I grew up there. Saratoga is a quaint town, home of Skidmore College (http://www.skidmore.edu/index.htm), SPAC (the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and our Wolftrap equivalent), and both harness and thoroughbred racing. The latter of which descends on the town during the month of August and creates quite a buzz.

It's fairly touristy, although post-9-11 there's been a fairly significant exodus from NYC to points north. Given it's proximity to Albany (about 45 minutes), and it's attractions, Saratoga has enjoyed significant appreciation in real estate. Not to the extent of what things are in the DC area, but still mire than it has in a long time.

There are lots of bars, and they're open til 4 a.m.

As for real estate resources, local newspapers are the best bet -- the realtors up there really were not very helpful in finding apartments.

http://www.metroland.net/ -- it's the city paper of the metro area. More Albany focused. Looks like slim pickings in the real estate section though.

The Saratogian -- http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.asp?brd=1169

Schenectady Gazette -- covers the area pretty well, big circulation well outside Schenectady proper. http://www.dailygazette.com/

Albany Times Union - http://www.timesunion.com/. MOre capital region focused.

http://www.poststar.net/ - The Post Star -- A little bit to the north of Saratoga.

As far as the surrounding towns go, Ballston Spa, Ballston Lake, Malta, Galway, Clifton Park are all well within a 15-30 minute drive of Saratoga.

Albany, Latham, Troy, Glens Falls, Mechanicville, Stillwater will be more like 30-45 minutes from Saratoga.

Hope this helps -- let me know if you have any questions.

I grew up there. Saratoga is a quaint college town, the home of Skidmore College (http://www.skidmore.edu/index.htm), SPAC (http://www.spac.org/, an outdoor amphitheatre on par with Wolftrap), and the Saratoga Flat Track (http://www.saratogaflattrack.com/).

Saratoga is primarily a summer town – the flat track runs during the month of August, SPAC runs for the late spring and summer season. There are lots of other season activities – surrounding areas offer great downhill skiing, and there are lots of trails and parks to cross country ski in.

There are lots of bars/restaurants in Saratoga. Bars stay open until 4 a.m.

As for resources in finding a place to live, I have found that realtors up there suck and were not very helpful. Local newspapers seem to be the best bet.

Here’s the list:

http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.asp?brd=1169 – The Saratogian – the town newspaper. Not a big paper by any stretch, but a daily.

http://www.metroland.net/ - Metroland – comparable to the City Paper, but mostly focused on the Albany area. Slim pickins in the real estate section.

http://www.dailygazette.com/ - The Schenectady Gazette – large distro newspaper covering the bulk of the area. Should be a good resource.

http://www.poststar.net/ - The Post Star – focuses on Glens Falls, which is north of Saratoga (about 20 minutes)

http://www.timesunion.com/ - Albany Times Union – again, big distro, mainly focuses on the Albany area though.

As for areas to consider in terms of proximity to Saratoga:

Ballston Spa, Galway, Clifton Park, Ballston Lake, Malta, Stillwater are all within 15 – 30 minutes away. And that’s driving time, not like in the DC area.

Albany and Troy are going to be over 30 minutes, so depending on your brother’s willingness to drive in inclement weather, he may want to stick closer to his destination. Unlike here, they are prepared to drive in snow, and nothing shuts down.

As far as cool factor – Saratoga or Troy/Albany are the best bets. Albany wins in terms of size, venues, bars, but it is not the quaint town of Saratoga.

I hope this helps – let me know if you have any questions.

What about looking up a realtor in the yellow pages online? It's free for buyers. Sellers pay the commission.

wow, thanks tim! and good idea too, teresa. i dunno why my brother hasn't done that yet.