Ithaca, NY

The First Ithaca Artist's Market was a grand success, based on my own observation and walk-about of the market last Saturday. It was packed to the gills with all sorts of visitors looking for a unique holiday gift, or something for their own enjoyment. There was a lot to choose from, and I had to force myself to be disciplined. But I did walk away with some nice finds, and some contacts for later follow-up, as most of the vendors sell directly to the public from home studios or via web or phone sales.

The first booth that caught my eye was that of Torie Tiffany, whose work is unique and fresh. She produces two collections: "Fleurotica", which is a blend of bodies and blossoms, and "Faunagraphs", a critter collection. You can see a hint of her work in the photo at left here, featuring mostly the florals, which have strategically intwined erotic or anatomical embellishments. Some are quite subtle, and I had to work at picking the images out, which makes them fun pieces, sort of a mystery game!

Nerys Gregory had florals at her booth also, but of a more traditional sort - Nerys is a watercolor artist who creates lovely floral images in all sizes, including large serial pieces, small greeting cards, and a newer long-on-the-vertical rectangular shaped work. I've admired her work for a while now and will be looking for her greeting cards again in the future, as they make lovely gifts that reflect the local environment. She is a member of the Art Trail, with a lovely stop at her home studio in Ellis Hollow.

One booth stood out because it was the ONLY food booth at the event - I was delighted to see that I KNEW this person, Anastasia, from my yoga class at Wells College in Aurora. What I didn't know was that together with her mom Annie, they run a very cool little business called "Man In The Moon Classic Cheesecake & Deserts, which supports local farmers and producers, and provides scrumptious cheesecake and cookies for all of Central New York!

Torie Tiffany with Fleurotica Nerys Gregory's Watercolor Booth Man In The Moon Cheesecake!

The First Ithaca Artists Market was well received, and was planned to coincide with a number of other fabulous holiday events, including another first, the First Ithaca Chowder Cook-Off, and the well-loved Ithaca Ice Wars, a very popular ice-carving competition where nothing is spared! The Ithaca Ballet's presentation of "The Nutcracker" was the performing arts draw, and a number of art boutiques were offering special hours or tours, or special pricing just for the holidays. Something for everyone, and I hope you were able to take advantage of it - if not, we'll hope to see you DOWNTOWN, NEXT YEAR!!

For "The Short Report by Santos", this is Agent Santos reporting!

It is a cold cold night in Ithaca NY, with snow flurries expected this evening, and a week of 20s!

Watch for the Full Lunar Eclipse tomorrow night!

WELCOME PIGGERY!!

Surreality in Ithaca, NY!

Drive-Through Deli Serves Coffee with an Oink in Ithaca, NY!!

The newest small business to hit our local scene is creating a "buzz", literally and figuratively, with their new concept for an old drive-through coffee shop. Situated in the location formerly known as "BUZZ" drive-through coffee shop, THE PIGGERY, a local farm CSA with outlets in the Ithaca Farmers Market, and in Manhattan at the Union Square Farmer's Market, has re-christened the location as "The Piggery" drive-through coffee and delicatessen as of last week! Now you can pick up a pound of bacon or sausage when you order you coffee at the drive-through window. Be aware though, that the deli service hours aren't set to start until noon on most days. You can find these fine folks on Facebook and at their sweet new shop location at 423 Franklin St., in Ithaca, as well as at the locations mentioned earlier. Here are some photos from their grand opening days!

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services will celebrate it's 33rd year of service next Friday, April 9th, with a noon luncheon at the Women's Community Building. This is a group of people who are on the move to improve the quality of life for homeowners and first-time buyers in Ithaca, New York. I am a client who can talk the talk! When I first moved into my older, out-of-level South Hill home on a steep slope, I thought, hey, no problem! 40 year old furnace, no worries! 20 year old windows with flimsy bent screens - pshawwww!! Well, after living in the house for only 4 months, I was ready to sell it! But I found a MUCH better solution to my woes when I heard, through INHS, about the NYSERDA weatherization and energy efficiency programs for homes JUST LIKE MINE! And, for people with incomes, also JUST LIKE MINE! I was flabbergasted! For no money out of my own pocket, I could have a professional team of people study my house for energy consumption and loss, and make recommendations based on their findings. SIGN ME UP! They did. I was eager to get started with the loan program that they offered - very low interest, great terms. But, I found out much to my chagrin that I did NOT qualify for the loan I needed at that time.

Wow, that was a reality check. I cried. I couldn't believe I didn't qualify for the loan on my own, after spending the last 10 years working as hard as I had. I had failed to take into account my recent relocation and job changes, and what this meant to lenders who were looking at my viability. So, Pam Webster let me sit there in her office and cry it out of my system a little bit, and what happened next really blew me away. Because I didn't qualify for their loan program, I was going to be placed in the grant program! I didn't get that at first, but I realized soon after that I was going to be on the receiving end of one of the most generous gifts I've ever been given - nearly $20,000 worth of improvements to my home, supervised by Greg Yetsko who is a top notch construction manager, and all the work would be completed within roughly 3 months all told. This grant program would be "forgiveable" gradually over time - meaning that if I stayed in the house for at least 5 years, it would be wiped out completely. Wow. This rocked my world.

I have since gone on to work very hard in my real estate business and supplement my income with a job as a school bus driver for ICSD, for now. And, every chance I get, I am proud to be able to speak to the First-Time Home Buyers classes that Pam runs through the calendar year. It's a real joy to share my first-hand story of my own experience as a client of INHS with students who are perhaps the next clients to go through a home purchase with them. The organization does a fine fine job with the resources they are given. I encourage you to attend their 33rd annual luncheon next weekend to see what they are all about!

Reporting from Ithaca, NY, where it will be a chilly 35 degrees in about 3 hours! Enough already!!

The SHORT REPORT, by SANTOS

Agent Santos reporting

Ellis Hollow is still a highly desireable address in Ithaca, NY. What's to love about Ellis Hollow? If you are a Cornell or Ithaca College Professor or Graduate/Undergraduate student, you couldn't do much better for location mixed with tranquility. The elevation of the neighborhood puts it into a dreamy layer of fog on many early dawns. Although it's as close to the campus as College Town, it's on the south east border of the area, and does not have the same orientation toward rentals. Lots are larger, homes are farther apart, and there is a much higher percentage of owner-occupied homes in this area. Because of it's location, a well-maintained and attractive home here tends to hold it's value. In the last year, 12 homes sold in the neighborhood. Of these homes, the lowest sold price was $155,000, while the highest sold price was $400,000. The average sale in the area was $264,000, and the median was $260,000. Price per square foot was $126.00

The larger market demographics indicate that when Ellis Hollow is compared to all of the Ithaca City School District, (most of Ellis Hollow falls here, but some homes fall in the Dryden School district), it shows slightly higher average, median, and price per square foot ratios.

In the Ithaca City school district, there were 343 homes sold overall - with the low price at $25,000, the high at $745,000, and the average at $209,300, median at $186,500. Notice the huge difference between the Ellis Hollow and ICSD median prices, and also that Ellis Hollow's median is VERY close to it's average sold price as well. The 343 homes in the ICSD averaged a price per square foot of $118.00.

SO, prices and values are one thing to love about the area, in addition to it's foggy mystique in the mornings. But what ELSE???

Okay, if you are an old-timer at heart, you will love the Ellis Hollow Community Fair that usually occurs in early September, and brings the whole community together for old-time fun and games: including a horse drawn hay ride with the two most beautiful draft horses that live on S. Landon Rd. with their mistress and master, Rita Rosenberg and Don Barber - Rita and Don also operate the RoseBarb Farm and Guest Cottages on that same road. At the fair you can simply hang out and eat great food, like chicken barbeque and corn on the cob, popcorn and treats of many sorts. AND, you can enter the cake-walk and win yourself an entire cake to take home or eat on the spot with friends and family! If that's not quite enough for you, well, try your luck at winning the most sought-after quilts in the county - there is a whole history of the Quilts of the Ellis Hollow Fair, which are made to be raffled off each year.

Another great thing about the Hollow is the community center, located on Genung Rd. At the community center, you will run into all sorts of local folk mingling and sharing stories and dropping their kids off to enjoy the POOL! The pool usually opens in late June and stays open through mid to late August.

What ELSE is there to love about Ellis Hollow? Too many things to mention, but I will mention one more - the Foundation of Light, on Turkey Hill Rd., which is a local center for spiritual growth and development, enlightenment, and community sharing. There are some fantastic Iyengar yoga classes there by James Eavenson of Santosha Yoga, and from time to time you may catch a great musical presentation there, as I did last year. Some of the links on their main page are not current, but you can get a sense of what they offer by surfing over to their main page.

Okay reader, is it time for me to show you some listings out in the Hollow yet? Give a call when you are ready!! You may still qualify for a big fat tax credit if you are in a contract by April 30, 2010!

Reporting from the dark of night on a drizzly day, in ITHACA, NY

THE SHORT REPORT by SANTOS

Agent Santos reporting!