Priced Out

An article not really fitting with the Chautauqua theme, but of great personal interest and tying in with my practice of Adirondack Park law. Today's Utica Observer-Dispatch interviewed North Country journalist Brian Mann on the ongoing trend where locals are being priced out of Adirondack communities.

I've been doing some work on this issue for an Adirondack client, and it's a big problem. It's also not a good sign for those that might have made a living in those communities, ie, the local solo practitioner. In my MS thesis, I looked into the sense of community in a couple Adk towns, and I found that this housing issue was a problem nearly ten years ago when I was doing my fieldwork. As a lawyer trying to build a regional practice, I see it even more clearly on a limited scale. Fewer full-time local residents means a decrease in the population that needs one's services. Fewer residents also decreases the ability of the schools to offer a decent education, which has continuing impacts on the local lawyer (or on the chances of the kids to be that next local lawyer). As an Adirondack friend once said to me, "DWIs and divorces" are the lot in life of the local residents and the attorneys trying to carve out a living.