Reviews & Comments
Kingston, NY
A high quality of life is possible -
12/23/2006As a former resident of Kingston, I was disappointed to see no one had yet commented on it. I lived there from 1992-1994, with frequent visits back for a few years, but have not been there since 1998, so my observations are dated. Still, Kingston has not grown since then and is not the kind of place that changes quickly. "Uptown" at the west end of town is very old and charmingly beautiful in a genuine, organic way, not in a cute, touristy way, with high quality independent shops and restaurants. The Uptown district serves as a shopping and eating center for Kingston and many surrounding rural communities that include significant populations of retirees, refugees from "downstate" and various artists and artisans. At the other (east) end of town is the Rondout district with a marina along the Rondout creek that flows into the Hudson River a short distance away. Here too, beautiful old buildings provide the setting for more classy restaurants and shops, but with a more touristy bent. The Hudson River itself is magnificent and to boat it is one of the unique treats of the area. The commercial development in Kingston apart from these two neighborhoods is a bit dowdy and uninspiring but not without some quality establishments. Housing is mostly old, some of it run-down, reflecting the city's lack of growth and some persistent spots of poverty, but includes a wide variety of attractive styles in a relatively small area, with prices that are still affordable, and streets that are quite safe. Part of the pleasure of living in Kingston is the proximity, within 20 minutes of rural driving, of several small old towns worth visiting on a regular basis: Woodstock, New Paltz and (across the Hudson) Rhinebeck, Red Hook and Hyde Park. The Catskill Mountains are at Kingston's doorstep offering quality hiking and skiing. And New York City - almost Kingstons polar opposite in ambience - is just 100 minutes away by car. Kingston has suffered from economic stagnation for a long time, as has much of New York State, but if you have solved the problem of making a living, and you don't need constant big city excitement, you can build a very high quality of life there in a land as scenic and among a people as warm and friendly as any in America.
Seattle, WA
Right for some, wrong for others -
12/23/2006I lived in Seattle with an interruption from 1977 to 1992 (ages 23-38) and have visited every two years or so since then to see family. It should go without saying that a person's experience depends a lot on what you put into it, but nevertheless much of what has been said here in criticism of Seattle society is true. I considered Seattle close to paradise in those early years. There was a relaxed ambience with room for adventure within the city, even for people with very little money, and a friendly live-and-let-live attitude. It was a family city, with many children and schools and neighborhoods where multiple generations had lived. Today's crowding, traffic, expense and rampant tourism in summer has destroyed that intangible sense of what it was to be a Seattleite. Children are scarce in Seattle today (I'm talking about the CITY) and becoming scarcer. Christianity is nearly an artifact, and leftist politics reigns supreme (with a substantial loony component). As for the oft-remarked coldness or rudeness, it's real but not necessarily fatal. It is of course, possible to make friends with people you do something with - just don't expect your neighbors to notice you. Expect to observe some selfish, boorish behavior (great example: the racing bicyclist who accused my 4-year old son of "spoiling my momentum"). If you are a financially comfortable, left-leaning atheist with time on your hands and an appreciation of the cultural and recreational good life, I could receommend Seattle wholeheartedly, especially if you choose and can afford to live in one of the better close-in neighborhoods. If not, you could find life in Seattle tantalizing, but frustrating and difficult, even infuriating. As for the weather, if you discount the truly gloomy months of November-January, I'd put the remaining nine months up against nine months in any other city for overall pleasantness and variety. No city in the world has nicer summers than Seattle.