From Rural to Urban: My Experience Moving to Syracuse

I keep forgetting to turn my headlights on. This was not a problem before I moved out to Syracuse because I have never lived in an area where there are streetlights on every road. I am not used to being able to see so clearly down the street at night or all of the details of the road before I even start my car. So, I will not realize my lights are not on until I look down to check my dashboard and the speedometer is not lit up.  

Moving to Syracuse was a huge transition for me. First, because I had never been to the East Coast before. And second, because this is my first time living in what could be considered an actual city. I grew up in eastern Oregon, and it is the part of the state no one knows about that’s currently petitioning to become “Greater Idaho.” My hometown rests at just around 1,500 people. The Newhouse School alone has a higher population. I grew up driving hours in any direction in order to get to a Costco or a Walmart.  

For my undergraduate degree I studied at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. This was a big leap for me with a whopping population of about 50,000 permanent residents. Bozeman’s main draw is its university, and I was afforded luxuries I had never had before; like a Target less than 20 minutes away.  

After completing my bachelor’s degree, I moved back with my family to the small town of approximately 3,000 people in McCall, Idaho. Then, I decided to attend Syracuse University for my graduate degree.  

I know some people may fight me on the idea of Syracuse being an actual city. Because, no, it is not a metropolitan area like New York or Philadelphia or Chicago, but I have never been somewhere where there are so many people stacked on top of each other. And it is the little things that make being in a city like this exciting. I have never been somewhere where there is a public transit system that covers as much of the city as Centro does. I cannot explain how exciting it is to have shops open after 7 p.m. And there are professional sports teams based in the city; that is something I have never been able to experience.  

It has taken some adjusting to live here. City traffic really is as bad as people have said and I do miss the quiet nights out in the country. And while Syracuse is not a huge city, it is probably a great starter city for someone like me experiencing all of this for the first time.