Jen and I certainly came to Saratoga Springs in search of easy living. The verdict is in, and we found it. But we’re not the only ones seeking the good life here. An ongoing challenge of a popular, quickly growing small town is to figure out how to keep it that way — how to keep its small-town charm and its vibrant downtown, while preserving all the big-city reasons we and others decide to plant roots here (Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Spa State Park, the New York City Ballet, the museums, the Race Course, etc.).
Capital News 9 / One-on-One with Mayor Michael Lenz:
In too many corners of Upstate New York, the story is the same — a struggle to attract people and keep them. That, though, is not the story of Saratoga Springs today. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“You know, we have challenges that we face as a community, but all the challenges we face are born of success. I mean we really are in a situation where so many people want to come to this city, to live here, they want to work here, they want to raise their families here. And it’s a wonderful thing. But the reality is that even successes have challenges, and we are trying very hard to deal with them,” said Saratoga Springs Mayor Michael Lenz.
In that way, Saratoga Springs is a city drawing in people in search of easy living. But as more people come, preserving that easy lifestyle becomes harder and harder. With the people, comes the spotlight and it can get hot. In this case, it can get exclusive. Saratoga Springs is still small town America, and there are many willing to pay any price for a piece of it. A price that is, for many, too high.
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