Posted on 10/27/2006 6:42:23 PM PDT by neverdem
TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. — Those who love the Adirondacks most are worried they are being loved too much.
Personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles shatter the stillness, from one season to the next. Nearly twice as many building permits were issued last year as in 1998, while home prices in some areas have doubled in less than three years. Two major development proposals that would resurrect defunct ski areas, one here and another in North Creek, could create a total of more than 1,000 units of housing and several hotels in what Peter Bauer, a leading environmentalist, described as “an unprecedented building boom.”
The Adirondack Park, an unusual mix of state-owned forest preserve and private land that is roughly the size of Vermont, has fallen in and out of favor for decades. Once a playground for the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Whitneys, who erected fabulous great camps at the turn of the last century, the park has been alternately viewed as a stunning refuge from overhyped second-home resorts and a remote backwater with black flies and bad food.
It has been more than a century since New York State created Adirondack Park, an expanse of rugged mountains and lakes that was, from the beginning, recognized for its magnificent scenery. The philosopher William James wrote to his brother, Henry, the novelist, that the “sylvan beauty” was “probably unlike aught that Europe has to show.”
Today, the park is clearly back in vogue, as shown by a spate of home building and boutiques peddling twig furnishings. While local officials embrace the boom for its anticipated tax windfall, environmental groups and others are anxious that New York’s great wilderness is becoming overdeveloped.
“In other parts of the country where they have 1,000-unit subdivisions, this may not seem like a big deal,”...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I was born and raised here (Saratoga Co.) and autumn still amazes me year after year. Yeah, the winters are seemingly endless, but I'll take that over hurricanes and tornadoes anyday!!
Nothing like a good old Nor'easter to let you know who's really in charge.
Upstate NY ping!
In my experience, getting through the grocrey store the day before a Nor'easter, is MUCH worse than the actual storm!!
They have to be over 4000 ft. to qualify as a high peak.
I've climbed 5 high peaks and they were big enough for me!
ROFLMAO....
ROFL....
LOL....
cough....cough...heheheheh
speed bumps.....lol
chortle.....
sigh
Best place on earth. :-)
Absolutely. Remember -- it was one of the "great places" we profiled on that Singles thread last spring!
"Best place on earth."
Well, maybe it's a close second to the Canadian Rockies. LOL.
Oh, right. Boy, time sure flies, isn't it?
I don't know about that.
Actual in northeastern New York there are none. I work with people who drive 2+ hours over to this side of the lake to work.
I felt a real sense of accomplishment when I conquered those speedbumps!! And I'm not embarrassed to admit it! :)
Well, maybe not. LOL.
the mosquito's are to 'die' for...really.
Such the contrast when driving east and south into the Big city.
Living near the Sierra makes your definition of 'high peaks' a bit different....
*smile
That's because the photographer is on the top of another mountain. They're mountains alright.
The Adirondicks are stunningly beautiful and a great place to visit.... in the summer; but I cannot imagine wanting to live there in the winter. -40 is not uncommon there and summer is short. My guess is that most of the people building there would head south in the winter and leave the area all built up for next to nothing.
I did a lot of hiking with a (former) boyfriend who HATED that I smoked.
Of course, when we got into the ADK's and the black flies started swarming, he'd be like, "Gee, andyssister, now would be a great time for you to light up."
He swore it kept the flies away........I dumped him.
Makes you feel good to piss off the smoke nazi's.
Thanksgiving will be 2 years smoke free for me.
*gasp!
*smile
I have a feeling you won't become a "smoke nazi" like so many former smokers do.
Wishing you many continued years of breathing easy!!
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