Where to move a skiing family in NY?

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Benny Profane wrote

Danzilla wrote

5. Saratoga Lake is right there.  Love the lake in the spring, summer, fall and it is very accessible.

It's OK, but, quite crowded in the summer. So much so, that on hot, windless August days, it emits a certain, eh, aroma I wouldn't want to be around (a lot of vacation homes, eh, empty into that thing). I'd trailer a boat up to northern Lake George, Brandt lake, or, even better, Schroon lake

Truth. Brant and Schroon are awesome lakes. Indian lake is pretty cool, Long lake is awesome, and I love the Saranac lake area. Not a huge fan of Saratoga Lake. All the fertilizers/chemicals run off of the farm in Schuylerville.Tons of seaweed, doesn't smell good, crowded, and if you go to the Sandbar the entire place will be a cesspool. I would never leave a boat in that lake.. too much scum buildup.  

SUPPOSEDLY, the water quality of Saratoga Lake should start to improve. New septic regs, etc.

ausable skier wrote

Leaving NJ and moving to Saratoga seems like pretty much the same thing to me.  I don't get why you would go to the trouble of moving north only to only get 3/4's of the way there.

Shame on you. Listen, go to the track one afternoon, walk back to town and have your first cocktail at 9 Maple, properly prepared, and dinner at Sperry's before maybe checking out some sounds at Caroline's. Then do a road ride the next day from downtown to the Battlefield National Park and back, after having breakfast at the track watching the horses workout in the morning.

Saratoga ain't New Jersey.

(Born and bred and schooled at Rutgers, btw)

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ausable skier wrote

Benny Profane wrote

ausable skier wrote

Leaving NJ and moving to Saratoga seems like pretty much the same thing to me.  I don't get why you would go to the trouble of moving north only to only get 3/4's of the way there.

Shame on you. Listen, go to the track one afternoon, walk back to town and have your first cocktail at 9 Maple, properly prepared, and dinner at Sperry's before maybe checking out some sounds at Caroline's. Then do a road ride the next day from downtown to the Battlefield National Park and back, after having breakfast at the track watching the horses workout in the morning.

Saratoga ain't New Jersey.

(Born and bred and schooled at Rutgers, btw)

when i lived in NJ for 10 years i lived in Sussex Co - it looks almost exactly like Saratoga but Sussex is actually has more mountains.  Saratoga is a dead ringer for Newton NJ - including the horse farms but minus the track - you could move an hour and get that - if you want to live the hardcore ski life - go for it but saratoga ain't - its NJ that is only 30 mins from Gore instead of 3:30

i understand that family and marital issues sometimes dictate a compromise - i married the right girl in that regard

Hell, if you want to live the hard core ski life, move to the Rocky Mountains. They're dying in avalanches while it's 50 degrees and raining here.

I see that you haven't spent much time in Saratoga. But, you know, Newton ain't exactly New Jersey, either.

Interesting responses all around.  If it was only about sking then I would move to Summit County, SLC, Jackson, or Tahoe.  Also, I don't have a job that would allow me to be that remote.  The fact is there are good jobs to be had (for me anyway) in the Albany/Saratoga area.  Besides, what happens if you lose that job you take into the mountains?   Then what?  That is what made me a little leary about Burlington.  If you lose a good job there then you may end up having to leave cause there aren't many companies up there.

There are no horse farms in Bergen County (that I am aware of).  There are over a million people rushing around from place to place - hence the vibe, life force, tension, whatever you want to call the increased level of UGH.  That doesn't include all the knuckleheads from the city who make the pilgrimage to Paramus for the wonderful shopping.  For a small state Jerz has many different flavors.  Horse farms in Hunterdon County (where my wife is from), the shore (with many flavors from seaside to wall and everything in between), the burbs around philly and trenton, and the burbs around NYC.  They are all very different and each has its own appeal/downsides.  We actually like lots of the things about our town.  Great schools.  Walkable to good restaurants and local shopping.  Nice parks and playgrounds, etc.  All those things don't outweigh the downsides though.  Those good things are all things that we like about Saratoga (even better) so in that regard I suppose it is like NJ but it is MUCH closer to the mountains.  Plus Saratoga has more character and history than any town I've been to in NJ.  

Harv has it worse than me, but I can tell you that with two young kiddos doing 3 1/2 - 4 hours up on Friday night and the same back on Sunday gets old.  Doing it two weeks in a row is brutal.  Being able to drive an hour on Friday night to spend the weekend would be awesome.  The times our place is rented out I would still be able to sneak away for a day or for a day during the week if it dumps.  That is just not an option now.  We would spend at least double the time in north creek if we were closer.  If Saratoga isn't your thing then you wouldn't get it and that is fine.  I have lived, worked and travelled all over the US and there aren't too many places I would rather live.  

As for the lake - the appeal is that it is right there and not an hour's drive away.  Haven't experienced the stink but I grew up spending summers at a similar sized lake that was just as busy and had just as much milfoil.  If you want to ski/wakeboard you get up early or you go out at dusk when the crowds are not there.  I think I would spend most of my time running up and down fish creek wake boarding unless I was kaying or sailing.  The fact that it is accessible is what I like.  The other lakes are within driving distance if you want to switch it up.

Another thing to keep in mind.....

I want a lake house. Recently I met a lady who lives on Glen Lake. After a few years, she said the novelty wore off completely.

So keep this in mind if contemplating major life changes for one focused aspect of your life. Age, injury, etc may easily change how you ski or if you ski at all.

Snowballs wrote

Another thing to keep in mind.....

I want a lake house. Recently I met a lady who lives on Glen Lake. After a few years, she said the novelty wore off completely.

So keep this in mind if contemplating major life changes for one focused aspect of your life. Age, injury, etc may easily change how you ski or if you ski at all.

Yeah, a friend laughs at my obsession to live at the bottom of a western ski mountain in my old age. And, you know, over the past few years, I've learned that he's probably right. I did a hip check last year racing some brat on a snowboard in the trees on my, ahem, last day of my trip, and I couldn't stand up straight for a few weeks after that. oy vey. That's why I'll rent for a month or so instead of owning, unless prices continue dropping. Sometimes a cheap condo in South Florida sounds more appealing as time goes on.

Some acquiantances of ours have bought Florida condos very cheap recently.

I used to think living slopeside would be cool....till I realized how noisy groomers are.

It would have to be on a side path, with a very short grooming time, for me to get interested.

Groomers roaring for an hour or so just outside your window every night at 4 am would get old quick.

Condos are cheap in Fla for a reason..The place sucks, with the exception of Key West..

The grass is always greener as they say.  Now that I live 10 mins from WF i dream of retiring to Steamboat if the market is good and Jay VT if its not so good.  The one thing I don't like about the Adk's is this crappy time of the year where its not really cold but is damp.

I absolutely don't get the allure of FL at all and AZ is way too fricking hot.  If i had to do a dessert I'd consider Bend OR which is high dessert and 20 mins from Mt Bachelor

Don't know how you can say Newton NJ isn't NJ. NJ has ~800,000 acres of farmland. Does that count?

Danzilla has it covered as far as I'm concerned.  I don't have to live in the mountains right now. I want to be there as much as possible, and the difference between 5 hours and 1 hour would be life changing, for me.  (BTW Danzilla, always willing to share a ride and give you a bed if we are both solo.)

As far as the wisdom of moving to the mountains in old age, and worrying about whether or not you'll be skiing ... free heelers can ski for a long time.  I could think of no better way to spend retirement than on long, waxless boards tooling around in the woods.

ausable skier wrote

The grass is always greener as they say.  Now that I live 10 mins from WF i dream of retiring to Steamboat if the market is good and Jay VT if its not so good.  The one thing I don't like about the Adk's is this crappy time of the year where its not really cold but is damp.

I absolutely don't get the allure of FL at all and AZ is way too fricking hot.  If i had to do a dessert I'd consider Bend OR which is high dessert and 20 mins from Mt Bachelor

Carson Valley in Nevada is another choice if you want to live in the high desert. Lake Tahoe is right next to the Valley and Reno is about 25 to 80 miles north for a real airport and metro area.

x10003q wrote

ausable skier wrote

The grass is always greener as they say.  Now that I live 10 mins from WF i dream of retiring to Steamboat if the market is good and Jay VT if its not so good.  The one thing I don't like about the Adk's is this crappy time of the year where its not really cold but is damp.

I absolutely don't get the allure of FL at all and AZ is way too fricking hot.  If i had to do a dessert I'd consider Bend OR which is high dessert and 20 mins from Mt Bachelor

Carson Valley in Nevada is another choice if you want to live in the high desert. Lake Tahoe is right next to the Valley and Reno is about 25 to 80 miles north for a real airport and metro area.

Yeah, Reno is sickly cheap right now, as far as real estate goes. No state income tax, too. With Squaw and Alpine merging this year, there's some awfully good skiing fairly close by.

hey Snowballs, I can hear the west mtn groomers from my house at night, the snow guns too.  I'm suprised you don't.  Sometimes is sounds like they are grooming my backyard.....

but we open the bedroom windows 365 nights a year.  

If I go outside late at night, I can hear the distant whine of the fan guns. Once last season, I was outside very late, 4ish?, and could hear the groomers far off. Other than that, nothing.

Funny, I thought I was the only one leaving my bedroom window open in the winter.

Snowballs wrote

Funny, I thought I was the only one leaving my bedroom window open in the winter.

Only one? Anybody in NYC who cannot control the heat in their individual apartments has to leave windows open. That's like 100 million people.  

Gonna bump this old post back up to the top.  We decided on Saratoga.  We are going to rent for at least a year to make absolutely sure that we end up in a house we are going to stay in for a long time.

I'm officially a single digit midget.  Five days till the moving truck comes to whisk our earthly possesions northward.  Wish us luck!

Congrats. Just in time for the last few weekends at the track. God, I miss that town sometimes.

Pray that Hickory gets some snow.1/2 hour north, mostly highway.

THE grown up place to celebrate your arrival is 9 Maple, with either one of the 120 single malts (neat), or, a very fine martini, or, if you're in the mood for a salad with spunk, their world class Bloody Mary. Cheers! (avoid weekend nights until September).