I just finished reading The Reserve by Russell Banks. I had bought it the moment I saw it because I love his story-telling about the Adirondacks. This one sounded like the best of all worlds - a young, wealthy woman stands alone on the beach of a hidden lake on the Fourth of July, 1937.... The book jacket promised mystery and murder, a period piece about the mountains.
This Sunday a lengthy article appeared in the business section of the Post-Standard, our Syracuse newspaper, about the Adirondacks. The author wrote about the period of the 1930s, when the area was still in the thrall of the Great Camps, and there were two distinct classes of people, the "haves and have-nots," the owners who came up from The City, and the local people who worked for them.
The second World War changed this. The local people bought onto the lakes as properties broke up, the Great Camps cost too much for even the wealthy to keep up. There were other places to go with the advent of easy travel to Europe and beyond. The classes became less distinct.
The author of the article contends that due to taxes and supply and demand, the gap is widening once again. Lakefront - all - property has become expensive, and as the prices have risen so have the taxes. People are forced out, other people buy in, assessments go up, and the cycle continues. Young people are unable to buy starter homes and so leave the area. As they go with their parents and grandparents, only the service-workers and the wealthy are left.
Skaneateles is not in this same equation as yet because, unlike the Adirondacks, it is not isolated. Go outside Skaneateles 6 miles to Auburn and there are a plethora of homes under $100,000. But it will change the discussion, this cycle that has invaded the Adirondacks. Even the little homes are now priced over $200,000 in the village, and many have been remodeled with granite and second baths. Who buys these? Not the middle class most likely.
But the pendulum is always swinging, and like the mountains up north a few generations will bring more change.
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Little Miss Meg, I found your lovely blog:) I so enjoyed reading some of the stories, and do think you should do a bit more writing, ask the skaneateles talk blog if they will list your blog, I think it is a perfect addition to their blog lineup:)
Now...you will have to guess who this is, as I will remain anonymous, but I can say that your little piggies (not the ones in your wild boar stories) do know me quite well:)
:)take care and good for you for blogging:)
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