from WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Raquel Steven.

Today is our last stop on our summer tour for the of the Finger Lakes, where we've made our way from one unique community to the next, and we've saved the best for last.

Or it depends on who you ask.

But today we're in Ithaca, located at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake.

If it is a place where beauty and culture collide, is home to more than 100 waterfalls within ten miles of downtown, a thriving food and art scene, two major universities, and a history that stretches from Revolutionary War land grants to its surprising roles in early silent film capital.

But Ithaca isn't just gorgeous.

It's a place of invention and creativity.

It's where the ice cream sundae was born, where Vladimir Nabokov nearly burned that manuscript for Lolita, and where a Cornell students poem became the beloved song Puff the Magic Dragon.

Today, the city blends small town charm with big city vibes, all while embracing its role as a hub for outdoor adventure, higher education, and a growing tourism economy.

Joining us to help tell Ithaca Story, I have travel host and filmmaker Josie Molino or Josie on tour, who has been spotlighting communities across the northeast, including Ithaca, in his web series.

Josie, Are You There?

Yes.

Thank you for having me.

Yes.

Thank you for being with us.

I also have Peggy Coleman is the president of the Tompkins Chamber and a long time leader in tourism.

And it economic development in Ithaca.

Peggy, are you on the line?

I sure am, Roco.

Thanks for having us.

Yes.

Thank you for joining us.

And last but not least, Carol.

Carmen.

Carmen.

Am I saying that right?

Carol?

It's Carmen.

Carmen.

Carol.

Carmen.

She's Tompkins County historian and the keeper of Ithaca's fascinating and layered past.

Thank you for joining us, Carol.

I'm glad to be here with you and, of course, our listeners, you are welcome to join in on the conversation.

You can call us at 1844295 talk.

That's 1844295825 5 or 5 852639994.

Or you can email us at connections@sexy.org.

Or you can just comment right in our YouTube channel.

Now I want to start with an outsider's perspective.

Josie on tour.

Tell me, when you first came to Ithaca, what stood out to you the most?

So it's funny.

Ithaca.

I stumbled upon it by accident.

I want to say around 2018.

I was taking a trip to Niagara Falls with my family, and we went to the visitor center in Geneva, and we kind of just made our way through the lake.

And I think just following the Finger Lakes Trail, I wasn't too familiar with the Finger Lakes itself, but I we stumbled upon this.

I want to say this little big city town.

And it was around the same time where Fulford went back to school and there was a couple of activities going on.

And I'm from New York City.

I originally grew up in New York City, and I remember telling my wife, wow, I never knew that this part of upstate was so vibrant and there was so much life to it.

And right now, I live in Pennsylvania.

It kind of combines a little bit of the outdoors and with everything going on, and I said, you know what?

I want to come back.

Take my time and really experience to learn more about Ithaca itself.

I don't know much, but just I fell in love, with everything that's going on and just the way the place, the way the place kind of looked.

Gave me that city familiar familiarity with a little bit of suburbs.

So right away, I knew I had to come back and kind of explore it a little deeper.

Yeah.

And did you go back or are you still planning to go back?

I've come back a couple times.

Okay.

I made a video about it, in my Finger Lakes series.

But, yeah, I've come back with my wife.

We've done some dates.

I've recommended her family members, so definitely fell in love with the place.

And what makes Ithaca different?

When you came back, what was it all you expected?

Oh, absolutely.

Like I said, I gave it the title of Little Big City.

Growing up in New York City, you just know Concrete Jungle.

Then I live in Pennsylvania very much.

My backyard is farmland, so I think it kind of combines both a little bit of suburbs, a little bit of farmland, a little bit of outdoors.

And then there's a great history in between all of that.

So that's why it was a little intriguing and unique to explore.

This kind of, I want to say, a half kind of bubble of a little bit of everything that New York has to offer right in the heart of it.

Wow.

And I want to talk to to Peggy a little bit.

Peggy.

How would you describe if we go to someone who's never been the host?

They get it right.

I love the way they, praised our community, I think.

I think we are.

We have that, beautiful nature, our gorges, our waterfalls, our forests.

But we do have that scarcity feel.

So you can get amazing food experiences, great dining, locally sourced, a variety.

You know, people don't expect to be able to get Ethiopian or Ghanian food in, small town in upstate New York.

But you can get that here in Ithaca.

And so I do think, we could just continue to surprise people.

And it is difficult to to encapsulate all of the uniqueness that Ithaca has to offer.

But once people come, is Jose's experience, they do fall in love and they become some of our best ambassadors.

Yeah.

And, Jose, you did mention that you took your wife on a date.

And if you go where where did you guys go?

What do you recommend?

Oh my goodness, I, I, I always say that, you know, everybody experiences berries.

But we came around September.

It was a weekend away from the kids.

We went, six Mile Vineyard.

Love the wineries starting off there.

So much so that I remember having buying an extra bottle for my father in law, bringing it home because it tastes so good.

It tastes just so different than what I'm used to.

We made our way to, Robert Freeman State Park.

I like that part a little bit more.

It's in the vicinity because it's not as busy as, you know, you're Watkins Glen.

It has that reputation already.

And it was just something that I could really get into the nature and take my time.

Then just up and down the trail at Cayuga Lake, there's just so many little places where you could just take a rest and I think to cap off our trip, we went to Kegan Neck, Tiger Neck State Park and just seen that amazing waterfall on the trail.

It's it's, trail.

It leaves you breathless.

It used to be.

What?

It was a running river, you know, millions of years ago.

And now this this, this long, beautiful trail of wilderness.

So we're big into the outdoors.

So we loved it.

And I think that's why we've come back a couple times now.

And, Peggy, do the do the locals see Ithaca like like how visitors, like how they experience it?

Yes they do.

I think people people choose to live here because of that.

Access to nature.

You can be, right downtown on the Ithaca Commons and within a block hike, a beautiful gorge, Cascade Gorge that links the downtown to the Cornell campus, which is probably one of the most scenic and beautiful campuses in our country, for sure.

And our locals really appreciate nature, and they're very passionate about, protecting our nature, too.

They they're delighted and understand the value of having visitors here.

But they also want our visitors to respect the land and our history and our heritage, to keep it safe and available for everyone to enjoy for years to come.

And, Peggy, since you mentioned history and heritage, I want to call in.

I want Carol to chime in a little bit.

Can you tell us, what's the story behind Ithaca's origin?

Carol?

Well, before there was Ithaca, there were the guy of Hono who lived here, and had a culture of their own.

When they were pushed out during the Revolutionary War.

They were followed by people, primarily soldiers who came in to take up land.

And, and much of what you're talking about is, is, is nature.

And certainly people came here to do well in nature, but they also came here to do well in a commercial setting.

A place where people could prosper.

But Ithaca is a complex place.

It is not a small Newark, and it's not a big Groton, which is in our county.

It is a unique place with complexity.

So people came here to grow and to prosper and to do well for their families.

But even in 1846, it was necessary for many young people to go elsewhere to prosper, because the opportunities here are relatively limited.

So we have today a vibrant artist community of every sort of art, but we also have an excellent hospital that is a public hospital.

We have two universit TS and a state community college.

Education is our biggest business and it was always very important.

Spurred on first by state law 1918 nine.

Expecting every community to have a school.

And what happened here was, of course, by 1868, we had a stunning university that is unlike most other universities in the country.

And at the time it was founded, it was a university in a country of colleges.

So there's great growth here.

And how has the university?

I want you to elaborate on that a little bit.

How has the university helped with the growth of of the city?

I think if you asked people today why they are here, a great many of them would say they're here because they went to the university or they work at the university, or that they've come back because they had been students here and found this a place where they could find themselves, support themselves, live in a creative community, and have access to education.

There's an example of a, a woman who and her husband who came here in 1943 from New York City careers and became farmers, and they became very good dairy farmers because they had access to the information that came out of the School of Agriculture at Cornell, which has been supported by the state ever since.

Cornell was open.

So.

So, Josie, I would like to ask you, is Ithaca a place you see, that maybe you would move your family to?

Is that is it something that grafts you as a, as a place you would relocate to?

Absolutely, yeah.

I, I joked with my wife, my kids are small, but I'm like, you know, it would be amazing if they made their way into Cornell.

And just area itself.

Like I said, I'm, I'm living in Pennsylvania now, and I think, what I like about Ithaca itself is that, like you guys mentioned, one minute you could be in the hustle and bustle of downtown, the city, and then another second, you could just be right on the outskirts of, I think.

And it completely changes into more laid back, quiet community.

So I like that, that I don't have to drive too far to get that city element and then still have the quietness of the countryside.

Beautiful.

And Carol, I want to touch on can you share a favorite story that captures Ithaca's personality.

We know.

I mentioned earlier, the ice cream sundae was developed in Ithaca and Lolita, was, was created there at the top of the show I mentioned that is there is there's something can you touch on these stories for me?

Well, they certainly don't connect.

Lolita.

The ice cream sundae.

But, Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera lived here for 11 years, and he did write a number of books here and a parodied some of the Cornell faculty, which has been a theme in many books written here.

I think the thing I would say is that at some point years ago, I interviewed people about why they are here, and a little girl spoke up and I think she was probably about eight.

And she said, people who move away must be very sad.

Wow.

Maybe that's encapsulate what's here.

I think you can be who you want to be here.

I think you can find ways of fitting in.

You can certainly have your voice heard here.

It's a small enough place where people participate actively.

It's a place yet of complexity.

It was for a hundred years a Republican, community.

And then by the 1980s, it became quite Democratic.

But Ithaca is that is this is the, county seat of a county that is very diverse.

So there is a great deal of diversity of opinion, of experience, of what you can do here.

And I think you could hide here if you wanted to and you wanted to go into your house and paint pictures in the, in the, in the back, back room.

You could do that.

Or you probably could, also display them on the commons.

So I think there's a great way in which absolute culture and activity can be promoted here.

At the same time, you can be quiet and personal here.

That was that was beautiful.

Well, said Carol.

For both Peggy and and Josie.

If you had to pick one first impression spot for visitors, where would you send them?

Peggy?

Where would you send them?

Well, I you know, that's so hard.

You can't have a favorite child, right?

But, I think the most stunning experience is for people to visit to Organic Falls State Park.

It's the highest vertical drop waterfall east of the Rockies.

And especially in the spring time, after we've had the the snow melt and the the spring, the water is just gushing to to to walk that gorge trail and stand at the base of that falls and look up three stories or more at that fall.

To me that is just absolutely breathtaking.

That would be that would be the most momentous location to me.

Wow, that sounds so beautiful.

It sounds romantic and whole.

Talking about romantic.

I know this is where you you would take your wife, but where is the first impression?

A place that you think gives Ithaca the best first impression.

I think to me, and the Granite Falls is a wonderful place.

My my, I want to say Stewart Park, just overlooking Cayuga Lake.

Because a lot of folks really don't know just how large these Finger Lakes are.

You see them on the map, and because they're so close to the Great Lakes, Erie and, Ontario.

But when you get there, you know, you could keep on looking and you don't see the finale of it.

So at Stewart Park, it's a beautiful park with its own, with its own amazing history.

And then just taking it all in.

You know, this is Ithaca.

This is where you're at.

And this is part of the Finger Lakes.

And this is the heart.

You know, I call it the heart of New York State because it's right in the middle.

And this kind of leads you into that whole adventure in the Finger Lakes region.

Yeah.

And and a bumper sticker, read, Ithaca, a small city in central New York surrounded by reality.

What does that mean to you, Peggy?

You know, l I've got to tell you, that is that is one of my favorite sayings.

It used to be the bane of my existence.

But right now, especially Ithaca, ten square miles surrounded by reality.

We have one of the most growing economies, the strongest economies in upstate New York.

Our population is growing.

Compared to other locations.

People can come here and recharge and reconnect.

And, as Carol mentioned, just be themselves.

Let their true selves be present and accepted.

The the vibrant arts and cultural scene that's available here, including, from, from the beginning of synthesizer music, the Moog synthesizer to ex ambassadors and everyone in between and coming.

To me, that's that's what that bumper sticker means is if you want to just come and experience a really peaceful, wonderful, reality, come to Ithaca.

Yes.

And, Carol, what does that mean for you?

Surrounded by reality?

I think it's a Co for many people.

Is love that land?

I think people have a sense that everybody else thinks the way we do in Ithaca.

And everybody in Ithaca doesn't think the same way.

If I had to choose a place to look, I would stand on the Cornell campus or on the, on the level at at the Ithaca College campus.

And I would look down the lake because Ithaca is at the headwaters of, of Sugar Lake, which means that we drain to the north, and that has to do with glacial activity.

The lake was also a source of transportation.

At first.

It brought goods in and people in, and it brought, brought it took out exports, going up to the Erie Canal.

If you look out from the hills you see down below the, the community and the ways in which people made community.

There are church spires.

There's a synagogue.

There are, there's a commercial activity area that was tightly controlled at the first by Simeon DeWitt, who owns the land, the 14 100 acres that are Ithaca.

And you can see how Ithaca spread out from that nucleus into a vibrant small city that is connected with the outlying area in the county, which is both rural and small, urban.

So I would stand high and look down and feel the sweep of history.

You know, and Peggy, as Carol talks about history, I, I, I would like you to make that tie between history and tourism.

For me, how do you incorporate this history into Ithaca's tourism identity today?

Well, I think it's important to acknowledge who we are and where we came from.

And so I think we do lean into our history and, and try to incorporate that in the, in the messages that we share, the, the Gaia kernel people.

And that very important culture, the, the natural history of our lakes and waterfalls and gorges and landscapes.

I think we also need to, embrace our culture and our history.

Relating to education, where one of the things we like to share with folks is, Ithaca is where great minds meet the great outdoors.

And if it wasn't for places like Cornell University and Ithaca College and our community college, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and the development and the growth of ideas and discovery.

Our community wouldn't be what it is today.

So it's important to lean into our history to share those important stories about creators, inventors, and and help folks to understand that's how we got to be the place that CNN has deemed America's best town to visit in 2025.

Oh, wow.

Well, that's that's great to note.

I, I do have a caller on the line, Howie from Brighton, and he wants to comment that he went to school there in, in the 60s, I believe.

We'll talk to Howie.

Howie, are you there?

I'm here.

Yes.

How are you?

Yes.

You're live on WXXI connections.

I'm great.

I was glad to hear it.

I just turned on the car and I was listening to, the show, and I'm glad to hear you're featuring Ithaca.

Yep.

I graduated from Cornell, in 71.

Was there through the late 60s.

Amazing community and incredible time as a student down there.

But I did want to say that one of the most overlooked places to visit.

That's usually not mentioned is the Cornell, Ornithology Lab.

There's a beautiful, beautiful, piece of property up at Cornell that is a haven for birds.

And it is just a fantastic place.

So if you're going to visit all the other places they mentioned are great, but my suggestion is go up there.

You won't believe what you're going to see because it's a place.

It's one of the most unique in the United States.

Yeah.

And this is on Cornell's campus.

You're saying?

Yep.

Yeah.

Yep.

And, Peggy, do you know about, the place that how speaks of.

And you can absolutely attest to that.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and sap sucker woods are it is this a wonderful place to visit?

So how we.

First of all, thank you.

Go, big Red, for being a Cornell alum.

Yeah.

For calling out the Lab of Ornithology.

It's an important place for people who are interested in birding.

To be able to go and hear those calls.

There's a really neat place.

This huge bird wall where you can go in and listen to the different bird sounds to be able to see them live in nature.

We have a number of birding clubs who like to come and visit us, especially in the springtime.

Tracking migration and and the lab of ornithology is a really important resource, not just to visitors and residents, but to, birders and researchers across the country.

Their information and bird counts for migratory birds as well is it's just really an important service that they offer and how we have you return and after we have.

Oh, I've returned many times.

But one of the things it's great to do after you go to the ornithology lab is to go up to the ag school and have an ice cream.

You're my kind of guy.

How we.

And and I know you were there.

You graduated in the 70s from Cornell, but when you returned, have you seen a growth?

Have you seen change?

How?

We.

I've seen change.

Yes.

I mean, obviously, there's been a lot of building on the Cornell campus, also on the Ithaca campus, but in the community, the changes are very positive and, are not as dramatic as you may think.

The viewed the beauty of the community has held up so well and it's just gorgeous.

So go, go big Red and go Ithaca.

Thank you.

Howie.

Thank you so much for your comment.

Go.

Ever go.

We're going to take a quick break.

And then when we get back we'll we'll talk a little bit more with Jose and his travel experience in Ithaca.

So stay with us.

We're talking Ithaca on our Finger Lakes tour, our last stop on the tour right here on connections.

I'm Evan Dawson, coming up in our second hour, a special rebroadcast of a conversation on connections about the voices of a generation.

Bob Dylan was known as the voice of the generation in his day.

But is music so different?

Is media so different now that we don't really have a voice of the generation anymore?

We're going to talk about it with our guests in this special rebroadcast next hour.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Carolla Center.

Proud supporter of connections with Evan Dawson, believing and informed and engaged community is a connected one.

Mary carolla.org.

And we're back with side connections and we're on our last stop of the Finger Lakes.

And also fun fact my last day hosting connections for the summer.

So we're ending it on a great note with Ithaca.

And joining me to talk about Ithaca is Josie Merlino.

You may know him from his web series, Josie on Tour.

He highlights different cities across the northeast, including Ithaca.

I also have Peggy Coleman.

She's the president of Tompkins Chamber and a long time leader in tourism and economic development.

And Carol Kim in.

She is Tompkins County historian and the keeper of Ithaca's fascinating and layered past.

Now, Josie, when you travel, how important is storytelling and history in making a decision for which cities you stop and where did Ithaca fall?

And I know you said Ithaca was you stumble upon it by accident.

But as far as history and storytelling, was it really by accident?

I say it's by accident.

But I've known it's a funny story.

One of my best friends, he actually grew up on Ithaca Street.

And it was a couple, couple blocks away from our school.

And every day, I think I would tell him.

Do you know that there's a city in New York that's called epic?

He never believed me.

So from our childhood, I'm like, I had that curiosity, but when it comes to storytelling, I always say that's the kind of the foundation of my whole travel, my whole story.

It's the I say it's the design, geography and history of a location and how it kind of meshes with the whole narrative of America.

What was its long term impact?

So when I looked at the Finger Lakes itself, it's funny because Ithaca was the original place where I started.

That was that was kind of I want to say that the spider and then the web grew from there.

To Seneca Falls and Watkins Glen, but Ithaca, because it's probably one of the largest areas within the Finger Lakes.

But just because it has such a varied history.

We were talking a little earlier about the things that started there.

I'm a travel filmmaker.

I know a lot about films.

A lot of folks don't know that.

Early film filmmaking began in Ithaca with the Warren Studios.

Just like in Astoria, Queens.

Paramount Pictures started there.

So before Hollywood existed, New York was thriving with filmmaking and silent film.

So I think, still, even to this day, I've, I've driven by where people are filming music videos around the gorges and the waterfalls that that filmmaking history still kind of is still being honored within the area itself.

So going from there to then Cornell University and, you know, Carl Sagan and his impact on Cornell, its connection to Pi, one of America's best engineering feats, the Erie Canal, it's celebrating 100 years now, and Ithaca is connected to that, too.

So I think right from there, I built my story that, hey, there's more to see here.

If we dig a little deeper, that kind of then connects to the rest of the Finger Lakes and the rest of New York State.

Yeah.

And and, Carol, can you can you dig a little deeper into Ithaca's filmmaking history?

Yeah.

Ithaca that the filmmakers, the work that Ted Wharton and his brother came here because of our scenery.

They stayed because people were both gracious to them and wanted to be part of the film and supported the film industry.

They left because they could only film part of the year here.

Our weather contains winter and it was not good to do filming in the winter here.

So the film industry moved from here to Fort Lee, and eventually, it moved out to California where filming was much easier all year round.

We do have the Wharton film Studio here.

That's one that's really quite an achievement.

And it's in Stewart Park.

The thing I'd like to point out is that history is quite alive here.

And we, we are surrounded by beautiful scenery, and one can do all manner of things in that scenery, but you can also walk down and, or you can walk across the Cornell campus and pass a statue of Ezra Cornell.

And behind him there is a telegraph machine.

Or you can go across campus, across the quad, and you can see the statue of Ed White, who was the man who really invented this university, which was a very unique place when when it opened in 1868.

Or you can go out to Tc3, which is in Dryden, which is also in our county, and you can see the statues of four Civil War nurses who went at a time when nursing and war was no place for a woman.

And those statues are at the entrance of Tc3, which has one of the great nursing programs in the in the country, or certainly in the state.

Or you can walk downtown and past the seated statue on a bench, and you can sit with her and sit with Frances Perkins, who spent the last six years of her life in Ithaca.

And Perkins is the person who is responsible for the safety net that we now enjoy and need to protect.

She brought us Social security, unemployment insurance, child labor laws, OSHA, it wasn't called that then, but but care for workers.

She brought us a great deal.

And these are the things that we of our generation now depend on.

Or you can walk further down Cayuga Street, and you can find the seated statue of Lucy Brown, who is a woman who was born in Ithaca, who grew up here, who worked at Cornell mainly with, students of color.

As Cornell helped bring more people of color to to campus.

And who also was the founder of, I think, one of the most extraordinary, outfits in this area called the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Authority.

This is a group of people who believe in fermenting and and promoting first time homeowner homeownership.

And it's a group that has brought a lot of new housing to the area.

The interesting thing for me is that when the two statues were put downtown in 2000, 23, 24, I'm sorry.

They had been crafted by Meredith Bergmann, one of this country's most famous sculptors.

She has done the the beautiful, monumental women in Central Park.

She's done the wonderful sculpture of of of FDR on on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

And she came here and did these two sculptures.

And she said to me, my husband and I are going to drive around Ithaca, and we're going to look at all parts of it.

And the next day she came back and she said, I couldn't find boarded up houses.

I couldn't find bars on the door.

And that's because Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services has been diligent in refitting houses and putting people in them and helping them maintain home ownership.

So Ithaca is a place of many talents, of many people working together, and some of that can be seen in the statuary.

It is around our community.

Thank you.

Carol.

Josie, I want to touch on you've you've seen many small cities.

How does Ithaca compare to in terms of community identity or tourism strategy, in your opinion?

I think I think for as much as I travel and, you know, I'm based in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, Ithaca.

Has a great legacy where a lot of smaller cities, they had the great Industrial Revolution, and they kind of never found their identity afterwards.

Where Attica not only, you know, prospered during that time, but then when it was kind of shift gears, you know, now it has a whole new kind of life to it, where it's known for its vibrant college town atmosphere.

We have so many restaurants and cuisines, whether you're going through like, college, the college area itself or the downtown to, to the Commons.

If you're a tourist, you might want to get involved in all the annual events.

Luckily for me, when I last visited Ithaca, I stumbled upon porch Fest, where folks are kind of having concerts right off, their porches and balconies.

No matter the era, you know?

So some folks are doing Roaring 20s, others are doing rock from the 60s.

But you get such an incredible atmosphere and the vibrancy of the community itself that, I think has been mimic in places like Philadelphia and Buffalo.

To then kind of going back to the history piece, walking along the Antigo Commons, you don't get, pedestrian walkway in many cities, unless it's coming soon or taking inspiration from other places.

So I think there's already a leader there.

And then taking the Sagan walk right in the Ithaca, Commons, where you learn a little bit about each planet.

That leads to, I think, the science center.

So as the tourists right off the bat, you're being engaged into discovering really what the city is all about.

And the community.

And, Peggy, I want to talk talk to you a little bit about, the thriving college town and being a making it a tourist destination.

But I want to take a caller.

We have one caller on the line.

His name is, I believe, Don, and he wants to comment on, the LGBTQ plus community in in Ithaca.

Don, are you on the line?

Yes, I am, I don.

Thank you for taking my call.

Of course.

Just one, if your historian is familiar with the fact that, Cornell University had one of the first LGBT organizations in the United States, I believe it was called the Student Homophobia League.

And I think it, started, in the late 60s.

I, Columbia University also had one.

I think those were one of the first two in the United States.

And, also, Ithaca was, the location of a group called the Ethical Lesbian and Gay Task Force.

I think that was started in the 1970s.

Ithaca has a vibrant LGBT community, maybe even more vibrant than here in Rochester.

But, my partner and I go down to Africa very frequently for that reason.

There was also an organization which would meet every so often out in the out in Danby, I believe was called, and they were called a group called the Radical Faeries.

And they were kind of like, that kind of like back to the Earth, kind of people, who were LGBT.

They also had, a bar called The Common Ground, which started out on State Street in, in the 1970s and moved out to Danby in, in the 90s.

I it doesn't exist anymore, but, maybe you historians historian kind of a little bit about all that stuff that I just mentioned.

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you.

Don.

Of course.

I'm.

Carol, can you speak on the inclusivity, the historical inclusivity of of Ithaca?

Well, Don mentioned.

Well, if if Don would like to hear about, the Lbgtq two family here or a history here.

I'm also the chair of the Tompkins County Historical Commission, and we are about to bring out probably in January of 2026, a history of how.

Gay people found a place here and what the place meant to them and why they were welcomed.

So there will be a small history of this coming out soon.

And the things you talked about starting at Cornell, they started in Willard Straight Hall, and all those records are in the phenomenal.

Cornell's a university library.

So, yeah, I know a lot about it.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Could you could you tell me where that is?

Where that display is going to be in January.

So I would like to come down and see it.

It will be a book, and it will be out probably January or February of 2026.

Oh, it's a book.

Okay.

Don, if I may, this is Peggy from the chamber and visit Ithaca.

And, right now, if you are interested.

And first of all, I guess I want to say thank you for calling out.

And another important part of our not just our history, but of our our current, community values.

If you go to download, it's a mobile app called Pocket Sites.

There's a, self guided walking tour that is the LGBTQ local history walking tour, and it showcases 32 stops across seven miles, of important LGBTQ, rights locations and activities.

And I think that and the nice thing with the pocket sites, tour is that is something that can be done at any point all year.

You can do it in different portions.

Maybe visit and and maybe visit eight sites on your first stop and, and just really immerse yourself.

But yeah, we have a strong history of supporting people of, all, all types and, and spaces and making people feel welcomed and accepted for who they are and who they love.

And I'm so grateful to you, John, for for calling that out.

And, and I think something that also makes it think a little bit different is that in many locations it's kind of like this.

This is the LGBTQ space.

There's like designated locations where we're here in Ithaca, in Tompkins County.

It's kind of a little bit more general open spaces as opposed to designated bars or clubs.

So thank you for recognizing that in our history.

I think over time.

As new people came in, and I don't mean the 20th century, but in the 19th century, it took a while for one group to accept the next group.

And so Ithaca was founded primarily by white Protestants and some atheists at the very beginning.

And the Irish came in and they were not treated all that well.

But after a while, people got over that anti Irish or anti Roman Catholic feeling and then if it was excuse me, Ithaca was invested with Jews and Hungarians and Czechs and Greeks and Syrians and all of this diversity took a little while for people to get used to.

But in the same way that while in the 1960s the gays and lesbian community, were looked at with not fright but some interest and perhaps a sense of who do you belong here?

Everyone now belongs here, so that Ithaca is a place of great diversity.

And the origins of all of these different people can be found here.

So it's it's a place where people are accepted for who they are.

Doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's pretty close to, as someone said, one of the best places in the world.

And, Peggy, we talk about Ithaca as a thriving college town.

How do you balance a college town and a tourist destination?

And how do you balance those two identities?

Well, I really do think one supports the other.

Definitely the the academic calendar kind of drives the rest of the destinations calendars.

And, and we do become a, a little bit of a different community when the students go home on semester break or for summer break.

But it's, you know, we have wonderful arts and performances that are produced by our higher education locations.

We also have the, the fantastic scenery, that's located throughout the campuses as well.

So I think we, we really, embrace the the folks who come to us perhaps first time as a college tour.

Based on research we've done, we've we know that one of the top reasons why people come here to visit to begin with is related to, college tours.

To be a prospective student here.

And, and then we definitely tried to lean into having those relationships so similar to, your caller Holly, who called in earlier.

Keeping in touch with the folks who are here as students, the families who bring them here, and the alumni who are lifelong, champions of our community moving forward.

But I think what we offer is a is a good balance.

Leveraging those assets that the the colleges bring to us.

Yeah.

So I guess the next thing is balancing this, this young generation that comes in for college and Ithaca's history.

So I think I think the balance in its, it is a gift.

It is a gift.

You have so many young people, brilliant, energetic, smart folks coming into this community.

Whether they're coming as visitors or as students and then the resources that they bring in to make our community better.

The volunteer tourism that takes place.

The supports that businesses and nonprofits gained by having the students here and their interest in and becoming interns.

I can tell you, the majority of our staff here are alumni from our higher education facilities.

So it's, they they do bring a great wealth.

And, and I think the, the balance is understanding that we would not be who we are without Cornell University or Ithaca College or Tc3, as we refer to our community college and, summer time, we, we see more leisure travelers coming through.

We are able to welcome international visitors because they are also curious about Cornell University, for example, the modern Mandarin Chinese language was was really, I don't want to say created, but, fostered at Cornell University.

And so there's an automatic connection to Mandarin speaking folks and to Chinese folks, who want to come here and, and, and, see, see the university, see the amazing collection at the Johnson Museum of Chinese Art.

The the Non-Judgment ministry and Dalai Lama Learning Center.

I mean, it is the only place in the world where the His Holiness chose to have that learning center built was here in Ithaca and the, the, the, using education as, as a way to attract folks to come and and expand their own horizons, but also, expand all of our horizons by engaging with them.

And, Peggy, can we, can we touch on maybe some of the challenges that this city is facing, if any know?

Oh, sure.

And I and I think this is not unique to Ithaca.

You know, the the challenges, one of the challenges that, we have been facing for years is housing.

There is definitely has been for years a housing shortage.

And it it was exacerbated, during the pandemic.

We had a number of folks who came here and visited or they were living in large cities and, had a desire to be able to get out of their four walls.

And so they, they chose to come and do their quarantining or, remote work from Ithaca and then ended up purchasing homes and staying.

So definitely the, the there is a, a challenge with having enough housing to support our current workforce and our students.

That, that is that is one challenge that we have.

And and transportation is as Jose mentioned, we are not a big city.

We are a small city.

And and our our sustainability goals is that you come here and you park once, but we there are sometimes, disconnects to get folks from, from place to place, especially if they want to go out into the countryside and explore our rural towns and villages and farms.

So, so that is a challenge that, that we, do encounter.

But we're working on that to, to try to create more connectivity.

And I think those are the I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

No, go.

Go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Those I think those are two, two of our biggest challenges.

And, it's just not unique.

It's unfortunately not unique to us.

But when when you are a college town, I think, the housing especially, there's a bigger light shown on that.

And it's very easy for, for us to to blame the university in college because of the students needing the housing.

But, I don't think that's actually a fair, a fair thing to do.

The the shortage of housing has been here long, long before the the students have arrived.

But what I do know that the the community does enjoy, the food.

One, person commented on YouTube, Arielle on YouTube said Moosewood restaurant is exceptional restaurant that has a delicious seasonal menu that is almost as locally as all locally sourced.

Have we tried Moosewood restaurant?

Anyone?

I have, absolutely, but I don't know if you're.

You're looking for those agencies.

I don't care about that.

How can we here?

We wrap up by talking about the food it in.

Have you tried Moosewood restaurant?

I have not.

I haven't tried, but, what I recommend, since we're talking about locally sourced, the farmer's market, it's probably one of my favorite.

And then, like I said, I live in the backyard of farmland, but it's it's just, all the locally sourced foods there.

I picked up some some candy apple, and I. Oh, I gotta tell you guys, the taste is so good.

I brought some back to my mother, my mother in law, cause I wanted them to try this piece of Epica.

And, if you go up the universe today talking about the youth they've brought so much, great.

Like one of a kind, unique restaurants like Wings Over.

I think a ninja chicken that has such, such a personalize that personalized taste that it's unique enough that if I lose, you know, I don't have never tried anywhere else.

I'm sorry.

Definitely.

I'll say I'm sorry.

We have to wrap it up.

We're we're being cued to wrap up, but I appreciate you for joining us.

And and we're continue to watch your web series, a yarn tour.

Thank you, Peggy and Carol, for sharing your knowledge and expertise on Ithaca.

And that's it for our tour.

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