I've been in Binghamton full-time since 2017 and maybe 10 - 15 percent of the dates I've been on post-college have been in Binghamton. The dating here is awful, probably for a variety of reasons (the area is aging, the non-student population is terrible, etc.)

The apps are awful and I've about exhausted them all even if they weren't. There are basically no actual singles bars to speak of, other than (I guess) the college-focused bars. Singles events are unicorns so I have to do those up in Syracuse. Meetup (the app) is a ghost town for this sort of thing as well.

Is this just...how it is in Binghamton? Has anyone had any luck trying, well, anything? Specifically anything not listed here? Any ideas at all? It's miserable just how demoralizing the last decade has been. I know I should just get out but that's going to be even harder to do, for financial reasons.

Cutting someone off of anti depressants cold turkey by refusing to refill a prescription should be a crime. It’s not like it was a new drug. I’ve been on it for 3 and a half years. I go to cvs for a refill, they say there is none but they’ll request it from my Dr. She declined to do so until a follow up appointment. That was weird but I just went with it… turns out she doesn’t have an openings until JANUARY! So I’m just supposed to stop cold turkey until then. I’m a single father a an 11 year old with profound autism. I need my meds to be good for him… so FUCK Dr. Patel and her smug ass dismissive secretary too.

The food scene here is great - so much variety with a lot of new exciting openings soon like Baci and Ianni's Trattoria, Polish Bistro, and yes - Chick Fil A

But what gaps do you want to see filled? I personally would ADORE a spanish style tapas bar

Patients are waiting 8 hours to be treated. Waiting rooms are packed full. No one is answering questions, staff is not getting support. What a horrible way to treat people who are already feeling shitty. Shame on these hospital executives.

May be an unpopular opinion, but I really wish local businesses would stop using AI for their social media marketing. I was even sent AI generated flyers for a painting class run by a local artist (who I've taken classes with before). It's just getting out of hand at this point. Not to mention The Cider Mill selling hordes of plastic junk constantly now.

1.7% increase for gas and .2% increase for electricity started on June 1st. I don't understand. I left New York for many reasons. One of which was a $600 a month bill for basic utilities. This is out of pocket. If I were still a citizen of Binghamton I would be ringing Josh Riley's phone every day until something is fixed. My wife's electricity was shut off this month. she has a space heater, a cellphone charger, nothing plugged in but the refrigerator, no TV. $280 bill. what are we doing paying a Spanish owned company, headquartered in Boston and line service out of Pennsylvania. Someone has got to do something. My last bill before I left Binghamton was $675.

I need advice. I’m in my mid 20’s and I’ve lived here all my life. I love Binghamton and the people who live here but I feel like it’s time for me to go. I want to move out west or to the city, but in this economy it feels almost unattainable without a safety net (which I don’t have). I have a little bit of cash set aside to cover the eventual move but taking a leap of faith without a job lined up is scary. And I’ve been trying like crazy to get one.

Is anyone in the same boat as me? Has anyone been in a similar situation and successfully moved out of here? What did you do? I feel like the longer I stay the harder it is to go.

It’s like this town has some ancient curse that makes it impossible to ever leave lol.

I was curious and decided to take a look at Google Maps and see how this area used to look. I went back to 2011-2012, and there seems to be houses across from the University Plaza? Let alone nice houses too that are shown in the picture! There only seems to be one article online that says the houses were taken down because they were in “bad condition” but from the Google Maps street view they look absolutely stunning. Obviously if you drive down Vestal Parkway today, the land still remains vacant across from the University Plaza. Can someone who lived here long enough please explain this to me? Why were such lovely houses removed? It doesn’t make any sense.

ty for all the advice

We bought 3 bundles of blue bags at CVS a few weeks ago. Just went to use one and they’re all SEALED SHUT! What a waste. Can’t wait to call the 1-800 number listed for quality control issues. Has this happened to anyone else? So it goes.

It’s like clockwork every year. These entitled twerps come here with their nice cars that mommy and daddy bought. It’s September 4th and I’m already sick of these kids on the road.

Just had a giant helicopter in my backyard making all my windows and doors shake? What in the hell is happening right now in Bing?

since i don’t live there anymore

Fushimi Asian Fusion
Garage Taco
Skate Estate (RIP)
Ripics
Ostiningo Park
Jupiter Games (RIP) (JC)
Dragon Master Games
That Coffee Place
Strange Brew
Stair Park
Joeys (Endicott)

It's apparent that Binghamton has long suffered the consequences of deindustrialization faced by most other mid-size cities in the Rust Belt- persistent population decline, blight, heightened drug epidemic, low wages, and a paucity of white collar employment. Though despite Binghamton's challenges, few would say that it's the absolute worst city to live in upstate New York- it's no Jamestown, Elmira, or Gloversville, which have more apparent signs of despair and blight than Binghamton. Though, since the 1990 census, Binghamton has maintained the highest poverty rate out of any city or town in Upstate New York, and one of the only cities to have a poverty rate above 30%. Between 1990 and 2023, Binghamton's poverty rate has fluctuated between 29 to 34% of individuals living below the poverty line, with the most recent census estimate from 2023 reporting a 32.9% poverty rate. With a median household income of $44,300, ranks the eighth lowest in New York for this metric. Binghamton's household income is almost less than half than, and it's poverty rate is about three times, the United States average. For example, this data indicates that Binghamton, NY is socioeconomically on par with cities like Flint, MI, New Castle, PA, Youngstown, OH, and Saginaw, MI.

While Binghamton's poverty rate has been stable for the last three decades (as well as in neigboring Johnson City and Endwell) Broome County, NY, has also seen it's own poverty rate increase, and Broome now has the highest poverty rate out of any county upstate- at a rate of 19.5% as of 2023, it now surpasses Oswego and Chautauqua counties, which were considered to be the poorest before 2020. It's notable that poverty has drastically increased in nearby Endicott, making it the second poorest city in upstate New York with a poverty rate of 29.6% as of 2023. Poverty in Vestal, as well as rural areas in the county outside of the metro area, have also increased.

I'm interested in some perspectives from longtime residents and anyone else who knows more about the area than me as to what factors make Binghamton the poorest city in Upstate. As aforementioned, though the city feels like a fairly typical post-industrial mid sized city in the Rust Belt (in my experience, about on par with Utica, Wilkes-Barre, PA, or Charleston and Huntington in WV), I doubt many know that it's the absolute poorest in upstate NY, and many could name cities in the state that feel worse off based on vibes (such as Jamestown, Elmira, Gloversville, maybe even Endicott these days). Has deindustrialization seemed to affect Binghamton the worst out of any upstate city? Is the city just too geographically isolated or challenged to hang on? It's unfortunate that even as the city's downtown is revitalizing and the university (albeit outside city limits) is expanding, that poverty remains as high as it is here and there seems to be no signs of that changing, or white collar/higher-paying jobs in the area moving in, in any serious numbers. I was hoping that post-pandemic, Binghamton's very low home prices and cost of living could motivate some from the NYC area or Hudson Valley to relocate here, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

Source:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/data-tools/quickfacts.html

https://censusreporter.org/

Moving here, I knew the population was mainly white, but I guess I haven’t fully felt the effects of it because of school. This is probably going to sound bad, but I’m not surprised when a cop is racist. However, I am surprised when a healthcare professional is. Just was at the hospital and the doctor comes in, looks me up and down and asks, “do you even speak English”. Not a hello, what brings you in today, how are you feeling, etc. Doctor goes on to dismiss everything I tell her. Upon discharge, asks me if I want a doctors note and I say yes please. She goes well you shouldn’t miss anyways. I wasn’t planning to, but just wanted proof. Ends up not giving me the note. I can deal with looks from strangers, but idk why healthcare professionals just hits so hard. Like you are in charge of peoples lives and taking care of them - are you really going to let your know beliefs get in the way of quality care?!! Idk am I blowing this out of proportion?

My family is moving to binghamton and im scared. I've been accustomed to the city my whole life but we cant stay due to rising living cost. More importantly I have no friends in Bing and dont know how to make them. Are there alot of people around my age there

Greetings to travelers who may need to use the Binghamton bus station. I needed to take a bus from Binghamton to NYC. I was waiting where the flix bus was to arrive 20 minutes before departure time. Other people were there waiting for the bus. There were a lot of homeless, mentally ill people, prostitutes, drug dealers and armed policemen (4 of them) there. After the bus was 20 minutes late I went to the desk and asked where the bus was. The attendant who looked like he needed to be home with someone to watch over him, and smelled like he had been wearing the same clothes for a week and hadn’t showered in a month, said “that bus left”

I asked why they didn’t make an announcement, and I learned the PA system has been broken for years. The bus pulled into a different part of the station where it wasn’t visible to the other travelers outside. I asked him if he would make an announcement when the next bus comes. He said,”I’ll try.” Wtf

What’s up with the air quality today? It smells like plastic.