bath new york

[parkhurst459]

I was born and raised in Bath, NY. I left for good in 1983. I recently visited it, early 2007. I was thoroughly disgusted with it, there are no stores left, only dives for eats on main street. (Liberty Street) It is very apparent that it has suffered severe financial woes since the 1970's. I can't speak to the current school system, but it was a decent one when I was there. I feel sorry for the elderly of Bath, who have watched their town fall into a sad excuse for a hometown. I am very embarrased to tell people where I am from. I just say the Finger Lakes area. There was a real problem with getting the young people to return to Bath after college in the 1970's, and settle down. I can't imagine that anyone stays there at all now.

[Investrman]

I originally am from Erie, PA and know full well what happened to cities like us and Detroit, etc along the great lakes, seeing 90% or more of our former 100+ year industry disappear and only lower wage retail jobs left today or banking jobs.

I see the VA has jobs all around the USA and there are 2 at the VA in Bath, NY which gets my interest, as I seek to be able to get to an area I can hunt & fish again and be able to live and raise my last son in a decent area.

I have lived in Colorado Springs, CO and presently in western NC and I will tell anyone NOT to come here. Corning (from Corning NY) moved 2 major plants to Hickory, NC area but that is about the only employer left here after 25% of local people who had former furniture industry jobs lost them. So much unemplopyment here plus fact many in this area still fight the damn Civil War and discriminate agisnt anyone from the north or outsider...... Much of the Colorado front range has changed sadly with massive Californian influences today, and it is NOT the Colorado John Denver used to sing about and many locals have been affected there by Californication as it is called. it raised the cost of everything so high that only a rich person can afford to live there today.

Biggest problem I see as a conceal/carry weapons holder and NRA member, is New York today has become one of the least gun friendly and liberalized states in America, and that alone scares me and probably why you have the amount of crime you do. The gun ownership laws in NY State right now makes many normal firearms illegal and I do not like this! Plus you took Hillary Clinton as a Senator from Hell and carpetbagger from Arkansa that is only goimg to corrupt and ruin your state more if she is allowed to do as she is. Tell me, when was the last time a person like Hillary went snowmobiling or ice fishing in NY? When was last time she or her kind used the game lands to hunt on? Does she hike or camp in your woods either? NOPE to all of this and more. So those of us who appreciate this and want to do not want to come to NY simply because of the change in your gun ownership laws making it unfreindly to event ravel through your state if we have a legal CCH permit to do so which is accepted in most states, but not in NY?

[aka_mouse]

Originally Posted by Investrman

Tell me, when was the last time a person like Hillary went snowmobiling or ice fishing in NY? When was last time she or her kind used the game lands to hunt on? Does she hike or camp in your woods either? NOPE to all of this and more. So those of us who appreciate this and want to do not want to come to NY simply because of the change in your gun ownership laws making it unfreindly to event ravel through your state if we have a legal CCH permit to do so which is accepted in most states, but not in NY?

I think its funny how you place being a backwoods hick above everything else. I hate Hilary Clinton for mainly being a fake and just power hungry. But I don't see why you hold up this redneck ideal as like superior. I consider hunting to outdated and barbaric, not to mention it serves no real purpose. Its 2007 people, not 1800s frontier.

You conservatives are like a broken record... NRA/gun crap is the #1 problem in NYS? Not the jobs or anything else.. Nice priorities. No one cares.. NY is series of Urban centers with lots of wilderness in between and the urban centers are facing serious issues. Mainly resulting from the deterioration of the manufacturing sector.

If owning guns and being in to the same redneck activities as yourself is all you look for in a political candidate or living in an area, then please
stop looking at moving to NY.. and just move to Texas. Or somewhere in the deep south. We really don't need any more ignorant hicks in this state. Seriously, why havent you gone south already, theyll love you down there. I hear North Carolina is absolutely gorgeous year round !

(BTW: isn't voting based on who you'd to most have a beer with a damn terrible way to pick a leader? Didn't that already get us in trouble?... meh I guess its easier for Americans to be lazy and/or follow this stupid homespun folk-wisdom garbage rather than actually yaknow...researching the issues and candidates)

[BuffaloTransplant]

Bath has a large VA hospital & a cemetery. One of my greatuncles is buried there.

[paleo99]

"I think its funny how you place being a backwoods hick above everything else. I hate Hilary Clinton for mainly being a fake and just power hungry. But I don't see why you hold up this redneck ideal as like superior. I consider hunting to outdated and barbaric, not to mention it serves no real purpose. Its 2007 people, not 1800s frontier."

Well I'd rather place ideas of being a backwoods hick doing what I want over living in an overtaxed, overunionized, overbloated city whose government still thinks it's the 70s regarding spending for goodness sakes!



The southern tier area in general needs to disassociate itself with the state government. Downstate style taxation isn't an appropriate model for upstate. The area has long been ruined economically as a result.

[Finger Laker]

Originally Posted by paleo99

The southern tier area in general needs to disassociate itself with the state government. Downstate style taxation isn't an appropriate model for upstate. The area has long been ruined economically as a result.

Amen to that. The native economy shifted and the state didn't really seem to care. Cuomo also helped butcher upstate NY with his downstate methods.

When states like PA started to become more strict with their welfare laws the communities near the state line in NY saw an influx of system feeders.

I'm a native of Bath. I'm more of a city personality so I couldn't live in any small town - just not my thing.

However, Bath is dying. I graduated in the 90s and never moved back. Even if I liked the town enough to stay there is nothing for me to do there. Just not that many good jobs.

If you have a good job and enjoy small town life then Bath isn't a bad alternative. It's better than most of the other local communities. The school system is good, but is an area hub for special needs students. That will impact a lot of their scoring metrics.

Bath was a very good place to grow up.

There are some serious issues right now though. There is an influx in the drug/crime element. Small town police are often a pain in the butt. Bath is no different. They crack down on all the wrong things and have recently created a nice speed trap between topps and pultney park.

I actually felt a little uncomfortable drawing money from the ATM on liberty street there and I've lived in some rough neighborhoods/cities. There was a crowd of about 20 strung out people loitering on the street, a couple with strollers at 11pm.

Typical issues of bad economy, bored population and really no good outlets.

It's very sad the shape the town is in.

However, with that said, if you get a good job, like hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities and don't mind driving to go to the movies, shopping, etc then you can do a lot worse than Bath.

[Stand]

I just spent a year in Bath for work, and I while sometimes it is easy to just see the negatives I personally find myself just remembering all of the great people I met in Bath. Rich and poor there are a lot of good folks there. Really the only issue that would concern me if I was moving there would be finding a good job that I wouldn't have to spend hours commuting too.

[Urban Explorer]

I remember living in Bath NY in the 60's. We had a large family and lived in a beautiful new house on Circle Drive. My mother stayed at home and my father worked at Westinghouse. We lived comfortably on $14,000 a year! We did without a lot of things but if other children hadn't of pointed it out, we would have been oblivious. It's sad to read that WalMart coming to town is actually good news. We could walk just about anywhere as children and never worry. I left early in the morning to play with my friends and came home at dinner time. The VA hospital closed, then Westinghouse started laying off, until there was no one left to lay off. We moved to NJ. With apologies to misquoting, Joni Mitchell, "they are paving my paradise and putting up a WALMART."