It's a common question people ask me: "Why Batavia?"
People often want to know how I wound up in Batavia with this crazy idea of launching an online-only news site.
It all started the second weekend of September 2006, my first weekend as a Western New Yorker, when, after spotting a notice in a garden magazine, I decided to drive out to Batavia for the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County’s Master Gardeners' annual Fall Harvest Gala.
In California, I began growing roses as a hobby and was eager to continue growing roses, even though my new job was bringing me to the Rochester area.
I had just completed my first week in my new job and was living in a hotel in Fairport. I had no idea how far Batavia was from Fairport, but I jumped in my rental sedan, punched the address into the GPS and off I went.
When I hit town, I was immediately smitten. Here was a small town that struck me as what small town should be. There were cool old buildings, lots of local businesses, nice Victorian-era houses and it just seemed like a place where some sense of community still existed.
I didn't see the warts that so many often note, and I still don't much see them.
I thought, "I'd rather live here than Fairport."
But, my company's office was in Fairport and I've never been a fan of long commutes.
So we wound up living in Pittsford, but I didn't forget Batavia.
When my bosses asked me to come up with a plan for launching an online-only news site, Batavia was my first choice. After a few more scouting trips out to Genesee County, I felt confident Batavia was the right-sized town with a vibrant local business community.
I was actually a bit disappointed that I couldn't move to Batavia to run the project. I still had other job responsibilities in Fairport.
Then an amazing thing happened: The Batavian was mine, if I wanted it. Of course, that would mean moving to Batavia. That was fine with me and Billie. We moved to Batavia on June 1, glad to be out of the rat race and eager to be entrepreneurs.
We're quite happy with our life here. It's the kind of small-town life we long sought but could never find in California. We're grateful to all the readers and sponsors of The Batavian. You're helping us live "life as it should be" (the link is an irony hint; we previously lived in Bakersfield).
And here's how four of my rose bushes are faring in Batavia.
