, including Albany Medical Center, Ellis Hospital, St. Peter's, and Albany Memorial. So if there is a huge problem, you can transfer from Saratoga to one of the other hospitals which are all about 30 minutes from Saratoga. Another thing I love about this region is you're three hours or less from many amazing areas, including Boston, NYC, Vermont and Montreal/Canada. If you have other questions, just post them; and I'll try to answer them.

You should also check into the Village of Scotia and Town of Glenville. The Scotia-Glenville School is excellent. You can choose rural, suburban or village living. You're 20+ minutes to Albany (the Capital)to the south and Saratoga Springs to the north. And only 15 minutes to Amsterdam. The Village of Scotia has a full range of services, nice parks, Mohawk River and bike path, even a great movie theater. Check it out.

Saratoga Hospital is indeed in Saratoga and is an OK hospital. It used to be a client of mine. They are always looking for nurses. Ellis Hospital is a great facility - and a better commute. I second rb_travelerxATyahoo posting- Niskayuna has great schools. Also not a bad commute. I have friends in both Niskayuna and Galway - both are pleased with the schools. Galway is a very pretty area - nice lake.

It would be great if you could visit and drive the area -- or if need be rent for a few months while you are looking. I don't think you really know an area until you live in it for a little while.

Thanks for the info on Scotia-glenville..we will definetly check them out. I did look up the schools in Nisky and the scores were good. We are planning to take a few weekend trips to check out the different areas and will most likely rent until we decide. I am hoping to get a travel contract with a hospital and they will then provide housing for us. Thanks again for all the info!

I should have thought about Glenville - I lived in an apt there for 6+ years. People I know w/ kids in S_G schools seem happy, nice area, decent shopping, the small movie theater is good. Nice restaurants (love OLearys) but few chain restaurants. Big Walmart. Easy access to other Capital District cities. My former boss now is a teacher at Galway (he did his student teaching there) after a year of teaching at Amsterdam - he give thumbs up Galway, down 4 Amsterdam, and I don't think he's being biased. BTW, he drives/drove from Saratoga for both jobs.

I live in Scotia/Glenville and have also lived in Saratoga Springs and near Amsterdam. The distribution center is acutually on the south side of the Mohawk river and west of Amsterdam so the commute to Saratoga Springs is farther than you think...more like an hour each way.
I think the idea of the Glenville (Burnt Hills) area is a good one. It is a fine school and the atmoshpere is more rural than Niskayuna or Clifton Park (suburban). It is very easy to get to Rt. 5s and west to the distribution center from BH. Also look to buy a home in Saratoga County rather than Schenectady County since the taxes are a lot lower. The Burnt Hills area straddles both counties.
Don't underestimate the influence of winter driving on commute times either.
As far as Saratoga Springs...it is a small town and a great place to visit but, as has been stated before, Albany is the cultural center of the area. Saratoga is a blast in the summer but, in the winter, it kind of dries up and it becomes a college town (Skidmore) once the ballet, symphony and horse racing crowd goes home.
Good luck with the move and brace yourself for the cold...winter here is long and ugly...take up skiing and snowshoeing and learn to dress in layers. Get yourself a 4wd or AWD car or SUV and you'll do fine.

Hmmm.an hour each way may be a bit to far...but we definetly want to be in a suburban area..NOT rural so that counts out Glenville? How far would Clifton Park be? On mapquest I think that was about an hour as well? How about Ballston spa? Is that closer to amsterdam or farther than Saratoga? Saratoga County seems to encompass a lot of smaller towns? Is there a lot of new construction in Nisky/clifton Park area? I was looking at a place in Saratoga that is new construction..I think it was called Excelsior Park? UGh....I hate this! Thanks again for the tips!

Ballston Spa is a little closer to amsterdam than Saratoga Springs - probably only about 10-15 minutes worth at most. I like it, it's a cute town. Also has a great haunted hayride at Circle M Ranch! I'm going on 10/30.