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.
When I left, Essex Co was deep into meth. The Jail in E-Town was pretty much at capacity with drug crimes. After the 80 Olympics, Placid took a rocket ride into the toilet. Saranac always was on the crap side and my beloved old Tupper just got wiped out. The mills closed/no jobs. Then they Turned Sunmount DDSO into a criminally insane facility. And the families, half insane themselves, followed.
Isn’t liberalism wonderful?