... andhow about "Upstate New York"

[SlowPokePete]

Early retirement in the near future due to CTINM Syndrome glad I have the option despite the penalty.

That's Can't Take It No More Syndrome

Anyway, house here in Westchester will sell, and we will be looking in most likely Columbia County or perhaps one of it's neighboring counties.

I've ridden many miles of gravel in The Farmer's Daughter ride, but what else can the PL membership gleen on the area? I know there's a few people on the forum who live in that area.

FWIW looking in the range of prob 300-350k, low mortgage cause we gotta keep the bills way down, thankful our current home seems to be worth a little more than we paid for it five years ago.

Anyway, anything is helpful, from "these are the nicest towns" to whatever. My wife's son currently rents an apartment in Hudson (only for a couple of months now), and we went to that town's "Winter Walk" which was nice.

Anyway, comments and opinions desired and appreciated.

SPP

[Blue Jays]

Sorry to hear about the CTINM diagnosis. Good luck.

[Hilltopperny]

I live in rural Fulton County and we have lots of good riding and the Southern Adirondacks are a few miles up the road from me. They provide plenty of mixed terrain, lakes and hiking in the warmer months and plenty of other things to do in the Winter. It is a bit removed from things, but I prefer it to city life. Good living out here can be done with a low budget as property is very reasonable.

Northern Dutchess, Columbia and Greene counties are all pretty nice and have plenty to offer. Not too far from city life and rural enough to enjoy what the outdoors have to offer.

There is also Otsego and Montgomery counties that have a lot pretty nice areas. Rolling hills, dirt/gravel and quiet roads. Property depending on where can be had reasonably cheap and they are basically filled with small cities and little towns.


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[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

Early retirement in the near future due to CTINM Syndrome glad I have the option despite the penalty.

That's Can't Take It No More Syndrome

Anyway, house here in Westchester will sell, and we will be looking in most likely Columbia County or perhaps one of it's neighboring counties.

I've ridden many miles of gravel in The Farmer's Daughter ride, but what else can the PL membership gleen on the area? I know there's a few people on the forum who live in that area.

FWIW looking in the range of prob 300-350k, low mortgage cause we gotta keep the bills way down, thankful our current home seems to be worth a little more than we paid for it five years ago.

Anyway, anything is helpful, from "these are the nicest towns" to whatever. My wife's son currently rents an apartment in Hudson (only for a couple of months now), and we went to that town's "Winter Walk" which was nice.

Anyway, comments and opinions desired and appreciated.

SPP

I am in the Catskills, Ulster county. Its nice here, across the river from Hudson. I love Ulster county but close to me is Greene county and taxes are about half. I bet Colombia county has high taxes too so if I was you I would look for low tax county. What are your priorities? There is a ton of good ridding around here but also across the river, I do think that its easier to find gravel by where farmers daughers is but we have some good mtb and more mountains so great climbs over here

[Johnny P]

I live in the Albany area and don't know much about housing in Columbia County, but it is a great area for riding. I've ridden mostly in the Chatham/Valatie/Ghent area. Paved road rides there are wonderful. Not much traffic especially if you are retired and can ride during the day.

[Mr. Pink]

I lived in Saratoga Springs for three years, right on Broadway downtown. Love that town, broke my heart to leave, but, my job went to India, so I moved back down to the tri state to survive, because, job choices are limited, to say the least. I go back a few times a year, town just gets better and better, but, more expensive. It's a bit of a trophy town for the rich, and, as we all know, they are doing well. Awesome biking, especially across the Hudson in Washington County, home of the Tour of Battenkill, which you should do next Spring, since you say you are a gravel rider. Plenty of paved over there, though, so, you never really have to ride dirt, if it's not your thing. Very quiet, just farm country, minimal traffic, great surfaces, because it"s NY, and downstate dollars pay for paved roads in nowhere upstate, unlike adjacent Vermont, which is a poor state, and has much more dirt. But, then again, you may like that. I ventured into Columbia county four or five times to explore. Great riding around Chatham and Hudson. But, if you decide to live in the country, which is most of the county, you will be starved for markets and restaurants and, generally, civilization. I guess all of those second home owners up there like to cook, because there's nothing outside of Hudson. Same with Washington County mentioned above. Dead, which is bad, and good, I guess. Saratoga, on the other hand, rocks all year round. Coolest town up there. Albany is boring.

You won't be far from the Cooperstown area, which is a massive valley that is the triangle defined by the Thruway, I81, and I88, with Albany, Syracuse, and Binghamton forming the points of the triangle on the map. Cooperstown sits in the middle. Gold mine of biking roads. Again, great surfaces, minimal traffic. NY spends a ton on paving roads up there that really don't need it.

Good luck.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

I lived in Saratoga Springs for three years, right on Broadway downtown. Love that town, broke my heart to leave, but, my job went to India, so I moved back down to the tri state to survive, because, job choices are limited, to say the least. I go back a few times a year, town just gets better and better, but, more expensive. It's a bit of a trophy town for the rich, and, as we all know, they are doing well. Awesome biking, especially across the Hudson in Washington County, home of the Tour of Battenkill, which you should do next Spring, since you say you are a gravel rider. Plenty of paved over there, though, so, you never really have to ride dirt, if it's not your thing. Very quiet, just farm country, minimal traffic, great surfaces, because it"s NY, and downstate dollars pay for paved roads in nowhere upstate, unlike adjacent Vermont, which is a poor state, and has much more dirt. But, then again, you may like that. I ventured into Columbia county four or five times to explore. Great riding around Chatham and Hudson. But, if you decide to live in the country, which is most of the county, you will be starved for markets and restaurants and, generally, civilization. I guess all of those second home owners up there like to cook, because there's nothing outside of Hudson. Same with Washington County mentioned above. Dead, which is bad, and good, I guess. Saratoga, on the other hand, rocks all year round. Coolest town up there. Albany is boring.

You won't be far from the Cooperstown area, which is a massive valley that is the triangle defined by the Thruway, I81, and I88, with Albany, Syracuse, and Binghamton forming the points of the triangle on the map. Cooperstown sits in the middle. Gold mine of biking roads. Again, great surfaces, minimal traffic. NY spends a ton on paving roads up there that really don't need it.

Good luck.

I still go down to the city a lot for work, sometimes every week for months. It sucks. Upstate NY is wonderful, I really love it here and wish I could just be here but with my line of work, very hard, almost impossible.

I have notice as I come home every Friday, more and more cara are coming up... maybe its all vacation people but hopefully more ppl more up here, better economy, more jobs.


As far as life outside the bigger towns, yes, most stuff is happening in the bigger towns... hudson, catskill, kingston, saugerties, woodstock, ect.... but there also also awesome stuff happening in small towns like german town and athens that have a few excellent restaurants. But yes the farther and more country you live the more you will have to drive to get stuff. I am in West Saugerties which I love.... still pretty country but 10 minutes from downtown saugerties, 10 minutes from woodstock, 15 minutes from catskill, 35 minutes from hudson, 25 minutes from kingston (optimal times, I drive fast ) also close to hunter and windham for great snowboard and sky. Mtb trails also around.

[Buzz Killington]

I’m in Ulster County, but I’d suggest you look at Germantown in Columbia County. Quiet but not far from some attractions. But if it was me, I’d look at Cambridge or Shushan area in Washington County. Ride in the morning and tubing on the Battenkill after with a couple beers is heaven.

[mdeth1313]

I live in Dutchess County but all summer I ride up into Columbia County - usually on the eastern side of the county. The riding is fantastic and most drivers are respectful of cyclists (except for a few of the citiots). Depending on where in Columbia county, the eastern side can put you close to Great Barrington and Pittsfield, MA. The riding around Great Barrington is even better than CC.

[parris]

I've live in upstate NY my whole life. The thing that I've learned is that the differing regions of the state give differing terrain and road quality. I'm not the biggest fan of where I live right now (Broome county) just because I prefer the more rolling and rural terrain of Oneida, Onondaga, Madison, Otsego counties. That being said we are blessed with some honestly world class cycling and most everything's an easy drive.

What kind of riding really floats your boat? Once you're able to answer that check out a few different areas that'll work well for that as well as you and your families other wants/needs.

I also forgot about the Finger lakes region. That region can be so beautiful as to bring a tear to the eyes on occasion. Good luck with your search.

[merlinmurph]

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

Early retirement in the near future due to CTINM Syndrome glad I have the option despite the penalty.

Can you give us a little help, like what you're looking for?
How much in the boonies do you want to be?
How close to to civilization do you need to be?
How close do you want to be to basic stores like food, hardware, etc?

I know nothing about the area, but good luck with your move.

[Ken Robb]

In general the farther you live from major job centers the less expensive housing and some other expenses will be. Leslie and I loved visiting Canandaigua and other communities in the Finger Lakes. The riding is excellent too.

While we were riding The Erie Canal Towpath we stopped to chat with a couple about my age who were sitting on their patio watching boats go by in the canal. As a retired Realtor I HAD to ask what homes in their townhouse complex cost and it seemed very reasonable. Some of the neighbors had small boats tied up at their back doors.

[verticaldoug]

Think farther a field- Spain... just make sure the locals know you are not English and you are cool.

(the food is waaaaay better and cheaper too. )

[gbcoupe]

"Early retirement in the near future due to CTINM Syndrome glad I have the option despite the penalty.

That's Can't Take It No More Syndrome"

Can't help with information regarding location. Just wanted to empathize. I have more than a touch of it myself.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by gbcoupe

"Early retirement in the near future due to CTINM Syndrome glad I have the option despite the penalty.

That's Can't Take It No More Syndrome"

Can't help with information regarding location. Just wanted to empathize. I have more than a touch of it myself.

Yeah, think I may be catching it soon, as well.