"Why" do you live in upstate NY? (New York: Home Depot, schools)

[jkc1970]

[quote=homeward bound;471046]
Like you, though, I need it green. Maybe 'cause my first years were spent in the really polluted part of New Jersey, if I'm not around greenness and freshwater, I really feel stranded. The dryness of so much of Colorado was pretty unsettling to me. Mesa Verde (now there's a misleading name!) Park looked hellish--didn't help that my wife talked me into going through the tunnels there. I still have nightmares about that....

If you like the Adirondacks because they remind you of the greener areas of Colorado, be sure to get up into the forest, lake, & cottage country of Ontario, which won't be far away once you make your move to NYS. Although much of this is quite flat, there are a lot of canyons and sheer cliffs on the many rivers especially--all of which you can explore in a canoe, kayak, or boat. (The fishing opportunities and true expanse of wilderness up there is just amazing.)

Also, above Lake Superior, a pretty huge stretch of the Ontario wilderness is very rugged, very Western-like, almost mountanous in its own right. There's a great train trip--the Algoma Central; try Googling it--that takes you northward from Sault. St. Marie, Ontario, for a good 200+ miles. Very rugged country, full of canyons and cliffs, suddenly broken by sweeping lakes. Very reminiscent of the West, but densely, deeply green and FULL of waterways. The train will stop to let you off wherever you want--it's like a huge taxi into the wilderness. Great trip, and not that expensive./QUOTE]

Yeah, I definately need the green. Probably because I grew up in the east and that is just what feels like home to me. Trees and the smell of freshly cut lawns. However, I do think many parts of Colorado are amazingly beautiful - like once you get into the Rocky Mountains. I like photography and frankly this is a photographer's paradise because of all the stark contrasts of scenery. However, that said, I still miss the Appalachians and some of my favorite hiking trails are actually in the Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains (I went to college in NC). I was talking with one of my clients who is from New York and we were talking about missing the smells of autumn and just the outdoor smells in general. Oh, I hope I can find a job and move back soon. I see my family once a year if I'm lucky. If I move back I can drive and visit more often.

Thanks for the descriptions of Ontario and upstate - I hope I will be there soon!

[Rumblebelly]

Homeward bound,

Thanks for the tips on places to check out up north and Letchworth State Park. Sounds like we'll be pretty busy checking things out from NYC to Maine to Canada.

[TughillTina]

Interesting read. My answer to the original question is family. Mine are no longer around and I felt it was important for my son to be raised with family.
Would I choose New York over Colorado, No but that is my personal preference on a number of points but I won't go into the negatives here. The positives of upstate are as follows:
1. The fall season is the most beautiful I've ever seen.
2. Growing vegetables and flowers and such.
3. The greenest green around.
4. In my area there is more head of cow than people.
5. Learning about the maple syrup industry and how its made.
6. Swimming in Lake Ontario.
7. Hunting for my husband.
8. I haven't locked my car doors in months.
9. No traffic.
10. Lots of god fearing folks.
11. My ability to not have to drive very far to see other states.
12. The county fairs are a blast.
Anyway those are a few of the things I like about Upstate NY.

[corduroyboy]

I'm from Upstate NY, moved to California 5 years ago, now want out of California and want to move to Colorado. After reading a lot of the posts in this thread, I get weary about making the move to Colorado. While I do enjoy the dryer climates and hate the humidity, I miss the greenery. California has it for about 2 days. It's brown here. Very brown, and hot as you can ever imagine. Colorado was from what a saw greener than California and a lot slower than the rat race out here, yet faster than the pace of Upstate NY. I miss a lot of Upstate, but there were many negatives that ran me far from that place. I've learned in my 30 years of life, no place is perfect. What one person loves, another one hates. There are people dying to move to places you are dying to get out of. Now if I could just make the money I make here in California back in NY, I would move back in a second. Just need to convince the California girl I'm marrying to ever live in a place with high humidity and tons of snow!

[honeychrome]

Originally Posted by corduroyboy

Just need to convince the California girl I'm marrying to ever live in a place with high humidity and tons of snow!

I can appreciate that! Though I did start this thread I haven't yet rambled on about "why" I've chosen upstate NY, and I'll do that another day.... My significant other appreciates the area enough that it is where we've decided to settle, but she said to me the other day, "You just seem like you're totally at home there, I don't feel that way....yet." I think/hope that will change with time and once the house we're renovating isn't a construction site anymore (....and has running water.......and a working kitchen stove........and.....) and we can get on to working on other projects like a giant garden, a barn, some animals.... She was really worried about the cold and the snow until I got the woodstove in in November. Now shes talking about getting snowshoes for tromping around the fields and woods! Having a seriously warm and cozy stove to come in to makes all the difference!

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by TughillTina

7. Hunting for my husband.

Hey now....have you considered marriage counseling? lol

[honeychrome]

So many ways to take that......
hunting for your husband meaning you don't have one and want one?
hunting for your husband meaning he's lost somewhere and you're looking for him?
hunting for your husband because he's sent you out to get some venison for dinner?

[TughillTina]

That is hilarious................lol..................... please let me write again........
My husband loves the hunting here..............sorry I need to make sure I'm crystal clear when I type.............. forgive me please....................

[I'minformed2]

haha...i figured that was what you meant. I just couldn't let a good laugh opportuity like that go by.

[TughillTina]

Originally Posted by i'minformed

haha...i figured that was what you meant. I just couldn't let a good laugh opportuity like that go by.

True, True .... Lord knows it's much more enjoyable on these forums to have a good laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!