Accolades
Our area, like many others, gives us some good reasons to stay here. Sometimes magazines or research organizations name us as "the best" of something or we get some interesting honor. When it happens - put it here!
- Pierogy Capital - Each year Mrs. T's has a contest to identify what city will be the "pierogy capital." Pierogies are primarily consumed in a swath of the United States from Pennsylvania through Ohio and up to New York. Binghamton won in 2008 and 2009 due to fan votes. Website: http://www.pierogypocket.com/
- Secure City - Farmer's insurance rates the safest cities in America by analyzing crime rates and other information. Greater Binghamton consistently ranks high on this list. In 2008 and 2009 we were ranked 11th out of mid-sized cities (150,000 - 500,000 people.) Our neighbors, Syracuse and Rochester were in the Top 20 large cities. http://www.greaterbinghamton.com/news/viewarticle.asp?a=3007
- Binghamton University as "Public Ivy" - In 1985 a book was published by Richard Moll identifying eight universities around the county as being comparable to ivy league educations. Binghamton was a runner-up at that time (notated in the original book), and when the list was revised in the late 1990s, Binghamton was one of about 30 public schools identified as a "Public Ivy" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy
- Vestal and Binghamton High School nationally ranked - Each year Newsweek creates rankings of high schools in the United States, and Binghamton High School and Vestal High School regularly rank in the Top 500 nationally - out of about 35,000 total. Binghamton High was run as a feature story in Newsweek's coverage of America's Best High Schools in 2007 as well. http://www.greaterbinghamton.com/news/viewarticle.asp?a=2796
- BU ranked best value for money - each year Kiplinger's creates all sorts of college rankings. Binghamton is always one of the top public universities for value of education, and several years has been the nation's best value for out-of-state attendees as well. BU's management degree program has been ranked as high as number 15 in the country as well. http://www.greaterbinghamton.com/news/viewarticle.asp?a=2755 and http://www.greaterbinghamton.com/news/viewarticle.asp?a=2731
- Hot Real Estate Market - This is an ironic one because comparatively speaking our real estate market was moribund compared to a lot of other places in the country during the housing boom - but a lack of a boom meant that we did not have a significant bust. In late 2008 Binghamton was the nation's "hottest" real estate market - and one of the absolutely handful registering any price appreciation. http://www.greaterbinghamton.com/news/viewarticle.asp?a=3024
- Affordable Place to Retire - Yahoo! Real Estate has mentioned Binghamton frequently for a variety of ratings, but one of the most recent was naming Binghamton was a very affordable place to retire. They even interview some retired residents for their article: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-affordable-places-to-retire.html;_ylc=X3oDMTFvMWoxN3UwBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDOTc2MjA0NjUEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNwbGFjZXMtdG8tcmV0aXJl
We recommend checking out the optimism and pessimism pages about the area too.
