Catskills -- problems to avoid? (New York, Kingston: property taxes, house, rent)

[ss58yy]

I'm considering getting 2nd home in the Catskills area. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on what kinds of problems are prevalent out there, and how to avoid them.

Examples of problems I'm wondering about are:

- flooding (especially considering last week's events and last year's floods)
- unmaintained and unplowed roads
- wind turbines too close by
- breakins (I've heard that some places are broken into several times a year)
- places with no wired or cellphone service, or where electric service can go out for weeks at a time after storms

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jason_Els]

Depends where in the Catskills you're talking about. If you're talking Sullivan county, then the biggest thing to watch out for are property taxes. Less than half the county's land is ratable so the taxes are . There are some serious crime issues in Monticello and South Fallsburg, hence the break-ins. Road plowing is very good but yes, cellphone service can be spotty (it's generally awful in Ulster county) and there are wind turbines in various places and that's because utility costs are ridiculous. Wired phone service isn't a problem. Flooding is confined to a few small areas. Just don't be a goof and listen when the old locals tell you not to build a house on a place they saw under water 50 years ago.

You won't make friends by opposing wind turbines. Many families erect these to offset their utility bills and help make ends meet. Sullivan county is poor and while it is pretty, jobs are few, cost of living is high, and taxes are unreal. They particularly resent people who buy summer homes and then proceed to complain about how others in the community live or what they do on their own land. As they see it, city-dwellers have helped create the poor living conditions by establishing too many religiously-owned properties and buying low-rated summer homes.

If you want to enjoy the land and respect the full-timers then you'll go a long way to making friends. Just don't expect them not to do everything in their power to exploit everything they can, including the land, to make a living.

[ss58yy]

Originally Posted by Jason_Els

Depends where in the Catskills you're talking about. If you're talking Sullivan county, then the biggest thing to watch out for are property taxes. Less than half the county's land is ratable so the taxes are . There are some serious crime issues in Monticello and South Fallsburg, hence the break-ins. Road plowing is very good but yes, cellphone service can be spotty (it's generally awful in Ulster county) and there are wind turbines in various places and that's because utility costs are ridiculous. Wired phone service isn't a problem. Flooding is confined to a few small areas. Just don't be a goof and listen when the old locals tell you not to build a house on a place they saw under water 50 years ago.

You won't make friends by opposing wind turbines. Many families erect these to offset their utility bills and help make ends meet. Sullivan county is poor and while it is pretty, jobs are few, cost of living is high, and taxes are unreal. They particularly resent people who buy summer homes and then proceed to complain about how others in the community live or what they do on their own land. As they see it, city-dwellers have helped create the poor living conditions by establishing too many religiously-owned properties and buying low-rated summer homes.

If you want to enjoy the land and respect the full-timers then you'll go a long way to making friends. Just don't expect them not to do everything in their power to exploit everything they can, including the land, to make a living.

Thanks for the response.

The main area of interest is the central Catskills: westernmost Ulster, Eastern Delaware, western Greene, and southwest Schoharie counties. There's no reason for me to look down close to NYC in Sullivan county, since I live in northern Dutchess, and may someday have my permanent (winter) residence in the Capital District.

The breakins I was referring to actually occurred in a summer/weekend house near Summit (Schoharie County) -- it was broken into something like 9 times in one year, but not too much was stolen.

One reason I'm sensitive to flooding (even floods 50 years ago), is that floods of record and 100 (or even 1000) year floods seem to happen more often than you might think. In 1987, I lived along Esopus Creek in Kingston, and we supposedly had the "flood of record". Fortunately, the floodwall directed the floodwaters away from my apartment complex into gas stations, etc. on the other side of the creek. In June 1972, I was living near Rapid City SD when another "100 year" flash flood occurred. It wiped out many homes along Rapid Creek, and killed 200+ people living near the creek.

I'll probably just stay away from places advertised as "creekside" or "riverfront", but also try to stay away from ridegetops (where the wind turbines are supposedly going in).

[Jason_Els]

Originally Posted by ss58yy

Thanks for the response.

Quite welcome. Sorry it wasn't more helpful.

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Wind Turbines in the Catskills - As far as I know there are no commercial 400+ft wind turbine "farms" installed in the Catskill region. Are you talking about smaller 125ft farm use? Because even if you lease your land for a potential wind "farm" from some scam LLC front wind energy company you cannot use any of the electricity it goes into the grid. All you get is a small amount per turbine and in New York none of the towns have been paid the hush money they were promised. None of these will (lets see) end up in the Park region of the Catskill Mountains - unless the state would like to blast the top of Hunter mountain and put some in. Outside of the park in the western Catskills, towns like Stamford, Merideth, Meridale, and probably lower western Schoharie county are on the block and leases are signed and the wind people are ready to build. Just curious...

Originally Posted by Jason_Els

You won't make friends by opposing wind turbines. Many families erect these to offset their utility bills and help make ends meet. Sullivan county is poor and while it is pretty, jobs are few, cost of living is high, and taxes are unreal. They particularly resent people who buy summer homes and then proceed to complain about how others in the community live or what they do on their own land. As they see it, city-dwellers have helped create the poor living conditions by establishing too many religiously-owned properties and buying low-rated summer homes.

Western Catskill Preservation Alliance

Bovina Industrial Wind Energy Project - Delaware County, New York

Alliance for Meredith Home Page

[Jason_Els]

As I stated, I wasn't speaking for counties outside of Sullivan.

I'm rather surprised at the amount of resistance to wind turbines. Lot of effort being spent to preserve views (and property resale values) in the face of serious energy issues. I find it rather foolishly short-sighted.

[INeedAChange]

rent the movie "Wendigo", it will give you a good idea of the problems

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Originally Posted by Jason_Els

As I stated, I wasn't speaking for counties outside of Sullivan.

I'm rather surprised at the amount of resistance to wind turbines. Lot of effort being spent to preserve views (and property resale values) in the face of serious energy issues. I find it rather foolishly short-sighted.

YouTube - Life Under a Windplant - Part 1

YouTube - The Voices of Tug Hill, Part 1 of 3

YouTube - Simulation of Arkwright, NY Wind project

30mb worth seeing Mars Hill in Maine
http://www.barehillsoftware.com/Welc...%20Hill-PC.wmv

Ok to be objective:

YouTube - New York Wind Power

YouTube - Windpower Failure [BBC]











Good to laugh
YouTube - Pro Wind Turbines

[JustSayNo]

Oh Jason, pls research before you type. Pls. don't make it sound like it is all about views, and pls don't make it sound like there will be no 'lectric tomorrow without turbines. Check the thread here, somewhere, about turbines and the ruining of the Catskills because of folks , similiar to yourself, whom have done nominal research and believed the propaganda spewed by the corporations. The green train is very ugly and not very green at all. it may feel good to have bought the ticket, but folks who support this thinking it is green will be hurt more than anyone else. Turbines are the biggest joke, and scam, that this country has seen in many many years.

I for one think it is smart to know what the hell you are buying into. Buying into a turbine farm as a neighbor is one thing you can NEVER take back, oh and you won't get your money back either.

Please Jason, if you wish to participate in a turbine conversation, dig deep and read between the lines, then come back and type. Don't be a mindless sheep, read, research, and come to your own conclusions.

[Jason_Els]

OK, I'll bite.

I didn't make any argument about them being green. My statement only addresses my concern for future energy needs as a matter of national security. Right now our country is in a disasterous war brough on by because of energy and our entire foreign policy is centered around getting at energy anywhere it's found in the world. I'm not sure that all the money and thousands of lives spent are a better investment in our energy future and national security than wind turbines and other alternative technologies.

Our property is crossed by a gas pipeline courtesy of Columbia Gas. They're now replacing the pipe with one double the width. They had to use eminent domain to get the right of way in the first place but now the pressure regulation station will be substantially enlarged as well. They wanted to give us farm value for the land but we held out for road frontage value.
Yes, I am inconvenienced and put at some risk by a public utility so it's not as though I don't have sympathy for these folks. Unlike them, the risk to me and my property is being blown to bits at some point, rather than having to invest in noise abatement. Overall, however, these issues are minor compared to the global issues being caused by our energy policies.

I will do some more reading and watch the videos before I make a final decision about where I stand.