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Month: November 2012

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Birdseed, Recycled Scraps, & The Universe

Wayne Perras November 28, 2012November 8, 2017

Since late September I've been keenly conscious of feeding the birds who inhabit or visit our backyard. In the spring and summer it is apparent that they are thriving and feeding well but I worry about how they will...

Saratoga as Primordial “Watering Hole”

Wayne Perras November 19, 2012November 8, 2017

Saratoga's Primordial Appeal, Part 1-- In my real estate life, as if I were a journalist, I am allowed to ask people a ton of questions, and if I'm dealing with a married couple, or an unmarried couple who are...

Saratoga’s Abundance of Infill Projects…& Why

Wayne Perras November 9, 2012

The sign of a healthy, prospering city is when every leftover, spare lot, even in previously neglected or overlooked areas, is suddenly being sold and built out. There are an increasing number of instances of this in Saratoga Springs,...

For 4 full decades I've lived (mostly) in and around Saratoga Springs, NY after being introduced to the town via SPAC concerts while still in high school, and then getting the real native view of things from my best friend at Colgate, who grew up here & had roots on both the east side and west side of this town. He moved elsewhere (and is now an accomplished photographer in in the D.C. Metro area) but I stuck around...and saw innumerable changes take place since.

Before he left Dave and another friend of ours put a magazine together called The High Rock Review... referring not to music but to the most sacred original site in Saratoga Springs... in the extended park area of The Farmer's Market. When I was 23 and renting a big old Victorian on Woodlawn Ave with a group of friends, I crossed Broadway many times to just sit and think-- or not think--in that park. So in 1980, that's what inspired the magazine name.

Back then Saratoga was lively as ever in the summer months, but otherwise a hip, bar-filled college town that could be desolate in the off-season, like most of upstate NY... But we saw it had something that was attracting creative types as the place had a magical draw-- We were trying to celebrate what we called "latent native talent" back then, which is in ample supply now in this thriving mini-metropolis, an oasis just north of the Capital District.

This place has taken off in such a big way while I've lived and worked here, that I must record my observations on a more regular basis, so here we go...