I can’t figure Ithaca weather out. I woke up this morning expecting it to be cold and winter-ish as one might think December 13th would be, only to discover it’s 45 degrees out. Not that I’m complaining: I’m just not understanding. Actually, that’s sort of how Ithaca weather is – unpredictable. In making that statement I thought about other things around here you can generally count on, and made a little list for today’s post. Actually, I’ll go so far to say that these are “Ithaca truisms,” and without further ado…
Things you can count on in Ithaca, in no particular order:
1) There are more Subaru Outbacks in this city than anywhere else in the world. Including the Subaru manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana.
2) On any given weekend, roughly 60% of the town congregates at the best grocery store in the northern hemisphere: Wegmans. Note, this is a horrible time to do all of your grocery shopping.
3) Including the Subaru Outbacks, most cars don on average 2 bumper stickers. While some do have none – like ours – others have in upwards of 30-40, making 2 the magic number.
4) The Farmer’s Market that is so widely celebrated and well known really isn’t that big physically. It’s certainly smaller than those in San Francisco and Seattle, to name a few. The price of basil at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, however, is unbeatable.
5) I’ve never seen as many local ice-cream shops as they have here. Purity Ice Cream, Ithaca Creamery, Cornell Dairy Bar, Friendly’s, etc. It’s very good ice cream, by the way.
6) More pet lovers here than anywhere else in Andromeda.
7) Taxes are beyond comprehension. Think roughly $3500/year for every $100k of your home for city and property taxes. Sales tax at 8% too.
7a) City taxes apparently don’t go towards city maintenance – no sidewalks, no streetlights, many potholes.
You can’t turn on red in the town of Ithaca.
8a) All streetlights are on set timers, so get comfy if you are the first one at a stop light.
9) The city has four cabs.
10) The Finger Lakes are incredibly deep, and incredibly clean. Once in it, you’ll never want to be in cloudy water again.
11) While Ithaca indeed has its own currency that is supposedly good at any store or shop in the city, I’ve never seen it.
12) This is a relatively untouched city – very green, very beautiful. To that end, plan on rain for any given day.
I’m sure I’ve overlooked a bunch, but I guess when you live in a place long enough you start to overlook the biggest contrasts because they are no longer contrasts. Similarly, I’m sure I’ve conflated some of these observations with general New York living (e.g., #7), but they still apply to our lovely city.
Sam, do you have anything you’d like to add?
7)
David, I agree with your Ithacaisms, especially the no right turn on red…how backwards can they get? Do people not have the judgement about when it’s safe to turn right on red? This is a very smart town. I would add there are quite a few Volvos, but definitely no where near as many Subaru Outbacks. One other piece I would add is that in NY, you have to pay for garbage tags to tag each of your garbage bags; this pays the landfill fee. In addition to that you pay for garbage service (even though garbage removal I believe is written into our homeowner’s association bylaws).
Sam
[...] Living in Ithaca for an entire year finally allows for critical assessment of the city and its four seasons. I’ve been keeping a mental note of the things I have seen, and actually commented on some of these back in the winter. However, I’d like to add some more here, or refine some of my previous observations. [...]
There are more vegans per capita than any place I’ve lived! Plus, plenty of vegan friendly restaurants. For example, Everything Wellness serving organic, living foods on Cayuga street on the commons.
Nice, thanks
Cool article
Thanks for this excellent blog.