inside the lens

Gorges, local currency and an Ivy League—my knowledge of Ithaca summed up in ten words or less.  I would have to admit that it is a shallow and cliché ridden assessment.

Recently, I spent the weekend “camping” in the area.  And, by camping, I mean sleeping in a tent, taking a shower and immediately afterward spending the afternoon in the antique stores downtown.

Anyway, what i discovered in my time there was, yes, ‘Ithaca is gorges.’  And, yes, it does have a local currency, appropriately named, the Ithaca Hours.  Oh, and there most definitely is a university with a bit of prestige.  However, Ithaca is more than a cliché  or a town that easily fits into a box with four neat corners–all of that which people know and come to cherish about this locale is based around the principles that I grapple with and educate people on in my day job.

Ithaca has a true sense of what a commitment to community and relationship looks like coupled with green thinking, support for local producers and an intentional focus towards the sustainable and experiential.

And they did it without the hipsters.  In fact, they have been committed to the cause before hipsters were conceived let alone exclusively supported the ‘Buy Local’ movement.  It’s no wonder why Ithaca has and continues to be [a] Mecca from which to learn and glean ideas from.

While I was there, I couldn’t help but conceptualize what it would be like to see Buffalo branded as the Ithaca of the Rust Belt.  Whether it ever happens or not, is one thing, but when I rise and ride my bike the quarter of a mile down Allen to 910 Main, I operate under the auspices that it could.  Thank you, Ithaca.

Photographs from my weekend travels are below; enjoy!

[sb]

Tags: buffalo, buffalo first, buy local, cornell university, gorges, ithaca, ivy league, living economy, relationship, sustainable