Ithaca, NY

I don't know what you're trying to show me, but I pray that I would be awake and alert to see it when it comes by.
And I know for sure that it's going to be a whole. new. world.

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Excerpts from Wikipedia:

Politically, the city's population has a significant tilt toward liberalism and the Democratic Party. A November, 2004 study by ePodunk lists it as New York's most liberal town.[16] This contrasts with the more conservative leanings of the surrounding Upstate New York region, and is also somewhat more liberal than the rest of Tompkins County. In 1988 Jesse Jackson received the most votes in Ithaca in the Democratic Presidential primary. In 2000 Ralph Nader received more votes for President than George W. Bush in the City of Ithaca,[17] and 11% county-wide.[18] In 2008, Barack Obama, running against New York State's Senator Hillary Clinton, won Tompkins County in the Democratic Presidential Primary, the only county that he won in New York State.[19] Obama went on to win Tompkins County (including Ithaca) by a wide margin of 41% over his opponent John McCain in the November 2008 election.

Ithaca is in the rural Finger Lakes region about 225 miles to the northwest of New York City; the nearest larger cities, Binghamton and Syracuse, are an hour's drive away by car, Rochester and Scranton are two hours, Buffalo is three.

Ithaca lies at over a half hour's drive from any interstate highway, and all car trips to Ithaca involve some driving on two-lane state rural highways.


In addition to its liberal politics, Ithaca is commonly listed among the most culturally liberal of American small cities. The Utne Reader named Ithaca "America's most enlightened town" in 1997.[33] According to ePodunk's Gay Index, Ithaca has a score of 231, versus a national average score of 100.[34]

Like many small college towns, Ithaca has also received accolades for having a high overall quality of life. In 2004, Cities Ranked and Rated named Ithaca the best "emerging city" to live in the United States. In 2006, the Internet realty website "Relocate America" named Ithaca the fourth best city in the country to relocate to.[35] In July 2006, Ithaca was listed as one of the "12 Hippest Hometowns for Vegetarians" by VegNews Magazine and chosen by Mother Earth News as one of the "12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of."[36]

In its earliest years during frontier days, what is now Ithaca was briefly known by the names "The Flats" and "Sodom,"[3][37] the name of the Biblical city of sin, due to its reputation as a town of "notorious immorality",[38] a place of horse racing, gambling, profanity, Sabbath breaking, and readily available liquor. These names did not last long; Simeon DeWitt renamed the town Ithaca in the early 19th century, though nearby Robert H. Treman State Park still contains Lucifer Falls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca,_New_York