Cityscape (left) and
Chenango (right) rivers According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and (5.83%) is water. The Downtown area sits at the confluence of the
Chenango and
Susquehanna Rivers, in the middle of a long but relatively narrow valley. Eleven bridges span the rivers inside city limits. Broome County has 17.5 miles of
levees, many of which are in Binghamton. Major floods have occurred in 1865, 1935, 1936,
2006, and
2011. The incorporation of Binghamton united various communities on both shores of the two rivers. The majority of the city's population and development lies along the rolling terrain nearest the riverbanks with sparse development in the hills that define the city limits. The old city was laid out on a grid system by Joshua Whitney Jr., Over 1,000 properties on the West Side contribute to the
Abel Bennett Tract Historic District, mainly made up of residential properties along Riverside Drive. Downtown's
State Street-Henry Street Historic District consists of several older low-rise buildings. The
Court Street Historic District has some of the city's most notable architecture, including the Press Building and Security Mutual Building, early 20th century high rises, and the
Broome County Courthouse. The Press Building was the tallest building in Binghamton until the completion of the State Office Building in
Government Plaza, which remains the tallest in the city. Away from downtown, most of the buildings are single- and multi-family dwellings, along with low-rise business buildings lining commercial arteries. Along the railroad corridors, several factories, mostly abandoned, rise above the otherwise-uniform landscape.
Main Street runs through the West Side, and continues west to serve as Main Street in the villages of
Johnson City and
Endicott. On the east side of the Chenango River, the road becomes
Court Street, the major east–west artery in downtown and the East Side.
Neighborhoods Binghamton is divided into seven neighborhoods.
Downtown Binghamton, also known as Center City, is home to most of the city's largest buildings and government services. Located at the northeast corner of the river confluence and increasingly populated by college students, it supports a flourishing arts scene. The
North Side is across the
Norfolk Southern rail tracks from downtown, along the Chenango River. The North Side is a light commercial and working-class residential area of the city, with Chenango Street serving as its major artery. The
East Side lies east of the
Brandywine Highway, along the north bank of the Susquehanna River. The neighborhood is largely residential with commercial corridors along Robinson and Court streets, and it has pockets of industrial development along its borders. Across the Chenango River lies the
West Side, a primarily residential neighborhood along the banks of the Susquehanna that has a combination of family homes, student housing, and stately mansions. Main Street's large supermarkets, pharmacies, bank branches, pubs, restaurants, auto shops, and a few strip malls form the West Side's commercial corridor. The
First Ward, a largely residential neighborhood opposite the railroad tracks from the West Side, is best known for Antique Row, a series of antique shops that line Clinton Street. This part of the city is home to several gold-domed Christian churches built by the area's many Eastern European immigrants. It is also home to several large supermarkets, churches, pharmacies, bank branches, a few bars and restaurants as well as
mom and pop shops that provide such goods as video games and music. Ely Park, Binghamton's northernmost neighborhood, contains its municipal golf course. It lies on parts of Prospect Mountain and other hills north of the First Ward. The
Southside lies along the south bank of the Susquehanna River and is connected to downtown by several bridges. At the base of the historic
South Washington Street Bridge is the Southbridge commercial district. The neighborhood is partitioned into two neighborhood assemblies, divided by Pennsylvania Avenue and Southbridge, due to their distinct characters. Summers in Binghamton are typified by warm yet temperate days, and there are an average of only 2.6 days annually where the high exceeds , with the highest recorded temperature at on July 16, 1988. Like other cities near the Great Lakes, Binghamton has a large number of days with cloud cover and at least some precipitation. Binghamton has 190 cloudy or mostly cloudy days per year, which is the 11th most among US cities. Cloudiness is most common during winter, with mostly cloudy or overcast skies 37% of the time in August but 68% of the time in January. While average annual precipitation is , which is typical for the eastern half of the United States, Binghamton averages 164 days of measurable (at least .01 inches) precipitation, which is among the highest in the country. Snowfall is significant, with an annual total of . Binghamton is not as affected by
lake-effect snow as cities further north or west such as
Syracuse and
Buffalo, which are part of the Great Lakes
snowbelt. However, persistent snow bands from both the Great Lakes and the
Finger Lakes can reach Binghamton.), and competes for the
Golden Snowball Award with other upstate cities. ==Demographics==