When I was a kid, we left Utica (Whitesboro) in 1960 and moved to Ithaca. Stayed there five years. Moved to Syracuse (Fayetteville) and spent a year there. Ithaca was the nicest place of the three, but I got jumped and sucker punched by a city ghetto rat around 1964.
Even in the late 50s, Utica wasn’t much.
I left Utica, for Ithaca as well. For grad school @ Cornell.
I lived in Syracuse for most of my life (35 years) and then Ithaca/Cortland, then back to Syracuse after graduation and then to Rochester for the last 15.