Log in Subscribe

Inside Out

Let’s state the obvious

Jeanne Sager
Posted 1/17/23

If you wanted to walk the entirety of Sullivan County, did you know you'd be covering almost 1,000 square miles? Or 997 to be exact?

It's a number that may be hard to wrap your head around, so …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Inside Out

Let’s state the obvious

Posted

If you wanted to walk the entirety of Sullivan County, did you know you'd be covering almost 1,000 square miles? Or 997 to be exact?

It's a number that may be hard to wrap your head around, so let me put it in perspective. 

The entire state of Rhode Island is 1,214 square miles, with five whole counties inside and 19 cities with 20,000 residents or more. 

And while just 2.9 percent of Sullivan County's swath of the New York State landscape is made up of water, that number jumps to 13.9% in Rhode Island. In fact, if you take away the 169 square miles of the nation's smallest state, you bring its area down to 1,045 square miles. We're getting closer.

Why all the math? 

If you look at it this way, we're almost big enough to be a state. Almost. 

And with that comes challenges that often divide our population. Ask your average resident of Mountaindale or Wurtsboro the last time they went to Callicoon, and there's a pretty good chance they'll say never. That is if they don't look at you blankly before finally asking, "Where?"

They can't be blamed. It's at least an hour's drive in the opposite direction of their doctor's offices, their grocery stores, their friends and family. 

Then again, ask your average resident of Hankins or Lava the last time they meandered to Glen Wild or Forestburgh, and you're likely to get a similar answer. Our villages and hamlets are spread far apart and so too are our people. 

The result is a basic lack of understanding of one another and one another's biggest challenges. 

As a native of the western side of our county, I recognize that I don't fully understand the challenges of living on the eastern side. 

So I speak for those out here in the wilderness, where beauty reigns supreme but businesses shut their lights off at 6 p.m. It can be hard to fully explain the challenge of driving hours to reach even the most basic medical care or access employment to those who get to both in 10 minutes or less. It can be a challenge to explain why options like remote work or telehealth really are more necessary for us than for someone who can access a bus service when their car breaks down or they're feeling too crummy to drive to the doctor. 

This sense of needing different services often creates an us vs. them mentality that's only exacerbated by attempts to treat us all with one broad brush.

So allow me to state the obvious: We are one county that's large enough to be a whole state. 

And the state of our union is ... complicated.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here