Relocate from NJ to Albany/Upstate NY?

[Harvey]

Probably isn't the best thread for this post, but the search function isn't my specialty.

Saw a TV commercial for a furniture company that seemed really cool. The whole commercial was about how they built their own recycling plant and they take back ALL the packaging for your furniture and promise it will be recycled. (That's one part of new stuff I always hated...all those boxes and stryo peanuts by the curb.)

Anyway....went on the web to look them up and send them a note. Couldn't find the feedback thingie, so I did a chat with a customer service rep, and put in my 2 cents ($10). She said the company was extremely together and she had been "chasing a job with them for 2 years."

They are in Syracuse. Got me thinking about moving yet again.

I did some mapquest...3 hours from Syracuse to our place near Gore vs 4 hours 50 minutes from here in downtown NJ. Pretty good, much easier drive with way less traffic.

But then I'm thinking....pretty good for Gore...but really not that much better for all the VT resorts Killington, Sugarbush, Stowe or Jay.

So maybe Albany - better for Gore and almost everything else. Basically 3.5 hours off my drive to anywhere...or even more if you go up along the northway.

Then I just start mapquesting everything. I'm not believing what i found...all these times are from Princeton:

Gore: 4 hours 30 minutes
Killington: 4 hours 52 minutes
Sugarbush: 6 hours 31 minutes
Stowe: 6 hours 43 minutes
Jay: 7 hours 30 minutes

It usually takes us 5 hours to Gore with maybe one stop, going mostly close to the speed limit and with whatever traffic we hit. So if you add 1/2 hour to all the times...I just seems impossible to get to Killington in an extra 22 mins or Stowe in an extra 2 hours and 10 min.

For figuring use times from Albany if you want by subtracting 3.5 hours and adding in your time to Albany... what do you find?

One thing that is funny...the Jay peak drive takes you ACROSS the George Washington Bridge. No way in hell I would ever go that way. (According to mapquest going through Albany adds 18 mins to the trip to Jay.)

Oh yea....I know that I've raised this multiple times before (usually when it's raining at Gore)...and I know I may never move before we sell this darn ad agency here...but hey it's the internets so cut me some slack.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Saw a TV commercial for a furniture company that seemed really cool. The whole commercial was about how they built their own recycling plant and they take back ALL the packaging for your furniture and promise it will be recycled.

Raymours? Spending my first 18 years in a suburb of Syracuse, I "grew up" with that company, or at least its commercials... and was a bit shocked to see that recycling TV advert. Never figured Raymours as the green type (except in their yearly St. Patrick's Day sales). I don't get the part about moving there because of that company though.

Admin can give you the lowdown on Albany (I think that living there drove him to SLC :lol.

You really need to take the Mapquest searches with a grain of salt. My father recently returned from a dream trip to Maine, and Mapquested the drive from there to our house (he didn't bother to ask me for directions). It told him to take 91 to 95 #-o, which landed him on the Cross-Bronx Expressway/GWB at rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Cost him an extra two hours as opposed to taking the Merritt Parkway to the Tappan Zee.

 

[Admin]

Admin can give you the lowdown on Albany (I think that living there drove him to SLC :lol.

Aesthetics of living in Albany aside, it's not a bad home base as far as Northeastern skiing goes. And if you want aesthetics, live in Saratoga County and drive into Albany proper. Prior to moving to Florida I had a house in the woodlands just west of Saratoga Springs, which was downright beautiful in addition to having the luxury of living adjacent to a touristy town that only has tourists 1.5 months a year, leaving the amenities to those of us who lived there to enjoy the other 10.5 months.

From there it was ~ 3.5 hours to drive to Jay Peak for the weekend. I can believe the Mapquest difference Harvey cites between Gore and Killington -- to get to K-Mart you split from the Northway south of Glens Falls to work northeast and east. Hit the NY/VT border and US 4 becomes a four-lane limited access highway, akin to an Interstate. To get to Gore you've got to continue north on I-87 then spend time on two-lane NY 28.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Probably isn't the best thread for this post, but the search function isn't my specialty.

Not a search, just a new topic. The third one spawned by that Gore thread I think.

I just start mapquesting everything......all these times are from Princeton

Part of the explanation of why skiing was completely off my radar while in college there, particularly since I didn't have a car. Somewhat ironic since I had a great aunt living in Northfield, Vermont whom I later visited to ski a day or two in 1988, 1990 and 1993. I first visited her in the fall of 1970 with my parents. I recall then there was a ski lift in Northfield rising from near the road up to the ridge east of the town.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Harvey: is your Gore cabin non-negotiable (i.e. you won't sell it in the future)?

Our timetable for a relocation is two to three years. We'd move earlier, but we're locked into our son's school for that time frame.

 

[icelanticskier]

and i just bought a couple of rental cottages (year round) on the cape. home inspection monday, closing mid october. back in the game i am. one cottage pays mortgage/taxes/insurance. the other cottage pays all of my rent and utilities in nh. 3-5 years it could easily be sold for 100k more than i just bought it for as it was worth more when i sold my 5 properties in 2005.

cape cod, makin money there, but not moving back. good time to buy in some places right now. mt washington will be in the 20's in the next coming days with maybe a bit of snow. :mrgreen:

rog

 

[Harvey]

Ok I understand the need to separate this out, but geez now I've got how many threads about relocating? It's a still a fantasy....but less so each day. Our industry is so competitive now and the workload is killing me. I work all the time and I can't keep it up. Last year I missed the whole goddam season after new years and it really pissed me off. Career plans need to be sorted out in a big way.

And there are other reasons to move...house is too small and isn't right for an addition. NJ is NJ. Life can be a grind. But there is lots that is good and every year we are saving a good chunk, not sure if I should stop that now, especially with the market down.

No real reason to sell the cabin. It's basically paid off, it has bare minimal property tax. It's worth 10x what we paid for it - which still isn't much. Even if I moved to Burlington I'd keep it. While Vermont has the snow, the Adks has tons of wilderness. I think that kind of open space is going to get real valuable in the future, and I'm not talking money.

When I talk about moving to Albany...I'm not really talking Albany....some point north...like Admin says.

Yea James - it was R&F. I always assumed their furniture was cheesy...and it may be. I never looked at it. I just liked the commercial. And it got me thinking and googlin. Anyway sounds you're more likely to move soon...where you going? Canada?

Go Ice Go. You da man.

 

[Admin]

Ok I understand the need to separate this out, but geez now I've got how many threads about relocating? It's a still a fantasy....but less so each day. Our industry is so competitive now and the workload is killing me. I work all the time and I can't keep it up. Last year I missed the whole goddam season after new years and it really pissed me off. Career plans need to be sorted out in a big way.

C'mon, Harv...throw caution to the wind. If you're relocating, then relocate, know what I mean? Go for broke! Go for the big time! I ain't never lookin' back.

As Tom Cruise said in Risky Business, "Sometimes you've just gotta say, WTF?"

 

[Tony Crocker]

C'mon, Harv...throw caution to the wind. If you're relocating, then relocate, know what I mean? Go for broke!

Presumably the key factor is Harvey's business. I get the impression he's self employed. He may have to stay in the East because that's where his contacts are.

While Vermont has the snow, the Adks has tons of wilderness

If I'm wrong about the work situation, Admin has it right. Lots of western locations with better snow than Vermont and more diverse wilderness options than the Adks.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

If I'm wrong about the work situation, Admin has it right. Lots of western locations with better snow than Vermont and more diverse wilderness options than the Adks.

I don't think you guys are paying attention to the whole cultural question. Some people, who put skiing at the very top of their food chain, can move to wherever and deal with the other less desirable parts, while others can't (I remember Harvey's bemused reaction to Admin's photos of the housing stock in his area). As I've mentioned a hundred times, I put up with the cultural misfit for many years, being away from family/friends etc., and finally pulled the plug in spite of the outdoor opportunities. OTOH, that was way before the internet arrived, so it'd probably be a lot easier now meeting up with like-minded people, and feeling less isolated.

About the only place the wife and I would be interested in returning to out west is northern NM. Unfortunately, its ski areas (with the exception of Taos) aren't significantly different from the northeast in size and snowfall.

 

[jasoncapecod]

These threads always seem to come down to east vs west..
That's like arguing who's hotter..Megan Fox or Scarlett Johansson...

Harv ya gotta do whats best for your wife and daughter..

 

[Admin]

Ummm...that wasn't intended as an east v. west pissing match. :roll: Merely pointing out that if you're going to pull up stakes you might as well go for broke.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Even though Admin's comments are meant to be supportive and inspiring, telling Harvey to "go for broke" with a relocation is similar to telling him that he should ski at La Grave during his Euro trip -- i.e. basing a suggestion on preferences that the OP may not share. Having only skied one day with Harvey, I don't know him much more than anyone else here, but based purely on what he posts online, he doesn't seem like the type interested in moving cross-country at this point in his life.

That's also assuming that the wife is on-board with such a big change. As we all know :-", significant others often have different ideas about what constitutes an ideal living environment.

 

[Admin]

You're applying way too much importance to my post. I'm merely tossing out an idea for thought and discussion, not implying what's best for anyone. Sheesh!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I'm merely tossing out an idea for thought and discussion, not implying what's best for anyone.

I thought about your idea and deemed it not worthy of further discussion.

 

[berkshireskier]

Yea, I live an hour east of Albany, and, everytime I get in my car to drive to Albany (which is not that often, thank God), I get depressed. For some reason, I find the whole "capital region" just uniformly depressing. Admittedly, Saratoga is a nice town and more diverse geographically than Albany and closer to skiing. I would definitely move north of Albany if you want to be in upstate NY. Not sure what the employment possibilities are in the Saratoga region, but I would guess that you need to have some sort of portable occupation and income stream to have a comfortable lifestyle there.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I don't think you guys are paying attention to the whole cultural question.

I do pay attention. That's why I tell some of the easterners to look at Washington/Oregon instead of the Mountain States.

OTOH, that was way before the internet arrived, so it'd probably be a lot easier now meeting up with like-minded people, and feeling less isolated.

Yes, admin and his crew don't exactly fit the Utah stereotype.

 

[Harvey]

I took Admin's post as lighthearted and friendly. He never said I had to relocate to the West. Just that it worked for him. I didn't see it as a catalyst for another reprise of the East/West battle.

With regard to the Wilderness...clearly there is a TON of wilderness out west. I have to admit that I really like the northern forests. In the Adks, I like the variety of tree species, the colors of the fall, and I like the scale. I've spent extended periods in the woods out here. I'm comfortable doing that. I'm sure if I lived out west I could probably get comfortable there too.

Tony is correct mostly about the business being one big tie to NJ. I'm a minority owner in an ad agency that specializes in travel...hotels, resorts etc. But I don't have to stay in the east for contacts...it's more that it's harder to run a company when people don't work in the same building. With have a writer in Raleigh and an AE in Greensboro, plus a team in NYC. NYC is not a problem, because face-to-face meetings are between the NYC and Princeton teams are easy and cheap. The North Carolina connection is another issue. At some point if everyone is remote, the sharing of ideas breaks down, and you no longer have an agency.

I've actually developed a very specific expertise in pay-per-click advertising. (Those ads you see along the right hand side of Google results.) I find the work fascinating and dream about working from the cabin, getting first tracks and working in the PM. You never know ...it could happen. But it's a pretty narrow field of expertise and when you are on your own doing web work, you've got to constantly evolve to stay educated, relevant and employed. When you are with a company, you can get some slack, and still earn a check, while you re-invent yourself. I know - I've done it.

If you live to ski there are huge advantages, as Tony has also pointed out, to having flexibility. Where you live and being close to the goods is a big part of that...

In my current situation, in this economy, owning an ad agency, working way too much, and living in NJ...I'm not skiing nearly as much as I'd like. If my life was like it was 2 years ago...I'd ski TWICE as much. If I lived at our place near Gore I'd ski THREE times as much as that, and get on the hill every day conditions were great. Plus I could make day trips to VT. Maybe even drive to the Gaspe once a year. If I lived in Central VT my skiing would be TWICE as good as living at Gore, and if I lived in Northern VT, it would be even better than that.

While it's true that if I lived and worked in SLC my skiing would be even fluffier, I don't have to go that far to improve my situation dramatically. And a dramatic improvement just might be enough.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I do pay attention. That's why I tell some of the easterners to look at Washington/Oregon instead of the Mountain States.

FYI, I'm not doing an East/West fight, but trying to explain something. There are many Easterners who have no problem pulling up stakes and, as Admin loves to say, "never look back." But there are many who, for reasons incomprehensible to others (cultural/family ties, etc.), don't want to leave the region. And there are others, like me, Icelantic, and JSpin, who did a western tour of duty or two and returned to the East -- and all of us had different reasons. If skiing were the main priority, very few ECers outside of the northern VT snowbelt would stay, but since it isn't, I don't think it's simply a "move to WA/OR because it's greener" issue.

 

[Tony Crocker]

face-to-face meetings are between the NYC and Princeton teams are easy and cheap.

So I presume the question is whether you would get sufficient "face time" commuting periodically from VT or upstate NY to NJ or NYC? A close call in view of the comments about the North Carolina group?

"move to WA/OR because it's greener"

I was thinking "greener" in the political/cultural sense more than the color of the vegetation. But I've also made the point that while some former Sunbelt residents (ie. admin's wife) would complain about PNW weather, I think most northeasterners would find it an improvement.

family ties

I know better than to argue with that one. But Harvey's call is primarily work-related, as I suspected.