Why don’t more people live here?
I know, I know. It’s complicated. But last night as I sat on Lake Clear beach watching kids play in the waves, I kept thinking, Why aren’t we fighting people off with sticks?
I could see the blueberry bushes ripening along the shore. A windsurfer was cutting across the waves. My son and niece were howling with laughter as they dunked each other. It couldn’t be any better.
A generation ago, Washington state and Oregon were just as rural, just as dependent on natural resources and low-wage tourism jobs as the North Country is now.
But people flocked to the beauty and sense of community and opportunity that those places offered. And with remarkable speed they built up thriving, bustling economies.
And that was before the age of tele-commuting and freelance work made it possible to choose, far more deliberately, where you want to live.
So why aren’t people swarming to our beauty and quality of life?
The truth is that we have all the ingredients. Cool, intact little communities. Relatively affordable real estate, compared with other parts of the US. A lot of our towns have broadband. Good schools.
You can paddle a lake in the morning, work an eight-hour day, then be in an art gallery, a funky concert, or a professional theater performance by night.
I’m sure there are equally great places to raise kids, somewhere in the world — but there are certainly none better.
There is, of course, winter. And black flies. But please. For anyone willing to adjust their sensibilities a little, our version of winter becomes a celebration, from moonlight cross-country skis to luminous ice palaces.
And surely a few bugs are no more oppressive than a long, rush-hour commute, or an office cubicle, or a community where there is no actual community.
At the end of the day, I’m chalking this one up to pure mystery. For whatever reason, the richness of life here is one of New York state’s best kept secret — maybe one of the best kept secrets in the country.
Tags: economy, ncidentity, rural living
@ Paul and Will Doolittle…Wow – I’m a bit stunned at your take on Saranac Lake. Perhaps, for you, where you live now is a better fit than Saranac Lake, but for many of us that live here…and work hard to make it an even more attractive place to live and visit…find Brian’s analysis to be pretty right on. We have so much more than pretty scenery around Saranac Lake – “You can paddle a lake in the morning, work an eight-hour day, then be in an art gallery, a funky concert, or a professional theater performance by night.” It doesn’t get much better than that and I am with Brian: except for the winters, which I love but I do get that some people don’t care to deal with, the small town community sense of a town like Saranac Lake that has all the stuff Brian references is quite a nice living situation. It has its challenges, and some of them have been mentioned here, but they pale compared to the positives and, as I said, I’m just a bit stunned at the negative sense you have of a communities like Saranac Lake. I’m going to guess that when Brian asks “why don’t more people live here?” he wasn’t thinking “why doesn’t everyone live here”. Glens Falls has proven to be the garden spot for Will Doolittle and that is great – Glens Falls needs people to love it and live there. I’ve asked myself Brian’s question before and don’t understand why there aren’t more people that have what it takes to live in the Adirondacks and a community like Saranac Lake. I’m sure Glens Falls and Paul’s no-named town in central NY are lovely, but I’ll take Saranac Lake any day.
@ whoever made the crack about Pendragon – what a cheep shot…you yourself acknowledge that what is showing at Proctors comes from someplace like, well, New York City which is probably the center of the universe for theatre – it is not regional. Pendragon is a regional professional theatre (not community theatre, which is actually also pretty good in this area) – that kind of thing is rare in rural America…check out the funky, off-Broadway, productions in some hole-in-the-wall theatre in NYC, much of it like what is produced at Pendragon. If I want Broadway, I’ll go to Broadway but when I step out of the Pendragon Theatre late in the evening, I can see the stars!
@ Karina: I can not speak from much personal experience with this but I know a few people that fly in and out of Saranac Lake/Lake Placid on a regular basis and they love Cape Air.
Bottom line: we each have out expectations of what we want in the towns we live in which is why there is such diversity in the kinds of towns/cities around the US. In years past Saranac Lake has garnered: All America City by the National Civic League; Men’s Journal magazine: One of the top 25 Coolest Mountain Towns in the US; ranked # 11 in the US and # 1 in NYS by “The 100 Best Small Towns in America”; one of the Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Jeez-m-crow, what more do you want!?
The ultimate is the Adirondacks in the summer and early fall with a few weeks in NYC on the way out west to spend the winter skiing and living in the mountains of Colorado. I better go buy a lottery ticket!
Mark, ease up. Maybe switch to decaf. I own a place in Saranac Lake, I grew up there much of my family lives there. I was just saying that the town could use a serious dose of TLC and the school could be better than it is. This is constructive criticism not the bashing that you portray it as.
A most interesting discussion. My ramblings follow:
First, one must decide what one wants.
That is true for communities as well as for people.
I live in Canton and watch with horror as development occurs with no obvious planning. I will leave Canton within a couple of years for that very reason.
I chose to live in this area for the very reasons that prohibit development.
I’ve lived in tourist towns and believe me, quality of life is greatly diminished when tourists (and aren’t we all tourists at one time or another) visit. I’m convinced that when folks travel, they not only become tourists, but they often leave their manners and common sense at home.
This discussion reminds me that ‘the grass is always greener’ syndrome is alive and well in the north country.
North Dakota was looking good to me until all the hydrofracking began.
Is there a perfect place? Depends on what your vision of perfection is.
Taxes are a huge issue. Way too high in the NC. Hermon and Potsdam taxes are ludicrous. Canton is right behind them.
Without the four institutions of higher learning in the Canton/Potsdam area, all would be lost for a lot of us.
And for goodness sake, get rid of those toilets. Find a law. Make a law. Fine the owner for his property being a public nuisance.
I like the way that sounds Pete. I came here thirty years ago, to get away from modern suburbia, and that included television, fast food, and shopping malls. If we had a train, I’d put airports on that list too.
Hey, a little love for Lewis County please. We’re a part of the North Country too!
Clapton, I hear the snowmobiling is good over there! Not this winter maybe but that was true everywhere.
I bet that Lewis county could actually have a cross county ski trail system that could rival Sweden if they wanted to.
Mr. Mayor since we have you on the line…
I know it is a touchy subject like everything else but have you ever considered the possibility of turning the ADK railroad into a train similar to this one that I have been on in South Western Colorado:
http://www.durangotrain.com/packages/adventure-packages
I understand that a rail to trail (or a rail side trail) could be somewhat unique for the area and a boost to the economy. But a train that could carry hikers and paddlers to remote trail-heads and put-ins and have packages where less “adventurous” folks could stay at different lakeside hotels along the way this would be an extremely unique way to utilize that resource. Especially with the “canoe car” option. I can’t think of anything like that anywhere. Of course I haven’t been everywhere!
The other thing to remember is that people do not just live in an area because there is fun stuff to do and they can pay the bills. People have aspirations. They want to accomplish things they want to dedicate their time at work to things that they find intellectually stimulating. If you are a top immunology researcher you might choose SL because there you can do those things there. The paddle in the morning or whatever is just a bonus. Folks nowadays (see some comments here) are getting a good education (hopefully) and they are ready to do some important things they are going to go where those things are. You are not going to work 40-60 hours a week at something that is potentially boring so that you can fish for a few hours every evening.
I recall Saranac Lake in the early 1960s. Much of it was vacant. Buildings were in terrible shape. No one wanted to be there because it had been full of people sick with TB, which was contagious. Stay in a cure cottage? Sleep on some old horse hair mattress? Got to be kidding. Today’s Lake Flower Park was a jumble of collapsing buildings and boat repair shops. It was ugly!
It still has its issues, but it is a remarkably nice place now compared to back then. Today the TB history is so far back that it has come full circle, invoking health care and biotech as big features of the village’s future. You have to give the place credit for an amazing turn around. The loss of the TB sure business (to antibiotics) nearly crushed the place. But its made quite a come back. With lots left to do, you have to give the place credit for how far it has come back from the depths of post-TB era.
Other ADK towns that have lost their big employer would do well to study the long Saranac Lake.
Clyde never offered me a beer…
Knuck: Send me your address and I will send you a beer token…and I will try to meet you, pal, so long as you’re visiting from afar…not coming from, say, B’dale…. after all, this largess is not taxpayer funded….just a mayoral promotional activity I enjoy.
Dave: Thank you for recognizing the Comeback Kid, AKA, Saranac Lake, as mentioned before, notwithstanding our next-door proximity to the Goliath of ADK marketing, Lake Placid, we’re still touted by national magazines as the “in Place.” And, we ain’t stoppin’ there.
Paul: Interesting you should mention a railroad as I just came back from an amazing meeting this evening between the ADK Scenic RR people and our downtown merchants. We’re determined to leverage our resources and make everything count this summer. Stay tuned.
This is only my second post ever. I hesitated to join in as a mayor, but really appreciated the high level of discussion present in Brian Mann’s blog-spot here and salute all who participate in this forum of ideas and goodwill.
Mr. Mayor, best of luck. There are many of us outside SL (for most of the year) who also have close tIes in town that will do whatever we can to help.
Well, Mark, the point was to respond to Brian’s question, “Why don’t more people live here?” And Brian lives in Saranac Lake, right? Saranac Lake has its charm, certainly, and no one can deny its natural beauty. For my money, Moody Pond and Baker Mountain are the coolest little natural walks right inside a village that I’ve ever seen. But it’s not just that SL is not growing exponentially, the way, say, Seattle did. It’s that its population hasn’t increased appreciably, if at all, for 50 years or more. Everything people has mentioned is germane, I think, but the biggest one is the lack of opportunity, in many fields. Some people are harping on quality of life in this discussion, good and bad. But those who talk about jobs, and opportunity to advance, are closer to the mark, I think. The possibilities are quite limited in a place like SL.
Austin, TX is a place that has grown a lot in recent years and you have to put up with 100+° temperatures for much of the summer not to mention high pollen concentrations. And we do have Universities, Clarkson being a top notch engineering school and SUNY Potsdam home to a highly respected music school. You want a prestige school? How about St. Lawrence Univ.? Why don’t more people come flocking to the North Country? Beats me.
It seems like smaller towns are more prone to the challenges that come from the aging of our population. Smaller towns that are dealing better with this challenge, maybe SL is one of them, are the ones that are looking better in many respects.
But income issues are a big challenge. Sure you can make an okay living in some of these places like some have described. But you look at what you need to put a kid thorough a good university for 4 years and these 50-75-100K jobs we are talking about are not going to cut it. I think that housing prices are becoming a secondary consideration to the costs for higher education. It isn’t cheaper to put a kid through college because you live in a place with a lower cost of living. The advantage of a lower cost of living comes if it can be combined with a higher salary so you can save and invest more money. It is difficult to find both in a small town anywhere in upstate NY.
James,
Taking nothing away from the SUNYs, Clarkson, and SLU, but they don’t have the critical population mass of a U of Oregon or U of Washington, or even UVM.
Which maybe gives us a simple answer to Brian’s simple question, applied to the entire North Country:
Q: Why don’t more people live here?
A: Because more people don’t live here.
What I hate about NY: it’s a police state. I believe the police had more power in this state than CA or MA, the other states I’ve lived in in adulthood. Ridiculous tickets when you are the only car on the road for seat belt, cell use whatever. Yes, you can get out of it but it takes YOUR TIME. And then there’s the Police Benevolent Sticker….
NY is unwelcoming: 6+ points of ID to get a driver’s license FROM ANOTHER STATE!
Road blocks! even CA which has a problem with borders does not set up random roadblocks that impede commerce as they do here. Only the cops time is important, not yours.
Patriarchal, antiquated government as demonstrated by the liquor laws. You can’t buy beer and wine in the same place. What year is this?
Having moved here with my internet business that could be located anywhere, I would NEVER recommend NYS to anyone but my worst enemy.
But I do find it beautiful.
It is certainly over regulated. Also you are right, you would never know from interactions with any state agency that NY wanted people to move here, indeed just the inverse.
Let me update that comment, the SLC DMV is the best DMV I have ever interacted with and I have lived in a couple of different states, and we have a great DEC as far as the interactions I have had with them. So I think that was too harsh of a statement on my part.
Problem is, most people need a job to live here, or stay here.
You write: “But people flocked to the beauty and sense of community and opportunity that those places offered. And with remarkable speed they built up thriving, bustling economies.”
Adirondack has natural beauty but not much community and zero opportunity. What little community there is does not get along — local relatively poor families trying to earn wages and bring in business while environmental types keep trying to shut down all attempts to bring in business. And frankly the “beauty” of the Adirondacks is undone by the poverty of the area – the closed businesses and shuttered motels and the shacks that house families. My own “enjoyment” of the natural beauty of the region is frankly a bit dampened by the poverty and the local youth wondering around with absolutely nothing to do and no future in front of them. It is a blighted community set against mountains and lakes. I find living here very depressing. I don’t get how other people can “enjoy” living in a place where so many desperate people live.
I love SL. I have several favorite stops and I still haven’t had a chance to visit the Community Store. But I usually have a long trip to make so I can’t get a beer. But I appreciate the offer!
Just close your eyes Suzanne and pretend its Portland, that is how it is done.
There is absolutely no development of a regional approach to development, this latest effort is smoke and mirrors….if you expect the government to do it then you won’t try yourself. Abundant living can be achieved but at an economic price that our leaders will not consider. Living off the poor, frail and fragile is far more profitable than intrinsically living off the abundance of beauty and natural surroundings, which sadly are becoming closed off to many of us. I will be leaving the area for lack of opportunity, but not because I don’t want to live here.
I have spent a lot of time driving around the NC for work on various efforts. Admittedly because of what I do I spend more time with lower income residents than I do with the wealthier, so I do realize that my view is slanted in a negative direction. People would be surprised how many homes I have been in with dirt floors or partial dirt floors and marginal indoor plumbing (and not in a intentional amish sort of way either). But regardless when I drive around I have to say Saranac Lake is probably my favorite moderate sized village just on aesthetics; Loweville and and really several villages in Lewis county would come in a close second, in general neat, painted, well kept etc, compared to other villages I am not going to name.
I was going to say it has all to do with income as Saranac Lake is indeed wealthier than many other places in the North Country, but that does not really apply to Lewis County which is not wealthier than many other places, so I don’t have any answers for that? But anyway this is a nice place but we should not close our eyes to the fact that we are a poor area in terms of income and we do have more people struggling with poverty than a good portion of the rest of the state and other areas mentioned such as Washington or Oregon.
Oregon struggles, too. Any rural area in America does:
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/11/child_poverty_highest_rising_i.html