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act like a local!
Hate all visitors such as yourself, complain
incessantly about the lowering standards of the
quality of life in the area, send endless letters to
the editor of the local paper complaining about
the quality of government in your town, resist all
forms of change, good or bad, and grouse
constantly at the slightest bit of traffic, (a growing
problem in the valley’s towns.) New Paltz used to
be quiet, slow and welcoming, now, it can take up
to half an hour to get from the Thruway exit to
Route 32 and Main St. (1 mile) at any given time.
Valley residents are set in their ways, and they
don’t care what you think about that. In the 12
years I was a resident of the Kingston area, each
time plans were announced for some
developmental project or a slight change in policy,
20 activist groups would jump up to protest,
loudly and irritatedly. Plans to build an low-use
airstrip in the town of Esopus in 1990 met with
incredible opposition, and plans to convert a
desolate, godforsaken stretch of Route 9W
property into a mixed use retail/resort/golf course
complex were squelched with amazing quickness
by a town that has, at best maintained an average
state of economic affairs in the past 20 years. All
in the name of keeping more people from moving
in. Folks who live in the valley live there because
they’re tired of city life, and by God, they’ll kill to
keep the city out of their town. When a local
representative announced plans in 1997 to apply
for Metropolitan Statistical Area status for the
county of Ulster, (a heavily populated area which
could certainly use some economic help) the
response was amazing, people from all walks and
persuasions flooded the local paper with letters of
ideas why it wouldn’t be good for them or the
county — the valley’s residents are passionate
about their causes, it’s just a shame that they
can’t see beyond the ends of their own noses. A good
example of this kind of behavior is evidenced on this site.
