Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Leatherstocking tails
One of the areas of the country that seems the most likely for an aspiring farmer is in Western New York. Really. One can buy 100 acres of more or less flat arable land with a 3 bedroom house and a barn for under $300,000. Many places even come with free natural gas for heating and cooking!
So, what's the downside? For me in particular, it's so far away. How can we inspect properties, check out houses, talk to the neighbors, when it's 1500 miles away. That means a trip. Actually, we were all set to go there last year, and visit my wife's uncle and cousins (her parents are from the area). I had the time off, we were just about to start making hotel reservations for the drive, when the van broke down. Two weeks, $3500 and a new transmission later, we gave up on that trip. Right now, our money is likely going into a pair of work horses and paying off bills, so it'll be next year before we could actually get out there.
There are 4 dioceses in the area we're talking about, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Ogdensberg. The Ogdensberg diocese is north of the Adirondacks, bordering Vermont. While it's a beautiful area, it's not got a lot of available farm land. The Syracuse diocese consists of the uplands between the Hudson river valley and the Allegheney and Appalachian plateaux. It includes most of the Finger Lakes region. While there's lots of good land here, it's close enough to NYC to drive prices up through the roof, particularly in the eastern areas. Some of the western cities, such as Syracuse and Binghamton do have tech industries, which means I could get a well-paying job there, if need be.
The Rochester diocese runs in a strip from Rochester on Lake Ontario south to include most of the Genesee river valley. The problem here is the bishop, specifically Matthew Clark, Bishop of Rochester. Clark is one of the most liberal bishops in the world, and has been actively driving away orthodox priests from his diocese for going on 30 years. He has 5 years left in his episcopate. My wife's uncle and his family live in Steuben county and are on the southwest corner of the Rochester Diocese (not that it would matter to them, as they're Presbyterians).
The Buffalo diocese occupies the western 1/4 of the state, from Wyoming county to Allegany. Bishop Kmiec is relatively new, but appears orthodox. Land, at least away from Buffalo, is fairly, often very cheap. This is where we're looking in NY. One good place I've found to search for properties is the Western Steuben-Allegany MLS.
With a little imagination, you can even figure out how long a parcel has been listed with them.
The other difficulty in buying land in Western NY is the taxes. Taxes are set individually by school districts, fire districts, water districts, towns, villages, cities, townships, and counties. there is no consistency from place to place, A parcel of 200,000 value will be taxed $1200 in one place, and $5000 only a few miles away. Add to that the state income tax, and you can see why farmers are being driven out of the state. In fact, taxes are the likely reason land prices are so low in NY state to begin with. It pays to be very careful to check everything out with the county auditor before you buy.
So, what's the downside? For me in particular, it's so far away. How can we inspect properties, check out houses, talk to the neighbors, when it's 1500 miles away. That means a trip. Actually, we were all set to go there last year, and visit my wife's uncle and cousins (her parents are from the area). I had the time off, we were just about to start making hotel reservations for the drive, when the van broke down. Two weeks, $3500 and a new transmission later, we gave up on that trip. Right now, our money is likely going into a pair of work horses and paying off bills, so it'll be next year before we could actually get out there.
There are 4 dioceses in the area we're talking about, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Ogdensberg. The Ogdensberg diocese is north of the Adirondacks, bordering Vermont. While it's a beautiful area, it's not got a lot of available farm land. The Syracuse diocese consists of the uplands between the Hudson river valley and the Allegheney and Appalachian plateaux. It includes most of the Finger Lakes region. While there's lots of good land here, it's close enough to NYC to drive prices up through the roof, particularly in the eastern areas. Some of the western cities, such as Syracuse and Binghamton do have tech industries, which means I could get a well-paying job there, if need be.
The Rochester diocese runs in a strip from Rochester on Lake Ontario south to include most of the Genesee river valley. The problem here is the bishop, specifically Matthew Clark, Bishop of Rochester. Clark is one of the most liberal bishops in the world, and has been actively driving away orthodox priests from his diocese for going on 30 years. He has 5 years left in his episcopate. My wife's uncle and his family live in Steuben county and are on the southwest corner of the Rochester Diocese (not that it would matter to them, as they're Presbyterians).
The Buffalo diocese occupies the western 1/4 of the state, from Wyoming county to Allegany. Bishop Kmiec is relatively new, but appears orthodox. Land, at least away from Buffalo, is fairly, often very cheap. This is where we're looking in NY. One good place I've found to search for properties is the Western Steuben-Allegany MLS.
With a little imagination, you can even figure out how long a parcel has been listed with them.
The other difficulty in buying land in Western NY is the taxes. Taxes are set individually by school districts, fire districts, water districts, towns, villages, cities, townships, and counties. there is no consistency from place to place, A parcel of 200,000 value will be taxed $1200 in one place, and $5000 only a few miles away. Add to that the state income tax, and you can see why farmers are being driven out of the state. In fact, taxes are the likely reason land prices are so low in NY state to begin with. It pays to be very careful to check everything out with the county auditor before you buy.
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1. The truth is paramount.
2. Know yourself and know your enemy.
3. Don't interrupt when the enemy is making a mistake.
4. Stand for the cause, not the people. People will always betray you.
5. Dialect for the persuadable, rhetoric for the partisans. The objective is not to win arguments, but recruits.
6. Use divide and conquer to your advantage, avoid falling prey to it. No enemies on the right, but the Left will always eat their own.
7. Strategy always beats tactics, play the long game.
8. Have FUN.
9. The enemy is always lying. find the lie, expose it and move on.
10. The enemy is always projecting. Whatever it is they are accusing you of, that is not only what they are doing, it is what they feel guilty about. Use it
11. Wrong is not Evil, but Evil is Wrong.
12. The objective is not to gain ourselves a place at the table, but to deny them theirs. They will not allow us a voice, no matter how we approach.
14. Drive the enemy to apoplexy. Every shrieking rant from them garners us recruits. We seek not to satisfy supposedly neutral observers, but to entertain bystanders and energize our own troops. If you can make them laugh, you win.
15. Good leaders don't develop followers, they develop leaders . -- Lubavitche Rebbe