20040910

Syracuse, much more than Orange

SYRACUSE, NY -- Few American communities are as connected to a color as this area is to orange.

The Orange of national collegiate sports power Syracuse University permeates the color palette of the region even though there is a lot more to it than football, basketball and lacrosse. The university itself is known for its Maxwell School of Business and Newhouse School of Communications as well as its undergraduate programs.

The community is home to numerous other colleges and professional schools (see the hot links listing on this page to visit them), museums and art galleries, as well as boating, fishing, camping and other outdoor recreational activities -- particularly in nearby wooded and lake areas. The Oswego area is one such hotspot.

The city of Syracuse also has a history of cultural activities, perhaps most famous among them being Syracuse Stage, a prominent "out of town" tryout spot for new productions eventually destined for the Broadway theater district.
Beyond that, a variety of museums and cultural institutions add to the ongoing cultural and societal activities, or just plain fun.

But, not everything is indoors despite the sometimes sever winter months dotted with lake-effect snowstorms coming off the Great Lakes.

Fair-weather outings at the many lakes in the region -- Onondaga, Oneida, Cross, Otisco and others -- as well as in the marshlandsand along the historic Erie Canal are popular among fishermen, campers and hikers.

In the city of 160,000 residents, Armory Square is the center of non-university activities. The historic district offers shopping, dining and nightspots, as well as outdoor concerts and other events. It has its own Web site with a regularly-updated calendar of events throughout the year. It also has its own Columbus Circle (seen above) which gives it an offbeat architectural touch.

The city also has a domed stadium (the inflatable Carrier Dome at SU), a domed IMAX  theater, and the Great New York State Fair. The latter is the oldest continually-operating fair in the U.S.

As befits a town that revolves to a great deal around its educational institutions (see below), the most popular and successful eating places tend toward the casual. A great example is the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, a funky, controlled chaotic place that has spawned offshoots in other cities, including New York.
ON THE WEB
• SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry
• SUNY Institute of Technology
• Syracuse University
• Herkimer Diamond Mines

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