Geography of Syracuse: Newyork

Syracuse is located at 43°2′49″ North, 76°8′40″ West (43.046899, -76.144423)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 66.4 km² (25.6 mi²). 65.0 km² (25.1 mi²) of it is land and 1.4 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.15% water, with the major water body being Onondaga Lake.

The city is seen as the northeast gateway to the Finger Lakes Region. The city has many neighborhoods which were originally various villages that joined the city over the years. Although the central part of Syracuse is flat, many of its neighborhoods are located on small hills such as University Hill and Tipperary Hill. Land to the north of Syracuse is generally flat while land to the south is hilly.

Major parks in the area include Burnet Park on Tipperary Hill, Upper Onondaga Park and Lower Onondaga Park which is connected to Kirk Park in Strathmore, and Thornden Park between the University Hill and Westcott neighborhoods. Burnet Park is home to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo and the first public golf course in the United States (1901). Also worth mentioning is Schiller Park in the Near Northeast neighborhood, and Sunnycrest Park in Eastwood.

About 27 percent of Syracuse’s land area is covered by 890,000 trees - a higher percentage than in Albany, Rochester or Buffalo. This is despite the Labor Day Storm of 1998, a derecho which destroyed approximately 30,000 trees. The sugar maple accounts for 14.2 percent of Syracuse’s trees, followed by the Northern white cedar (9.8 percent) and the European buckthorn (6.8 percent). The most common street tree is the Norway maple (24.3 percent) followed by the honeylocust (9.3 percent). The densest tree cover in Syracuse is in the two Valley neighborhoods, with 46.6 percent of their land covered by trees. The lowest tree cover percentage is found downtown, which consists of only 4.6 percent trees.

Syracuse’s main water source is Skaneateles Lake, one of the country’s cleanest lakes, located about 20 miles southwest of the city. Incoming water is left unfiltered, and only a trivial amount of chlorine is added to prevent bacterial growth. For periods of draught, there is also a backup line which uses water from Lake Ontario.