I spent Columbus Day weekend in Cooperstown a few years ago. Cooperstown was great. The foliage may even be better than New England’s. Lots to do, the Fenemore Museum, the NYS Agricultural Museum, and that little place downtown with the plaques.
Cooperstown is not Perry, Lowville, or Arcade.
These are the places where the real New York is in terrible distress. No jobs, unless you work for the government (i.e. teacher, DPW, Social Services, etc.) The property taxes are astronomical on shacks, and other dwellings, sales taxes, income taxes, excise taxes.
While Cooperstown is a cute little “berg” and there are a few little towns dotted across the area where their fate has not been destroyed by the loss of the main employer, there are many thousands of little town that are zombie hellholes. The problem is that NYC has more voters then all of upstate and western NY, and we get stuck with morons like Cuomo and Hillary, and Schumer.