Town of the Week: Delhi

  |  April 22, 2013
delaware county

One of the many stunning Delaware County views, via Delaware County Chamber of Commerce

Because of its remoteness, the town of Delhi often falls off our radar. The town is located right in the center of Delaware County, acting as the bottom point of an inverted triangle it creates with Roxbury and Oneonta. And, like Oneonta, Delhi is a college town (SUNY Delhi) with a quaint village around it. But before you go thinking that Delhi is another New Paltz, it’s not. Delhi, like many towns in the Catskills, embraces its remoteness, attachment to with nature, and slower pace. Think “covered bridge” territory.

More on Delhi on the jump…

In spite of the existence of a SUNY school, there’s no teeming nightlife in Delhi (you’re probably not surprised), but you can still buy a paper, have breakfast at the Cross Road Cafe, check out a book from the Cannon Free Library (a great looking building, by the way), go grocery shopping at Price Chopper, get those tractor supplies you needed (Delhi is a rural community, after all. Lots of farms around), and perhaps splurge on a bottle of wine from the local wine and liquor store on Main Street. All basic, everyday activities, but they’re the simple things that make it possible to live in a small, remote town without slowly going insane. There’s even a Trailways bus station near the SUNY campus. In fact, we occasionally return to Delhi as a possible Car-Free destination.

DCHA

Delaware County Historical Society headquarters (formerly Frisbee House), via DCHA website

There’s only a handful of properties currently on the market in Delhi, and nothing for sale over $550,000. Most of what we saw was in the $100,000s and lower. The market is a mix of Victorians, a few farms, village properties, and cute little cheapies with loads of potential. We find the prospect of Delhi appealing as a place to live part time, since the option to get there via public transportation exists. Living there full time, however, might present some challenges, especially if you require stimulation constantly. If you’re one of the lucky ones who can sit quietly for more than five minutes while the sun comes up, simply enjoying bathing in dappled light, you might love to live in Delhi full-time.

monroe road and turnpike road, delhi

The village of Delhi is bordered to the east by the west branch of the Delaware River, and no doubt you saw many devastating pictures of the area during recent floods. But if there’s one thing these flood villages know how to do, it’s to bounce back and move on, and if that doesn’t exemplify the hard-scrabble spirit of the Catskills, we don’t know what does.

Delhi is located approximately 2 hours, 43 minutes from NYC.

delhi capture

Town of Delhi Official Website

GMAP

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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