About Central New York

Education

The larger 12-county Central Upstate region is home to 35 colleges and universities with an enrollment of more than 130,000 students.
Central Upstate's five largest research universities receive more than $600 million in R&D funding per year and have set a goal of increasing R&D by $100 million over the next five years. Schools / Free School Reports

Transportation

A 1999 Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac put Syracuse 41st of hte 354 metro areas examined in regard to transportation facilities.
Approxmiately 60 million peole live within a 350-mile radius of Syracuse. This includes the populations of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Montreal.
Within a 750-mile radius of the Greater Syracuse area, companies have access to more than 50 percent of all US and Canadian retail sales, US business establishments, US and Canandian manufacturing facilities and US wholesale sales.
More than 150 motor carriers and small package carriers service the Syracuse area., and are often able to make next-day shipments to locations up to 500 miles away due to Syracuse's strategic location.
State of the art air and rail terminals are just 15 minutes from downtown.
From Hancock International Airport, the region is served by seven major airlines and seven major air cargo carriers.
Eleven of the top 12 common carriers of general freight service the area.
The deep water port of Oswego and the New York State Barge Canal System provide access to the Great Lakes and overseas.
Syracuse is at the crossroads of the major north/south and east/west ground transportation routes in New York State.

Quality of life

Central Upstate New York is blessed with its natural location, and consistently scores highly in rankings of various quality of life issues. With a strong education system, abundant water resources and a strong network of arts, music and atheletic programs, Central Upstate is an ideal place to live and work.
The region's residents enjoy some of the best health care services in the world. The region is home to several large hospitals and Upstate Medical University. More than 1,400 practicing physicians and health care providers serve just the residents of Onondaga County, at the region's core.

About Syracuse

Top City to Raise a Child

Parenting Magazine lists Syracuse as one of the top ten small cities to raise a child. The magazine searched for cities that boasted good schools, affordable housing, healthy economy, low crime rate and a clean environment. The other cities included Stamford, Tallahassee, Boise, Portland, Roanoke, Cedar Rapids, Austin, Omaha, and Colorado Springs.

Top Colleges

Twelve Central New York colleges and universities make the U.S. News and World Report's annual survey of the nation's best institutions of higher learning. Their rankings are based on reputation, faculty resources, financial resources, retention and alumni giving.

Top City for Quality of Life and Logistics

Expansion Management magazine (March 2006) ranked Syracuse as a "5-Star" city in it's annual Quality of Life quotient ranking. This is the third consecutive year Syracuse has been identified as one of the top 20 MSA's for affordable housing, good public schools, freedom from crime, cost of living and other categories.The magazine also recognized Syracuse as a top logistics center and as a five-star knowledge worker metro. Ranking 98th in the USA for logistics, and 4th in New York State, Syracuse was number 1 in workforce and road infrastructure.

America's 6th Most Affordable City to do Business In

Regional Financial Associates developed a metropolitan area cost of doing business index based upon the major costs that vary by area and affect most businesses: Labor, Energy, Tax burdens and Office rents. These four indices are then combined to determine the Cost of Doing Business Index. The top 100 metropolitan areas in America were evaluated. In most cases, data is from 1990-1994.

Cost of Doing Business Index

The Cost of Doing Business Index for Syracuse is 87.7, 12.3 points below the national average. Our overall rank is 94, or 6th most affordable place for business.