As a lifelong New Yorker, I spent the majority of my time living on Long Island in Queens (Or as I now refer to it, ‘downstate’). Once I made the decision to move I picked a little village in Upstate New York, thinking that the change would do me good (It has). There are just a few things, both big and small, that take time to get used to. Restaurants There was a time not too long ago when I had wrapped a big contract, and I wanted to celebrate by going out to eat with my mom. I called one of two places in town to see how late they were open, one closes at 7 pm and the other closes at 7:30pm. It was already 6:30pm and I hate to be one of those people who holds up the staff from closing up. So anyway, most nights I usually end up staying home and cooking dinner. Just because it seems like diners up here do maybe three things well and the rest is just a mess. I once ordered a burger medium well and got something that was charred on one side and bloody on the other. Either that took considerable talent or someone forgot to turn the other side of the grill on. Sometimes you get lucky: I’m really fortunate to have a city 30 minutes away with some great restaurants. Food trucks have come a long way. I even have the option of getting some genuine NYC fare from my friend’s food truck. But for the most part, invest in some cook books and a crockpot. Traffic Four cars on the road is considered a traffic jam. I’m not kidding. Highways here consist of four lanes of traffic, with no congestion at all until you get to Westchester. I’ve had instances where I was at a corner waiting for a light to change and people will slow down or stop completely to let you cross against the light. At first I thought it was so weird, and I still do. “Do You Know the Jones’?”
When I first moved here I saw a new doctor, and looking through my paperwork they saw I was from Woodside. “Oh, you’re from the city? Do you know such and such people?” Uh… no sorry. I don’t think people outside the metro area realize how big ‘the city’ is. And this was a doctor, you’d think an educated person would have some basic understanding population density. PS, people up here think Long Island is part of NYC.
Cities I live about a half hour from the Crystal City, Corning NY. It’s lovely, with options for bakeries and restaurants, museums and art galleries, but I don’t really think of it as a city. It reminds me of my hometown of Huntington on Long Island. It’s like a big town. But to people here in my little village it might as well be Manhattan. I take people here to sightsee rather than take them around the town I live in because there’s really nothing to see here. It’s a park, some nice old houses, and a drugstore with no pharmacy. That’s pretty much the town. So it gets pretty boring.
Shopping
You’re basically on your own out here. Thank all the gods for Amazon and eBay.
Do It Yourself Same goes for home repair and electronics. I never thought I’d live this far from an Apple Store. But I’ve learned to ‘rough it’ out here without the Genius Bar to bail my sorry ass out. Online forums are pretty helpful, and years of working at an ad agency have prepared me for trouble shooting faster than tech support can even pick up the phone to be honest. But the one thing that bugs me is getting a plumber to come out. Since my village is so small, there aren’t many tradespeople or professionals here. I know of one plumber and he usually can’t come out for three days because it just isn’t worth it to him to come out just for one hour of work. I totally understand that, if it’s not an emergency I can usually wait or handle it myself. But it’s just jarring the first time when you can’t get someone to come out right away when you need them. Two years ago in February the boiler kicked it. So it’s not like I could really wait around or do anything about it myself (except arrange some space heaters around the house). I ended up calling an appliance company in Corning and dipped into my retirement to get this done. But trying to get a local person to work on this? Nope. In all honesty I wouldn’t trust something like this to a local handyman, just because the company I used gave me a guarantee on parts. Same goes for remodeling. I ended up going with a national chain that rips out bathrooms and installs brand new everything in one day. All because I tried to repair some old tile work in the shower surround and pressed too hard on the wall. I found out, trying to place the salvage tile back where it belonged, that there was literally nothing to stick it to. I also sprayed a whole can of foam behind the wall just to get some sort of surface to affix the tile to, and nope. Things You Really Miss
The ocean, bagels, Starbucks and sushi (in no particular order).
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At the end of the day, I’m glad I moved up here. I love the fresh air, the view of the big rolling hills, the change in the seasons. I feel like I can really savor my downtime here in Upstate New York. I do travel for work and for fun, but it’s nice to be able to come home to a house in the country rather than fighting the way back to a tiny apartment in a construction zone.
