About the Clifton Park, New York Area

I concentrate my business efforts in the Central and Southern Saratoga County vicinity, but I cover the entire Capital District, including the counties of Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Washington, Warren, Schoharie,Fulton and Montomery, as well as Saratoga.

We enjoy a strong employment base that begins with the state government offices both in Albany and scattered in surrounding cities.  We are attracting all sorts of nanotechnology-related firms, and look forward to the addition of the Global Foundries chip plant currently under construction in Malta.  Our institutions of higher learning are many and of high caliber.

Most of us who live here are especially attracted by the climate and the change of seasons that facilitate a wide variety of outdoor activities.  World-class downhill ski resorts are within a short drive.  Superb golf courses (public and private) abound.  We have rivers and lakes and mountains all around us.

And let's not forget Saratoga Springs!  With two horse racing facilities, including the world famous thoroughbred race track hosting the annual Travers Stakes; the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, offering a unique setting for everything from the ballet to rock concerts; and a host of smaller attractions to round out the experience, Saratoga Springs is a one-of-a-kind vacation destination and a truly unique place to live.

Clifton Park occupies the majority of Southern Saratoga County, and so sits in the middle of it all, basically halfway between downtown Albany and Saratoga Springs.  Located on the major interstate artery connecting New York City and points south to Montreal and points north, and just minutes from the New York State Thruway, we can drive to Boston, New York City, or Montreal in just a few hours, making day trips possible.  Clifton Park has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years to become one of the most popular bedroom communities in the area.

I very much enjoy showing off the area to anyone looking to relocate here as there is so much to offer.

Guilderland

Wilton, New York

The town of Wilton lies to the north/northeast of Saratoga Springs.  After early years of fur trapping and trading in the sixteen hundreds, the town was first settled following the French and Indian War, largely by British and Scottish immigrants. 

Like other Saratoga region communities, Wilton had early businesses based on the natural mineral springs.  The town has long attracted tourists, especially summer vacationers, with its strategic location between the Saratoga tracks and the Adirondack Mountains.  And U.S. Grant spent his last days in Wilton at the Grant Cottage in Wilton, passing away there in 1885. 

Most of the area was farmed for many years, but farming has declined as the area has been developed.  Wilton has become a well-developed residential area, proudly maintaining resident-friendly recreational facilities and boasting its policy of no town taxes.

Located at Exits 15 and 16 of I-87 (the Northway), Wilton offers abundant local shopping opportunities as well as easy access to the surrounding areas.

Wilton is served by the school districts of Saratoga Springs, Schuylerville, and South Glens Falls.

Providence

Brant Lake

Schenectady

Waterford, New York

The town of Waterford was split from the Town of Halfmoon in 1816.  The village of Waterford was incorporated in 1794, before the town was formed, and is the oldest incorporated village in the United States.  The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, as well as the Erie and Champlain Canals, and their associated flight of locks still in operation, can all be found within the town's borders.  Fittingly, Waterford hosts the Northeast's largest annual tugboat festival, the "Tugboat Roundup", each September.

Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs has a long and storied history in the sport of horse racing, both thoroughbred and harness.  The Saratoga Race Course is open annually from about the last week of July through Labor Day, with top quality thoroughbred racing six days a week, and including the renowned Travers Stakes.  Harness racing is offered year around at the Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, where VLT gaming has become popular in recent years.
 
The city of Saratoga Springs also offers a wide variety of events and venues for the entire family.  The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), open during the warmer months, provides a wonderful outdoor, natural amphitheater (with a covered stage and plentiful covered seating as well) for everything from the ballet to rock concerts.  Some of the old natural spas are still in operation.  Several golf courses in and around town will satisfy the desires of any duffer or professional.  The main street (Broadway) and nearby sidestreets are home to many small shops and restaurants.  The public park in the middle of town, Congress Park, was designed by the same man who designed New York City's Central Park.  Skidmore College is on the north side of town.  Saratoga Lake lies to the southeast.
 
Houses range from grand old Victorian mansions to modern town homes on the lake, and everything in between.  Saratoga Springs retains the feel and traditions of a small, almost New England town, with more than a hint of nineteen century ambiance.

Halfmoon, New York

In 1609, Heinrich Hudson sailed up the Hudson River in search of the Northwest Passage.  He did not find it, but the area he did reach was named for his ship, the Halve Maen, anglicized to Halfmoon.  Originally a huge area, the towns of Clifton Park and Waterford and the city of Mechanicville were all eventually split off from Halfmoon.  Nonetheless, Halfmoon is still sizable, bordered on the north by the Anthony Kill (very near Route 67), on the south by the Mohawk River, on the east by the Hudson River, and on the west approximately by I-87, the Northway.  Much like Clifton Park to her west, Halfmoon is a rapidly developing residential community.  The towns of Clifton Park and Halfmoon have much in common, including, for example, the recently built Clifton Park/Halfmoon Library on Moe Road in Clifton Park.  And they, plus parts of Waterford, share the Shenendehowa Central School District.

Clifton Park, New York

The history of Clifton Park, the Saratoga Region, and the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and their surroundings is long and storied.  The writings of James Fenimore Cooper take place here, a testiment to the pre-Revolutionary roots of the area dating back to the 1600's.  The Erie Canal ran through this area and parts of it still exist.  Major campaigns of the Revolutionary War passed through here, and one of the most decisive of battles, the Battle of Saratoga, took place in the Hudson Valley between Saratoga Springs and Albany.

The town of Clifton Park was carved out of the town of Halfmoon in 1828, joining a number of hamlets and villages that still exist in some form here:  Elnora, Jonesville, Grooms Corners, Rexford, and Vischer Ferry among them.  It was not until the building of such routes and bridges as the Northway (I-87) and the Twin Bridges over the Mohawk that Clifton Park really began to become the fast-growing, highly-desirable, residential community we see today.  Situated between the state capital of Albany and the vacation and horseracing destination of Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park and her neighbors provide easy commutes to work destinations in both directions.

Newtonville/Loudonville, New York

Newtonville is not an incorporated town, but rather a loosely defined area--a neighborhood really--beside the also nebulous Loudonville, both of which lie within the town of Colonie.  Roughly speaking, Newtonville runs along Route 9 from Siena College to Hoffman's Playland, taking in part of Maxwell Road to the west and over to Fiddlers Lane to the east of Route 9.  Loudonville lies to the south of Newtonville.  The area was largely a farm community, with flowers, vegetables, dairy cows and turkeys for the most part, until early in the 20th century when it morphed into a desirable residential community, close in proximity to shopping but without any industry.  Today the area has a wide range of houses, varying in age and style, and is home to a very proud and loyal populace.

Rexford, New York

Rexford is technically a part of Clifton Park, but proudly proclaims and maintains its individuality.  Rexford is commonly thought to occupy the area from the Mohawk River and Grooms Road on the south to Route 146 on the north, and from Balltown Road on the west to Vischer's Ferry Road on the east.  Unlike the rest of Clifton Park, major portions of Rexford are served by the Niskayuna School District, which is otherwise a Schenectady County district.

At Rexford, the Erie Canal crossed the Mohawk River by way of an aqueduct built in 1841.  Rexford was the site of a very popular amusement park in the early 1900's.  The Schenectady Yacht Club is located in Rexford at the remains of Lock 21 of the former Erie Canal.  And Rexford is the home of the Edison Club, a country club and golf course formed in 1904 by employees of the General Electric Company.

Scotia/Glenville, New York

Ballston Lake, NY

Clifton Park, New York Area Map