A Nice Place to Visit or Even Live!

Well, there goes the ballgame. Old timers can hang out the FOR SALE sign. The New York Times has discovered Portsmouth. The article appeared in Friday’s (August 24, 2007) "Havens" column in the "Escape" section. Those categories indicate to me, not that life is so great here, but that it sucks everywhere else.

Portsmouth, of course, has been discovered many times before (by every major and minor media outlet including the NYT) since it first ventured into the tourism biz in the 1850s. But amazingly, NYT writer Jeff Schlegel almost gets it right this time in a piece entitled "A ‘Mini-Boston’ on a Small Slice of Coast." While New Yorkers still like to think of the world outside their border as the hinterland, Schlegel captures the "stew of arty cool, Colonial architecture and good restaurants" that make up the city’s attraction. (I always prefer the word "chowder" rather than "stew," but close enough.) He gets the gist of the traffic snarls, real estate market and population correct.

You might not think that is worth kudos, but read what has come before. Recent travel articles frequently missed the mark. Reporters often point out the junk pile at the pier, have a coffee at Starbucks, hit one restaurant and talk about their hotel accommodations an do a little outlet shopping. It’s as if they never really saw the city at all.

The New York formula, according to this article, is to buy yourself a "getaway condo," in the Seacoast region. New Yorkers who make the big leap to living in the boondocks, then search around for a house in Rye for about a million dollars. The way they tell it, we have mountain lions and coyotes that freely roam the region. Heck, we even have electricity.

Everyone interviewed here seems to be a recent arrival who took the leap.

The surprise here is that the author actually gets the history right. There really are 18^th century houses in Portsmouth. Life really did start in New Castle. The place really was a working class seaport.

But that’s all over now. Portsmouth has been discovered by NYC. Pull up the wagon, Matha’, it’s time to move to Nova Scotia! -- JDR

OUTSIDE LINK:  Read the NYT article online  

SEE ALSO:  Portsmouth Discovers New York City