Build Your Own Utopia

Somewhere between a community's basic necessities (good schools, low crime, reasonable real estate) and its most coveted luxuries (singletrack in the backyard - (available in the Pinebush, click here for details)), Class III whitewater on the outskirts of town) are the little perks that can make the difference between a fine outdoor-sports town and a downright dreamy one. Here's Outside Magazine's recipe for perfection, the ingredients in no particular order:

 • Seasonal farmers market

 • Outdoor lap pool - Lincoln Park Pool

 • Artsy movie house - The Spectrum

 • Bike lanes (Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail).

 • natural-foods grocery

 • Resident oddballs (CANA)

 • Water running through it (The Hudson & Normanskill)

 • Climbing gym

 • International-magazine newsstand

 • Plans to fight sprawl

 • Clean air

 • Outdoor music venues

 • Dog parks

 • Local parades

 • Alternative weekly (Metroland)

 • Good local public radio

 • Fresh-fish vendor (The Cousins)

 • Outdoor-skills clinics

 • Juice bar

 • Summer mountain-bike racing series

 • Minor League baseball

 • Big trees

. Sunshine