Why an Australian loves Central New York and was happy to move here
Published: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 7:13 AM
I moved to Central New York from my native Australia earlier this year. Since then, I've been surprised by how often I'm asked, "Why?"
What's surprising isn't so much the question itself, but, how it's asked. Almost without exception, people use a tone that (only half-jokingly) questions the wisdom of my choice. Why, they wonder, would I leave Australia, with its environment and lifestyle, to live here, when there are many other (better?) places to live in the U.S.? Los Angeles, New York or Orlando they could understand, but Syracuse?
When I tell them I moved here to marry an Oswego girl, that seems the perfect answer — it makes sense to them. The expanded story, though, confuses some. The fact is, I became enraptured by the charms of Central New York long before I decided to marry, so much so that I have happily traveled from the opposite side of the globe to visit here almost 30 times in as many years.
Sadly, it seems that quite a few locals are blind to the unique and wonderful life they have.
In the hope that more Central New Yorkers will see their world as I do, I thought I'd paint a word picture of the region.
In 1982, as an exchange student at Hannibal High School, the warmth of the people I met became the foundation of my love for this part of America. Yes, Australians are jovial and embracing, but Central New Yorkers displayed an infectious passion for life and a remarkably warming sense of community.
Earlier, movies starring Henry Fonda, Doris Day, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn shaped my imagining of the United States. These celluloid characters portrayed a storybook America — a Capraesque world — where anything was possible if you only worked hard enough.
As romanticized as that may be, I found a considerable truth to that conviction in Central New York. For the first time, I had faith that, while the world is not always a fair place, the future remained mine to influence. The people in Central New York taught me what individual effort can deliver. They showed me too that life was to be celebrated; events from Thanksgiving and Christmas to Veterans Day and the Fourth of July were milestones of unmatched community togetherness.
This region's blessings aren't limited to its people; the climate is a gift also. The heterogeneous year presents a reassuring pattern to life, a rhythm that's absent in many other parts of the U.S. and the wider world. The dramatic changes of the season: to walk variously in flip-flops in July and knee-high boots in January and to take in a sky heavy with snow in winter and with cascading colors in fall are all to be cherished.
No matter the season, Central New York is a collation of vistas that could have inspired Norman Rockwell. Walk in any direction and you will come across scenes reminiscent of the America that graced the covers of the Saturday Evening Post. From the red, gable-roofed, Dutch-American barns that guard fields of head-high corn to the Colonial-Revival and folk-Victorian homes of the 1800s, from flagged-draped porches to manicured baseball diamonds. For me, the region is an imagined-America come to reality.
Even in everyday life, Central New York (and the northeastern United States in general) has some notable advantages over many other parts of the world. For example, food and clothing here are still far less expensive than in Australia. The value of housing is astounding; you get much more bang for your buck. My home in Oswego is twice the size — and on 10 times the land — of my former home in Australia, yet it cost one-quarter the price.
Now, I don't want to give you the wrong impression: I'm not criticizing my homeland at all; there are many wonderful things about life in Australia that I will always adore. Rather, I want to point out that there are many things in Syracuse about which its citizens can and should be proud.
I can't help but think the economic downturn of recent years has taken a toll on local optimism; that's unfortunate, indeed. Because, as an outsider — one who spent many years looking in with envy — I believe Central New Yorkers have abundant reasons for optimism.
Central New Yorkers should be optimistic because they are well-positioned to prosper as the global economy recovers. They have the people, well-educated individuals and strong community, a bountiful regional environment and advanced industries able to expand exports of valued products and services.
As a globe-hopping Aussie, I've found the very best of America and the world right here in Central New York.
Brian Humphreys is the director of marketing and communication manager at Saab Sensis in East Syracuse. He is a former director general of public affairs in the Australian Department of Defense and an author on international security and defense matters.
