Question for ADK residents.

[Qtip]

Just a question for those of you here that actually live in the Park. It's more a two part question. I got the idea due to the thread about travel into the Dacks because of gas prices.

1) How has the price of gas effected your quality of life? I know it has effected all the folks across the country but you folks seem to have to travel quite a bit to get what you need.

2) How has the price of gas effected tourism and the people involved in that industry, along with any trickle-down effects?

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!

[mwanner]

Well, we're maybe not your typical ADK residents, but here goes-- we're retired, and we live right in Saranac Lake (the village of course, not the lake itself.)

That means we can (and do) walk to the supermarket, hardware store, restaurants, library, sporting goods stores, etc., etc. Also, we have an ancient Honda Civic, for which I built a rack for our boats. (We've pretty much stopped using the Toyota Sienna minivan, but even that gets 22-25 mpg).

So, bottom line, other than the switch from the Sienna to the Civic, we haven't really done much of anything to deal with the price of gas. I guess it makes it that much more likely that we'll buy stuff that isn't available in town online, rather than drive to Plattsburgh or Malone. Oh, and it also helps give us an excuse not to visit folks downstate as much.

As for tourism, I don't have any direct measure, but I can say that the traffic is way up, as is foot traffic on the street and the supermarket and restaurants are hopping.

[ken999]

No change yet...My wife just got a Honda Oddessy, which should get way better mileage than her X-terra...that and we only live 10 min's inside the blue-line, so we don't have to travel far for groceries etc.

[redhawk]

Hasn't affected me a lot. Great thing about living in remote places and being poor is that you know how to save money and live within your means.

I always plan my trips to town, doing the bulk of my shopping once a month and tying the shopping in with medicals visits which I schedule all on the same day. I go through about 15 gallons of gas a month.

Use a list to shop and stick to it. But nutritious fresh food and prepare it ourselves rather then buy prepared food. Drink water the old fashioned was, out of the tap. In the winter our setback thermostat is set to 63 during the day and 50 at night. I heat an 8 room 135 year old farmhouse on one 275 tanks of oil a month. I use the a/c only when having difficulty breathing, about 15 days a year. I swim in the lake in front of the house to stay cool if necessary.

My Saturn gets abut 32 MPG. Anything I do around town, I walk most of the time.

So I guess the direct affect of the gas prices skyrocketing is that it costs me $15.00 more a month then it did last year. Of course fuel is up as are grocery and other prices from the "Trickle down greed".

Hawk

[sheri]

The rising price of gas makes me want to build a greenhouse, raise chickens, put up solar panels, a windmill, and a weather vane (I always wanted a weather vane). What has it actually done? I only drive to town to get the mail every other day. (And when I pass the gas station, I frown.)

[DRIFTER]

The rising price of gas makes me want to build a greenhouse, raise chickens, put up solar panels, a windmill, and a weather vane (I always wanted a weather vane). What has it actually done? I only drive to town to get the mail every other day. (And when I pass the gas station, I frown.)

I think slowly implementing alternative energy and other activities would be a good thought with home heating oil heading towards $5.00 a gallon! At a near future $1375.00 a tank, that might be a good starting point to make a change.

[hikeswithkids&dog]

Based on the number of rental requests for our camp/cottage (which we only rent out sparingly), I'd say tourism is up this Summer and not greatly effected by gas prices, but this is a very unscientific indicator.

[Qtip]

The area of central Ny I'm from (Otsego County) has historically been an economically depressed area. So much so that usually we aren't effected by up and down swings in the economy. It just stays bad. Tourism here doesn't seem off to me, but then again most of the folks we get are from urban areas where there are more hign paying jobs and folks don't seem to be hit as badly as some here are. I've had health issues lately and been out of work since March so we have to be careful and sticking around the house gets us bored out fast. Got a small pension from the County (Dep. Sheriff) and if it wasn't for that we'd likely be one of the folks without a home. So I'm greatful for that. Bummer is that I won't be able to get up to the West Branch of the AuSable until next year(hopefully) and that's the pits.

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!

[DRIFTER]

Qtip QUOTE; The area of central Ny I'm from (Otsego County) has historically been an economically depressed area.



I think I88 kept Otsego County depressed, people just bypass our area and alot of the shops and businesses have long since closed. It also took the nicest property for hunting and fishing and paved it! The property I grew up enjoying is now 4 lanes and an exit & entrance ramp. The creek used to produce some nice trout, now....nothing! Sorry to hear of the health issues, I went through that myself recently. A closer day trip that I do once in a while is just north of Caroga lake, theres alot of lakes and trails to explore and it's a short hop.

[Qtip]

Couldn't agree more with what I-88 did. Very similar to what the Thruway did to Rt 20 and all the little towns.
A friend told me that Schenevus and Charlotte Creeks are still fishing pretty good.
But the W. Branch of the Otego Creek behind my home hasn't fished well in years and the flooding had a major impact. Hope it comes back.

Qtip