The Best Independent Living Communities in Monroe County, NY

"Mom is here and the facility is very close to where I live. The staff are outstanding. They provide meals and they do some housecleaning. They have many activities going on like bingo and different types of church groups come in. They also have transportation which takes the residents to their doctor's appointment. They do lot of different things. They have a formal dining room. Breakfast is buffet style and dinner is sit-down style and they have waiters and waitresses."

"I lived there until last year. I live with my daughter now. I am trying to move back there. The food is much better there. I have such good friends there."

"I've found Solstice to be warm and welcoming community. The staff are friendly, supportive and always offer a smile. The campus is well-kept, with beautiful grounds that make daily walks enjoyable. My apartment is spacious, cozy and truly feels like home. What I appreciate the most is balance, there are plenty of activities, social opportunities, and services available, but nothing feels mandatory. I feel comfortable, safe and independent, while also knowing support is always nearby. Moving to Solstice has made this stage of life a comfortable and positive transition."

"My grandmother is in here. It is very clean. Everybody is very nice and helpful. They are willing to talk to anybody who needs help. She is in a private room and it is very nice. The food is also good. They have a lot of music activities, shows and a lot of things during the holidays."

"The Woodlands was quite nice. It was just too far away from anything like going shopping or go someplace else. The tour went well, though. The staff was very interested in us."

"We have lived here for six years. The staff is fine and very helpful. I have two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, and a small kitchen. Sanitation is immaculate, and the food is excellent."

"I went to The Greens. It's not suitable for my sister. It's beautiful and she would have her own apartment. However, my sister would be in control of her meds there, and she can't do that. The staff who gave the tour was very friendly. She showed me the dining room and the recreation room. They showed me a room that my sister could go into. She did a very good tour. She was very knowledgeable. I've seen a lot of elderly people walking around, and they seemed very happy. The bathrooms were perfectly clean, too. Nothing on the floor. It was pristine. They serve breakfast and dinner; they don't serve lunch. It was a good tour, so I was kind of upset because I thought my sister could go there, but due to her disabilities, it's not going to happen. The Greens is for independent living, but my sister needs assisted living like someone to give her meds and stuff like that."

Upside is truly an exclusive opportunity to live independently on your own terms. We offer luxury living options with over 2,500+ apartments in our network across the country alongside a dedicated and experienced personal concierge support system. Upside is a uniquely designed senior living alternative to help you live completely independently. The Upside team helps you find a luxury-style apartment living option and provide you with extra layers of care and assistance, whenever and however you need it. Once you're settled in your new home, we connect you to your personal concierge and expert on all things aging. The Upside concierge is available to help arrange meal and grocery deliveries, transportation services, schedule appointments, assist with technology, and so much more! Anything you need, Upside is just a quick phone call or text away.

"Brickstone is a wonderful community, very high end and reasonably new. It does not provide meals so you have to go to a restaurant to get meals or you have to cook your own, so it's really made for an active living community. It has high-end and very well-appointed apartments. The staff was very nice. One thing that I saw that I appreciated was there were a lot of people out walking and smiling happily and the person I was with knew the name of everybody we saw and talked to them. It's very, very impressive. I have seen other places where people are not smiling all the time but in this place, they are, both the residents and staff. It's a very warm, comforting community. They have a variety of apartments, and they also have separate cottages. I did not see the cottages except from the outside though. They have a lot going on. There's a swimming pool, which the residents of the other St. John's facilities can go over and use. They use the swimming pool also for physical therapy as well as swimming. They have shuttle services that come in, they have buses to send residents to shopping and to the symphony and plays. They have a well-organized set of activities. Brickstone is really nice, but it's also expensive."

"Every staff member of St John’s from the administration to the maintenance service wants to make us safe, comfortable, and enjoying our meals. Plus we have the longest running and greatest transportation service. The apartments are designed to be easy to accommodate our needs. There are gyms, a pool, libraries, exercise classes, movies, etc. The Vice President of the company that oversees residential life worked hard for weeks to obtain a Covid vaccine clinic to come to our apartments to administer it to us. "

"I toured Valley Manor. I love the location. It's downtown, but it's close to an arts district, and it's nice for neighborhood walking. They were a little short of staff the day I visited. Now, whether that's a chronic condition or whether it just happened to be that day, I don't know, but the staff was very pleasant. I noticed that they greeted their residents by name, which is kind of unusual, but it seemed to be a very people-oriented place. The meal I had was very good and there was a nice selection on the menu. It's an apartment building with a nice garden and patio area, and beautifully landscaped. The apartments vary a lot. They allow the residents to decorate, and if they want to install things, even like a bar or an art gallery or something in their own apartments, they can do that. It's obviously at their own expense, but I was very impressed with the individuality that is permitted in each apartment."

"Seneca Towers is fine and I like the privacy they offer. However, before I moved in, I told them I don't want a place over sixth floor because that's the limit of the fire department ladder, but still they put me on the 20th floor. Their elevators are small and it would take 10 minutes to go 20 floors. I have to do my laundry at 4:30 in the morning because that is the only time I can make use of the elevator. It is during this time that there were less people using it. The neighborhood surrounding Seneca Towers is terrible. It is almost like an inner city environment. I'm not happy with it at all. "

"I love living at Legacy-Clover/Blossom. The staff across the board are nice, helpful and accommodating. There are so many fun activities and I especially love the outings. Kristy is always trying to think of fun things to do. There are also great musical groups that come to perform. Women’s Club and Happy Hour are personal favorites of mine. The menu and food choices are adequate (thanks to the pandemic, there are limitations just like everywhere) but the servers work hard and are wonderful. "

"My mother-in-law has been at St. Ann's Community at Chapel Oaks for a year now. It really has everything that you would need. The staff is very accommodating, very friendly, and supportive. The food is good. The apartments are nice. The facility is very clean, well kept, spacious enough, sunny, and cheerful. They have balconies, which I like. They don't have a lot of activities with COVID, but they have exercise and a book club."