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Now that I have been here in Vermont for almost 4 1/2 months, this is what I miss from my native New York:
- Closeness to major department stores and other major stores. To get to a mall, I have to drive an hour to Holyoke. To get to other major stores I have to drive about a half hour to Keene. I used to live in southern Brooklyn, and could, if I wanted to, walk to Kings Plaza, where there is a Sears and a Macy's. Can't do that here. Only stores in my area are Walmart and Staples, plus some smaller stores. There's a GNC, for example.
- Access to major museums. We have a nice art museum, but it focuses on local artists. I like that, but I do miss being able to go to the major museums of NYC.
- Having a veterinarian 5 minutes away. I have to drive about 15 minutes to get to my vet. A 24 hour emergency facility is about a half hour away on the interstate, but that's how long it took to get to the emergency facilities in Brooklyn.
This is what I expected to miss, but don't.
- The ocean. If I have to choose between the ocean and the mountains, I would choose the mountains. I find I enjoy the rivers and the lakes. There's plenty of water to look at and to play in.
- NY bagels, NY pizza, NY Jewish food, gourmet delis. Surprise! I didn't expect this at all. And if I wanted gourmet food, I could get it here. And there are ethnic restaurants. I can get good Chinese, Japanese and Thai food. There is also an Indian restaurant which is pretty good. There is an Italian restaurant, which I haven't yet tried. And I just discovered there is a flaffel place here. No Ethiopian food, though, but I think I only went to the Ethiopian restaurant in New York once or twice. And there are more restaurants in Greenfield, Keene and Northampton.
- Diversity. Here in Brattleboro, there is the School for International Training. Students come from all over the world. My friend rents rooms to a bunch of them, and I get to meet them. Sadly, there have been racist incidents at the local high school, but the town seems to have pulled together to address the issue.
- The energy of New York. I like the calmness here. Besides, that energy did not exist in southern Brooklyn, where I lived.
- Access to top medical care. In eastern Vermont, we have access to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Also, naturopaths are licensed here, unlike in New York. But if I were to come down with something requiring a specialty hospital, such as Sloan Kettering, I'd miss the level of care I could have gotten in New York. I'm closer to Boston now, with its world-class facilities, but Boston is still 2 1/2 miles away. But if I had to go to NYC, I could.
- Anonymity. I like the personal connections here. I like being able to be known. I lke the sense of community. I think it is a much more normal and human-scale way to live.
- The bewildering choices of things to do at any time. I don't need that. There's plenty to do here. And there are more private pleasures, such as reading, cooking and just hanging out, either with friends or at local cafes.
What I don't miss:
- The traffic congestion.
- The crowded subways.
- The constant security concerns and undercurrent of menace.
- Not being fully able to enjoy Central Park, and other parks, because of crime concerns.
- Knowing that evacuation in an emergency would be close to impossible.
- The loud, in-your-face, overbearing rudeness.
- The ever-present undercurrent of anger.
- The dishonesty.
- The materialism.
- The endless asphalt and concrete.
- The snow getting so dirty so quickly.
- The oversized scale of everything.
- Having to abort errands because I can't find parking.
- Spending an hour or more looking for parking.
- Extremely overpriced parking garages.
- Rats in the subway, in the parks and in other places.
That's all I can think of now.
BTW, I still love New York, but, at least right now, I'd rather be living here in Vermont.
See, Arel, I told you that you can get bagels!
Just wait until you can enjoy farmers markets....
I like the fact 'nothing happens here' sometimes but other times, it does get boring and I feel like just going outside and screaming "WHAT THE ****" or something NYish.. (I turn on Sopranos instead.)
You will notice when you move here things are slower, people walk and talk slower. I had to remind my husband to 'slow down' today at the library. He was walking too fast, overtaking this elderly couple, for no real reason...(and he's British born, not a native NYer, though he totally embraced all the 'bad habits' once he left England).
If you are from NY people may think you are excited or angry if you act 'animated' (ethnic types beware!). Anyhow, I kind of miss a little excitement and noise.
We have winter farmers' markets here. I have a bag of apples I bought at the farmers' market on Saturday.
Bratt is a lively place. Lots of thngs to do. This weekend there is a circus performance, a ski jump competition, a jazz concert and a youth performance. There is stuff to do just about every night. And we have first-run movies at the Latchis theater.
I've found that I go out more here than I did in New York. For one thing, I can get downtown in minutes. In New York, it took about an hour to get to venues. And that hour, or more, was often spent in congested traffic, or in long waits for trains.
But there is no Metropolitan Museum of Art here. No American Museum of Natural History. No Museum of the American Indian. No Museum of Modern Art. No Guggenheim. No Broadway. No off-Broadway. No off-off-Broadway. No Lincoln Center. Etc. Etc.
They haven't stopped existing, but they are 4-5 hours away.
Arel,
Do you have a college nearby? They may provide more cultural things. I know Dartmouth has various very interesting programs and performances open to the public.
Bratt is a lively place. Lots of thngs to do. This weekend there is a circus performance, a ski jump competition, a jazz concert and a youth performance. There is stuff to do just about every night. And we have first-run movies at the Latchis theater.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the number of concerts in Northhampton from May through September. Look Park, the Calvin Theatre, the colleges...
Northampton seems to be the farthest north that a lot of bands venture.
A MUCH better concert scene than Burlington. I thought a lot of bands would stop in Burlington on their way to Montreal, but the people of Quebec don't seem to share the same taste I have in music. Everyone I want to see eventually ends up at the Calvin in Northhampton. Wish I could see the Saw Doctors there on Mar 20. One of my favorite live bands of all time.
Northampton, Holyoke, Amherst and the whole Pioneer Valley have lots to offer. And they are within an hour's drive from Brattleboro.
I've been told that people drive down to Northampton for dinner.
Northampton seems to have lots more going on than Brattleboro does. One thing I like about Brattleboro is it's proximity to other areas of interest, such as the Pioneer Valley and Keene. And also the Upper Valley.
BTW, there's an LL Bean Store in West Lebanon.
Another thing I like about Brattleboro is that we have access to Western Massachusetts activities, but we have a distinctly Vermont culture. I'm not fully sure what that entails, as I am new here, but I have always gotten the sense that Vermont culture is more open and free-spirited. When I considered moving to western Massachusetts, there was something about the area that seemed a little cloying at times. Maybe it was a white picket fence I saw that annoyed me. But I still love the area.
Since this thread is about what ex-New Yorkers miss, and I am, since the end of September, an ex-New Yorker, I have to say that I don't miss a whole lot. Even though I can't get to the Metropolitan Museum or to Central Park, I still have plenty of access to local artists and a lively arts scene. And I have open spaces and rural roads. The scenery does not have the ambience of Central Park - for one thing, there are no large buildings surrounding the open spaces - but I like the ambience here just fine.
I forgot to mention that Brattleboro is only an hour away from the Upper Valley area, which I also like. I like Hanover and Lebanon, NH. The mountains there are bigger and prettier than the ones down here in Brattleboro. Also, there is an LL Bean store in West Lebanon.
I spent some time once, about 20 years ago, in White River Junction. I had been there as a child and was appalled at the ugliness of donwtown, but when I returned, as an adult, it didn't seem so bad. I liked visiting Hanover and I did my grocery shopping, I think, in Lebanon. I loved looking at the mountains there. I remember traveling down to Brattleboro one day and not liking how the mountains got smaller and smaller. I was happy to return and see the mountains get bigger again. But I found I was not really comfortable with a lot of the people I met, both in WRJ and in New Hampsire. Maybe the problem was me, but I found a lot of people unfriendly and unrelatable.
Now I live in Brattleboro. I enjoy looking at the hills and mountains here, as I am no longer spoiled by the bigger mountains futrher north. But I especially enjoy the social and cultural environment here, as well as the fairly convenient proximity to other places of interest.
BYW, I just realized I misspelled a word in a previous post. It wasn't a typo. The word is falafel, which I mispelled as flaffel. For those who don't know what it is, it is a ball of ground (or crushed, I'm not sure) chick peas and spices, which are deep fried. It is usually served on a pita bread with salad, tahini (sesame sauce) and sometimes hot sauce. Israeli falafels are often served with sourkraut. It is a Middle Eastern food, served at both Israeli and Arab restaurants.
Now that I've written this, I want to try out that falafel place downtown.
BTW, do you want to know what I miss from New York? A shoe repair place! There's a place in Keene, but it takes about 3-4 weeks to get your shoes back. I haven't gone there, but I've been researching. There's a cleaners near my house that takes shoes and sends them out, though. But after using that same place in Keene, they are looking for a new place. Maybe they've found one. I have to call.
When I was growing up, there was a shoe repair place a few blocks away, which we always used. Then but after a few changes in ownership, the shoe place disappeared. I think it is a manicure place now. But there were other places nearby to use. The one I used was right near the subway station.
BYW, I just realized I misspelled a word in a previous post. It wasn't a typo. The word is falafel, which I mispelled as flaffel.
Since the word is a transliteration from Arabic, and even more originally from Sanskrit (as so many words are) you really can't spell it wrong in English. :-)
[Arabic falāfil, pl. of filfil, pepper, probably from Sanskrit pippalī; see pepper.]
We've become much more self sufficient. I hem all our pants now (my husband cuts and measures and I sew them). My son is a big boy but short for his size so far so it's do that (hem myself) or pay $10 a pair (forget that) for altering and wait 2 weeks.
So, I used to miss the cheap 'tailor' but in the end it was not very cheap in NY to have it done..
Now that I have been here in Vermont for almost 4 1/2 months, this is what I miss from my native New York:
- Closeness to major department stores and other major stores. To get to a mall, I have to drive an hour to Holyoke. To get to other major stores I have to drive about a half hour to Keene. I used to live in southern Brooklyn, and could, if I wanted to, walk to Kings Plaza, where there is a Sears and a Macy's. Can't do that here. Only stores in my area are Walmart and Staples, plus some smaller stores. There's a GNC, for example.
- Access to major museums. We have a nice art museum, but it focuses on local artists. I like that, but I do miss being able to go to the major museums of NYC.
- Having a veterinarian 5 minutes away. I have to drive about 15 minutes to get to my vet. A 24 hour emergency facility is about a half hour away on the interstate, but that's how long it took to get to the emergency facilities in Brooklyn.
This is what I expected to miss, but don't.
- The ocean. If I have to choose between the ocean and the mountains, I would choose the mountains. I find I enjoy the rivers and the lakes. There's plenty of water to look at and to play in.
- NY bagels, NY pizza, NY Jewish food, gourmet delis. Surprise! I didn't expect this at all. And if I wanted gourmet food, I could get it here. And there are ethnic restaurants. I can get good Chinese, Japanese and Thai food. There is also an Indian restaurant which is pretty good. There is an Italian restaurant, which I haven't yet tried. And I just discovered there is a flaffel place here. No Ethiopian food, though, but I think I only went to the Ethiopian restaurant in New York once or twice. And there are more restaurants in Greenfield, Keene and Northampton.
- Diversity. Here in Brattleboro, there is the School for International Training. Students come from all over the world. My friend rents rooms to a bunch of them, and I get to meet them. Sadly, there have been racist incidents at the local high school, but the town seems to have pulled together to address the issue.
- The energy of New York. I like the calmness here. Besides, that energy did not exist in southern Brooklyn, where I lived.
- Access to top medical care. In eastern Vermont, we have access to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Also, naturopaths are licensed here, unlike in New York. But if I were to come down with something requiring a specialty hospital, such as Sloan Kettering, I'd miss the level of care I could have gotten in New York. I'm closer to Boston now, with its world-class facilities, but Boston is still 2 1/2 miles away. But if I had to go to NYC, I could.
- Anonymity. I like the personal connections here. I like being able to be known. I lke the sense of community. I think it is a much more normal and human-scale way to live.
- The bewildering choices of things to do at any time. I don't need that. There's plenty to do here. And there are more private pleasures, such as reading, cooking and just hanging out, either with friends or at local cafes.
What I don't miss:
- The traffic congestion.
- The crowded subways.
- The constant security concerns and undercurrent of menace.
- Not being fully able to enjoy Central Park, and other parks, because of crime concerns.
- Knowing that evacuation in an emergency would be close to impossible.
- The loud, in-your-face, overbearing rudeness.
- The ever-present undercurrent of anger.
- The dishonesty.
- The materialism.
- The endless asphalt and concrete.
- The snow getting so dirty so quickly.
- The oversized scale of everything.
- Having to abort errands because I can't find parking.
- Spending an hour or more looking for parking.
- Extremely overpriced parking garages.
- Rats in the subway, in the parks and in other places.
That's all I can think of now.
BTW, I still love New York, but, at least right now, I'd rather be living here in Vermont.
Just noticed. I wrote that Boston is 2 1/2 miles away. I meant 2 1/2 hours away.
I wonder if that was a city person's Freudian slip. If so, I guess I have an inner urbanite as well as an inner flatlander. Or maybe they are fused.
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