Home, sweet home: New Paltz, NY

Since moving away almost two years ago, New Paltz has become my favorite vacation spot. I think you have to step away from something to gain an honest perspective. Being so far away makes it simple to appreciate New Paltz for all it's quirk, charm and beauty.

As far as I'm concerned, my hometown is up there as one of the greatest places going. I'm biased of course, with sentimental attachments galore, BUT my little pride and joy has in fact been recognized by some legit sources.

In 2006, Outside Magazine's feature on "Best Outside Towns" listed New Paltz among the top twenty towns in which America's adventure athletes choose to live.

"The community of climbers here is like a family; everybody's supportive," raves Ivan Greene, part-time resident and five-time Northeast climbing champ. "It's lost in time. And in fall, it's the most beautiful place on the planet."

Agreed.

National Geographic Adventure ran a similar feature in 2007, polling the "50 Best Places to Live & Play," with New Paltz categorized in the top ten mountain towns.

I guess I feel the compulsion to share this information because a large portion of the country forgets that there is more to New York than a city. You may be surprised to learn that while I am from the great state of New York, I am hardly a city girl, in fact at this very moment there sits a large backhoe in my parent's drive way. Real talk.


For a handful of years when I was little, my parents hosted Thanksgiving for both sides of the family at our house and I remember my great-grandmother fussing about us living "out in the wilderness", as if we were camping out with Thoreau. Not quite.


The other day my friend Sarah told me about a conversation she recently had which resulted in an attempt to clearly define the term "crunchy" as a way to describe a person, place, or thing, in addition to edibles.

To me, the word is synonymous with the stereotypical Hudson Valley lifestyle. Crunchy is to New Paltz as Guido is to the Jersey shore.

Urban Dictionary defines Crunchy:

Adjective. Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc.
In contrast to the rural atmosphere of NP, there is a very present urban influence which comes from the proximity between Albany & NYC, which provides a nice accent and quirk. Basically, it's a silly little melting pot which I'm sure helped cultivate my senses by exposure to all sorts of characters. Very little shocks me these days.