I was up in the Tri-Lakes. Moved to AZ in 95 with my daughter. It was still rural here even then in a lot of ways.
But Tupper, Saranac and Lake Placid are now about destroyed so I hear. The ecos wrecked what was left of the logging industry (my families’ business for 100 years). Now it’s a hipster retreat with regulations for everything you can think of.
As has been said...damn those bastards to hell.
You’re right! It’s different and “you can’t go back.” I made the mistake of trying for 6 years after my husband died, but I couldn’t take it. Drove through Silver Bay where my father was born and raised and Grandpa’s house had been torn down and dorms were in its place. There is still a lot of wilderness, but Lake Placid and Lake George are nightmares (not that they were much better back in the day)! Essex County is drug-infested. There are frequent drug busts, homes are broken into, vacant houses have been burned, even the rectory in town was broken into and valuables stolen, and lots of stupid vandalism like destroying window boxes, flower gardens and park lights! All unheard of in my childhood.