Well, today I set out on my little journey to collect fruit. And I found most of my fruit here in Syracuse in the Bayberry development. This area sits in the northern suburbs of the city, in Liverpool. It is a large development known for its affordable but quality housing and proximity to Liverpool High School and two of the elementary schools. It is very convenient to grocery shopping, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses as it sits between route 57 and Morgan road. It is also very close to Great Northern Mall, the subject of my first Syracuse at its Best post.

As I mentioned when I first saw the idea to do this, I just sold my parents a house here, on Gooseberry. It's really hilarious because we all said that we liked the house but hated the street name, and that no one ever hears about Gooseberries! And yet, here it is. We really enjoyed driving around the neighborhood and taking the pictures of the street signs. Today was the nicest day we've had for a while. We saw our first butterfly of the Spring and enjoyed listening to the birds singing, so I was glad to have the mission to go on today.

This development is also very nice because they have a series of what are called "green areas." These are places in between and behind groups of houses that are undeveloped, and dedicated to stay that way. It allows for kids to play and for the high school students to have off road paths to and from the school from the houses. Some of them have small playgrounds or basketball courts, while others are completely green. This is something that is done from time to time in the town of Clay, so it is not specific to Bayberry.

Bayberry also has a very casual homeowner's association. They have a nominal fee to cover some basic things like the upkeep of the signs and planting flowers along them, a yearly garage sale, and a visit from Santa for the little ones at Christmas time. The association sponsors a Holiday decoration contest as well, and there is a small farmer's market at one end of the neighborhood on Thursdays with fresh produce from the outlying farms.

The more I write about this wonderful community, the better I like it! It's starting to make me want to move there. My parents got such a warm welcome when they moved in, and they have had nothing but good things to say about their new place ever since. The basic feeling is that Bayberry never aged as time went by, it is still the ‘50s there, with a small town feel and friendly neighbors who watch out for each other and chat in the front yards on their way home from work. It is truly a great place to live.

 The houses in the area are mostly split levels, ranches, and raised ranches.  There are also some cape cods.  Bayberry's trademark floor plan seems to be a 5 level split, which they called the "executive."  Any other details vary so much from house to house that it would be silly for me to go on here.  Please check out the other pictures below to see all the fruits I collected.  The neighborhood also has a series of streets names after our feathered friends.  Anyone want to do some bird watching?

* I do want to note that the last two pictures, of Persimmon and Plumhollow, are from slightly different neighborhoods.  Persimmon is very close to Bayberry, also in the town of Clay and near the schools.  Plumhollow is still in the town of Clay, but it is a couple miles from Bayberry.  The homes in that area are significantly larger, newer, and more expensive than Bayberry.  Thanks for reading, and if you want to move to Bayberry, welcome home!