SAUGERTIES — Saugerties is officially a cool place, and Thruway motorists will now know it.

Blue signs were installed just below the Saugerties Thruway exit signs last week, informing drivers the village 1 mile down the road has been ranked among the top 10 coolest small towns in the country.

Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine searched the nation and listed Saugerties among the coolest small towns in the United States, and village officials announced in December that the state Thruway Authority had informed them the sign request would be granted.

Village Trustee Michael Campbell said he noticed a lot of traffic on Sunday, but it could have just been normal weekend traffic patterns.

Campbell said he did not expect people to take exit 20 based on seeing the sign once, but he hoped after a motorist passes it two or three times, he or she will get curious about the village and check it out.

The idea of getting the signs on the Thruway came from Van Bolle, owner of DIG, a local clothing and accessories shop in Saugerties, and was picked up in a cooperative effort involving the Saugerties Chamber of Commerce, and the village and town of Saugerties.

According to Budget Travel, in compiling the top-10 list, the magazine’s editors look communities with populations under 10,000 — the village of Saugerties had 4,955 in the 2000 Census — that are on the upswing and beginning to draw attention and new residents because of the quality of life, the arts and restaurant scene or the proximity to nature.

“And cool doesn’t mean quaint,” the editors wrote in their call for submissions. “We want towns with an edge. So think avant-garde galleries, not country stores.”

Mayor Robert Yerick said that among possible reasons Saugerties could be considered cool are that the village has a high quality of life, declining crime rates, high quality restaurants, and a fine sports venue in Cantine Field.

The designation is “quite an honor,” said Yerick, adding that he believes it will be “good for tourism.”

-By Kyle Wind
Freeman staff