The village of Saranac Lake isn’t dying. It’s thriving.
By Brian MannWhen Republicans running for village office in Saranac Lake laid out their campaign platform last month, they argued that our community is "on the verge of failure." In a letter to the editor of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Harrietstown Supervisor Larry Miller echoed this claim, writing, "If the village continues down the current path it is destined for failure."
That sounds terrifying. Fortunately, this gloomy portrait of Saranac Lake is factually, provably wrong. As a journalist, I have visited, researched and written about small towns for 25 years. Compared with most of rural America - not just in the Adirondacks or upstate New York - our village is thriving.
Over the last couple of years, while the nation slid into a deep recession, our village added new businesses, from Nonna Fina and Aldi to Main Street Exchange and Borealis Color. Another new restaurant, the Asian Buffet, is slated to open this spring.
When Camp Gabriels closed last year and American Management Association cut staff, those were painful blows. But because we have a diverse economy with a strong private sector, our village bounced back. Our two largest private-sector employers - Adirondack Medical Center and Trudeau Institute - actually added jobs. So did St. Joseph's. Both of our colleges, Paul Smiths and North Country Community College, saw enrollments climb.
So why all the gloomy talk? Critics often point to the decline in public school enrollment as a symptom of Saranac Lake's stagnation. It's true that the number of kids is down, but our drop is far slower than most of the rest of rural America, which gives us time to search for solutions.
What's more, our small village now offers two excellent private school options (Northern Lights and St. Bernard's), as well as a thriving home school community. That's hardly the kind of vitality you would expect in a dying town.
Critics also point to the fact that our village population declined sharply over the last 20 years, down by nearly 11 percent. That sounds scary, but I'm convinced that a big part of the change reflects the national trend of "suburbanization," as more of our neighbors migrate to homes and developments just outside the village line.
You may be surprised to learn that since 1990, the total population in the greater Saranac Lake region (Brighton, Franklin, Harrietstown, North Elba and St. Armand) actually grew by more than 1,000 people. A lot of those folks live on McKenzie Pond Road or in Ray Brook or Vermontville, but still come to the village to work, run their businesses, go to school and shop.
Meanwhile, Saranac Lake has become a popular destination for folks looking for second homes, or a place to retire. The total value of our village's taxable real estate more than doubled over the last decade, growing by $146 million. People don't buy and build houses in towns without a future.
OK, but isn't Saranac Lake "aging" to death? Don't we have too many senior citizens and retirees, and not enough young families? Happily, the answer is no. According to the recent APRAP report, the average age in our village is 37, just two years older than the median age in New York state. That makes us one of the youngest communities in the Adirondacks.
What about the future? We want more of our kids to stay here. We want more and better private-sector jobs. Surely Saranac Lake can't compete for the kind of high-tech industries that are expected to drive prosperity in the next decade?
It turns out our village is one of the few places in rural upstate New York that has the assets to succeed in the next-generation economy. We are located in a beautiful and accessible resort area, a big draw for high-tech companies. We have affordable cell-phone and broadband Internet service, along with a highly educated work force.
Just last month, thanks to the success of the Trudeau Institute, The Scientist magazine rated our mountain village as the number-one place to live and work in the United States for postdoctoral life-science researchers. They praised the community's "low cost of living, and lifestyle" and our "idyllic location."
Not bad for a town teetering on the edge of a disaster.
All this isn't to say that Saranac Lake doesn't face real challenges. Every small town does. But the naysayers also tend to overlook the hard work already under way to solve our biggest problems. One example is the effort to replace Ames. Since the popular department store closed, local merchants have expanded their offerings dramatically, providing similar goods at competitive prices.
Is there better shopping in big cities? Sure. But when you compare the variety, quality and affordability of our stores with the vast majority of small towns in the North Country, we're doing great.
Obviously, some people still want a Walmart or a comparable national chain. That's a fair debate to have, along with a serious discussion over the merits of a retail size cap. But while those conversations are going on, a group of locals has launched an ambitious effort to open a new community department store.
These aren't hippies forming a nonprofit collective. These are investors and experienced business people building a tax-paying, jobs-providing company that will compete on equal terms with every other store in town. They have already raised nearly half a million dollars of capital, not bad for a village that's about to fail.
Which brings me to the biggest hurdle that we face: negativity. Put simply, the rest of America expects small towns like ours to wither and die. When investors and entrepreneurs hear locals - especially elected officials - talking gloom and doom, they are likely to believe it. They will take their money and their families and their jobs and go elsewhere.
Fortunately, the facts show that Saranac Lake is working from a position of strength and success. That's something we all - Republicans and Democrats, newcomers and old-timers alike - should celebrate and build on together.
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Brian Mann lives in Saranac Lake and works as a journalist for North Country Public Radio. His wife, Susan Waters, is running for re-election as a village trustee on the Democratic Party line.
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shipsaint
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03-18-10 4:13 PM
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whats the heading on the head stone to say,R I P saranac lake you were onced loved by all natives,now you were raped and murdered by the rest.......
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cartman
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03-16-10 11:35 AM
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It has the same thing that Star lake has do do with Saranac Lake. Nothing. But you brought that up. Face the facts the democrats hurt this town by not allowing growth.
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tpr128
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03-15-10 10:31 PM
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Yeah, drive along route 50 in Saratoga Springs/Wilton. You'll see "thriving" alright. It'll take you about 20 minutes to drive one mile. Besides, there is no comparison. Completely different demographics. You might as well compare SL to San Francisco. Besides, before the sprawl of malls came along, Saratoga had a racetrack, a performing arts center, a private college, its historic spas and springs, a historic battle monument, and yes, a VERY wealthy population of people from "Old Money." Try Clifton Park too. There's a fine town full of community character. If you like it there, please stay!
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phahn50
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03-15-10 7:55 PM
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Saratoga is a wealthy suburb of Albany. What does that have to do with Saranac Lake?
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cartman
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03-15-10 3:55 PM
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phahn50 go to Saratoga if you want to see thriving......
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PNorthElba
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03-15-10 12:55 PM
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Saranac Lake cannot be anything but dying. If SL wasn't dying, there wouldn't be any need to blame someone for its demise. For some people, no matter what, SL will always be dying. These people need someone to blame.
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phahn50
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03-15-10 10:51 AM
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Cartman - go to Star Lake if you want to see struggling
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shipsaint
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03-15-10 8:53 AM
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imwith cart on this one
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cartman
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03-13-10 11:03 AM
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Bottom line the democrats Failed. How do you justify the street and sidewalk conditions (don't blame weather because Lake Placid does not have this problem). I can't help but notice that you have an excuse for every failure of a business but praise the current board and mayor for a few new businesses that replace the old ones. The new chinese buffet will never hire local people, they only bring in there own workers. And it will probably force out on of the established ones. Big picture we miss National Army, Ames, Western Union, and other larger stores here. Wal Mart would have been great here and would have helped our taxes and added traffic to our downtown but the current board are nothing but mental midgets. If this town is thriving, I would hate to see what you call struggling. And by the way the reason Saranac lakes population is falling and outside the village is increasing is because people can't afford the taxes in town. Thank your wife for helping kill this once great town.
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Doodles
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03-13-10 9:19 AM
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Food for thought. I hardly see a computer store (ever had an issue with their services ? he's NASTY), a video store, a rock shop, a silk screener and sign maker, a bookstore, and yet another Chinese restaurant are the saving grace for this town, or any driving force to relinquish our economy. The businesses you tout, Brian, employ how many people? For the record, the computer store owner has a full time job elsewhere! The Chinese rest will no doubt hire the best qualified people, who will also be Chinese (no insult intended, but that's the way it is). As far as Hotel Saranac, it's a pitiful shame what's happened to it, by no fault of anyone but the owner. Now stroll down memory lane to other real businesses SL once had to offer, including Dew Drops. A few steadfasts are Post Office Pharmacy, Newman and Homes, and the Hyde empire. Where are the residents supposed to work, and how many jobs are they supposed to have, to survive? I work two jobs for survival, not for success.
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Wendall
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03-12-10 8:35 PM
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TruLib - get a stomach pump. I think you may have swallowed a dictionary. What you say is for me a bit esoteric (oops!).
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shipsaint
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03-12-10 6:45 PM
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p-i-s-s-e-d
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shipsaint
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03-12-10 6:44 PM
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the problum with the natives and the transplants are,most people who are fourth generation are ****** because the city people are moving here and building their houses and changing what the natives great grand parents built,changing their way of life to fit the needs of the transplants(non natives).for example;traping.motorboats on certain lakes,the APA.for some natives this is truly painful,changing things that thier great grand parents most likly struggled to get.its being so easily taken away.
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tpr128
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03-12-10 3:20 PM
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The condition of the Hotel Saranac, its Boathouse Lounge and its Gift Shop are completely the fault of the incompetent, uncaring new owner.He has driven it into the ground. I believe he bought it on the cheap so he can profit from its equity. It's not clean, smells funny, and has only a handful of employees. I used to shop at the gift shop all the time. I used to meet friends at the Boathouse. I wonder what TripAdvisor is now saying about the hotel that used to be so wonderful. Before we moved here, we used to stay there. Now it's a dump. Not the Democrats' fault.
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jswhiteface
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03-12-10 3:04 PM
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Dear Mr. Positive: On your way thru Tupper Lake sometime look at its crumbling condition and remember your no-growth piece against Adirondack Club & Resort helped to keep it that way. Go ARISE...
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SLresident
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03-12-10 2:02 PM
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What do Democrats have to do with the Morgan family struggling to run a restaurant?
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BrianMann
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03-12-10 1:55 PM
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The new computer shop downtown just upgraded to a bigger storefront. The cigarette store has already been filled. Main Street exchange occupied two storefronts in the last year. A nice video store moved over to the main street. The new rock shop opened. So did a couple of silk screening and sign making shops. Books and Baskets opened. It appears that the Snapshot Photo space is being rebuilt for something new. The bowling alley is open again and thriving. There's a new Chinese restaurant going in out near Pizza hut. The man who owns the hotel is making his own decisions about two of the shops you mention (the boathouse and the giftshop) -- but he's still in business. Morgans and Sweet Peas just went out. It'll be interesting to see how long they're empty. Oh -- and Dew Drops -- that's a big challenge, I agree. That's been empty as long as I've lived here (11 years).
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cartman
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03-12-10 1:30 PM
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Brian by saying that most of these closed stores have been replaced by other shops is not true. What is in snap shot photo? or Morgans 11, or dew drop inn, or meyers, or sweet peas, or forest home furnishings? or the store on broadway hill near goody goody that has been empty for years, or lydia's or the boathouse lounge, or the hotel gift shop? I realize you want to support your wife's campain but you should at least be honest. The democrats have hurt this town in the last four years.
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SLresident
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03-12-10 12:38 PM
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I don't think differentiating between native, non-native, local, etc. should matter. What matters is that we are all here now, in the present, residents of the community in which we reside. It's up to all of us to work together for Saranac Lake's future.
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Broadwater
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03-12-10 10:42 AM
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Thank you Brian for addressing some of the issues with style and grace! As for the "native" "non-native" argument....what does "native" mean to you the individual blogger? For instance; if you were born here (SL?) but your parents weren't...would you look at them and say "You're not a native so you don't count". And the person who posted 4th generation on this post...it's wonderful that you are proud of where you came from, but are all of your friends (in SL) "natives"? And if not...how do you treat them? Do you tell THEM they should go back to where they came from? I would love someone to answer this question without hostility. At least one can only hope!
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BrianMann
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03-12-10 8:12 AM
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PS: For the record, I never graduated from college. I finished one full year, did a little time in community college, and then never went back. My first five years out of high school I worked as a fish butcher. --Brian
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BrianMann
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03-12-10 8:11 AM
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I think the us-vs-them tension in this discussion is important. Obviously there is a lot of anger and resentment. A lot of people feel left out or even excluded from Saranac Lake's success. And it's important to talk about why those things are happening. Here are some of my thoughts about it. I've researched (and lived in) small towns for years and they tend to be places where things don't change much. After a long period of 'sameness,' Saranac Lake is changing in some important ways. A lot of people (like myself) have moved here in the last ten or twenty years. We've brought new businesses, new ways of doing things, and sometimes different ideas. Most economists will tell you that's necessary for a community to stay vital. But it's not easy to put all the pieces (old and new) together. I think a good first step is to try to tone down the name-calling and the accusations on both sides. We're all people of good will. We all want Saranac Lake to su
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tpr128
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03-12-10 8:07 AM
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Sorry- but for the record, many of my wonderful friends do not have college degrees, including my closest friend in the world. I don't discriminate based on pedigree. I discriminate based on character.
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tpr128
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03-12-10 7:40 AM
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...found on these comment pages? Fortunately I do believe it's the minority, but it's a pretty loud and unfriendly one that is accessible to anyone and everyone in the world who Googles "Saranac Lake."
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tpr128
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03-12-10 7:38 AM
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Look IMAtter, I matter too. Number one, I moved here from only 140 miles away, not the Jersey Shore.Not that that matters. Second, when I make these remarks, I am responding to the obnoxious, anti-outsider mud slinging that is directed toward people like me simply because we were not born here. What does it take to have full citizenship here? If you are born in Old Forge but live in SL for ten years, are you more (or less?) of a citizen than the person who moves here from Wisconsin but has been a SL resident for 60 years? What IS a "native" or "local" anyway? This is preposterous, ridiculous, hostile, and yes, STUPID. I won't stand by and have someone tell me that because I have an education and come from another town in the state of New York, that I am not a full citizen. It is this kind of garbage that is going to keep people away from here - INCLUDING prospective employers. Who would want to come here to work with such an ugly population such as that found on th
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