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Old Posted Nov 19, 2008, 3:29 PM
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Homecomings Amid the Gorges



By JILL P. CAPUZZO
Published: November 13, 2008

CORNELL University sits on East Hill and Ithaca College looms on South Hill. Along the streets below, a palpable energy and an eclectic spirit run through Ithaca’s neighborhoods and along the lakefront of this small city in central New York. Sitting at the southern end of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the urban capital of the Finger Lakes, a region that lures second-home owners, retirees and tourists with the city’s sophistication, the area’s natural beauty and a thriving wine industry.

The schools and large student population have helped define Ithaca, which has embraced the influence of its colleges to create a liberal, cultural and gastronomic oasis in a region not known for being particularly progressive. Many of the second-homers and retirees are Cornell and Ithaca alumni, seeking to reconnect with the cultural and intellectual offerings of a city set in a place rich in natural bounty.

“I can bring my boat into town and dock it at the farmers’ market, or outside one of the restaurants,” said Steve Greene, a 1965 Cornell graduate who bought a lakefront vacation house two miles out of the city six years ago. “Or I can go the other way, up to a Cayuga Lake winery.”

Ithaca first gained prominence in the 1830s with the completion of the Ithaca and Owego Railroad, which connected the Erie Canal and the Susquehanna River. Its central location made it a magnet for heavy industry in the mid-19th century, which later gave way to education as the city’s main draw.

For some alumni, like Mr. Greene, having a vacation home there means finally getting to enjoy Ithaca summers, an opportunity that likely escaped them as students. “I remember feeling every May the weather would just be getting nice,” he said, “and I’d be driving out Route 89 and thinking, ‘How stupid.’ ”

A retired professor of journalism whose primary home is in St. Petersburg, Fla., Mr. Greene stretches his summers out to the end of October at the three-bedroom house that he bought for $300,000. He says he prefers Ithaca to Florida, largely because of the many cultural offerings, which include film series, art shows and theater.

While most people make their lakefront retreats their second homes, for Cande Carroll that’s not the case. After living year round in a house that she and her husband own on the western shore of Cayuga Lake, the couple decided in 2004 to buy a $240,000 town house near Cornell for the winters. “Winter’s a little dicey,” Ms. Carroll said, “with the long, steep driveways that many lake houses have.”

The Scene

If you’re trying to catch up with a friend, chances are good you’ll run into them at Ithaca’s farmers’ market. Settled at the edge of the lake, the 150-stand weekend market is like an East Coast version of Seattle’s Pike Place Market, where artists and musicians mix with sellers of prepared ethnic foods and organic produce.

A similar conviviality can be found on Ithaca Commons, the main commercial area. Besides one-of-a-kind shops (plenty of tie-dye, but also upscale furniture), there are many restaurants, including the Mahogany Grill, a steakhouse, and the Moosewood Restaurant, which put organic and vegetarian food on Ithaca’s map. With its proximity to Finger Lakes wineries and with the many graduates of Cornell’s hospitality school choosing to stay in the area, some call Ithaca the state’s best culinary outpost outside New York City.

In the last 10 years, various publications have named Ithaca the “most enlightened city,” “best emerging city,” one of “America’s smartest cities,” and among the best cities for gays and lesbians, retirees, mountain bikers, vegetarians, career growth and green living.

“There’s no end to the number of things you can do here,” Ms. Carroll said. “Your kids can even learn to sail at the Ithaca Yacht Club, and you don’t have to be a member.”

It is common to see a bumper sticker that reads “Ithaca Is Gorges,” referring to the many waterfalls and gorges that carve up the landscape and to the region’s overall beauty. There are also many state parks and state forests, with plenty of trails for biking and hiking.

And the Finger Lakes have spawned one of the largest concentration of wineries outside of California. The deep lakes that never fully freeze offer an ideal microclimate for grape growing, and in the last 25 years, more than 100 wineries have sprung up in the region.

While many flee their lakefront or rural properties when the weather turns wintry and bitter, Mark Owens is not among them. After 30 years of renting along Cayuga Lake in summer, Mr. Owens, a tax lawyer from Silver Spring, Md., bought a second home there last year: a three-bedroom lakefront house in Sheldrake Point, about 30 minutes north of Ithaca, for $600,000.

For Mr. Owens, the best times to be there are in fall and winter. “We’re right on the water, and you have the impression there’s no one else around,” he said. “When the leaves are gone, from the fourth floor, I can look out the window and see up and down the lake 20 miles with nothing obscuring my view.”

Pros

An outpost of urban sophistication in the heart of one of New York’s most scenic regions, Ithaca has an unusual combination of brains and beauty.

Cons

Winters are long and cold, though some residents argue that Ithaca gets no colder than other northern locales, like Boston.

The Real Estate Market

While some second-home buyers want to be in the city, most look to the region’s lakes when considering property in and around Ithaca, local real estate agents say. A smaller number want to acquire acreage a few miles outside the city, but within easy driving distance.

“People coming from New York City are sick of living on top of each other, and most are interested in finding an old farmhouse with land,” said Herb Dwyer, an agent with Warren Real Estate. “Those coming from the West, like Oregon or California, want a lake house.”

The housing stock ranges from modern, multitiered lakefront homes to Federal-style farmhouses to Greek Revivals and Victorians.

Lakefront property is the most expensive. With such property ranging from one-tenth of an acre to 1.5 acres, with lake frontages of 30 to 1,400 feet, the prices of lakefront homes swing widely. An average for a lakefront house on one acre is about $600,000, said Peggy Haine of Audrey Edelman Realty USA, while a smaller cottage goes for about $400,000.

For homes not on the lakes, Mr. Dwyer estimated that a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Ithaca or elsewhere in Tompkins County averages between $185,000 and $200,000. Farmland ranges from $3,000 to $10,000 an acre, Ms. Haine said, depending on whether it is viable for vineyard production.

Farmhouse properties vary. Ms. Haine said she recently sold a 1,350-square-foot farmhouse on more than two acres for $81,500 in Freeville, about 10 miles from town. More typical is a four-bedroom farmhouse built in 1818, on more than three acres about 10 minutes south of downtown, and listed for $324,000.

LAY OF THE LAND

POPULATION 29,829, according to a 2006 Census Bureau estimate. College students roughly double it during the school year.

SIZE 6.1 square miles.

WHERE Ithaca sits at the south tip of Cayuga Lake in central New York, north of Binghamton and south of Syracuse.

WHO’S BUYING Cornell and Ithaca College alumni, West Coasters seeking waterfront property and those from New York and Boston seeking land.

WHILE YOU’RE LOOKING The William Henry Miller Inn (303 North Aurora Street; 607-256-4553; www.millerinn.com) is just off Ithaca Commons. Rooms range from $135 to $235 a night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/gr...=ithaca&st=nyt
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