Executive Assistant & Marketing Coordinator
Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau
CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity
572 South Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202
Phone: 315-470-1913 | Fax: 315-471-8545
LWoodrow@VisitSyracuse.org
www.VisitSyracuse.org

On-going Onondaga County Events!

Ø USBC Women’s Championship is the largest women’s participatory event in the world. Come down to the Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter. Call 435-8000 for details.

Ø Every season is a great time of year to visit the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. For details, go to the website (www.RosamondGiffordZoo.org) or call 435-8511.

Ø Syracuse Chiefs Baseball is back! Enjoy great professional baseball with the whole family. For details call 474-7833 or go to www.SyracuseChiefs.com for details!

Ø Highland Forest County Park is a great place to enjoy the outdoors – no matter which season is upon us! Call 683-5550 or www.OnondagaCountyParks.com for details.

Ø IMAX Movies: Aliens of the Deep, Under the Sea, Michael Jordan to the MAX & Extreme are currently showing at the Museum of Science & Technology (MOST). Call 425-9068 or www.most.org for specific times and dates. Visit their new exhibit Spectacular Saturn.

Ø CNY Regional Farmers Market is open from 7am to 2pm each Saturday & Sunday (flea market); Market Common shops open daily. Call 422-8647 for information. Enjoy this unique shopping experience!

Ø Spaghetti Warehouse features Acme Mystery Dinner Theater on Thursday evenings and Magic Circle Children’s Theater on Saturdays about noon. Call 475-1807 for details.

Ø Onondaga Lake Park – Central New York’s premier park conveniently located on Rt. 370 in Liverpool. Call 453-6712 or go to www.OnondagaCountyParks.com for details.

Ø Everson Museum of Art is featuring two exciting exhibits: Ah Leon – Memories of Elementary School and Reynolds Unwrapped: The Cartoon Art of Dan Reynolds. Call 474-6064 or visit the website at www.Everson.org for details.

Ø Syracuse University’s Warehouse Gallery features rotating exhibits. Call 443-6450 or visit the website at www.TheWarehouseGallery@syr.edu for details.

Contact Skaneateles Suites for hotel rooms for these events for

No Smoking
Pet friendly

Bed Size Type
Spacious / over sized
wifi
Internet
Cable TV
climate control

Continuing thru 5/26/2011 (more…)

Fun Fact about the Syracuse area …. did you know …..

… that the game of lacrosse or Deyhontsigwa’ehs (its name in Onondaga) roughly translated means, “They bump hips.” Lacrosse at Onondaga is considered sacred and is a game that was given by the Creator, to be played for the Creator and has been known to have healing power. The game in its original form is played between two groups, usually divided up between clans or young men versus old men. Since women are respected for providing life and are to protect this gift, they do not play lacrosse.  Once sides are chosen, the two teams play with the men using hand-made sticks made of hickory.  The spirit of the hickory tree connects the player to Mother Earth as they play for the Creator. The game is played on an open field with two poles at each end signifying goals between which a leather ball must pass. When Deyhontsigwa’ehs is played on Mother Earth, it is said that there is also a game being played with their ancestors in Creator’s land. There is a predetermined amount that the teams must reach before the game is considered won and therefore, the game is not timed.  (source: www.OnondagaNation.org)

Attached, please find this week’s edition of the Friday Facts.  For details on any of these events or others in our area, take a gander at our website at www.VisitSyracuse.org.

Looking for fine Syracuse items & just can’t find the right thing?  We’ve made it so easy for you!  Check out our FINE ON-LINE STORE (http://store.visitsyracuse.org/) featuring great Syracuse items such as T’s, hoodies, fleece items, tote bags, hats & so much more!  If you’re looking for Syracuse items for that special someone, we got ‘em right on the website.

Spread the SYRACUSE LOVE  ….. Check out & order these items TODAY!!!

Look-it … it’s right here at www.VisitSyracuse.org!

Linda Woodrow
Executive Assistant & Marketing Coordinator
Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau
CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity
572 South Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202
Phone: 315-470-1913 | Fax: 315-471-8545
LWoodrow@VisitSyracuse.org
www.VisitSyracuse.org

Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/SyracuseNY
Twitter:  www.Twitter.com/SyracuseNY

BWNC Maple syrup program

Baltimore Woods Nature Center is located at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, NY 13108
Hours: Interpretive Center is open M-F 9am-4pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, closed Sundays.
The hiking trails and parking are free and open every day from dawn to dusk.
Visit www.baltimorewoods.org for more information

FEBRUARY 2011 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Project FeederWatch (more…)

Fun Fact about the Syracuse area …. did you know …..

… in December of 1892, the pneumatic automobile tire was patented in Syracuse, NY by Alexander Brown & George Stillman. Before the pneumatic tire, wheels were often made of solid rubber. This made travel a bumpy experience since streets in 1892 were made of dirt, brick, planks or cobblestone. Some horse-drawn carriages had been made with inflatable tires, but Brown and Stillman received the first patent for pneumatic automobile tires. Brown was the co-founder of Brown-Lipe-Chapin Company, a firm that was absorbed by General Motors. His former home (located at 726 W. Onondaga St.) is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Attached, please find this week’s edition of the Friday Facts. For details on any of these events or others down the road, take a gander at our website at www.VisitSyracuse.org.

Look-it … it’s right here at www.VisitSyracuse.org!

Linda Woodrow Executive Assistant & Marketing Coordinator Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity 572 South Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202 Phone: 315-470-1913 | Fax: 315-471-8545 LWoodrow@VisitSyracuse.org www.VisitSyracuse.org   Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/SyracuseNY Twitter:  www.Twitter.com/SyracuseNY

The Best Small Cities to Raise a Family

http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/25/small-cities-family-lifestyle-real-estate-quality-of-life.html

“Auburn, N.Y., a tiny Finger Lakes, takes the top spot for the Northeast region, and comes in at No. 18 in the nation.”

Big, bustling cities are magnets for adventure-seekers and ambitious young people. But the grit and flashiness that attract singles to New York, Los Angeles and Miami aren’t necessarily what parents look for in a place to settle down. Young people looking to start a family might do well to look past the bright lights of the big city.

Instead, maybe consider a place like Dubuque, Iowa, Manitowoc, Wis., or Marquette, Mich. These places boast solid average incomes, good educational prospects, low costs, short commute times and high rates of home ownership–all reasons why they rank as the top three small cities in America to raise a family.

So what is so special about these places? Our top-ranked city, Dubuque, Iowa, is much smaller than a place like New York, with a population of 92,139, but still one of the larger cities on our list (we only ranked cities with a population under 100,000). Dubuque’s size puts it in a kind of sweet spot: large enough to be a center of industry, small enough to not be overcrowded.

An economy that successfully diversified after the collapse of the local manufacturing industry contributes to an unemployment rate that’s nearly half the national average, at 6.5%, and a median household income of $48,779. That means most families have the jobs they need. They also don’t have to spend a lot of time getting there: Only 2.6% of the population spends an hour or more getting to work.

Our top three cities are all in the Midwest, and the region is home to 12 of the top 15 cities. It would seem that mountains, big skies and open plains lend themselves to family life. But while the small towns in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and Illinois dominate the list, there are small cities that shine in every region of the country. The rugged mountain town of Casper, WY, is the highest-ranked family-friendly small city in the West, and ranked eighth overall in the nation. The city does particularly well providing residents with affordable housing–families there spend only 17% of their income on housing costs.

Auburn, N.Y., a tiny Finger Lakes town probably best known for its correctional facility, takes the top spot for the Northeast region, and comes in at No. 18 in the nation. Prison jobs boost the local income, which ranks 20th among small cities at $48,991.

The best Southern small city for families? Tiny Frankfort, Ky., with a population of only 69,659. It ranks No. 20 on our nationwide list. Frankfort may be small, but the few families there are well off: The median household income is $50,671.

To pinpoint the best small places to raise a family, we looked at quality-of-life measures that make living easier for families. We started with the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau on all Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas with a population under 100,000. That left us with 126 cities, which we ranked on five measures.

Short commute times improve family life because they give working parents more time at home with their kids, so we scored cities on the percentage of residents that spent an hour or more getting to work in the morning: the lower the better. Since educational outcomes are a key consideration of families looking to relocate, we ranked cities on the percentage of adults aged 25 and older that had at least a high school degree.

We also scored cities on median household income, the rate of home ownership, and housing affordability, for which we used median housing costs as a percentage of income as a proxy. We averaged the rankings across these measures to arrive at final scores. When cities were tied in rank, we used the rate of homeownership to break the tie.

The choice of where to settle down and bring up youngsters is based on a number of complex and personal factors, many of which can’t be measured in a ranked list. But things like affordability, education and jobs are often among them–and these off-the-radar metros have a great deal to offer.