What's it like living in Plattsburgh? Oswego County?

[jblake78728]

Originally Posted by garmin239

Don't get me wrong, not everybody is like that. When I lived there some of the locals were from those outlying areas and came from open minded families.

I spent a few years in Malone, let just say that I've been in small towns in Texas that were more liberal.

[garmin239]

I dated a girl from there. Going home to meet the family was sure interesting. Was asked if I was "one of the gays" due to the way I dressed. haha.

[adirondakdeb]

I am sad to say that Plattsburgh is NOT a friendly place to outsiders...even local-ish outsiders.
I was born 90 minutes south of here and, after 4 years here, just "can't get a seat at the table". Plattsburgh likes to boast about it's tolerance based on a one time "will" to stand up to the church that protests at soldiers funerals. But, on a daily basis, I experience hateful, bigoted and discriminatory comments here. No community is full of either bad people or bigots, but, if you are not white, not born here (and generations of your grandparents as well), not Catholic, or if you are disabled or different in any way, your life will be very hard. People will not come to your rescue, snowblow your driveway or welcome you into their church. If you dare to try to make things "better" by asking for (in my case) wheelchair accessible voting, restaurants, churches, bathrooms, convenience stores, doctors, libraries, transportation or businesses, you will be labeled a complainer and frozen out even more. The image that Plattsburgh wants to portray is that it is a ""hometown" place, with natural beauty, friendly people and the cosmopolitan lure of Montreal. Well, when you've spent 2 hours at the border trying to get in or out of Canada, that metro appeal of the beautiful city of Montreal wears out fast. It's just too much trouble to be considered a way to balance out the negatives of Plattsburgh. If you want your children to grow up knowing diversity, tolerance and kindness, this is not the place to move. On the other hand, if you can tolerate a high crime rate, Buffalo, NY is full of the nicest people I've ever met. It has issues with snow & crime, but there are more jobs, more diversity and more of a true sense of community...spoiler alert, you MUST love sports to be a true local in Buffalo.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by adirondakdeb

I am sad to say that Plattsburgh is NOT a friendly place to outsiders...even local-ish outsiders.
I was born 90 minutes south of here and, after 4 years here, just "can't get a seat at the table". Plattsburgh likes to boast about it's tolerance based on a one time "will" to stand up to the church that protests at soldiers funerals. But, on a daily basis, I experience hateful, bigoted and discriminatory comments here. No community is full of either bad people or bigots, but, if you are not white, not born here (and generations of your grandparents as well), not Catholic, or if you are disabled or different in any way, your life will be very hard. People will not come to your rescue, snowblow your driveway or welcome you into their church. If you dare to try to make things "better" by asking for (in my case) wheelchair accessible voting, restaurants, churches, bathrooms, convenience stores, doctors, libraries, transportation or businesses, you will be labeled a complainer and frozen out even more. The image that Plattsburgh wants to portray is that it is a ""hometown" place, with natural beauty, friendly people and the cosmopolitan lure of Montreal. Well, when you've spent 2 hours at the border trying to get in or out of Canada, that metro appeal of the beautiful city of Montreal wears out fast. It's just too much trouble to be considered a way to balance out the negatives of Plattsburgh. If you want your children to grow up knowing diversity, tolerance and kindness, this is not the place to move. On the other hand, if you can tolerate a high crime rate, Buffalo, NY is full of the nicest people I've ever met. It has issues with snow & crime, but there are more jobs, more diversity and more of a true sense of community...spoiler alert, you MUST love sports to be a true local in Buffalo.

I also think a reason of why Plattsburgh gets a tolerant label is because the city had an openly gay mayor in recent years. So, that may have something to do with it. It also has 2 colleges and the students, staff and faculty may also be more tolerant. There is also the former Air Force angle, as it brought diversity to the area.