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It fits some of the criteria in terms of diversity, OK/average/decent schools and being within 3 hours, but doesn't have some of the other criteria or it is a little distance away. i don't know if I would call it crunchy either.
Brattleboro crunches. As for the list of all the requirements -- outside of Lake Wobegon, is there any one place that fulfulls all of them? I mentioned Bratt because that is what I am more familiar with as opposed to the towns upstate that you've provided.
Geneva looks more built up, or at least the urban-ish area is bigger, it appears to be a nice place.
Brattleboro crunches. As for the list of all the requirements -- outside of Lake Wobegon, is there any one place that fulfulls all of them? I mentioned Bratt because that is what I am more familiar with as opposed to the towns upstate that you've provided.
Geneva looks more built up, or at least the urban-ish area is bigger, it appears to be a nice place.
I've heard about Brattleboro and I like the urban look it has for a smaller community.
As for all of the criteria, outside of Ithaca, portions or an area of bigger metros could work like the area of the Syracuse metro, which has everything within a 10 minute radius or so. Much of that is due to the proximity to Syracuse University(East Side of Syracuse south of East Genesee Street and into the town of DeWitt/Jamesville-DeWitt Schools).
You need to come to Chatham to see that. We have lived here in Chatham for 7 years and couldn't be happier. We certainly have the crunchy thing down. Hawthorne Valley Waldorf school and Rudolph Steiner Waldorf School are both just minutes away. We have the Chatham Brewery, and the Chatham winery! We have many restaurants, the best in Chatham are the Blue Plate and Destino. We are about 12 miles from Hudson, a quickly-gentrifying river city that the New York Times seems to have a certain fetish for. We have the Chatham Film Festival, we have the Chatham Fair, we have the Chatham Farmers Market, the Chatham movie theatre, the Chatham Toy store, and even a Volvo/ Saab specialist because, well, its a Chatham thing. Never park your Volvo on main street: you'll confuse it with all the other ones! Ditto to Subaru.
For cafes, we have arguably too many. For a town of ~3,000 we have..
Ralph's Cafe- decent, not my favorite, but definitely worth a try.
Our Daily Bread Cafe- The original of the two part dynasty, voted the best gluten-free bread in New York.
Our daily Bread Deli- an offshoot of the original kosher restaurant, it serves meat, cheeses, and sells many unique baked goods. Heavy Jewish influence and lots of Jewish cuisines such as Rougelets, Latkes, Matzo, and, for the daring, Gefilte fish.
Marissa's Bagel Cafe- good for a coffee and a piece of cake. Very "cute", very "indie". But still awesome.
BenGables Savories- my favorite. Albeit pricey, their homemade biscuits are one of my all-time favorite foods, no lie. They get StumpTown coffee beans shipped up every week.
Old Chatham Country Store- awesome.
Spencertown Store- really awesome.
In short, there is a lot to love about Chatham. If you ever want to talk to me about it, let me know, I'll give you a call. This is my first time using this forum but have to chime in. most of our residents are transplants from new york metro area (after all, we are from Long Island), and the smalltown vibe certainly works well with the weekender population. Hope this helps. Thanks.
gunnarr such an informative post! I love Chatham and go thru there frequently. I have been to less than a handful of the spots you mention. Can't wait to try Destino - I thought it was closed. Thx for the tips!
You need to come to Chatham to see that. We have lived here in Chatham for 7 years and couldn't be happier. We certainly have the crunchy thing down. Hawthorne Valley Waldorf school and Rudolph Steiner Waldorf School are both just minutes away. We have the Chatham Brewery, and the Chatham winery! We have many restaurants, the best in Chatham are the Blue Plate and Destino. We are about 12 miles from Hudson, a quickly-gentrifying river city that the New York Times seems to have a certain fetish for. We have the Chatham Film Festival, we have the Chatham Fair, we have the Chatham Farmers Market, the Chatham movie theatre, the Chatham Toy store, and even a Volvo/ Saab specialist because, well, its a Chatham thing. Never park your Volvo on main street: you'll confuse it with all the other ones! Ditto to Subaru.
For cafes, we have arguably too many. For a town of ~3,000 we have..
Ralph's Cafe- decent, not my favorite, but definitely worth a try.
Our Daily Bread Cafe- The original of the two part dynasty, voted the best gluten-free bread in New York.
Our daily Bread Deli- an offshoot of the original kosher restaurant, it serves meat, cheeses, and sells many unique baked goods. Heavy Jewish influence and lots of Jewish cuisines such as Rougelets, Latkes, Matzo, and, for the daring, Gefilte fish.
Marissa's Bagel Cafe- good for a coffee and a piece of cake. Very "cute", very "indie". But still awesome.
BenGables Savories- my favorite. Albeit pricey, their homemade biscuits are one of my all-time favorite foods, no lie. They get StumpTown coffee beans shipped up every week.
Old Chatham Country Store- awesome.
Spencertown Store- really awesome.
In short, there is a lot to love about Chatham. If you ever want to talk to me about it, let me know, I'll give you a call. This is my first time using this forum but have to chime in. most of our residents are transplants from new york metro area (after all, we are from Long Island), and the smalltown vibe certainly works well with the weekender population. Hope this helps. Thanks.
property taxes seem pretty low which is good, but I google mapped it and it looks very spread out, kind of rural, no real center or cluster of shops to give it that village feel. But maybe I didn't look in the right places.
property taxes seem pretty low which is good, but I google mapped it and it looks very spread out, kind of rural, no real center or cluster of shops to give it that village feel. But maybe I didn't look in the right places.
property taxes seem pretty low which is good, but I google mapped it and it looks very spread out, kind of rural, no real center or cluster of shops to give it that village feel. But maybe I didn't look in the right places.
Well, don't look too far past Main St, Chatham or Warren St in Hudson or reality might set in.
Well, don't look too far past Main St, Chatham or Warren St in Hudson or reality might set in.
I guess I'm going to have to smack myself. My wife and daughter have told me I'm way off base and need to get out more often. They're in Chatham more often now than I was when my kids were playing sports and they said Chatham has greatly improved and is much nicer than I recall.
The town of Hudson is still no prize winner but Warren Street is worth a side trip.
Warren St. is cute for visits (I love the winter street festival) but I wouldn't want to live in Hudson. I think we've realized that it would need to be within 1.5 hours of Albany, or we'd be somewhat in the same boat we're in now! I'm interested in taking classes at a community college also. I have lived in Schenectady (on Union, as it were) and it's not what I'm looking for. We'll have to add Chatham to the list with Ballston Spa, Glens Falls, Saugerties, and New Paltz. Saratoga is somewhat out unless we come across a smoking deal on real estate.
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I mentioned Bratt because that is what I am more familiar with as opposed to the towns upstate that you've provided.
I think I found it.
