I am a Saranac Lake native wanting to move back north, am I crazy? (New York: transplants)

[bogtogglet]

To make a long story short, my parents and almost all my grandparents are from the Adirondacks, the others are from Vermont.
My parents moved away from Saranac Lake when I was a toddler because of the economy up there was ****. I have lived outside of Charlottesville, VA my whole life and am beyond sick of living here. Ever since I was 17 I have traveled around the northeast by myself and with my girlfriend of 2.5 years, and I know that the northeast is where I want to live. My gf and and I are currently living together 30 mins north of Charlottesville, and I hate it. To go anywhere we must drive at least 15 minutes, and all of the stores are ugly big chain retail stores. I miss the disconnect from Society that I feel in the Adirondacks. Every time I go to Saranac Lake I walk everywhere, I have walked more in Saranac Lake than I have ever walked in Charlottesville, and that is saying a lot, it is just convenient. I realize the Adirondack economy hasn't boomed in a long time, but it seems like good things are happening there. My girlfriend and I try to be localvores and the Saranac Lake farmers market, and Noris natural foods offers more than we have here unless we drove 30+ minutes.

My girlfriend really wants to live in Burlington, Vermont partly because of the huge organic food scene there. I like Burlington, but a huge turnoff to me is how ridiculously expensive it is to live there. I get that if we moved to a smaller locale outside of town like Colchester or Essex that it would probably be cheaper, but then we would have to drive everywhere still, or take a bus. I would rather live downtown somewhere. It is also just too big and busy for me in Bton, it reminds me too much of Charlottesville.

I could write more but I doubt anyone wants to read a big wall of text, I just need someone's opinion, if you were 21 years old and didn't make a while lot of money and didn't care about being isolated from big box stores would you live in SL or in Burlington?

Also before anyone Asks, yes I have experienced winter up there, I chose to live there for a few months during the fall winter and spring of 2010/11. I hate hot and humid weather which is a huge reason I need to leave VA.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

[VA Yankee]

Your one of the first I have read who doesn't like the Charlottesville area but that's fine we are all free to choose how and where we live. Ironically I was just up in Saranac Lake last week and although nice you are limited on the available shopping. One of your statements "To go anywhere we must drive at least 15 minutes" ; if you don't like living outside of a town why have you settled in what you perceive to be a remote location? There are plenty of smaller towns in the area with local shopping options to choose from.

I like Burlington and the best description I have heard for it is "Charlottesville on the lake", that may be why you don't care from it. Winters will be hard love & organic eggs don't keep you warm, look for a spot that provides you some employment options so you can afford to keep warm during the winter.

[ckhthankgod]

Look into Plattsburgh, which has an overall COL around, if not just below the national average. It has a small mall, along with some other shopping and you and the GF can take the ferry over to Burlington. Saranac lake isn't too far away as well. Plattsburgh has around 20,000 people. So, it is smaller than Burlington, but has more people than Saranac Lake. City of Plattsburgh

Grand Isle, VT - Plattsburgh, NY Ferry | Northern Crossing | 24/7 Service | Lake Champlain Ferries
Lake Champlain Ferries | New York & Vermont Ferry Crossings | Lake Champlain Transportation

Also, Plattsburgh gets its energy/power through NYPA. This means lower utility costs as well. City of Plattsburgh

You can also take a trip to Montreal, if you like to, as long as you have a passport or enhanced driver's license.

[bogtogglet]

Originally Posted by VA Yankee

Your one of the first I have read who doesn't like the Charlottesville area but that's fine we are all free to choose how and where we live. Ironically I was just up in Saranac Lake last week and although nice you are limited on the available shopping. One of your statements "To go anywhere we must drive at least 15 minutes" ; if you don't like living outside of a town why have you settled in what you perceive to be a remote location? There are plenty of smaller towns in the area with local shopping options to choose from.

I like Burlington and the best description I have heard for it is "Charlottesville on the lake", that may be why you don't care from it. Winters will be hard love & organic eggs don't keep you warm, look for a spot that provides you some employment options so you can afford to keep warm during the winter.

I wouldn't wanna live in the downtown area of Charlottesville is known to have a decent amount of crime and violence, the local news doesn't report a lot of it if they can get away with hiding it. It's because the folks with money want to retain Charlottesville's world reputation. I personally have experienced sketchy situations like downtown late in the evening, but also in broad daylight. I think part of this stems from Albemarle county being in the top 3% of counties in the US that have high levels of income inequality. I am sick of the rude snobby wealthy people who live here who are mostly transplants from the big cities in the northeast, but I also just don't really identify with southern culture, which you tend to see more of outside of cville. I am more of a rural person, but I don't mind small towns that are nestled in nature. Sprawling cities are too much for me, which sucks because urbanisation makes it hard to find employment in more rural areas like the ADKs

[VA Yankee]

Originally Posted by bogtogglet

I wouldn't wanna live in the downtown area of Charlottesville is known to have a decent amount of crime and violence, the local news doesn't report a lot of it if they can get away with hiding it. It's because the folks with money want to retain Charlottesville's world reputation. I personally have experienced sketchy situations like downtown late in the evening, but also in broad daylight. I think part of this stems from Albemarle county being in the top 3% of counties in the US that have high levels of income inequality. I am sick of the rude snobby wealthy people who live here who are mostly transplants from the big cities in the northeast, but I also just don't really identify with southern culture, which you tend to see more of outside of cville. I am more of a rural person, but I don't mind small towns that are nestled in nature. Sprawling cities are too much for me, which sucks because urbanisation makes it hard to find employment in more rural areas like the ADKs

Again your welcome to live where you choose, I could provide you a list of smaller towns to consider in VA but it's not what you want so I won't bother. Employment challenges in rural locations like the ADK are due to logistics and economics not urbanization. A simple example, the week I went up I paid $1.90 gal for gas, I entered NY and it went up to $2.30 while driving around Saranac Lake it went up as high at $2.57 but $2.50 was average. That's logistics the cost to get the goods up there brings up the cost of course the draconian tax rates in NY state doesn't help. The Adirondacks is a mix of public/private lands and their use for business and industry are heavily regulated making them less attractive for most companies to invest.

Find employment first then choose a community that fits your bill, good luck.