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I hate to say this, maybe I'm getting soft or it's the beautiful Arizona weather. But for a Liberal you're okay!
I really enjoyed reading your post it was indeed very interesting. You made a lot of valid points. I do appreciate your thoughtful response.
To answer your question:
It was great growing up there along the Hudson River. I had my own powerboat when I was twelve. Summers along the Hudson were a lot of fun. There was a park near the boat club where we would barbecue then hop in the boat and do a little water skiing or just ride around the Hudson checking out different places. It was almost like having a drivers license at twelve. The river towns along the Hudson are indeed very nice, but the closer you get to the city the more expensive it is to live there.
My wife and I both grew up in Irvington which is 20 miles north of the city. Everybody knew everybody and their families. The town was like one big happy family. If something bad happened to someone it affected everyone. Same for when good things happened.
Most of the cops were all from town and when any of us got into trouble (teenage partying, bar fights, sporting events that got out of hand, high school dances) that sort of thing, it was usually a trip to the police station where we received a good sound thrashing and a ride home in a police car to some very angry parents where we received another good sound thrashing. Hell, a lot of the cop's own kids were involved. Nobody was ever arrested or went to jail not even overnight. Did it straighten us out? Hell no. Regrettably some of my old friends are still the same and never grew up.
The fall is indeed spectacular, we have a fall out here but it can't even compare to New England's vibrant colors. Vermont is even better! It's Norman Rockwell's America. We even considered moving there, sorry too Liberal for me. It has lenient gun laws and is a "Constitutional Carry" state, meaning no permits are required to own and carry handguns same as here which is fine by me. Can't believe it's Liberal? Winters are brutal. I was there when it was 13 below you couldn't breathe and I've never smoked.
I hated the winter, but loved it when spring came around and everything started to bloom. Knowing that several months of nice weather lie ahead.
The city was fun at times to visit but once you've seen everything you wanted to see it really made no sense to go there again. At least for me. It was an awesome sight looking at it from 20 miles away all lit up from the darkened banks of the Hudson River. Kind of like Emerald City from the "Wizard of Oz". We'd sit by the river have a few beers listen to some music and take it all in.
The Finger Lakes region was pretty nice, a lot of quaint old towns. You might want to consider Ithaca if possible. There is a college there and as I remember it the town/city was pretty clean and kept up. But that was 40 years ago. It probably hasn't changed.
Putnam County is pretty nice, not as congested as Westchester and the homes are cheaper. You'll get a lot more for your money there. You can then drive to Croton, about 15 minutes depending where you live and hop on the express train to the city if you have to commute there. For about an hour's commute to Grand Central but then you might have to rely on a subway or bus to your final destination. Dutchess County the next county north is even cheaper. Stay away from Poughkeepsie/Newburgh/Beacon, I took tractor trailer lessons throughout that area and it is not very nice. Kingston? I went to a gun show there, yes they do have them in New York. It seemed like a nice place, but never spent a lot of time there. It didn't appear to be run down.
There's Hyde Park, FDR's home and the Vanderbilt Mansion. In fact there were many homes along the Hudson that resembled some of those medieval castles on the Rhine. Imposing structures to be sure. Many are now gone only to be replaced by multi million dollar homes. You can still check out some of them, Lyndhurst home of Jay Gould is one of them it is in Tarrytown. Unbelievable!
If you're into military history there's the West Point Military Academy and the West Point Museum. Even if you're not the campus is beautiful with stunning views of the Hudson. When I was a kid my parents took me there to see General MacArthur give his farewell speech. We got within 20 feet of him as he was driven around the athletic field. Man, that was something! I'll never forget that.
Geez! You're getting me wanting to miss New York already. Just kidding. Just kidding.
Anyway good luck in whatever you choose to do. You are certainly going about it the right way. Just as we did before moving out here. I'm sure you'll be happy whatever you decide to do.
Thank you! and for a conservative, you seem to be okay too
Your growing up years on the Hudson sound pretty familiar LOL. I didn't get into a lot of trouble myself, but I had friends who did, and where I grew up, yes same thing. The cops would just take you home, because they knew you got a lot more scolding from your folks--oh, and it was worse if when you got home, only one parent was home, because then you got lashed at more than once for the same mistake!, than any lesson they could teach you by taking you to jail, but having use of a boat at an early age, yes, that must have been a blast!
Several years ago when I began to get burnt-out on Portland, and seen the problems with snarl and COL heading our way, Vermont was the first state I was looking at, but 2 things kept me from going there:
1. my employer has no office there--Portsmouth, NH is the closest place to it, and
2. the COL there is even much higher than here, and that chased me away pretty quick.
However, yes, the Fall colors out there must be to die-for. I actually have an image for awhile on my computer desktop, of a hillside in VT, and it is so full of colors, it resembles like a little child had colored crayons consisting of 3 different greens, 2 different yellows, 2 different oranges and 4 different reds and colored the trees whatever they wanted. It's amazing!
Yes, one of the days I'm in upstate NY, I am driving down to the Finger Lakes area where yes, hoping to stop in Ithaca if possible. It doesn't look too far ( a round trip around a lake or two, stop in Ithaca and returning back to Syracuse all the same day ) so I should enjoy that--thanks for that pointer there though
Hm, seeing a home resembling anything at all like a castle, would be worth a visit at some point I think its a shame that this trip is only 5 days, as I might have to cram a few things into it, but I'd rather have that option than none at all...
A visit to the West Point area would be nice too--I've seen videos and pics of it, but that's been about it, and heard it was in upstate NY somewhere...
LOL about missing NY. See, there is always something good, in an area you find horrible
When I was aiming like crazy to get out of WY when I was 24 yrs old ( 21 yrs ago ) I had trouble seeing anything good there, but after living here for 2 decades, I see it now. Much lower COL, no traffic at all--the biggest traffic "jam" you'd hit is hunting season--when everyone gets off work at 5pm there, heads straight for one of over 30 bars ( for a town of 20k people ) and straight into the mountains to hunt. You have a better chance of hitting a deer or elk in WY than another vehicle ( straight up truth! )
Anyway, after the COL and traffic there, it dawned on me that the air and water there were always so clean. I remember streams in the mountains were almost crystal clear--even though Portland isn't polluted that bad, our water still has to be filtered, and you never want to drink the tap water here--its not as cloudy and has as many minerals in it as you find in the southern part of the US states, but it still has a very slimy taste and most people here gladly pay for bottled water--even a water cooler, which I actually have.
Thanks, and I hope you continue to be happy in AZ ( and don't run out of water--just kidding ) and thanks again for some pointers you have given me about NY as well.
Last edited by skylar0201; 08-16-2015 at 04:34 AM..
Thank you! and for a conservative, you seem to be okay too
Your growing up years on the Hudson sound pretty familiar LOL. I didn't get into a lot of trouble myself, but I had friends who did, and where I grew up, yes same thing. The cops would just take you home, because they knew you got a lot more scolding from your folks--oh, and it was worse if when you got home, only one parent was home, because then you got lashed at more than once for the same mistake!, than any lesson they could teach you by taking you to jail, but having use of a boat at an early age, yes, that must have been a blast!
Several years ago when I began to get burnt-out on Portland, and seen the problems with snarl and COL heading our way, Vermont was the first state I was looking at, but 2 things kept me from going there:
1. my employer has no office there--Portsmouth, NH is the closest place to it, and
2. the COL there is even much higher than here, and that chased me away pretty quick.
However, yes, the Fall colors out there must be to die-for. I actually have an image for awhile on my computer desktop, of a hillside in VT, and it is so full of colors, it resembles like a little child had colored crayons consisting of 3 different greens, 2 different yellows, 2 different oranges and 4 different reds and colored the trees whatever they wanted. It's amazing!
Yes, one of the days I'm in upstate NY, I am driving down to the Finger Lakes area where yes, hoping to stop in Ithaca if possible. It doesn't look too far ( a round trip around a lake or two, stop in Ithaca and returning back to Syracuse all the same day ) so I should enjoy that--thanks for that pointer there though
Hm, seeing a home resembling anything at all like a castle, would be worth a visit at some point I think its a shame that this trip is only 5 days, as I might have to cram a few things into it, but I'd rather have that option than none at all...
A visit to the West Point area would be nice too--I've seen videos and pics of it, but that's been about it, and heard it was in upstate NY somewhere...
LOL about missing NY. See, there is always something good, in an area you find horrible
When I was aiming like crazy to get out of WY when I was 24 yrs old ( 21 yrs ago ) I had trouble seeing anything good there, but after living here for 2 decades, I see it now. Much lower COL, no traffic at all--the biggest traffic "jam" you'd hit is hunting season--when everyone gets off work at 5pm there, heads straight for one of over 30 bars ( for a town of 20k people ) and straight into the mountains to hunt. You have a better chance of hitting a deer or elk in WY than another vehicle ( straight up truth! )
Anyway, after the COL and traffic there, it dawned on me that the air and water there were always so clean. I remember streams in the mountains were almost crystal clear--even though Portland isn't polluted that bad, our water still has to be filtered, and you never want to drink the tap water here--its not as cloudy and has as many minerals in it as you find in the southern part of the US states, but it still has a very slimy taste and most people here gladly pay for bottled water--even a water cooler, which I actually have.
Thanks, and I hope you continue to be happy in AZ ( and don't run out of water--just kidding ) and thanks again for some pointers you have given me about NY as well.
You're quite welcome! You and I are very much alike except for our political philosophy. You're doing the exact same things that we did before planning our move. So I'm sure that everything will work out well for you. It's not like throwing darts at a map to decide where you want to go. You know what you want out of life and what's best for you and have a keen sense of direction. That's a good thing! Plan on making additional trips to New York to other locations that may interest you. 5 days are not enough. You can call up different real estate agencies for relocation packages. This will help you get a better feel for those areas along with the amenities they have to offer. Not to mention housing costs. Also subscribe to the local newspapers. Pay attention to the letters section this way you'll get a feel for the good the bad and the ugly, and some sense of what the people are like. Although not entirely accurate it is better than nothing. You might have already done this?
I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your endeavor and find the same happiness that we have found here in Arizona. It has indeed been a pleasure corresponding with you. I have to get a drink of water now before the well runs dry!
Confession: I've only read the last page or 2 of this 40-page thread, so my apologies if I repeat anything.
I was born and raised in western NYS. My parents were "transplants" - and I use quotation marks because they moved to NYS from just over the border in Potter County, Pennsylvania. It wasn't as if we moved hundreds of miles, more like 15! And yet, in the small town where I grew up and where they still live, we aren't considered "locals" by many. I went to college in the Southern Tier, got my master's degree at SUNY Albany, and had every intention of moving on.
I got as far as Erie, PA (a city which I still love, BTW).
Then I met a man from the midwest, he moved east, we got married, a job opportunity arose back in the Southern Tier....and here we are. Do I romanticize this part of the country? I don't think so. Others have mentioned the poverty, the decline in industry, and other such problems. NYS public education, one of the big reasons my parents crossed the PA border, is no longer the institution that it once was. We've talked several times about relocating (as my posts in various forums here would indicate!). The economy here is shaky, and our jobs aren't as financially rewarding as we'd like. However, as my parents age it nice to be somewhat close to them (or at least closer than all my siblings), and in many ways we've chosen the devil we know. I think I'll always be a bit of a gypsy, and will look with temporary longing at other places, but it will take a lot of research before I just pick up and move away from here. In addition to my family and gainful employment, I have friends, a routine that suits me, doctors I like, and not 1 but THREE Wegmans' stores within a 45-minute drive!
I miss things about just about every place I've lived. But none of it was such that I felt a need to come back to a specific place, town, or state, especially not without a job or other such motivating factor.
Visiting now. So far don't like it. But I do like the food, nature and the Adirondacks. People seem grumpy and in a rush. Even people in the rural areas just outside of rome/utica area seem unfriendly. Not a warm feeling so far. Parks cost a lot to enter(Hinckley Reservoir $10) and state parks charge an out-of-state fee of $5.00 to camp. What a way to welcome potential residents. Roads are awful...just terrible.
Nothing like my childhood memories. No wonder why my parents and grandparent left Central NY. Too bad, because it really is a beautiful and quiet place with lots of open fields and wooded secluded areas. I'm amazed by how much land people have in rural NY compared to areas in Western NC, of which seems so much more crowded; probably because the MTNs force people to be bunched in the valleys.
Some of the people in NY are friendly.
Traveling through Western PA/Eastern OH (Meadville/ Andover Oh) was completely the opposite people wise; very unusually friendly people in NE OH/ NW PA. Western NY was so-so. Horrible just outside of Buffalo. Very stand offish people. The country folk seemed ok. Letchworth State Park is a must see and the surroundinge country side is rolling open corn and hay fields, with hedges or small parcels of woods. Loved Western NY through the Finger Lakes region. People seemed pretty nice around Watkins Glen area. Not overly nice but much more friendlier than utica/rome area.
So far the I love the beauty of NY, but wish the grumpy people would move out of state.
To sum it up, people nah, nature yah. But one could have similar subjective experiences anywhere.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 24 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,099,287 times
Reputation: 15538
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmo1754
Those of us who live upstate and see the constant **** NYC causes would beg to differ. Upstate could secede and survive alone, NYC not so much
Perhaps you believe that but NYC is an economic engine of the world, upstate is not. If the city requires a good or service it will go out and obtain it from whatever location can provide it. Many parts of upstate might find themselves scrambling for a market if NYC chooses to obtain the good/service they provide from another source.
Location: Westchester County, NY -> Pinellas County, FL -> Dutchess County, NY -> Denver?
348 posts, read 535,855 times
Reputation: 349
It seems some of you need a lesson in geography but that is understood since you are Muricans. New York Metropolitan Area is an economic engine of the world. The rest of NY and other areas.... well tough luck.
Oh shut up! I have every right to post just as much as you do. You've posted a hell of a lot more times than I have. Can't you read what the topic of this thread is? There is such a thing as the 1st Amendment or does that only apply to people that think like you? Or to those who only extoll the virtues of living in your miserable little state? You really are some piece of work. Maybe it's people like you who suck who've made New York such a miserable place to live in. You certainly do nothing to improve the reputation that many throughout the country have of New Yorkers. But you're just not that smart enough to figure that out. You do not like what I have to say? Well just don't read it. Pretty simple. Or haven't you been able to figure that out either?
But keep on posting you only continue to prove how truly arrogant, ignorant and stupid you really are. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. There's a lot more to Arizona than Phoenix. At least I have lived in both places and if it was anything like you described, I'd be out of here in a New York minute. You see I'm not stuck here just as you are probably stuck in New York and are envious of those who have the freedom to live wherever they choose.
How's that for a New York response?
I am a fellow former NYer and now a proud Zonie. The climate you describe where you live here sounds like the Prescott area. I split time between Phoenix and Valle where we have some acreage near South Rim to change up the climate at the 6000 ft level so even cooler than Prescott's mile high climate. Prescott itself is very nice with victorian homes and plenty of greenery.Have a drink on Whiskey Row for me ! Unfortunately I find Prescott Valley and Chino Valley to be not that appealing. It is grassland and prefer either the ponderosa of Flag , the sagebrush of Valle, the red rock of Winslow/Holbrook or the saguaro of the lower desert. Grassland just is bland and not what AZ represents to me. With that said, unlike NY, our state income tax and property taxes are a fraction of NY and the overall COL for food and gas is comparable to Upstate NY cities. One can be comfortable every weekend of the year here with weather. The microclimates west of the Rockies is what make the Southwest for so ideal for many. Too hot, too cold ? No prob, drive 50 miles. No airplane required.
Last question...San Diego or Puerto Penasco for the beach ?
Last answer...Do not miss NY one bit. The last 4 years as a Zonie have been my happiest 4 years ever !! The nature and politics fits my personality. There are some successful NY folks but many in Upstate are there because they cannot afford to move, not because they do not want to move elsewhere.
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I think its a shame that this trip is only 5 days, as I might have to cram a few things into it, but I'd rather have that option than none at all...
