Where to move a skiing family in NY?

A whole lotta love for upstate NY here!  I live 15 minutes from a learning hill but everywhere else is usually an hour or more drive to ski.  While it would be nice to live closer to one mountain I do enjoy the variety of the Catskills to the south, VT & MA to the northwest & Gore, WF etc to the north.  I think this conversation is based on relocating in NY, but if I was relocating based upon skiing it would be out west.  Like Colorado as winter has already started - Arapahoe Basin Ski Area & Wolf Creek are open and will stay open longer.  

ausable skier wrote

boom right there you already have college paid for if you invest that 100k in a NYS 529 tax free plus take a deduction on your state tax for the contribution and you won't have any mortgage payments anymore

If you move to the burbs of GF or Saratoga your house would cost much more so the net savings would not be there

Outstanding, excellent idea Aussie! Good thinking! That could be a deal maker. Even if one didn't have a real large chunk of $$$$ leftover, simply having a house paid for would make life sooooooo much easier.

BUT 200-250k would yield a nice house in GF/QB.

I enjoyed this thread just because it made me think of all the reasons I like where I live in West Glens Falls. I have no good ideas of places for Harv to relocate to but the discussion was fun to scroll thru. Sometimes we need to remember that the grass always seems greener on the other side.

Hey question for you guys living in Queensbury:

We're considering a relocation to the area. We're retired, are debt free want to get out of the WORK of our Large home and are considering a nice townhouse in the region 1400-1700 sq ft,  gas fp, garage etc  2/3 BR's 2 baths etc.

Our kids are in the Greater Boston region and Manhattan and this is an easy weekend trip for them .Since we're all skiers and spent lots of time skiing in the region at Gore, West, the Berkshires and summer at Bolton.

We are going to look at several in the Cedar Court area  (developed by the Michaels Group) off Bay RD  past ACC adjacent to  Surrey Fields.

We've  looked at  Michaels Group homes in Hudson Point , Lehland Estates,Surrey Fields etc - the quality is very satisfactory  etc) but really don't want a large home at this stage ). Cedar Court townhomes appear to be nicely done, low density and are maintenance free ( No work = more skiing and golf )

HERE"S the QUESTION :
I'm interested in WHAT you may know about any PROBLEMS concerning that area > Specifically environmental , tax issues, crime  etc  

Ah now I know this is going to sound bad, but I love the 'skills. Yeah the hills are hills, the snow can be iffy, but it's got so much that I like. Rural small town life, farms and food and stuff going on in the summer and all that. If I was picking for skiing I would definitely pick out west and sad to say poss SLC -- which I just can't stand as a city so it wouldn't happen. LIving in bucolic (if floodstruck) Margaretville, I'm 10 mins to Belleayre during the week and the same to Platty for the weekend. And it's not that it's all sophistication and city life here but there is some of that vibe and a ton of diversity that makes it good. Also Andes Central School is awesome. Tiny classes, good teachers, every student gets an apple mac. I've friends from NYC who send their kids here and live here b/c Andes is like a private school downstate...

So I put my 2 cents in for the Western Catskills Park region. I can wax rhapsodic about it - -and not just in winter.

Lived in downtown Saratoga Springs three years,04-07. Best town in upstate NY, hands down. Just got back from a fall weekend there. Even with iffy weather, the bars and restaurants were full (there are many). It's as though the recession never happened, if you ignore the empty Borders, and that's Amazon's fault. New condos everywhere, and more going up. Lots of people having fun. Furgetabout race season. Spac, ballet (not that there's anything wrong with that), and, from the male perspective, women everywhere (whoops, there goes the family thing). Cheap, state sponsored golf course, well maintained, at the park. Skidmore is just a rich kids school that doesn't contribute much to the culture, but contributes piles to the economy. As a road biker, and I think there are many here, it is one of the best places in the East to bike (second to Cooperstown area). Much better than Glens Falls, Queensbury, even. One easy hour to Gore, 1 1/2 to Killington. I miss the place dearly. I think that damn chip plant and Cuomo's high tech initiative down in Albany is making the place more expensive by the day, unfortunately.

Second choice, and much different, is the area east of the ADK heading down into Champlain, Essex being the center of that area. Close to Whiteface, excellent summer activities (road biking, hiking, boating). Very very quiet, though. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Benny Profane wrote

Second choice, and much different, is the area east of the ADK heading down into Champlain, Essex being the center of that area. Close to Whiteface, excellent summer activities (road biking, hiking, boating). Very very quiet, though. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Ah, Lake Champlain, the 6th Great Lake as some call it. Employment is hard to find there. Economically depressed for quite some time now. But if retired who cares?

Good you saw so many people in Toga. The news has had many a report how business is waaaay off there, even after factoring in the post race season drop.

Personally, I've thought that despite the 10% unemployment figure for the last year or two, Americans had enough financial cushion to weather it relatively well. Now, it appears the corner has been turned, IMO.

Warp Daddy....I'm not too up on the townhomes. There are some nice projects going on, several downtown Glens Falls. In Glens Falls, there's one completed called the Mill. It has a parking garage and is right downtown by the circle/hospital. Rather upscale renting. Seems there maybe an issue with noise from the bands playing in the bars at night. Not where I would live in retirement due to some unsavory bars/people and the risks that involves, and industrial aromas, but close walking  distance to the amenities of downtown GF.

Hudson Point, which is by my house is a very nice hood. Trails along the river and a Nature preserve. Keep in mind all the trees. I have a .66 acre lot that is in a tree filled hood, my lot included. Each year I fill my 6' x 12' utility trailer(FULL) 8-10 times with yard stuff and haul it to the dump. It's unbeleivable the amount of stuff I get and the work it produces.

You mentioned Bay road. Towards GF on Bay, past Lowe's and just across Quaker, there's townhomes on the left. There is also some townhomes on West Mtn road, a very nice area. I see if I can get that contact info.

Try...
http://www.schermerhornholdings.com/

People like his properties and it's said they are very well run.

He builds alot around here. Too much says I ! I met his wife once on Gore's gondi. After a nice chat, I told her to tell him to quit building on my end of town and instead shift to kingsbury and south of the Hudson.

I know exactly where Harve lives in NJ...you are not going anywhere.  Just get the most fuel efficient vehicle you can and make your peace with the Thruway and the Northway.

Snowballs wrote

Benny Profane wrote

Second choice, and much different, is the area east of the ADK heading down into Champlain, Essex being the center of that area. Close to Whiteface, excellent summer activities (road biking, hiking, boating). Very very quiet, though. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Ah, Lake Champlain, the 6th Great Lake as some call it. Employment is hard to find there. Economically depressed for quite some time now. But if retired who cares?

Good you saw so many people in Toga. The news has had many a report how business is waaaay off there, even after factoring in the post race season drop.

Personally, I've thought that despite the 10% unemployment figure for the last year or two, Americans had enough financial cushion to weather it relatively well. Now, it appears the corner has been turned, IMO.

Nope, don't believe the rumors about Saratoga's demise, if you have heard much. Hardly any storefront on Broadway is vacant. Place looks the same as it did three years ago. As I said, Borders is closed, but, that's a much larger problem than local. I'll bet it was packed until the last night. I'll bet 100 bucks that the old building is rented or used for something soon, or, they may even tear it down and put office/condos there. Amazing location.

Essex and the surrounding area is a gem on the side of Champlain, which is amazingly undeveloped, considering it's beauty and proximity to NY metro. Check out prices in some of those towns on Zillow. Way too quiet for my taste, though (for more than a week).

Benny Profane wrote

 Essex and the surrounding area is a gem on the side of Champlain, which is amazingly undeveloped, considering it's beauty and proximity to NY metro. Check out prices in some of those towns on Zillow. Way too quiet for my taste, though (for more than a week).

Agree. Very nice area, a 125 mile long Lake, the ADKs and VT mtns along the sides and all that ski opps, winter long ferry service, but no jobs and many of the NY towns are dumpy. No doubt the ADK's forever wild status and Champlain's distance from the Northway hurt it's economy.

CONTENTS DELETED

Yeah, Burlington is cool. Very cool. Not cheap, though.

The Shelburne Museum is very nice. Large grounds, many exhibits, buildings and a bit of a surprise for such a rural area. There's a very long bike path skirting Champlain on VT side. Stowe's not far away.

This topic started as a tangent but its amazing how popular it is.  Just shows that I'm living the dream and you all want to join me.  SWEET!

ausable skier wrote

This topic started as a tangent but its amazing how popular it is.  Just shows that I'm living the dream and you all want to join me.  SWEET!

-1

I guess I am partial to Saratoga.  I moved up from northern Jersey after I graduated college and never left.  We just built a house in 2008 outside of the city but my kids still are in(well one still, one graduated) Saratoga Schools and I won't move again.  I got 49 days in last year...mostly Gore but I ski Whiteface and Mad River too.  Hickory and Big Tupper too.  My preferences but you are about an hour from Magic, Stratton, Bromley...1.5 to Mt Snow and Pico...a little more to the big K and Okemo and if you only have a few hours to ski West and Willard are right there.  Reasonable Day trips include, Sugarbush, Stowe, Ascutney, Bolton Valley and if you don't mind a little more Quebec's Eastern Townships and Jay.  I made it to Jay in 3 hours 15 minutes.  And I think the bars and cultural aspects have been covered.  Good luck in choosing.  Before we had kids I wanted to move to Bristol, Vt but that was vetoed by the wife...

We have good friends who just retired to Bristol VT, just over the hill from MRG.  I plan on some visits.

If I were really going to relo to ski, I would probably do northern VT. I would go somewhere between Shelburne, Stowe and Burlington.  If Harve consolidates both properties, and does not need a large home, I would think he could afford to swing one of the "gold" towns with great schools.  Plus, down the road Neve would be eligible for in-state tuition at UVM.  One would have access to amazing skiing, a college town, an airport and Lake Champlain.  

K man wrote

We have good friends who just retired to Bristol VT, just over the hill from MRG.  I plan on some visits.

A hip little village. I always stop there on the way back from Sugarbush/Mad River.