My Hometown: Amsterdam, N.Y.
By: Diane Tuman, Content Manager | July 6, 2006
Editor’s Note: This blog post is a kickoff to "My Hometown," a series of blog posts by Zillow employees who will reflect on the homes and towns where they grew up. Part historic musings and part therapy, we hope you enjoy it.
My hometown: Amsterdam, NY 12010
Approximate value in 1960: $40-55,000
Tax assessed value today: $80,000 (No Zestimate is available since county records are not sufficient for this area)
I grew up in in Amsterdam, a city in Upstate N.Y. which was a booming blue-collar town from the 1940s through the 60s. The economy thrived thanks to numerous factories and mills in the area, including GE, which was just 12 miles away in Schenectady, N.Y. My parents ran a tavern in Amsterdam with a prime location right across the street from Mohawk Carpets. This company proved to be the main lifeline for the city up until the 60s when it moved south for cheaper labor in South Carolina and Mississippi. Looking back, I can see that the exodus of the factories, one-by-one, delivered the critical blow to a city that was once 60,000 strong, but is now hovering around 17,000. This is just one town in upstate New York that is bleeding people due to economic downturns and high taxes.
The house I grew up in was a Cape Cod-style home with four bedrooms and one bathroom. Somehow we all managed, but these days, the thought of one bathroom for a family of six is nuts. My father helped another guy build the house in 1951 for a $20K. When I go back to visit my father several times a year, I always take a drive through the "grand" part of town where the Shuttleworths (Mohawk Carpets) and Stephen Sanford (Sanford Rug Mfg. — photo postcard above from Roots Web) owned huge mansions. Those homes could fetch about $400-500K these days, but if you were to magically drop one of those homes in Seattle, the price tag would skyrocket to about $4-6 million.
Real estate in Amsterdam has been stagnant since the 60s where homes for sale sit for months, if not years. It’s not that the homes aren’t good — they are. It’s just that the job situation is bleak. If you’ve ever seen the movie "Nobody’s Fool," or read Richard Russo’s book of the same name, that pretty much captures the essence of Amsterdam, a city along the Mohawk River that had a fabulous past, but not much of a future. When I asked my father what people now do for a living in Amsterdam, he said, "Pinch pennies."
One last note: Amsterdam has one major celebrity to call its own: Kirk Douglas, whose real name was Issur Danielovitch Demsky.
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- Categories: Hometowns, Real Estate Industry, Zestimate, Zillow
Comments
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Susan on July 6, 2006 3:37 pm
I enjoyed that a lot. Love the detail! A native of Olean, NY now living on Bainbridge Island, I still think about that little town in the snowbelt. Home values there aren’t as dramatic as they are here, that’s for sure.
Amsterdam on July 17, 2006 2:15 pm
Amsterdam
Trying to figure Catering for large or small groups.aMSTeRDaM Li F e S T y L e ToDaY aBouT LiNKS JouRNaL ulamirowska.co…
Tom T on January 2, 2008 6:47 am
We used to live in Amsterdam from 92-95, and I have some very fond memories of the people I met while living on Vrooman Ave. across from the old school. The older people had wonderful stories to tell, and they worked hard to maintain their lives, homes and memories, in a town past its hayday. It was so sad to see a town like Amsterdam struggle. Its history, its charm, and its beautiful location in the Mohawk valley will always stay with me. It was a wonderful time for us, our daughter was born there, at St Mary’s, in 94. We live in Huntsville Alabama now, but I will always remember fondly my stay in Amsterdam, NY.
Shawn K on February 27, 2008 7:52 am
Yes, you could buy those old mansions for 400-600K , but when I think about that - I think it would cost almost that much to heat those things. Amsterdam certainly has some very cool old houses though- upper Market st., Guy Park Ave., etc. I was born and raised in Amsterdam - now live near Saint Louis, MO. An item of note- my mother lived across the street from the Demskys, and my Grandfather’s Tavern (OShaughnessys) is mentioned in Kirk’s book “The Ragman’s Son”. The Demskys were so poor - Kirk’s sisters (Freda is the only name I remember) had to take showers at my mon’s house since I guess they had no running water.
Billl m on March 14, 2008 5:48 am
The problem as to why Amsteradm is just a place to sleep, falls on the many years of bad leadership.
1- The city Mayor’s and leadership are in office for to long.
yet nothing is done during such time.
2- how they get elected in it self is doughtful.
3- One Mayor served for 8 years, a mayor that had not even a High School Diploma, whom sold the mall, and aloud a $60,000 stainless steel monument to an ex-Mayor at the same sold mall.
4- $$$ Much money have been granted to the City only to disapear, donations were asked from the public to rebuild the mascot of Amsterdam which burned. That money also disapeared.
5- Property Taxes are extreamly high, on extreamly under acessed propertys.
Who would invest, too pay high taxes and sell at cheap price, where only the City profit from TAXES.
6- where the City has no engenier or knoeledgeable City public works supervisor whom is always short of monies. Wounder why ????
The area is beautiful, NYS Twy I90 runs down the middle of it exit 27, and also dose the Mohawk River, and MTrack train station.
To the North of it is the town that has left the City and has developped to having all the stores and malls.
To the South of it is the town of Florida, the Beverly Hills of Montgomery County. where Targett has its No. East Distribution Ware house., where thw States largest RV delar is at, where Beachnut is soon to build there baby food co.
where many a new homes are being build,
marty mezzio on July 8, 2008 11:30 pm
diane tuman???
my goodness,, glad to see you are alive and well,,