The Times has done it again. Declaring the next big thing ten years after the fact. They’ve written yet another article about how the Hudson Valley and certain towns are super hip right now. The new Brooklyn, of course. I feel the need to weigh in on this since I considered and moved to Beacon after a 2004 article hyping the town.
Let me begin by clarifying that I’m not blaming The Times for my move to Beacon. I was tired of Brooklyn at the time and wanted a better quality of life. I stayed for 6 years so there had to have been something I liked about it.
Instead of picking apart the article, I’ll just fill you in on my take on the situation. My usual kvetchfest about upstate.
Yes, there are wonderful antique shops. They tend to only open up a few days per week.
The galleries lining Main Street are great! Too bad it’s the same artists over and over again.
Some great restaurants opened during the years I was living in the Hudson Valley. I’d guessimate that 3 out of 5 of them closed within a year or two.
I can go on, but you get the point. Those towns upstate are always on the verge of gentrification but they never quite arrive. Nothing wrong with that. I’m no yuppy who wants to live in a totally gentrified area. Crap, that’s the reason I left Park Slope! But I do like to have a choices.
Maybe the hubby and I had a bad attitude while living up there. We were the only ones complaining while all the other newcomers loved it. Since moving back to Brooklyn a year ago, we feel alive again. The restaurants, museums, shows, concerts are all at our fingertips. We can do whatever we want, when we want. That’s something we took for granted prior to moving to greener pastures all those years ago.
So, are Brookynites really moving up there in droves? My real estate broker says that 90% of his home buyers are coming from Brooklyn. That doesn’t mean they are from Brooklyn. They lived here briefly. I met one other native Brooklynite in the 6 years I lived in Beacon. That might explain why my feelings differ from most other folks living up there. If you grew up in the big city, it’s really hard to leave that behind. Eventually, small town living just started to suck the life out of me. People from small towns and suburbs probably feel that way about cities.
So, thinking of moving to the Hudson Valley? If you’ve been a city dweller all your life, my advice would be to keep your options open back home. I’m all about weekend places. It’s nice to get some fresh air and escape the rat race every now and then! In fact, next week we’re renting a place in Red Hook (NOT Brooklyn) so look for more upstate posts.
Thankfully, I’ll be writing them from the prospective of a weekender.
