Posted on 08/11/2010 6:58:16 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
Visitors to Ithaca come away with various impressions, focusing on the beautiful scenery, the liberal attitudes or our love of art. One theater reviewer from Washington, DC told readers Ithaca is a 'virtual Berkeley of the East.'
Washington Times entertainment blogger Terry Ponick made that comment and many more while in town to see "Penelope of Ithaca" at the Hanger Theater.
"It's like a trip back in time to the Woodstock Era here, with posters and adverts providing 'medical' marijuana even as the ubiquitous bikes seem at times to crowd out automobile and pedestrian traffic alike, writes Terry Ponick.
Along with noting Cornell University as Ithaca's "obvious growth machine," the writer also took in the Commons and our glasswork artisans.
"Rather than bowls or sculptures, this shop peddles hookahs and hash pipes fashioned from mouth-blown and/or hand-sculpted art glass." While a common-place site here, the writer says such items might be difficult to bring home to the security-conscious DC worker.
While giving the play a mixed review, Ponick raves about the new Hanger digs. "It's quite impressive, with nicely-raked rows of comfortable seats flanking a virtual just-stage configuration, which should provide ample possibilities for a variety of stage works now and in the future."
Try Chapel Hill, NC.
Somebody should write a book:
“How to make a buck off the collapse of Western Civilization”.
Somebody has never been to Ann Arbor. LOL
Oh for pete’s sake! I have been calling it Berkly East for 20 years.
I live 15 minutes from Ithaca NY. The city own lock stock and barrel by Cornell University. There is absolutely no industry other than the colleges to support a local economy. In the summer the population drops by 200,000 so at times it looks desolate. To really get the full experience you have to be there during the school months. Lots of arrogant kids and even more arrogant professors. Like the saying goes in peoples republic of Ithaca - 10 square miles of fantasy and then reality.
I have noticed that liberals that went to Berkeley all say "I went to Berkeley."
Conservatives I know that went to Berkeley all say "I went to Cal."
I lived 30 minutes from Ithaca for 45 years. Both my kids graduated from Cornell. We had many picnics at Buttermilk Falls State Park.
I visited Ithaca quite a number of times in the early 90s as I had business at Cornell with some of the engineering faculty. The campus and area around Ithaca - beautiful. But I was totally unimpressed with the town, just struck me as dreary.
..or Washington D.C. =.=
I visited New Hampshire several times when my brother-in-law was attending Dartmouth College. We drove up on the weekends for football games. The scenery was beautiful.
Don’t they have their own currency as well?
I actually kinda love Ithaca - I went to Cornell. But just one correction; the population drops by 20,000 in the summer, not 200,000. I don’t want to THINK of Ithaca with 200,000 folks in it. And summer is the best time to be there, IMHO.
They do have their own currency. I’d estimate it is impossible to count the number of small towns in the Northeast that qualify as Berkeleyesque. Lots of hippies.
Everyone gets paid off with pot?
What a crock. I've lived in or near Ithaca for over 30 years and yes it's liberal as hell and there are a lot of hippies, but it's nothing like the only city around like that. Big deal, there's a hemp store. Yawn.
To focus on that one aspect is just lame, lazy writing.
I lived in Ithaca for three years while a student at Cornell Law School. I used to go to Cortland to experience a bit of sanity at the local Wal-Mart. I agree with you that a lot of the students (especially the undergrads and the folks from NYC) and nearly all of the professors are totally insufferable. But I found that the law school staff (i.e. non-faculty) and the regular folks in the area to be generally really nice people. Upstate NY is great place.
But it is downright ugly these days badly over built and with so called "modern" designs that ruined the flavor of the place.
Sad.
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