Bend, Oregon Gets Its Comeuppance

[Admin]

There are more strip malls out west than in the north east. A lot of places are strip malls with either trailer homes, or houses nearby. I don't think what I'm saying is particularly controversial for people who study urban development in the U.S.

Frankly, even though I grew up in the Northeast I personally find the majority of the Northeast quite depressing. It's claustrophobic, congested, and the vast majority of towns are anchored by a huge mill that's been boarded up and falling apart for decades:

Urban areas are largely populated by ramshackle two- or three-story homes that barely have an alley between them, like this:

Even the Interstates back there have felt claustrophobic to me since I went to Florida in the mid-90s.

 

[rfarren]

Frankly, even though I grew up in the Northeast I personally find the majority of the Northeast quite depressing. It's claustrophobic, congested, and the vast majority of towns are anchored by a huge mill that's been boarded up and falling apart for decades. Urban areas are largely populated by ramshackle three-story homes that barely have an alley between them. Even the Interstates back there have felt claustrophobic to me since I went to Florida in the mid-90s.

Yeah,... we call that cute. :wink:

I was actually surprised at how nice some of the towns have become since I was a child. I drove through Owego on my way to Geneva, NY, and it was amazing. It was replete Greek Revival houses with a downtown of stately victorian town-houses. The downtown had a bunch cute shops and restaurants. I couldn't understand why they were there, as Owego is not really in a touristy area.

 

[Admin]

Here ya go, here's Owego, NY and this is quite literally a Chamber of Commerce shot:

And some other recent pics:

Sorry, I ain't seein' the charm.

 

[rfarren]

Those are the back of the building facing the river. Their fronts are nicer. You ought to visit it, and you would see those pictures aren't quite up to date. Owego:

Owego is younger than most of the cities nearby, as they had a major fire in 1884, where almost the entire downtown was destroyed.

BTW if your going to knock older buildings, why stop with the North East. Hell, I'm sure Rome, or Florence are pretty cramped and gross. Lets not forget Paris....man with streets that narrow one forgets how to breath!

Of course, you would rather have this:

Can't wait to take a stroll here:

 

[Admin]

Those are the back of the building facing the river. You ought to visit it, and you would see those pictures aren't quite up to date.

Well, that must've been one hell of a fast renaissance. Here's a nearly identical view from a flood on June 28, 2006:

And this Wall Street Journal pic from my last post is a mere two months old ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124234271147521387.html ):

They must've made quick work of their share of those trillions of stimulus money in upstate NY!

Some choice quotes from the article:

After four years of working on a contract to replace the White House helicopter fleet, this town along the Susquehanna River is girding for tough times now that the Pentagon plans to cancel the $13 billion program.

...

Lockheed's Owego facility has been a bright spot in an area where economic prospects have dimmed since the end of the Cold War.

....

Edward Arrington, mayor of the Village of Owego, is especially worried about the economic fallout among his village's 4,000 residents from the loss of scarce high-paying jobs. "It's a big blow to Owego," he said in his office on Main Street. "We're all going to feel the pinch."

...

Unemployment in the area is now near 9%, according to the Labor Department.

...

Jennifer Arbach, president of the Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors, said unsold-home inventories were at 10 months and the median selling price in the area is about $120,500. "My job as president of the association is to paint a rosy picture," she said, "but this is not one of those times."

Sounds downright cheery.

And FWIW, I'm not a fan of Paris, either. I much preferred the villages I visited in the French countryside.

 

[Admin]

Can't wait to take a stroll here:

Ummmm...that's in the midst of an urban area with a population of 1.5 million. "Small town" my a$$. Does that surprise you? Or should I start posting pictures of Brooklyn

and compare them with Midway, Utah?

Why do you waste my time with this crap? :roll:

 

[rfarren]

That last picture is from a flood of the river, and frankly is incredible! Certainly, it isn't a boom town, but those towns have become much nicer in the last 5 to 10 years.

Frankly this isn't about Owego. Look at Skaneateles then find something remotely similar out west.

Clearly you prefer:

Williston, ND 5 miles from the border of Montana. Are you happy now. Of course they don't have strip malls.

 

[rfarren]

BTW, Brooklyn where I live looks a lot more like this:

It was a nice photo of bay ridge you found.

 

[Admin]

Frankly this isn't about Owego.

Of course not...that's too inconvenient for you.

Look at Skaneateles

A resort town? You pick a friggin' resort town????

then find something remotely similar out west.

Yep, those are resort towns, too. Shall I keep going?

 

[Admin]

Clearly you prefer:

Williston, ND 5 miles from the border of Montana. Are you happy now. Of course they don't have strip malls.

Hyde Park, NY. Of course they don't have strip malls.

Nor do they on Long Island...

Upstate...

Connecticut...

Delaware...

Massachusetts...

Pennsylvania...

Rhode Island...

Maine...

New Hampshire...

or even Vermont:

Did I leave anywhere out?

 

[rfarren]

Yeah, you forgot the other 42 states. I never said there weren't strip malls in the north east. My experience tells me that you are more likely to find strip malls out west in towns than you are in the north east.

BTW Skaneateles isn't really a resort town. To compare Skaneateles to park city, and aspen... How many visitors a year do those two places get?

My final point, and I mean my final point will be this. I've been to many rural areas out west since 2004. I've also been to many rural areas in the northeast the last five years. I've seen some rather incredible towns out west: Sandpoint, ID, and seen some not so incredible ones: Pendleton, OR and Butte, MT are a few that come to mind. I find the North East towns quainter. For every Owego NY there is a Payson UT. I liked Owego better... it was really quite charming. I like seeing the old buildings, it makes me feel connected to a culture. The old buildings and towns tell stories in their own way. They have a personality that vinyl siding, ranch houses, and corporate parks lack. The buildings in many of these north eastern towns were built to last and hopefully they do. I believe in urban renewal, and often what I see are examples of that. My personal experience tells me that you don't find the same quantity or quality of architecture in the towns out west. Perhaps, I'm wrong, but I can only go on the experience I have.

Anyways, I'm tired of this. It's annoying, and this isn't going anywhere. Pi$$ing contests don't solve anything. :roll: Night Y'all

 

[Admin]

Anyways, I'm tired of this. It's annoying, and this isn't going anywhere. Pi$$ing contests don't solve anything. :roll: Night Y'all

Agreed, but it was fun, wasn't it? :lol:

 

[Tony Crocker]

Tony, where did you live in NJ? I'm surprised you found it so grey.

Princeton, school years of 1970-71 to 1973-74. I do know from my snow stats that 4 year periods can deviate significantly from long term averages. The major adjustment for me was the rain, which I vaguely recall the locals also saying was excessive. It also never snowed more than 4 inches at one time during those 4 years, which I also suspect is unusual.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Thanks for c**ting up a good thread... you've scared Schubwa away.

But to clear up a couple misconceptions, since everyone seems intent on creating as many as possible:

Skaneateles NY is not a resort town. For the most part, it's a popular day-trip destination.

Also, Tony, you keep going on about the horrible weather in NJ. That's total bollocks. I didn't live here when you did -- and you finally mention that it may have been an anomaly period -- but in my five years here, the weather has been sunny more often than not. As a point of reference, I grew up in Camillus NY (you can see the sign for it in the Skaneateles pic), spent almost four years in Chicago, and one in West Berlin, so I know what predominantly dreary weather is like. NJ's doesn't compare to any of those.

 

[rfarren]

Thanks for c**ting up a good thread... you've scared Schubwa away.

But to clear up a couple misconceptions, since everyone seems intent on creating as many as possible:

Skaneateles NY is not a resort town. For the most part, it's a popular day-trip destination.

Also, Tony, you keep going on about the horrible weather in NJ. That's total bollocks. I didn't live here when you did -- and you finally mention that it may have been an anomaly period -- but in my five years here, the weather has been sunny more often than not. As a point of reference, I grew up in Camillus NY (you can see the sign for it in the Skaneateles pic), spent almost four years in Chicago, and one in West Berlin, so I know what predominantly dreary weather is like. NJ's doesn't compare to any of those.

Sorry James.

I will say that when I lived in Bloomington and Detroit, the winters were markedly grayer than they are here in NYC. My uncle always comments that NYC gets fewer clouds than just 45 miles north and inland due to prevailing winds off the atlantic. I'm not sure if that is true, but I do know that NYC averages 225 days of sun a year, which above average.

 

[Marc_C]

I will say that when I lived in Bloomington and Detroit, the winters were markedly grayer than they are here in NYC. My uncle always comments that NYC gets fewer clouds than just 45 miles north and inland due to prevailing winds off the atlantic. I'm not sure if that is true, but I do know that NYC averages 225 days of sun a year, which above average.

The US average is 205 days.
Comparing NYC (left) and Detroit (right):

Here's Bloomington data:

Data from: http://www.city-data.com

Edit: added Bloomington charts

 

[Geoff]

I will say that when I lived in Bloomington and Detroit, the winters were markedly grayer than they are here in NYC. My uncle always comments that NYC gets fewer clouds than just 45 miles north and inland due to prevailing winds off the atlantic. I'm not sure if that is true, but I do know that NYC averages 225 days of sun a year, which above average.

http://www.weathertoday.net/weatherfact ... y_city.php

EWR 160 cloudy days
LGA 153 cloudy days
JFK 152 cloudy days
Central Park 132 cloudy days

I'm trying to sort this out. EWR, JFK, and LGA report different numbers from Central Park. I guess that's because EWR, JFK, and LGA are on the ocean or at least have little between the airport and the ocean so they have fog days that are reported as cloudy while the microclimate in Central Park has enough hot city around it to burn the fog off.

 

[Marc_C]

...while the microclimate in Central Park has enough hot city [air] around it to burn the fog off.

Kinda like the postings in this thread. :-D

 

[Tony Crocker]

Noting 1971-1973 in the above graph, I lived in the East during a wetter than normal period.

It's an interesting note that the coastal areas in the East are considered sunnier than inland locations, which is very much the opposite from the West. This is true to a modest extent for the upcoming July 22 eclipse in China. July weather odds at subtropical latitude ~30N there are not good, but they are marginally better on the east coast at Shanghai than inland.

Andrew and I will be on a cruise ship south of Japan http://www.astronomyvacations.com/ which will hopefully have a better chance to evade clouds. We leave Sunday for 3 days in Beijing before the cruise and will get off the ship in Kobe for 9 days in Japan, returning home Aug. 2.

 

[rfarren]

Best of luck for that Tony.

Marc C, thanks for those graphs. They pretty much confirm that Bloomington and Detroit were grayer than New York in the winter.

I for one am not shocked that Central Parks weather station sees more sunny days than those of LGA or JFK. I've noticed since I moved to Brooklyn that there are some weird days when we get a low fog and the the city doesn't. I wonder if it has to do with the crazy winds they get up near the GW bridge.

Personally, I've never really trusted the central park weather station. I remember the blizzard in 06'. They said it was the largest snow fall in the history of NYC. However, there might have been a foot and a half at most, but they pulled out some ridiculous number like 26 inches. My guess is they were measuring in a drift.