Canal & Country

05 · Coming into focus

Finger Lakes

Village main streets, dining rooms, town centers.

The Finger Lakes are a multi-place region, not one metro. Ithaca and Cortland anchor it; Ontario, Seneca, and Cayuga are shared with Rochester and Syracuse; Yates and Schuyler stay light. The page will follow main streets, not a tasting-room circuit. Geneva, Canandaigua, Skaneateles, and Ithaca are towns with dining rooms, shops, and centers people use in every season. Wine country can remain scenery. The subject is town life.

Coming into focus

OMB Bulletin 23-01

Multi-place

Not one MSA. Several places share the lakes, including counties that also sit inside Rochester and Syracuse.

Places
  • Ithaca, NY MSA 27060 Tompkins
  • Cortland, NY μSA 18660 Cortland
Combined area
Ithaca-Cortland, NY CSA 296
Shared counties
  • Shared with Rochester, NY MSA 40380 Ontario
  • Shared with Seneca Falls, NY μSA 42900 Seneca
  • Shared with Auburn, NY μSA 12180 Cayuga
Light
Yates, Schuyler
Pillars
Downtown · Neighborhoods · Suburbs · Food & drink · Commercial corridors

What opens here

The chapters waiting for copy.

  1. Geneva and Canandaigua

    City and village centers at the north end of the lakes, written for weeknights.

  2. Ithaca’s commercial blocks

    Downtown and the streets around campus as a place to eat, shop, and go out.

  3. Skaneateles and the villages

    Small centers with real tables and shops, held to the same standard as a city avenue.