Any tips ? Going from "Just Visiting" to "Local-ish"

[smootharc]

So, we've taken the plunge. After years of research, testing, travel and chin scratching...me and mine have signed on the dotted line and bought a slice of NE ski country sweetness. It's a vacation place for us, central to various NE family members and friends, alma maters, and, of course snow (although year round considerations came into play during our...uh... decision making decade).

I realize vacation home and true local are two different things, and many inches of magazine column space have been used up debating the effect of "outsiders" helping to price locals out of the market in resort areas throughout the country. That issue isn't what's on my mind here, as I'd like to think we're going to make a sincere effort to be a part of, not just users of, the place we've decided to "join". Hey, we never really own anything, really, in this life, right ? We're just custodians who either leave things nicer than when we got there...or not...

So...thinking out loud, I'm wondering what suggestions might come out in terms of good ways of plugging into a local "scene". Perhaps even more particularly local in bounds and off piste groups with the expertise that makes the difference between chopped up seconds and first tracks. I realize skiers hold their cards close to their chests....but I also realize that, many times, having a reliable 3rd, or eleventh hour "pinch hitter", is also in many cases quite welcome for these insiders. Am I making any sense here ? How does one come into an area on a more permanent basis, be low-key and "cool", and try to make friends ? Meet like minded folks. And join the fabric of a place which you've identified as something you want to be a part of skiing-wise (of course) but also outside skiing. Maybe these ideas would work:

-Buy lots of stuff at local shops ?

-Show up at parking lots at 5:15am and toss boxes of powerbars at the feet of duct tape covered warriors ?

-Hold free fondue open houses...daily...

Or...maybe you AZer's have some thoughts....

 

[BeanoNYC]

Find out who the local A$$hole is and punch him in the nose at a busy place. Be sure to say loudly "Things are gonna change around here!"

Honestly, I've never lived in a small town, so I wouldn't know where to begin.

Join a church group? Go to a local AMC meeting?

I'll be following this thread closely as when I eventually buy a vacation place, I'll be asking the same questions.

 

[dmc]

Since I moved up here(Hunter NY) - I don't force myself on locals... I figure relationships will develop naturally.. And they are...

I know lots of people by face but not name from playing in a band up here... And I try and talk to each person individually while skiing.. I think once people start seeing me at the hardware store this summer they'll realize I'm here to stay...

I think just being around... Checking out cultrural events... Maybe joining a civic group...
Will all get you in the circle...

 

[ChileMass]

Find out who the local A$$hole is and punch him in the nose at a busy place. Be sure to say loudly "Things are gonna change around here!"

Niiiice - !!! True NY hospitality - !!!!

That's pretty funny. If you tried that in Maine and told a local you were from NYC, they'd burn your car and kill your dog......

 

[thetrailboss]

Find out who the local A$$hole is and punch him in the nose at a busy place. Be sure to say loudly "Things are gonna change around here!"

Honestly, I've never lived in a small town, so I wouldn't know where to begin.

Join a church group? Go to a local AMC meeting?

I'll be following this thread closely as when I eventually buy a vacation place, I'll be asking the same questions.

Niiiice - !!! True NY hospitality - !!!!

That's pretty funny. If you tried that in Maine and told a local you were form NYC, they'd burn your car and kill your dog......

In some spots, they might eat your dog :lol: j/k

And I can't believe I wasted my 1500th post on such a bad joke... :roll: ...got to get back to the mtns!

 

[Vortex]

You will never be a local. I grew up in Vermont and Ya I was close minded. Ya think..., but we loved weekenders. Just be your self. When I bought in the mountains.. I just hung out and bought a round or 2 and just listened more than I talked. Buying goods from the locals is big. and deal with a slower pace. Good people blend in without a problem. Yes we joined the local church and put our kids in religious education classes up north cause thats where we were. Just be seen. Showing up during the Summer not just the winter gets you noticed more as well. My thoughts. Congrats

 

[hammer]

And I can't believe I wasted my 1500th post on such a bad joke... :roll: ...got to get back to the mtns!

Happy 1500th post day!

 

[dmc]

I meet more people and make more deals at the town deli then anywhere...

It's the friggin hub of the town...

 

[Sky]

Fitting In

1) Congrats.

2) Your attitude is obvioous and will reflect well upon you through your interactions locally.

3) A lesson I learned long ago...patronize your local vendors. Grocer, hardware, electrician, etc. Ask for a referral to local vendors from vendors you use and like. When I moved into my current home (in Feb 86) we had a failed heating system and frozen pipes. We caled the local oil heat rep. The dad, his son and two other huys shoed up (Presidnts day Monday Holiday). They were there for four hours. I think I paid less than $200! I still have these guys as my vendor! I asked them about an electrician. I asked them about plumbers. Most worked out well.

4) Local ski club?

5) Town meetings?

6) Town Hall employees (clerk, assessors office, etc).

7) Smile and say thank you....just like mom taught you.

Congrats!!

 

[riverc0il]

first of all, i think the biggest problem you're gonna have is you sound like you're trying to hard. i doubt any locals will respect that. if you're "trying" to be a local when you're really an outsider, no one is going to take you seriously.

if you're only seen in town on the weekends, no one will consider yourself a local so just don't try to be one.

if you do town meetings, make sure you show concern for the local population. often times, a vacation home owners agenda is very different from the towns i would suspect.

i'll be moving to the NEK of VT in two weeks. i am not moving in thinking any one is going to consider me a "local" for a while. additionally, my involvement with the community will not be for motives such as scoring local knowledge, but rather to actually become an integrated member of my new home. just a thought...

 

[smootharc]

first of all, i think the biggest problem you're gonna have is you sound like you're trying to hard. i doubt any locals will respect that. if you're "trying" to be a local when you're really an outsider, no one is going to take you seriously.

Haven't even gotten there yet (close in Fall) so hopefully I'm not trying too hard...

Understand what you're saying, though.

 

[Lostone]

Very good subject!

I moved up here this winter. The only plan I have is to be me. I do plan on showing up at a few community things, but really my plan on fitting in is to be me.

Sometimes that has worked... sometimes not. :roll:

I grew up in a very small community, and this place is like a city compared to that. There, you could never really be local. Here, I'm not sure what the percentage of local locals is. :blink:

So far, I've been dealing only with local skiers and those in some of the local shops... but lot of the local shops aren't really for locals, but tourists. :blink:

We'll see how things come together... or not... But I am here. 8)

 

[DJAK]

A) it's not as cut and dry as your post suggests. Everybody's from everywhere, but only some blame their equipment, request "half-caff", and drive big expensive SUV's.

B) find the stashes on your own, it'll be more fulfilling, and if you should be there at all, finding them is a piece of cake. Think of it as a big shoots and ladders game - "if i drop in there, i bet i could pop out over there." a few months of dropping in and you'll have it dialed.

C) The real lines are drawn, as they are everywhere, along tax bracket lines. The locals will always be the people who work near the ski area, and therefore make very little.

As has been noted before, beer can be an effective tool.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

:lol: As a person who has lived their entire life in small resort mountain towns, watching out-of-towners try to be locals is a hoot.

Some people watch the Tonight show, we watched and enjoyed the trials and tribulations of former city slickers make their way.

Don't try to make your new place like the place you came from. Learn and embrace the way people in your new place live. Throw away that chip on your shoulder you needed to survive, you don't need it in your new place.

Enjoy the clean air and the lack of gridlock traffic. If you miss those things just drive up to Burlington or Manchester on a nice weekend...they have gridlock.

If you live in a small town with a general store...go in..introduce yourself. It's when they don't know who you are that starts all the rumores... :lol:

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

As mentioned, don't try too hard.

Also, as mentioned, Beer is good.

(I can't think of a patrol room where it isn't welcome!)

 

[bigbog]

....In some spots, they might eat your dog :lol: j/k

..Far less of a problem up here in the sticks than down in the Boston area, where I always had to lock up everything...else it WOULD get cannibalized. :lol:

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Bangor Maine ain't exactly the sticks. :roll: I love Moosehead Lake...now that's the sticks.

The wife and I will be up there again this summer for the American Folk Festival formally the National Folk Festival. We are food vendors so if you stop by lunch is on us.

 

[Brettski]

be like popeye...

I yam what I yam....

Living 20 minutes outside of Mid town really makes me enjoy my trips North...If you're friendly and courteous...well that should be enough...but I wouldn't expect anything....

I love it up North, that said, I love New York...I don't think I could be a permanent resident....I would like to send my kids to college in Burlington though...

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I would like to send my kids to college in Burlington though...

Half of Joisey already does... :lol:

 

[Brettski]

I would like to send my kids to college in Burlington though...

Half of Joisey already does... :lol:

That's what they say about everywhere....

Most densely populated state in the country...and that's taking in to account southern jersey where it's all farm land...North jersey is just packed....

Driving in Jersey is worse than driving in Manhattan

If you can drive in Jersey you can drive anywhere...

It's kinda like driving in a video game...

Just watch out for the soccer mommies on the cell phone putting on makeup(to have coffee with other soccer mommies) driving their suv's....

I been all over new england and never need an suv...ny 89 Jetta was great....3rd gear...4th gear...3rd gear....no brakes...

That was fun...