“We are very happy here. Management creates a positive culture and has good employee retention. My mom is happy with the food most of the time, and she really likes the activities. Her room is kept clean, and she loves the maintenance staff; she says they're great. The nurses and aides are all great, and everything always looks really well kept. It's a pretty good value, she's very safe, and I have definitely recommended it to others.”
Independent Living and Assisted Living and Memory Care
Walden Place
839 Bennie Rd, Cortland, NY 13045 · Map
What residents and families say
Senior Living Alliance interviews named residents and family members by phone and records each call. Every testimonial is dated and published as given. How we verify
“The apartment sizes were really appealing; most places we saw didn't have large rooms, and this one uniquely has apartments. The director does a really great job, has a solid staff, and the place is really organized. My parents like ordering from a menu at every meal. Laundry never backs up, and the housekeeper is very friendly and thorough. The building is in top-notch shape, and the driver is very accommodating. The aides seem committed to helping everybody. It's been a lifesaver for my parents, and I recommend it one hundred percent.”
“I really liked how nice it is, how few residents there are, how attentive they are and how clean it is. The memory care director is amazing and calls me at least once a week. My mom really enjoys the meals; everything seems like a home-cooked meal, and there are always other options. They make sure residents have a routine and always have something to do, and my mom really enjoyed the visiting dogs. The move-in was very, very smooth, and the building and landscaping are always well maintained. I would recommend it.”
“We just love it here. They're all great and very, very polite. When my husband first came, they told me I could visit any time and stay as long as I like. There are snacks in between meals and coffee whenever you want, even for me. There are two big patios to sit outside, and lots to do. Maintenance comes very fast, even the same day. The staff are very friendly and know your name by your second day. I like it here, and I've been recommending it.”
“Everyone who knows this place says it's one of the best in the country, and I recommend it to everybody. The person in charge does a great job communicating and is available for concerns and just chatting. The food looks good with a good variety, and the servers are just the sweetest folks. Maintenance helps my mom with anything, and the front looks fabulous. Transportation is right on top of it, and the care staff are very respectful and keep an eye on her without being obtrusive.”
“I looked at many, many places before we decided on this one, and I feel it is the best place in the area. My grandmother absolutely loves the food and the variety, and they're so accommodating, even bringing a sandwich to her room. They really encourage every resident to get involved; she's in the book club and absolutely loves when the musicians come in. The head nurse is exceptional. They take the time with each resident, and we're very happy with the service and the care.”
“The staff is incredibly personal and responsive, making my dad feel right at home. The dining area is spotless, and the food is great. They offer engaging activities that keep residents active and social. Overall, it's a well-run community with excellent communication and care. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a safe and welcoming environment for their loved ones.”
“The management team is outstanding, always available to answer questions and keep everyone informed. The food is delicious, and they do a fantastic job encouraging residents to participate in activities, which keeps everyone engaged. The place is always clean and welcoming, and any maintenance needs are addressed promptly. Overall, I feel very grateful for the care and support provided here. I highly recommend this community to other people!”
“The staff is incredibly caring and attentive, making sure they get to know the residents personally. I was impressed by the little details, like having my mom's name on the welcome materials and the delicious cookies they offered during our visit. Overall, my mom is happy and feels well taken care of, and I couldn't be more pleased with our choice.”
“My brother lives in this community. The management team is outstanding and always very responsive. The food is delicious, and I appreciate the excellent service. They offer a wide variety of activities, which is great for those who want to stay engaged. The housekeeping and maintenance teams are also very efficient and kept everything in order. Overall, it's a safe and comfortable environment, and I would definitely recommend it!”
“I recently helped my husband move into this community and our experience has been fantastic so far. The staff is super friendly and helpful, always making sure he feels comfortable and welcomed. He enjoys the meals and has had a great time with the activities they've planned. The place is well-maintained and has a warm atmosphere. Overall, we're very satisfied and I would absolutely recommend this community to others looking for a supportive environment.”
“My father lives at this community and the staff are very attentive and very respectful to him. They are efficient and get back to you in a timely fashion too, they keep him engaged, and they are responsive. We needed new railings put up and they had that done before we had finished unpacking.”
“This community is very well run from the top down. The dining here is just incredible and the transportation here is very dependable! I think that this community deserves all of the praise that they can get.”
“I am so glad we chose this community because they made the decision easy for her and easy for the family. We are all thrilled that she is in such a good place. They are absolutely on top of everything and are totally amazing! I talk to the director all the time because he is so visible, and always out in the hallways. Overall, their interaction with her and all the residents isn't just their physical well-being, it's their mental health as well.”
“I am pleased with this community. The management staff have been very responsive and the healthcare staff are very responsive as well and very open to conversation. If it is something severe they have kept me aprised. My mom is pleased with the food and the servers are very good to my mother. She also enjoys the activities and especially the music. Plus, the housekeepers are good and the maintenance staff keep up with the seasons and the different decorations for the seasons too which my mom really enjoys. So, I would absolutely recommend this community to others.”
“Considering the amount of care that Dad got and he called it home and that was his family, I think it was a great value.Denise is in charge of health and wellness, she was awesome, anytime I had an issue she would go check on him and they always made my dad feel like their best friend.They are all terrific, keep up the good work.”
“I live at the community and I am enjoying the experience. The accommodations are great and the value is certainly worth it. Management is wonderful, extremely nice and organized. The dining is amazing and I can guarantee that everyone living here loves to go eat. We're thrilled with the activities, and our activity person is marvelous and trained. The housekeeping is excellent and laundry services are very organized. The maintenance man is capable, nice and on top of everything. The care staff is nice and obviously devoted to their missions. I feel safe, comfortable, and I've lived in the area for 20 years and have always heard good things about it.”
“My aunt is getting taken care of and it is the best place possible for this area. The healthcare staff are right on top of things and the management staff are very good at keeping me informed through emails and letters and calls. I appreciate everything they do as far as keeping me informed. The food is good and with the activities, they seem to be engaged and the staff is always extremely friendly.”
“The staff here is very nice, helpful, accommodating and will help you in any way. They keep the building well maintained, they do a good job cleaning and they provide delicious food that my mother loves. Overall this is a great place.”
“The staff overall is great! The health care staff is extremely patient and has been great working with my sister. The director of health, Denise, has been tremendous for her residents that she has. Jan from the front desk is just terrific and Michelle in the business office has been doing a great job. We have been very satisfied with the community!”
Photos, prices and details provided by the community. This community is a Senior Living Alliance member.
About the community
Walden Place is a state-licensed independent living, assisted living, memory care community in Cortland, New York. It is licensed for 86 residents. 20+ residents and family members have shared phone-verified testimonials through Senior Living Alliance.
Life at Walden Place

Dining
Residents eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in restaurant-style dining rooms with personalized menus and chef-prepared meals. A bistro and bar offers happy hour, daily snacks and a hydration station.

Activities
A monthly calendar covers fitness classes, book clubs, music programs, games and puzzles, hobby clubs, writing workshops and continued learning. The community's programming list includes chair exercise, yoga, bingo, card games, trivia, live music, movie screenings, painting classes and resident council meetings. Transportation is provided for shopping trips, outings, church and doctor visits.
Amenities
- Bistro and bar
- Fitness center
- Exercise studio
- Walking paths
- Enclosed courtyards
- Game room
- Salon and barbershop
- Piano lounge
- Screening room
- Library
- Garden
- Lounge fireplace
Memory care program
Embrace Memory Care uses a five-pillar framework of connection, enrichment, challenge, creativity and wellness. Named programs include Essence aromatherapy, Thymeless indoor hydroponic gardening and cooking, Melody and Bookmarks music and reading programs, Snapshots family updates, and Spark with Brain Health University.
Meet the team
- Awards
- 2026 Best Assisted Living and Best Memory Care, U.S. News & World Report
2026 All-Star Staff Award from the Empire State Association of Assisted Living (ESAAL), Executive Director Harlan Dunn
Floor plans
4 layouts from Walden Place’s website. Sizes and prices are as the community lists them; ask which are available now.
Prices
Starting prices the community publishes, with the date we checked each one and a link to where it is published. Care charges are usually added after an assessment.
| Care | Starting at | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted Living | $5,049 /mo | Oct 12, 2026 |
| Memory Care | $8,622 /mo | effective 1/1/2026 |
Area costs
How this page is paid for. Lilisity is operated by Senior Living Alliance. Walden Place is a member and pays SLA for its resident and family interview program. Payment never changes a testimonial, a rating or the order of search results. Testimonials come from SLA phone interviews. Prices, license details and inspections come from the community’s published rates and public records. How we verify testimonials · How we are paid
Lilisity’s independent report
What the public record shows
Gathered by Lilisity from state and federal sources. Communities can’t edit this part of the page.
License
Active, 86 residents
Adult Home / ALR, EALR, SNALR 210-F-030, current license dated Jan 11, 2002. Licensee SL Walden, LLC.
Nearest emergency room
3.5 miles
Guthrie Cortland Regional Medical Center, rated 3 of 5 stars by CMS.
State inspection record10 violations, 0 enforcement actions
- Last inspection report
- March 2, 2026
- Inspections
- 21, 10 violations cited
- Complaint inspections
- 19, 8 violations cited
- Enforcement actions
- 0
- No violations cited at the last 2 inspections (October 2025 to March 2026)
Inspection reports
- March 2, 2026, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- October 28, 2025, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- September 12, 2025, other survey: 1 violation (Facility reports) Plan/Notice of Correction Approved
- August 1, 2025, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- June 16, 2025, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
Show all 9
- March 26, 2025, relicensure, complaint, follow-up survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- March 26, 2025, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- February 20, 2025, complaint survey: 0 violations Plan/Notice of Correction Not Required
- and 13 more on the state’s site
Read the full record on the state’s site →
DOH: “The Department conducts inspections for certification purposes every 12 to 18 months at each ACF, as well as follow-up inspections to ensure that any previously cited deficiencies are corrected. Additional investigations are conducted as a result of complaints and incident reports received by the Department.” DOH: “Violations under dispute through the Inspection Review Process (IRP) are not displayed.” Under 18 NYCRR Part 486, DOH may assess civil penalties against an adult care facility for violating its regulations. This community is certified for 86 residents; larger communities are inspected and reported on more often, so read counts with size in mind. Inspection reports themselves are not online; you can request copies from DOH (how to request reports), and each facility must post its most recent report in a public area. Source: New York State Department of Health, Division of Adult Care Facilities and Assisted Living Surveillance, NYS Health Profiles, data as of October 15, 2026, covering April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2026. Always visit in person and ask the community about anything listed here.
License and ownershipActive license, licensee SL Walden, LLC
- License type
- Adult Home / ALR, EALR, SNALR
- License number
- 210-F-030
- License status
- Active
- Current license dated
- 2002-01-11
- Licensed capacity
- 86
- Licensee
- SL Walden, LLC
- County
- Cortland County
Source: New York state licensing records (agency listing), retrieved 2026-09-09. Licensing status is a matter of public record; it is not a quality rating.
Paying with Medicaid and other programsHow Medicaid pays for care in New York, and other programs
How Medicaid pays for care in New York
- Assisted Living Program (ALP). Medicaid can pay for services through the Assisted Living Program (ALP), which is only for people who qualify for nursing home care. Medicaid recipients must have ALP services approved ahead of time by the local social services district. (state page)
Ask the community whether it accepts Medicaid.
Location and nearby careNearest hospital 3.5 mi, nursing home 3.4 mi, pharmacy 0.3 mi
- Nearest hospital with an emergency room
- Guthrie Cortland Regional Medical Center, Cortland. 3.5 miles away, straight line. CMS overall hospital rating: 3 of 5 stars.
- Nearest Medicare nursing home
- Guthrie Cortland Medical Center, Cortland. 3.4 miles away, straight line.
- Nearest home health agency office
- Guthrie Home Health, Cortland. 2.6 miles away, straight line. Agencies travel to clients, so ask which ones serve this address.
- Nearest pharmacy
- Walmart Pharmacy. 0.3 miles away, straight line. From OpenStreetMap, which does not list every pharmacy, so one may be closer.
- Area
- USDA classes ZIP code 13045 as micropolitan (micropolitan core).
- Dialysis within 15 miles
- Fmc St. Joseph'S - Cortland, Cortland, 2.6 miles away, straight line (CMS rating 3 of 5 stars)
- Hospice
- 3 Medicare hospices tell CMS they serve ZIP code 13045.
Hospicare & Palliative Care Services, office in Ithaca, 17.5 miles away, straight line (CMS family survey rating 4 of 5 stars) - Nearest geriatric medicine practice
- United Health Services Hospitals, Inc., Candor. 24.1 miles away, straight line. 1 geriatric medicine doctor listed there.
Distances are straight lines from the community, not driving distance. Hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors come from CMS provider data (CMS, hospital list updated Jul 22, 2026). Star ratings are CMS’s own.
Emergency and natural hazard riskFEMA overall risk relatively moderate; outside FEMA's high-risk flood areas
Public hazard maps for this location. Ask the community about its emergency plan, its generator and where residents would go in an evacuation.
- Flood zone
- Outside the high and moderate risk flood areas on FEMA's flood map (Zone X, minimal flood hazard, or not studied). (FEMA flood map)
- FEMA National Risk Index
- Overall: relatively moderate. By hazard: hurricane relatively low, inland flooding relatively high, wildfire very low, tornado relatively moderate, heat wave very low, earthquake relatively low. These are FEMA’s ratings for the census tract, compared with tracts nationwide. (FEMA, December 2025)
A flood zone describes the map at this point, not the building's elevation. In an emergency, follow the local emergency management agency.
Questions to ask on a tour10 questions picked for this community from its record
Picked for this community from its record. Ask them in person and write down the answers.
- The state recorded a finding in September 2025. What was it, and how was it fixed?
- Your published starting price is a base rate. What would the total monthly cost be for my parent's needs?
- How much have prices gone up in each of the last three years?
- How many caregivers work in memory care during the day, the evening and overnight, and for how many residents?
- What dementia training does each caregiver get before working alone, and every year after?
- How do staff respond when a resident is agitated, frightened or tries to leave?
- How many caregivers are on duty during the day and at night?
- What happens if care needs increase? When would someone need to move?
- What fees are charged at move-in?
- How do you tell families about falls, illness or changes?
What we checked15 public sources we searched, with dates
Every public source we searched for this community. “Nothing on record” means we found no record that matched it. A record can be missed when a name or address differs.
| Source | Data as of | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| New York State Department of Health, Division of Adult Care Facilities and Assisted Living Surveillance inspection records | Oct 15, 2026 | See above |
| New York Medicaid provider list | Jun 30, 2026 | Not on the state list we checked. These lists are often incomplete. |
| U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour cases | Oct 15, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| OSHA workplace safety inspections since 2016 | Oct 15, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| New York State Department of Health kitchen inspections | Oct 15, 2026 | No kitchen matched |
| Hurricane evacuation zone maps | Not in a mapped zone | |
| FEMA flood map | See above | |
| USDA wildfire risk | Apr 15, 2026 | Not shown: FEMA rates wildfire risk here very low |
| FEMA National Risk Index | See above | |
| CMS hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors; OpenStreetMap pharmacies | See above | |
| HUD Multifamily Properties - Assisted | Jul 6, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| State Veterans Homes (NASVH directory) | Sep 20, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Hospice - General Information | Aug 19, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Home Health Care Agencies | May 27, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| The community’s own website | Could not read the site |
Common questionsAnswers to 4 questions families ask
What type of care does Walden Place provide?
Walden Place is licensed by the state of New York for independent living, assisted living, memory care in Cortland, New York. Its licensed capacity is 86 residents.
Does Walden Place have verified testimonials?
Yes. 20+ residents and family members have shared testimonials about Walden Place through phone interviews verified by Senior Living Alliance.
How much does Walden Place cost?
Assisted Living in New York typically starts at $4,800 to $7,950 a month. Based on 80 communities that publish prices. These are area figures, not this community's price. The starting prices it publishes are in the Prices section on this page.
How do I contact Walden Place?
Use Walden Place's website, waldenplace.net#http://www.waldenplace.net#, or visit at 839 Bennie Rd, Cortland, NY 13045.
Senior Living Alliance member. Walden Place is a member. Members pay SLA for its resident and family interview program. Payment never changes a testimonial or what appears on this page. How we are paid