seeking liberal, veggie/eco/outdoorsy friendly small town. help? (New York: month-to-month, house)

[mom2gurls]

Dutchess County (or the hudson valley in general)..is pretty green and crunchy...lots of soccer moms, farmers markets and whole foods type of markets are up here.....I lived in Tri-Cities, Washington as a very young child...and visited seattle, so I kinda remember the vibe you are talking about....Take a look at the Valley...plus its only an hour to an hour and half to the city...in case you need a downtown vibe!

http://www.hvnet.com/

[warm heatherette]

Woodstock, NY: small town, artsy, liberal, organic, mountains, hiking, green & groovy.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by warm heatherette

Woodstock, NY: small town, artsy, liberal, organic, mountains, hiking, green & groovy.

Good times in college up there but as an adult I'd hang myself there. But good suggestion for what this person is seeking.

[joer]

All great suggestions. I would also recommend checking out Saratoga Springs.

[veggiecook]

Originally Posted by sheena

Good times in college up there but as an adult I'd hang myself there. But good suggestion for what this person is seeking.

Why not good as an adult? I'd obviously want to live just outside the city, but want a late 20's crowd to interact with,especially when we start a family in a few years...

[warm heatherette]

Woodstock is not a city - it's a small, eclectic town/village. The closest city would be Kingston, NY, about a 10-15 minute drive away. Personally, I would love to live there. Don't know why Sheena as an adult wouldn't like it. Maybe because it lacks big city action. Maybe it's the aging hippies still wearing tie-die - too much of a blast-from-the-past for today's young people

Woodstock is loaded with culture, summer festivals & theatre, art, funky shopping, organic food & restaurants, yet retains it's small town feel. It's not a gossipy or gawky town - live & let live. Many celebrity types have passed through and/or lived there, and can relax in the town square without being bothered or harrassed. I think there's a monastery (Buddhist?) heading up Overlook Mountain adjacent to town. Bearsville, on the outskirts of town, was a hot recording area for the likes of Janis Joplin & the Stones, so there's interesting history to the area.

[carvers wife]

I didn't read the first pages of this post, but it sounds to me you're looking for Ithaca, or Trumansburg, a small town outside of there.

[veggiecook]

Originally Posted by vicarian

Wow, I knew Ithaca was going to mentioned early on. I am a current resident, and I admit that I am fond of Ithaca. Ithaca is home to about 30,000 permanent residents, and a metro area of 100,000. It's off the beaten path, since the nearest interstate is 25 miles away, but it's only about an hour to one hour and a half to the major cities in the area, Rochester and Syracuse. The region is located in a geographically diverse locale. There are gentle hills to the north, and steep hills in the city and points south. A major attraction is the large number of waterfalls and gorges in the area, which have cut steep cliffs hundreds of feet into some of the hills. After all, as the bumper stickers here say, "Ithaca is gorges".

The summers are sunny and very warm, with temps often in the 80s. Spring can be very Seattle-ish, usually cool to mild and rainy, and fall is cool as well. Winters are cold and most often, cloudy/snowy. November is the worst month, as half the days are cloudy (and the rest of the winter is only a little sunnier). As a result, Ithaca is very busy indoors. A large college student population from Ithaca College and Cornell University keep the area active and progressive. There are vegetarian restaurants, two eco communities (EcoVillage and one that just broke ground called White Hawk), and a significant liberal political tilt in the area.

The surrounding area is more moderate in general. A local joke is that "Ithaca is ten square miles surrounded by reality". The suburbs are small, and most of the towns here have significant investments in "smart planning". They're a little more affordable than the city, and do not have to tolerate the college students and tourists as much.

As for housing, Ithaca has everything from million-dollar lakefront homes to little bungalows nestled away in the hills. Apartments are overpriced in much of the area because of the colleges, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the city. Ithaca city schools are (unsurprisingly) highly regarded.

If I have to raise qualms about Ithaca, which I will to give you a full picture, is that Ithaca is known for having rather high taxes. It's a little less in other parts of Ithaca's county (Tompkins), but the area is regarded to be rather expensive when compared to surrounding regions.

My favorite part about Ithaca- it's growing. Ithaca metro is growing at a slow but steady rate of about 6% per decade, which is quite an accomplishment in economically impoverished upstate New York. It's an island of prosperity in a sea of depression. However, I must admit that it mainly due to the colleges. Cornell itself employs 1800 faculty and 7300 staff/research personnel, and still adding positions. Tourism has also grown in recent years.

I know I've rambled, but if you take a look, Ithaca, the little village of Trumansburg, and the suburbs of Dryden and Lansing are worth a look.

You say the winters are cold and cloudy. Are you familiar with the grey skies of
Seattle in the winter? I need something better than that. I grew up in CT with cold winters but the sun would still come out, which is fine with me. How humid is the summer? Are there bug issues like in Vermont with the black flies? Is it possible to be just outside the metro area and have a few acres of rural life? I'm not sure how developed the surrounding areas of the city are...i do appreciate your rambling and details, it will help me weigh my options!

[bellafinzi]

To me Ithaca IS rural. Sure its a city of 30,000, but there are hardy any suburbs. Take out the student population and the population of Ithaca's "metro" is only about 60,000. That's the same population of just my one suburb.

So yes, plenty of rural land around Ithaca.

[mom2gurls]

You can easily get a couple of acres in the hudson valley...and still be an 60 miles north of NYC..and dont forget white plains...a Mini city...just in case you NEED to see a tall building.

I would say my biggest complaint are the darn yellow jacket bees...they are out in full force..but i get my home sprayed once a year from the outside..and I am good for the summer. Nothing much else that I can think of.

knock on wood...no ant issues, no roaches issues....although I do have the same family of birds that make a nest in my BBQ each year.

Ticks? Well if you have more than an acre..there is a chance of exposure...thats about it.