Cortlandville offers suburban and rural living near Cortland
Cortlandville surrounds the city of Cortland in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Cortlandville has a mix of suburban convenience and rural calm, and its relatively large footprint supports ongoing growth, compared to Cortland's mostly established neighborhoods. Amenities include a wide range of recreation, as well as big-box retail and employment opportunities. Access to major travel routes also keeps residents connected to jobs and services in Syracuse and Ithaca .
From mini golf to hiking, Cortlandville supports an active lifestyle
Cortlandville has several green spaces and sports facilities. McGraw Recreation Park offers a playground and a basketball court, and Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex & Town Park often hosts baseball tournaments on its lighted ball fields. The J.M. McDonald Sports Complex is an indoor venue for soccer and ice hockey. Members can play the 18-hole golf course at Cortland Country Club, while the course at Walden Oaks Country Club is open to the public. Other attractions include Shipwreck Amusements, with indoor and outdoor mini golf, and Cort-Lanes, a locally owned bowling alley.
The town’s more rural sections provide opportunities for outdoor exploration. Lime Hollow Nature Center spans about 600 acres and offers more than 10 miles of multiuse trails. The center also has a wheelchair-accessible trail and two all-terrain wheelchairs that visitors can borrow to explore more freely. Hikers can link up with the Finger Lakes Trail, which passes through the southern tip of the community. During the winter months, residents have access to a snowmobile trail network that extends throughout the county and state.
Historical homes in McGraw, and newer offerings in Munsons Corner
The community’s housing options vary by area. In McGraw and Blodgett Mills, Dutch Colonial Revivals and National-style homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s rest along the few paved sidewalks. Cortland West has some newer, ranch-style houses with private driveways. There are also neighborhoods with ranch-style homes and split-levels in Munsons Corners, in addition to multifamily developments. Between these more densely populated sections of town, weathered barns and farmhouses dot the hilly, rural landscape. “Some people are still on well and septic, but they keep expanding the services,” says Joanne Sweeney, an associate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Heritage Realty who has lived in the region all her life. “A lot of the infrastructure in Cortlandville is newer.”
Fixer-uppers typically sell between $50,000 and $80,000, while most sales range from $80,000 to $370,000. Prices for large, custom homes on spacious lots tend to fall between $400,000 and $680,000. Condos sometimes sell from $150,000 to $230,000. The area's CAP Index Crime Score is 2 out of 10, below the national average of 4. Parts of the town lie within designated floodplains, so flood insurance may be required.
School zones include Homer, McGraw, Cortland and Dryden
Cortlandville is served by four different school districts. Homes in the southwestern corner may be zoned for the Dryden Central School District, which earns an overall C-plus from Niche. Cortland Enlarged City School District also gets a C-plus, and it covers some of the area to the south of the city. Children in the eastern section of the region often attend schools within the C-rated McGraw Central School District. Most of the northern part of the community falls under Homer Central School District, which receives an overall B-plus. HCSD’s Homer Central High School also gets a B-plus, and it offers a variety of extracurricular sports, including ice hockey, lacrosse and golf.
Most chain retail and dining is centered in western Cortlandville
Although the eastern section of town has a few small businesses, most commercial development is concentrated in the western half. Here, fast-food options are plentiful, and diners can also sit down for a meal at Doug's Fish Fry or Hyde’s Diner. Downtown Cortland offers more varied cuisine, but less chain retail. “Your biggest entities are in Cortlandville, not in the city,” Sweeney says. Grocery stores include Price Chopper and Grand Union, and there are also large chains such as Lowe’s and Marshalls.
The Cortland County Junior Fair has youth competitions and rides
Cortlandville is home to the Cortland Fairgrounds, which hosts the Cortland County Junior Fair each summer. The fair allows young residents to showcase their skills through cooking and table-setting contests, as well as livestock competitions. This multiday event also features carnival rides, a touch-a-truck display and live music.
Limited Centro bus service, plus access to I-81
Centro provides bus transportation in some parts of town, but the community is largely car dependent, and Interstate 81 and state Route 13 are the main thoroughfares. Syracuse lies roughly 30 miles from the northern tip of Cortlandville, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport is about 40 miles away. Ithaca is less than 25 miles west of Munsons Corners, and the Guthrie Cortland Medical Center rests just a few miles from most homes.
