By Mitch Hinton Just wanted to say Thanks
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
of course. appreciate all of you stopping by.
best,
doug
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By rd7242 I've lived in orange county for 3 years, and work as an IT professional. It seems every decent paying job in my field is located in Westchester or NYC. do you think Orange will get more high-tech jobs in the near future?
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
yes, i think the region will get more such jobs over time. the catalyst is going to have to be the back-office movement. get the first one or two such operations, more will follow.
one danger, though, is consolidation or cutbacks in operations. it probably takes fewer people to do things than five years ago.
i know the oc partnership is trying to attract a large back-office operation. but that's a tough balance .... first, to get them here. and second, there's a lot of ground to make up when outfits like wakefern are closing up....
best,
doug
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By kidcharlamagne Good afternoon Doug. So is there a housing bubble? I have to believe that anything that's increased 100% over 4 years has got to be in a bubble.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
re, housing. i know, it looks like it has to be a bubble. like the nasdaq five years ago.
but there's no dimunition, or little dimunition, in demand. people are still being priced out of nyc, rockland, westchester, bergen.
there is constrained supply in some areas (moratoria, etc., large lots).
it's still cheaper here than those other places. and we still have land.
if mortgages hit 8 percent again, that's another thing. but remember, they were at 8 when this whole thing kicked off, back in 97.
will appreciation slow or even level off? i think it has to. but pop? no.
best,
doug
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By SmartyPants Doug interesting evolution in your career - what brought you to NY in the first place?
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
re, evolution, bigger paper. some of the people i had worked with in rochester had subsequently moved here....
tremendous changes in media since then. more concentrated, more corporate in terms of the established media, but more wide open than ever when you include the web and email.
moving to new york, btw, was what prompted my wife to become a conservative. it's quaint, but people in the midwest actually think NY must be a liberal utopia, that it works.
and of course, it doesn't.
best, doug
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By SmartyPants Re: the Beth chat again - It was just shocking to me to see a reporter, Beth Quinn,take such an anti - First Ammendment stance. Don't people have the right to picket in this country? You'd think a good reporter would defend the First Ammendment.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
re, the first amendment.... of course people have the right to picket. i do think we should remember this neighborhood is not normally a public place....
of course beth supports the first amendment. so do i. it's the details that are tricky.
best,
doug
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By Sully Looking through the chat on Megan’s Law I was amazed that nobody seemed to be able to answer the question of where they wanted this level 3 sex offender to live. In a cage in a prison. Sean
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
re, where live, i vote for prison if he's still a danger.
but there's a point to make about having paid one's debt to society.....
and there's something to be said for parents taking in an adult son in such circumstances....
best,
dc
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By Mitch Hinton I agree with you as far as consolidation especially being now there is no 24 hour Police protection with part-time police forces. I agree that local government is more responsive when it works but if you have an average of two people attending a meeting to see what is actually going on, why bother.It may be time for the villages to think about combining. 'sup Sean? To answer your question regarding how long you have to be in OC to be a local I can only answer with a line from my mayoral candidacy theme song, "I've Got So Much To Give" "Years and years" I was on the chat with Beth the first time but my "badboy" image showed up and Beth didn't put my question up.I was a little too liberal, even for her, with my question.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
i find it hard to think that anyone's question could be too liberal for my colleague beth (we get along well, btw).
best,
dc
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By SmartyPants Doug, you are a conservative, what do yo think about Megan's law? Beth didn't seem to mention much about the actual law.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
yes, i'm conservative.
my inclination is to favor the law. i've not given it extensive thought, however. it seems to me that people who object to its provisions shouldn't be criminals. i realize it's not that simple, but still.....
best,
doug
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By Sully “re, being a local, years and years and years. it varies by region and community. but it's a long time. i joke that one test is driving from newburgh to monroe without using route 17 or i-84.” Yaaaaaay! I’m a local!
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
re, newburgh-monroe, take pleasure in the little things.....
best,
doug
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By SmartyPants Wow Doug - slow chat today. What's up? Doug, now that Sully brought it up, did you follow Beth's chat the other day?
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
re, beth's chat, yes, i followed it.
and yes, it was lively.
dc
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By carriej Hi, Doug: Do you think that some locations are cursed, in terms of ever achieving business success? Why is it that I see different kinds of businesses failing, over and over and over, in particular locations? Is it possible that there is some sort of business karma associated with places? Or is it just stuff as mundane as parking, speed limits, etc.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi carrie,
i think it's both. some locations are just bad. look at the restaurant site on route 32 in newburgh, right by the on-ramp to 84. that's an impossible spot.
i think there is an element of the mundane -- limits, road access, etc. and maybe the marginal locations are more likely to be taken over, or tried, by someone who's less-established, or has less capital. and so more likely to fail.
but here's a thought -- the people with a good idea, a sound strategy, good karma, in your words -- will find a way to make it a success. my wife and i go to all kinds of out of the way places. the difficulty or remoteness rarely stops us.
best,
doug
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By Sully Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you became a writer? Sean
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
sean,
i grew up on a farm in minnesota. worked for the high school paper, took pictures, wrote some. i actually planned to be a photographer, but switched then to reporting. graduated kansas university in '85.
did internships in coffeyville, kan (site of a former halliburton plant, btw); rochester; grand forks, nd; and sioux falls, sd. spent 2 years in sioux falls on graduation, and then came here in '87.
at which point the stock market crashed, and subsequently, so did good chunks of the local housing market. since then, i've worked in most of our bureaus as a reporter or editor, and we lived in hurleyville, plattekill, liberty and middletown over the years. moved to milford, pa., seven years ago. love it there. started the paper's web site in '97 with colleague charlie harris, and then rejoined the newsroom in 2000 as business editor.
best,
doug
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By Sully “It is time to stop looking the other way” was right on the money by the way. Sean
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
thanks, re, stop looking other way.
best,
dc
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By Sully Here’s another. So help me understand this who KJ thing. I hear a lot of criticism of them as a voting block which intimidates politicians into pandering to them. Why is that new? Why is that any different that what so many immigrant groups have done in the past or for that matter what unions do today in their candidate endorsements? My questions are not meant to speak to any stance you have taken on the issue. Honestly I do not know your stance. I’m just trying to understand if what I hear is a lot of complaining that these folks are smart enough to play the system better, or if there is something more nefarious behind it all (on either side). Sean PS to Mitch again: Very mad at you now! I see from the archive that Beth hosted and you were there! I would have loved to be in on that! LOL
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
hi,
re, the kj voting bloc, it's no different from other groups that have organized and used their influence. it so happens they're a concentrated group, and respect for the leadership is substantial. so if they're voting, or mostly voting, one way, it'll make an impact.
kj is not the reason an ordinary house in orange county costs $300k. it's true that the expansion of kj would have an impact, a big one, on neighboring areas. but nothing stays exactly the same forever and ever.
best,
doug
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By Sully Hello Mr. Cunningham, It seems kind of slow in the chat today. I guess everyone must like what you write, if not they would be here screaming! So I’ll ask a question just to get something on here. If there is one thing a relatively newcomer to Orange County should know (from the boroughs which to the best of my observation makes up almost everyone here) what would it be? Follow up question, how long do you have to be here before you get to be a local, or is that just for the next generation? Sean PS: Hi Mitch!
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
sean,
well, that'll stir things up.
i don't think everyone agrees .... they seem to email me on mondays!
re, newcomers .... i'm not sure that someone coming from the city would find that great a difference in our general approach to life, particularly someone coming from other than manhattan. my wife and i came from the midwest some years ago, and that was a shock, i'll tell you....
but you know, nyc really provides cradle-to-grave monitoring and watching. i mean, there's a phone number to report buses that have been idling too long, for heaven's sake.
my father had a saying, town people should stay in town. in context, he was referring to city people, and it meant that people who expect snow removal and trash removal and all the other myriad services of a city, ought to think really hard before moving to the country.
re, being a local, years and years and years. it varies by region and community. but it's a long time. i joke that one test is driving from newburgh to monroe without using route 17 or i-84.
best, doug
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By Mitch Hinton Do you think some of the little villages, namely Montgomery, Walden, and Maybrook should combine all their services and become one? There's an election soon and there is absolutely no interest in Maybrook. Why bother having an election and wasting money when it will pretty much be an appointment and not an actual election.It just might prevent some of the rampant nepotism that exists now.
Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR]
mitch,
thanks for writing in. just in general, i'm a believer in government consolidation. the layers of government in new york are just crazy.
water and sewer are prime examples for consolidation or joint work. roads and police/public safety after that.
all of that said, montgomery, walden and maybrook are pretty distinct places. i've read the minutes of the school discussions back when the valley central district was created, and it was an uneasy beginning.
as well, local government, when it works, tends to be more responsive.
i realize my answer here is a bit of a straddle. but even if the leaders of these three communities wanted to combine, you'd have to get the residents to agree, too.
best,
doug
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