Kent Lakes, NY 10512
Kent Lakes sits high atop the Hudson Higlands in Putnam County just on the edge of the megalopolis we call "the city" which those from away will call New York City. From here to midtown is about 60 miles.
Once the land of summer camps and country hideaways Putnam County is now, sadly, nothing more than a bedroom community with large sections succumbing to sprawl and ugliness.
A battle rages for the soul of our town - a battle between those who have lived here and like the rural aspects of this area and those who've moved up recently building 3000 - 4000 sq ft 4 bedroom McMansions
on tiny lots, pumping three and four children into the schools and who demand a Home Depot on every corner and a Wal-Mart every 5 miles, people who bitch and moan about an 8 mile country drive to a supermarket then bitch and moan about the traffic and the high taxes that come as a result of giving them what they've asked for.
Kent Lakes manages to bypass this argument largely because most of the town sits amid NYC watershed lands. Those living in the Cat/Del section of town are blessed with thousands of acres of open space and quiet while those living within the Croton system
face backslapping politicans and builders sucking each other off behind closed doors while the bulldozers rev up their engines and the blacktop and concrete companies foam at the mouth - so we won't talk about that here.
Instead, we'll talk about the three state parks, the 6000 acres of watershed lands, the Chuan Yen Monastery and the little pieces of it that are still open and wild and wonderous and scary - all at the same time.
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