[Kelly] Kulick, a 29-year-old from Union, N.J., works part time in her father's shop, KBF Auto Body, in neighboring Elizabeth. For about five hours a day, she sits on a ripped and soiled desk chair in her office, handling dusty paperwork. Sometimes, she rolls up her sleeves and fixes fenders or bangs out dents.

This fall, though, Kulick will trade her life at the shop, where she is the lone woman surrounded by men, for a life on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, where she will be the lone woman surrounded by men.

At a tournament last week, she became the first woman to qualify for a season-long exemption on the P.B.A. Tour, a 20-event circuit that begins in October. She likened her accomplishment to Billie Jean King's victory over Bobby Riggs in tennis, but better, because that was a one-shot deal.

"I do pretty well against the men, maybe because working at the shop has made me tough," said Kulick, the only employee who wears pearl earrings and makeup...

Kulick does not rub it in that she can beat men, but there is evidence that she is proud of it, like the ring tone on her cellphone, Martina McBride's "This One's for the Girls."

And Kulick's mother, Carol, described the pep talks she gave her daughter during the qualifying tournament.

"What's better, testosterone or estrogen?" Carol Kulick asked Kelly over the phone.

"Estrogen!" Kelly answered.

"Who's going to be the first woman on the Tour?" Carol asked.

"I am!" Kelly answered.

Upstate New York is staggering from an accelerating exodus of young adults, new census results show. The migration is turning many communities grayer, threatening the long-term viability of ailing cities and raising concerns about the state's future tax base.
From 1990 to 2004, the number of 25-to-34-year-old residents in the 52 counties north of Rockland and Putnam declined by more than 25 percent. In 13 counties that include cities like Buffalo, Syracuse and Binghamton, the population of young adults fell by more than 30 percent...
"Make no mistake: this is not business as usual," Robert G. Wilmers, the chairman of M & T Bank in Buffalo, told his shareholders this spring. "The magnitude and duration of population loss among the young is unprecedented in our history. There has never been a previous 10-year period in the history of the upstate region when there has been any decline in this most vital portion of our population."
In New York City and the five suburban counties in New York State, the number of people ages 18 to 44 increased by 1.5 percent in the 1990's. Upstate, it declined by 10 percent.

....In almost every place upstate, emigration rates were highest among college graduates, producing a brain drain, according to separate analyses of census results for The New York Times by two demographers, William Frey of the Brookings Institution and Andrew A. Beveridge of Queens College of the City University of New York. Among the nation's large metropolitan areas, Professor Frey said, Buffalo and Rochester had the highest rates of what he called "bright flight."
Irwin L. Davis, president of the Metropolitan Development Association in Syracuse, which promotes economic growth in central New York, said, "We're educating them and they're leaving."
And Gary D. Keith, vice president and regional economist for M & T Bank, said, "Sluggish job growth is the biggest driver of out-migration among young upstate adults."
The decline in the 1990's in the population ages 18 to 44 of the 52-county upstate region was "chilling," he said.
"When the jobs don't grow, the people go," Mr. Keith said.

• Gates Circle, above the Curves for Women: great looking 2nd floor apartment, secure garage parking, heat included in rent. Two doors south of Hutch's. But as Nikki from (damn, forgot the restaurant--little diner joint on west side of Elmwood with outdoor seating) said, would you actually walk anywhere from there?

• Hodge, a half block W of Delaware, third floor apt mentioned in earlier post... big heating bills and weird parking restrictions that would force us to do some jockeying on a parked-up street near the hospital. Gorgeous apartment except for the kitchen which is still OK.

• W. Utica near the corner of Norwood, a very nice and well-maintained fully updated apartment. Security system, exclusive off street parking off a common alleyway, great new appliances. First floor, though, closer to west side, and some road noise from W. Utica including the buses.

• St. James Place, a block or so in (one way street) -- the dark horse candidate. Best address of the 4 in my estimation, just a great street. Place needs work though. New homeowners and a scary kitchen, which blows b/c we like to cook. Some rooms painted wacky colors (we could change them if we're willing to paint). Old appliances, on-street parking only. Beautiful front porch.