Small Town America - The City of
the Hills
The City of Oneonta can be characterized as a
friendly community -- one that is proud of its
diversity, stability and beauty. With a population of
just under 14,000 people, one of the City's finest
attributes is its small town atmosphere. Residents and
visitors alike are attracted to Oneonta because of its
friendliness, its reputation as a great place to raise a
family, its safety, and the overall perception that it
is a family oriented community, "where everyone knows
everyone else."
Oneonta's Main Street complements the small town
ambiance. Red brick sidewalks and turn of the century
style street lamps suggest the disarming feel of a
simpler, more genteel era. Main Street's old fashioned
"band stand" and the many elegant and comfortable
benches beckon shoppers to slow their hurried pace; to
relax and take in the ambiance of Oneonta's
Rockwellesque downtown and to engage the panorama of
century old architecture and timeless rolling hills.
Main Street is the heart of the retail shopping industry
in the City and offers a wide range of shopping options
mostly centered on locally owned and operated specialty
shops. The City of Oneonta is governed by an eight member
Common
Council which is presided over by the Mayor. The
City is surrounded by the Town of Oneonta and both
governments are separate entities sending
representatives to the Otsego County Board of
Representatives. The City has four representatives at
the County level and the Town has one.The City of Oneonta is a deeply religious community
of varied faiths, as is typical of Upstate New York.
Fifty-four churches comprise the fifteen different
congregations in and around Oneonta. These include
Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Science, Episcopal,
Jewish, Lutheran, Mormon, Presbyterian, Religious
Society of Friends, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army,
Unitarian, Universalist, United Methodist, Seventh Day
Adventist, Christian and Community congregations. Other
religious affiliations include the Otsego County Council
of Churches, Oneonta Inter-Church Committee, Campus
Ministries of Oneonta and the Church Alive radio
program.
|
