seeking liberal, veggie/eco/outdoorsy friendly small town. help? (Ithaca: fit in, to buy)

[vicarian]

Originally Posted by veggiecook

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!

Well, bellafinzi is right about Ithaca not having big suburbs. But, only a small (yet considerable) portion of Ithaca's population is made up of the college students (and very few live elsewhere in the county, which is also Ithaca metro). The metro w/o college students that claim their residency here is about 91,000 or so. And yes, we have a lot of rural land, both in use and not in use. You can be from downtown Ithaca to farmlands and wooded acres in about twenty minutes of driving.

I am not too familiar with Seattle's weather, although I had family living in Bremerton, WA some years' back. What I can say is based off the averages I can find: Ithaca is colder in the winter, warmer in the summer, has more freezing days, more snow, and judging from the charts on this site, Ithaca has fewer cloudy days but fewer days of clear skies, and precipitation stays consistent month-to-month. I'm not going to lie though, a cloudy 20 degree day is much worse than a cloudy day at 40.

As for the bugs, you see your typical bumblebees and ants, etc., but I'm not aware of any really nasty insects. I have heard of people having black carpenter ant problems if they don't clean up sugary spills though.

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[aka_mouse]

Originally Posted by veggiecook

Local new englander, newly married. I've lived in Seattle for the past 4 years and love the proximity to the mountains, water and general liberal attitude. I feel like Seattle is too big for me now and am seeking that quaint small town without the ignorance and lack of jobs,

Like people have repeatedly said, Ithaca would definately be it... BUT

...The jobs thing, Im not so sure on that angle. Ithaca is a college town so I imagine most of the tech jobs there are going to be with the school and thats it. like a lot of smaller college towns, I think in general people go to school there then leave.

Some people mentioned New Paltz... know nothing about that place, but that might be better for the job aspect.

[Pidgett]

I would agree with the other posters who have suggested Ithaca/Trumansburg, New Paltz, Woodstock or Saratoga Springs. These places would be your best bet. Another region that has many "green-minded" folks is the Adirondacks, particularly in the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake vicinity. However, there is a caveat. The Adirondacks is THE mecca for black flies in the northeast; too bad, as it has many charms, but definitely not to be on your list of potential living areas as you have stated your aversion to the winged creatures from hell....

In addition to these aforementioned small, green, mini-cities, I would suggest checking out Rhinebeck/Red Hook in northern Dutchess County. It has numerous good restaurants, bookshops and is an antiquer's paradise. If you don't mind being a bit more rural, Columbia County, with its picture-perfect New England-like villages and verdant hills may fit the bill.

Best of luck in your search!!

Pidge and Mrs. Pidgett

[thunder94]

I agree with Woodstock..on any given day you can walk through town and smack into a awesome drum circle,also for rock climbing and hiking the "Gunks"
are not far and they are the best.
Laid back,real people.
Also I had the best black bean burger ever in woodstock!!

Good Luck

[brodave1916]

Originally Posted by veggiecook

Local new englander, newly married. I've lived in Seattle for the past 4 years and love the proximity to the mountains, water and general liberal attitude. I feel like Seattle is too big for me now and am seeking that quaint small town without the ignorance and lack of jobs, which I'm sure is rare...I'm a vegetarian cook, he's in IT and we want to open a B&B one day...but my main goal is finding a liberal, supportive community that isn't all standoffish like the folks in Seattle.

Consider Manchester or Durham, NH. Both are small, friendly, good restaurants (lots of competition!) and not far from cliff and mountain cllimbing + plenty snow sports and lakes galore! Durham is one of the best college towns in NE. Otherwise, Ithaca, NY, a great college town with many lakes but lacking mountains.

[citychik]

Too many dirty, scruffy college kids smoking pot and busking/begging in the streets -- trying to revive the whole hippie thing. I did not feel safe there. I recommend Woodstock, New Paltz, or Piermont.

[honeychrome]

Originally Posted by veggiecook

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!

Certainly winters in upstate NY are more harsh than those in the Pacific NW, but nowhere near the endless days of grey. Upstate NY enjoys four real, distinct seasons (at least for now....we'll have to see how things fare as the climate changes), and just when one starts really getting sick of the winter snow and cold spring comes along. Personally I don't like extreme humidity in the summer, but I don't find that it gets unpleasant where I live (about 40 miles from Ithaca) and we don't need A/C, just sometimes a fan in the window. Certainly the humidity and heat isn't anything like NYC (or southern CT, RI, etc.). Insect issues will vary greatly even within a given 'neighborhood,' depending on standing water/breeding habitat, etc., but we have almost no biting insect problems- no black flies, almost no mosquitos... We do have to keep an eye on wasps building nests under the roof eaves and keep ladybugs from getting into the house (apparenlty a while back asian ladybugs were introduced in NA as a natural aphid control when the demand for native ladybugs used up the supply and the asian version has taken over). Ithaca has virtually no 'suburbs,' which in my opinion is one of the things that makes it such a great place- two miles from downtown and you're on a country road passing by farms. As far as the Ithaca area vs. the lower Hudson Valley, you will get much more for your money around Ithaca. The Hudson Valley is beautiful, but its proximity and accessibility to NYC means that it commands a premium and the development pressures are far greater. I also think the overall vibe and attitude of the Ithaca area is more what you're looking for.

[joe moving]

Originally Posted by veggiecook

Local new englander, newly married. I've lived in Seattle for the past 4 years and love the proximity to the mountains, water and general liberal attitude. I feel like Seattle is too big for me now and am seeking that quaint small town without the ignorance and lack of jobs, which I'm sure is rare...I'm a vegetarian cook, he's in IT and we want to open a B&B one day...but my main goal is finding a liberal, supportive community that isn't all standoffish like the folks in Seattle. 4 years here, and I've been an active friend and it's so hard to get people to just make time for you in this city,even when you know they are not busy...
that's my biggest issue with seattle, and i've learned it's a distinct seattle thing. i also need more days of sunlight out of the year. my brother lives in vermont and we've considered moving there or upstate ny, but obviously the job market isn't fabulous and the bugs....i've decided i don't mind the cold in the winter if i can have a little sunshine.
we are both rock climbers and like a little bit of a social scene...we plan on having kids in a few years and i just don't want to settle down somewhere and not be able to make any friends like in seattle...
my dream place: sunshine! access to swimming holes, hiking, rock climbing, farmer's markets, food co-op. supportive of vegetarian food/lifestyle. humidity is rough on my husband (he lived in ct for a summer and that was it!) i am flexible to either coast. i'd like to have a few acres but be somewhat close to a liberal town with some diversity (i get scared of the high percentage of old white people in vermont, no offense...it was never apparent until i moved to the west coast)
anyways, let's discuss and i welcome all advice. i need to leave this city before i get sucked in and regret not taking action...

my wife and i are looking for something similar, it seems. be careful about these small towns - if you are used to the city, you might find they are deserted and dead at 8pm. we went to visit a town recently - we on the internet about an organic/free trade coffee shop we figured we'd stop by but when we got there at 8pm, found out they had closed at SEVEN!

ithaca, i have never been to, and being a college town might be much better. for my wife and i, we are not 18 or 21 or 25 anymore, and with all due respect don't want a town that is dominated by college kids. again, i don't know if that is the case at all with ithaca - i have never been there.

[Leilah]

New Paltz has a huge rock climbing community - google 'the Gunks' (Shawangunk Range) - lots of cool towns around - veggie cook would fit right in - Rosendale, Gardiner, High Falls, Accord, Kerhonkson, Stone Ridge... a little further West is Woodstock. Across the Hudson is Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Tivoli.... all about 1.5 hrs from NYC.
As for your IT man... well there must be some place - like perhaps SUNY New Paltz, or Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson - near Rhinebeck). Or a little further South - Middletown - or towns in Westchester - since it's somewhat close to New York, there's more job possibilities than what Ithaca may have to offer.
It's a community of creative people - good music, lots of artists, alternative healers. Friendly!