A “Farewell to Brockport” letter from Dianne and me appeared in the November 10 issues of Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald. We have moved from Brockport to Toano, Virginia. The move is a major change for us, starting a new life in a new community.
We called the move “downsizing,” as we anticipated our property maintenance would be minimized and we unloaded 35 years of old stuff from our home on Hollybrook Road.
Publisher Keith Ryan has invited us to share our initial experiences here for other senior readers who may be considering the move south for more comfortable climate and other favorable living conditions. As a caveat to this comparison, we will have lived here only about six or eight weeks when our words are published. New things seem to happen each day.
We are building a home in Toano, not far from historic Williamsburg (see photo). We have been living with our son in a gated community called “Stonehouse,” until our own home is built two blocks away.
We are at the half-way point in our transition from New York to Virginia. Below are our thoughts about the past, the present, and the likely future. Although these are comparisons showing the unique benefits of each experience, in Brockport and Toano, they are not intended to mean one is better than the other.
Living environment features contrast
In the past, living in Brockport, we would drive west on Ridge Road and enjoy the countryside of western New York with views of fields, pastures, dairy farms, barns, woodlands, small hamlets, and attractions like Kirby Farms, Hurd Orchards, and Tillman’s Village Inn at Childs.
We now drive through level land with ocean shores not far away as we head southeast on Richmond Road in the Lower Virginia Peninsula, bordered by the York River and the James River.
A wide boulevard of trees separates two lanes on each side. Shopping plazas appear and then disappear and then stretches of trees and native land make it a country drive. Commercial and country bump into each other.
Suburban areas vary. Some have high-end gated communities with white fences and architecture compatible with nearby historic Williamsburg. More modest homes are dotted along the roadside.
We miss the “village” environment
With the predominance of plazas here, there is no village, as such, with a Main Street and rows of stores on both sides. The contrast is vivid to me, after writing feature stories about Brockport’s Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport First Baptist Church, Capen Hose No. 4 Firemen’s Museum, Methodist Church Clock Tower, and the Morgan-Manning House. The stories are included in the Seymour Library display with my other articles called “Brockport Stories.”
“Downtown” Toano was nearly devastated when the new highway came through and the west side of Main Street was torn down. On the east side, only four historic buildings remain. There are plans to rebuild the west side, making it a close reproduction of the original century-old village. But these plans are yet to be initiated.
Medical resources are excellent
We have always been pleased with medical facilities related to the University of Rochester. Now, we have discovered the very progressive medical offices and hospitals here in medical groups such as Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.
Climates differ
Today’s temperature in nearby Williamsburg was 50 degrees. That hardly contrasts with today’s Brockport temperature of 44 degrees. We hear of a much wider typical gap than that, such as 30-degrees. Generally, the temperatures and precipitation are more favorable for us as senior citizens for safe travel on foot or in a car compared to Brockport.
School taxes, gas prices, car registration are lower here
As a cursory observation, gasoline prices are about 30 cents per gallon lower, but this is variable. And, our school taxes and county taxes are about one-third of what we paid in Brockport.
A “sense of belonging” takes time to evolve
For right now, we lack a sense of community and belonging. It takes time to meet people and make personal connections, individually or within groups. We were blessed with those connections over 35 years in Brockport. For Dianne, it included personal friends she had known for decades, a small critique group of fellow artists, ski friends, involvement in our church community, and visiting residents at the senior care center with her therapy dog.
For me, my sense of belonging was greatly due to meeting local people about whom I wrote “Brockport Stories” for Westside News. I felt a real connection with the long list of interviewees over 20 years. With the people in the history and museum groups I worked with, I still feel a spiritual bond that distance has not diminished.
So, starting over in our Toano community, I hope to begin writing articles for the local newspapers about interesting people and events in my new hometown. And, I look forward to once again making new friends and acquaintances.
