Boulder, CO climber moving to East Coast

Alexander K wrote: Florida is not the center of southern rock climbing. In the South (VA, NC, TN, WV, AL, GA) there are just as many routes on Mt Project as the North East. The difference is that the Rock tends to be bigger and better on average in the South. There is also lots of awesome sandstone along with the quartzite, granite and gneiss that the North East has. I know that Charlotte might be a bit far south but the argument can be made that its a better place to travel from as weather delays are seldom an issue. Summer climbing may not be the best, but plenty of high country stuff that's doable in the shade.

Roger that, I wasn't implicating there was *any* climbing in Florida just used it a reference / point of credibility (aka - been there, done that). I also didn't climb when I was living in FL during my early twenties.

Not sure about those numbers though. Maybe by MP count, but there's a ton not on MP up here.

Jimmy Sledd wrote:

You forgot CO = "mecca" ;-)

Kevin Heckeler wrote: You forgot CO = "mecca" ;-)

Haha I haven't actually spent much time in CO, and Boulder certainly isn't my cup o' tea. I just think that for a climber who's used to the benign weather, short drives, and climbing everywhere the Northeast will be a big disappointment. Which is not to say there aren't great climbers/skiers/boaters etc. out here. Hell, Jeremy Jones, arguably the best big-mountain skier/snowboarder in the world, grew up on Cape Cod--but there's a reason he lives in Tahoe now.

Jimmy Sledd wrote:

That map's funny. It reminds me that when I travel north to NY or MA everyone says I'm from the south. Redneck or hillbilly what have you.. if I travel to Durham or Atlanta then the locals say "damn Yankee". We're in no mans land over here :)

I will say I love living in Baltimore. I can travel as I please. But nowhere I mean nowhere can you make so much money changing light bulbs for the Feds. If there were a Washington DC in WA state or MT would be there in a minute.

Something that people in this thread are forgetting.....
The OP said: "The only requirement is that I live near a major airport preferably between Baltimore and Boston. "

When a company sets that as a requirement, they mean it. They're looking for that person to live relatively near-by, not a 2hr commute. They also want their employee to travel quickly, meaning lots of flight options, ideally many of them non-stop. In short they want their employee to be able to minimize travel time.

Dinkey little airports like Providence, Manchester NH, Charlotte, Burlington, Hartford, et al just don't qualify. From the company's perspective, when they say between Baltimore and Boston and "major", there are really only about 5 or so.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they said no to living in a number of places strongly suggested by some in this thread. New Paltz immediately comes to mind.

Agree mostly on the airport point, although Hartford enables you to fly almost anywhere for great prices.
I've done 40-50 flights a year out of there for the last 4 years, all over the US, usually only do NYC for international travel.

Marc801 wrote:Something that people in this thread are forgetting..... The OP said: "The only requirement is that I live near a major airport preferably between Baltimore and Boston. " When a company sets that as a requirement, they mean it. They're looking for that person to live relatively near-by, not a 2hr commute. They also want their employee to travel quickly, meaning lots of flight options, ideally many of them non-stop. In short they want their employee to be able to minimize travel time. Dinkey little airports like Providence, Manchester NH, Charlotte, Burlington, Hartford, et al just don't qualify. From the company's perspective, when they say between Baltimore and Boston and "major", there are really only about 5 or so. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they said no to living in a number of places strongly suggested by some in this thread. New Paltz immediately comes to mind.

Marc801 has a good point...yet "everything is negotiable" (or should be)

In 50 years of living in the Northeast, I have NEVER not been able to drive to the airport and then found my flight NOT cancelled. Turning that around into a positive we get: EVERY time I have driven to the airport in snow, sleet, hail, or rain or wind I have been able to get there, but usually the flight is cancelled (or delayed). NEVER has a flight take off without me because of a road delay.

What should it matter to my company if I chose to live a normal 1 1/2 hrs from the airport?..if I can get on the flight(s). (AND, BTW, the last 10 miles to/from JFK or LaGuadia can easily take 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour.)

The "big" NE airports are JFK, Newark, LaGuardia (with about $30/day parking), then I think Phili or Boston. Baltimore, except for Southwest, is actually quite small...half the airport is "dead", just like Cincinnati since Delta bought Northwest and changed their hub from Cinci to Detroit.

OP, if you're still tuning in, I didn't see you mention what type of climbing is your highest priority. You were curious about the Gunks, so I'll assume trad is your thing. The Gunks are phenomenal. So is NH trad (North Conway, Franconia Notch, etc.), which has the added benefit of 1000' classic routes on Cannon.

To be a committed climber and live anywhere in the Northeast, you have to embrace whatever climbing the weather offers. I grew up in Boston, lived on the Front Range for six years, and I now live in NH. Between the White Moutains, Willoughby, and satellite areas, New England has a lifetime of ice climbing. Yes, it hurts when my brother who lives in Denver tells me that he climbed at Eldo in a t-shirt in February. But I climb outside every month of the year too.

Boston has good day trip or weekend access to all of that ice. I recommend the northwestern suburbs: Somerville, Medford and Malden. 15 min to Logan Airport. Easy parking. Waaaay lower cost of living than NYC. Close to the Middlesex Fells, a park with very good trail running. Easy to hop on 93 or 95 and get up north. If you only have a half day, good bouldering 30 min away (Lynn Woods) or 1 hr away (Pawtuckaway). Easy access to all the urban amenities of Boston on public transportation. Close to two great gyms (Metrorock Everett and Brooklyn Boulders).

Good luck, let us know how it works out!

Take a piece of string, figure out about an inch ? = 90 miles?
on a ' Maps' program measure out a 40, 60 & 90 mile set of circles
From center points measured at the various airports. & towns like New Paltz.

I think you will find that a look at the density of the cities changes vastly as one heads west.

I would also think that New Paltz is at the outside edge of a circle, when ideally you want to be closer to the inside edge of an area.

Also, when weighing costs of living, ease of, and variety of types of transportation,
work effecting criteria of time / travel, will trump
The importance of time to get to rock/ gym.
They may be secondary priorities ?

I don't fly often so I don't know about the increased traffic to Hartford Connecticut, Stewart Airport in Newburgh NY? I do know the immediate vicinity around both hold some of the most ' Poka-dotted ' (as to economic striations ) and live-able neighborhoods I've ever seen. Something about living near airports?

Lexington Mass too I just realized Lexington/Concord, on the doorstep of Logan Airport Twenty minutes to " Boston" An Hour during Drive times. .

Robert Hall wrote:What should it matter to my company if I chose to live a normal 1 1/2 hrs from the airport?..if I can get on the flight(s). (AND, BTW, the last 10 miles to/from JFK or LaGuadia can easily take 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour.)

Exactly, it's the employee's responsibility to make the flight. Heck, you can get stuck 5 miles away in a cab en route and miss the flight if there's an accident during rush hour. I doubt proximity to the airport is really a determining factor as long as the OP can reasonably make their flights.

New Paltz is still a good choice for the obvious climbing options at the Gunks, but also for the relatively short drive to Newark and Laguardia.

Unless I missed it, the OP still hasn't specified how frequent the travel requirement will be. Once a month is almost a non-factor versus, say, weekly.

Jimmy Sledd wrote:

Your map is highly inaccurate from a New Yorker's perspective. I would say it's more like this:



The reason the conversation centered on NY, is because the OP stated that's what he was leaning on, but everyone piled on to dissuade him from it. All the stupid reasons like traffic to the airport and expensive parking, are non-existent if you choose to live in the city.

Nick Votto wrote:Agree mostly on the airport point, although Hartford enables you to fly almost anywhere for great prices. I've done 40-50 flights a year out of there for the last 4 years, all over the US, usually only do NYC for international travel.

I actually really like BDL for what it's worth. Super small, but still international. I can drop off a rental, take the shuttle, go through the gate and be in my terminal in 20 minutes total. DIA I spend more time traveling to and through the airport than I spend on some flights!!

Scott McMahon wrote: I actually really like BDL for what it's worth. Super small, but still international. I can drop off a rental, take the shuttle, go through the gate and be in my terminal in 20 minutes total. DIA I spend more time traveling to and through the airport than I spend on some flights!!

as far as the OPs needs BDL is top on my list, then trail running, then the climbing. Trail running might be better than the airport, its close

Robert Hall wrote:
What should it matter to my company if I chose to live a normal 1 1/2 hrs from the airport?..if I can get on the flight(s). (AND, BTW, the last 10 miles to/from JFK or LaGuadia can easily take 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour.)

Kevin Heckeler wrote: Exactly, it's the employee's responsibility to make the flight. Heck, you can get stuck 5 miles away in a cab en route and miss the flight if there's an accident during rush hour. I doubt proximity to the airport is really a determining factor as long as the OP can reasonably make their flights.

I agree with this, yet from a company perspective, if you do miss your flight, is the next one in 90 minutes or tomorrow? That is why many companies that expect major amounts of travel from their employees say "major" airport. I happen to know someone who did not get a job offer simply because they lived too far from a "major airport".

Kevin Heckeler wrote:Unless I missed it, the OP still hasn't specified how frequent the travel requirement will be. Once a month is almost a non-factor versus, say, weekly.

Without reviewing the thread, I seem to recall seeing "65% travel" or thereabouts. It's why some replies said that the OP wouldn't really get the benefits of living in NYC with that much travel.

Marc801 wrote:Without reviewing the thread, I seem to recall seeing "65% travel" or thereabouts. It's why some replies said that the OP wouldn't really get the benefits of living in NYC with that much travel.

I guess not doing air travel for a living I don't know how that translates. Does that mean 2+ weeks/month being out of town on one trip, or 6 short trips in 3 weeks? One requires a single trip to the airport, the other 6 trips. It would definitely matter to me if I had to drive 1.5 -2 hours to the airport 6 times in a month.

Again, I'm just making New Paltz my choice for the OP (there's many options)... Newark and Laguardia are major, so if the flight was missed or cancelled he has maximum number of options, regardless if he started from 10 miles away in Manhattan or 2 hours away in New Paltz.

Ana Tine wrote:
I'm responding because it's good to give a heads up of the Northeast region such as rain clouds and mosquitoes, but a statement such as

Marc801 wrote:
Living in NYC would be the worst purgatory imaginable. You may feel very differently. For me, I would never live east of Denver ever again.

is your stamp saying don't go there, and not any 'hey watch out for this' kind of advice.

• *******************

I thought that statement was pretty evident that it was strictly my opinion. As I mentioned, I grew up within 30 minutes of midtown Manhattan, and went into the city a lot in my teenage and college years. My first concert involved sneaking out of the house when I was 13 to see Santana opening for Jefferson Airplane at Filmore East. I never even once considered living in the city. It's not for everyone. Again, my opinion, not recommendation, just like yours, and everyone else in the thread.

Edit to fix the broken quoting function in MP forums.

Kevin Heckeler wrote: I guess not doing air travel for a living I don't know how that translates. Does that mean 2+ weeks/month being out of town on one trip, or 6 short trips in 3 weeks? One requires a single trip to the airport, the other 6 trips. It would definitely matter to me if I had to drive 1.5 -2 hours to the airport 6 times in a month. Again, I'm just making New Paltz my choice for the OP (there's many options)... Newark and Laguardia are major, so if the flight was missed or cancelled he has maximum number of options, regardless if he started from 10 miles away in Manhattan or 2 hours away in New Paltz.

I would NOT wanna drive from New Paltz to Newark. Not shitting on anyone's plans, God forbid we have a discussion, but just saying..

Marc801 wrote:Ana Tine wrote: I'm responding because it's good to give a heads up of the Northeast region such as rain clouds and mosquitoes, but a statement such as Marc801 wrote: Living in NYC would be the worst purgatory imaginable. You may feel very differently. For me, I would never live east of Denver ever again. is your stamp saying don't go there, and not any 'hey watch out for this' kind of advice. ******************** I thought that statement was pretty evident that it was strictly my opinion. As I mentioned, I grew up within 30 minutes of midtown Manhattan, and went into the city a lot in my teenage and college years. My first concert involved sneaking out of the house when I was 13 to see Santana opening for Jefferson Airplane at Filmore East. I never even once considered living in the city. It's not for everyone. Again, my opinion, not recommendation, just like yours. Edit to fix the broken quoting function in MP forums.

You must have "an ax to grind"! ;-)

Bill Kirby wrote: I would NOT wanna drive from New Paltz to Newark. Not shitting on anyone's plans, God forbid we have a discussion, but just saying..

I'd take it over the drive to Laguardia, but people travel to the Gunks from Brooklyn, Manhattan, LI all the time. Jersey would seem like the easier of the options, shooting down 287 (to I assume 280 looking at the map). You also have to assume early flights since they're probably getting to someplace for a late AM/afternoon meeting. Early would avoid much of the worse traffic congestion (?).

It's all great academic fun, but we are really only guessing on some of the important details and their personal interests since they haven't specified any/many of them aside from climbing and jogging.

Kevin Heckeler wrote: You must have "an ax to grind"! ;-)

Dude! I have a whole freakin' garage full of axes!

It seems that some people really get defensive when someone disagrees with their opinion.

BTW, Ana, NYC SUCKS!