Ithaca might be ten square miles surrounded by reality but certainly buying a house in East Ithaca will set you back some big cash compared to some of the rundown farmsteads not that far away from the city with the Ivy League college.
For decades there was a debate on how to untangle the mess of roads known as the Ithaca Octopus where NY 79, NY 89, NY 96 and NY 13A all came together in a 8-legged intersection known for traffic jams and crashes. Ultimately, they settled on a plan that split up each of those roads into three separate bridges constructed in the late 1990s
https://www.tompkinsweekly.com/articles/on-past-kerfuffles-including-the-octopus/
I’ve never explored the Cascadilla Gorge in Ithaca. It’s been on my list of places to explore, but I usually avoid Ithaca when I’m in the Finger Lakes due to the traffic and yuppies plus I can’t park on the Cornell Campus as usually I have one or more firearms in my truck, especially during hunting season. But there is no reason why I couldn’t park on the street and hike up into the gorge.
