How To Ithaca

Photo by David Yu Ithaca is the kind of place where people want to believe they can walk home from a show, meet a new friend, rent a first apartment, and begin an independent life with more excitement than fear. That is part of the promise of a college town. It feels open. It feels connected. It feels young. It is full of people arriving, leaving, studying, working, starting over, and figuring out who they are becoming. But this weekend, that feeling was shaken. The killing o

Here’s what’s on our radar for the week starting Monday, May 25: 1. Ithaca Festival kicks off ThursdayThe parade starts at 6 p.m. on Cayuga Street, followed by the kickoff party at Bernie Milton Pavilion. The festival continues through the weekend downtown with music, art, food, vendors, and plenty of community energy.More info: https://ithacafestival.org/ 2. Memorial Day changes local pickup schedulesCity offices are closed Monday, and trash collection will be delayed by one

Each week, Life in Ithaca highlights three local updates worth knowing, from transportation and city projects to major events that affect daily life around town. Here are three things to keep on your radar for the week starting Monday, May 18. 1. TCAT Route 10 Gets a New Downtown Stop A change is coming for one of Ithaca’s busiest bus routes. Starting Monday, May 18, TCAT Route 10, the high-frequency Cornell–Commons route, will move to a new downtown bus stop on the 200 block

Ithaca is a smart, active, opinionated place. We have universities, nonprofits, local government, small businesses, arts organizations, festivals, neighborhood debates, housing fights, development projects, public safety discussions, school issues, and more community meetings than any normal human calendar should be asked to survive. But when it comes to local media, not every outlet plays the same role. Some organizations are doing journalism. Some are sharing community info

In a world where nearly everything online gets called “news,” it can be helpful to pause and define what different kinds of local media actually do. At Life in Ithaca, we are not trying to be a breaking news outlet. We are a web magazine focused on stories, places, people, events, culture, and everyday life in and around Ithaca. That distinction matters. A traditional news source is usually built around urgency. It reports what happened, when it happened, who was involved, an

Each week, Life in Ithaca is highlighting three local updates worth knowing, from road closures and city government to arts, events, and community life. Here are three things to keep on your radar this week. 1. Stewart Avenue Bridge Closure Begins If Stewart Avenue is part of your regular route, this is the big one. The Stewart Avenue Bridge over Fall Creek is scheduled to close beginning Monday, May 4, as part of a major rehabilitation project. According to the City of Ithac

Today, Friday, April 24, is the final day of this year’s New York State Police “No Empty Chair” Teen Driver Safety Campaign, a statewide effort focused on keeping young drivers safe during one of the most exciting and risky stretches of the school year. The campaign is timed around prom, senior events, and graduation season. Its name carries the whole message: No Empty Chair. No missing student at graduation. No family left with an absence that should have been prevented. Thi

If you’ve walked through Collegetown, the Commons, or down South Hill anytime in the last five years, you’ve probably asked the same question that dominates every local dinner party: “What are they building there?” Until this month, finding the answer required the patience of a saint. You had to dig through PDF agendas from Planning Board meetings, decipher rumors on Reddit, or wait for the steel beams to actually go up. But as of January 2026, the City of Ithaca has handed u