Season's Greetings

This was the view as I drove across the Catskill Mountains from Margaretville to Palenville this week. Back home, near Woodstock in the foothills, there is no snow on the ground at all.
Elevation makes all the difference.

The long drive gave me a bit of time to reflect on the past year. It's been an interesting one, no doubt about it.  No trees through our roof (thanks again for that, Hurricane Sandy), new clients, new friends (often one and the same), a few insanely busy weeks but mostly steady work and time that skids by on greased rails.

The expat invasion from New York City continues in the Catskills, a surge that reminds me of ocean waves. It's been happening for generations, but sometimes the tide is higher and busier than others. Right now, the surge is heading for Hudson and Kingston (a much more affordable alternative), with the usual river to Woodstock and a growing stream discovering lovely but still struggling Catskill.

I find it interesting to watch both Kingston and Catskill.  When I was a kid (and that was a long time ago), uptown Kingston was cool. Midtown was okay and the Rondout, near the Hudson, was off limits. Artists have brought the Rondout and the uptown Stockade back to vibrant life, but that long stretch of Broadway in Midtown had become an economic wasteland. The latest influx of city expats is making inroads into that last, troubled business zone. There are new restaurants, new offices, new businesses springing up to take advantage of the last bargain retail space prices in the area.

Catskill, one of the more architecturally attractive small cities, is tippy toe-ing to the edge of big things. There is a surprising array of interesting businesses on Main St., but the project that's going to bump Catskill into its renaissance is still under renovation. It's a massive mill building on the riverfront that is going to house craftspeople and restaurants and become an arts hub for a city that's been waiting for its props for a long time now. So far, the only clear sign of progress is a food truck in its parking lot that draws lunch lines every day.

As someone whose business takes her into Columbia, Dutchess, Greene and Ulster Counties, I get a chance to see things from a bit of a distance, far differently than the view would be if I worked in a Main St. office everyday. The Hudson Valley and Catskills are in transition again. They're growing. And I can see it happening.  Elevation makes all the difference.

Happy holidays, dear reader. Best wishes for the coming year. May it bring you the very best of everything.