Any Thoughts on Hudson?

[Dockside]

Originally Posted by Florida>NY

I am a South Florida Native, looking to sell some properties and get out of this retarded state of Florida.

Just being nosey, why do you feel that way? My wife and I occasionally consider FL, but the crime stats put us off, to say nothing of the hurricanes, alligators and lightning. Hmm, maybe I just answered my own question. But...it sure is pretty down there.

[smileyone]

I own a few rental buildings in Hudson and I bought there because I love the people who are coming to the town, love how the town is developing, have plans to even open a new club there soon and have nothing but faith in the direction the town is going. The architecture is breathtaking, the restaurants are top drawer, the antiques range from museum quality to shabby chic, the new modern furniture and home-decor shops are the best I've seen anywhere and the atmosphere on the street is friendly and welcoming. Come any Sunday afternoon, walk Warren Street, hang out at the river, enjoy a meal and fall in love with one of America's Top Ten Coolest Small Towns (according to Budget Traveler anyway!).

[thunder94]

Originally Posted by smileyone

I own a few rental buildings in Hudson and I bought there because I love the people who are coming to the town, love how the town is developing, have plans to even open a new club there soon and have nothing but faith in the direction the town is going. The architecture is breathtaking, the restaurants are top drawer, the antiques range from museum quality to shabby chic, the new modern furniture and home-decor shops are the best I've seen anywhere and the atmosphere on the street is friendly and welcoming. Come any Sunday afternoon, walk Warren Street, hang out at the river, enjoy a meal and fall in love with one of America's Top Ten Coolest Small Towns (according to Budget Traveler anyway!).

Smiley..I am considering opening a business in Hudson,I would love to get some feedback from you about the town

[albanyny]

Originally Posted by Florida>NY

I am a South Florida Native, looking to sell some properties and get out of this retarded state of Florida. Then I want to reinvest where I can get some nice property(s) for a good price. I hear Hudson is cool, with lots of NYC influence like I'm used to here in SoFla. I need an area with an artsy, intellectual slant, but don't need a big city. Any thoughts about Hudson, or other good places? Thanks!

I worked in Hudson and really didn't see much there for me to want to live. Now if you drive up the northway to the adirondacks, that's so peaceful anyone would want to stay. Nice people. Hudson is close to Albany but another city I wouldn't want to live in. Try North. The people are just more pleasant. I drive 100 miles every weekend to see my mother. She lives in Mineville. Well worth the drive. And, not to mention, all the wildlife........PRICELESS!

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by igadget

when I was in Highschool I lived just (12 miles) outside of Hudson in Chatham. I used to bike in on Highway 66 on occasion, but It didnt strike me as an area I wanted to be, maybe I never saw the good areas driving though town heading for the private school I went to for a time or the train station. It seemed like a depressed area. It is the Columbia County seat, and like I said it is easilly 15 years since ive been there.

I spent about 3 hours in Chatham driving around seeing what was still in business, but in general Im glad I live in Rochester now. Nothing had really changed, dispite the fact there was a new strip mall south of town where the private telephone company and a large field used to be. It had a mcdonalds. When I was there, the nearest 'fast food chain' was a Dairy Queen in Ghent.

I would suggest pulling the CityData information if you havn't already, and also take a look at the Census Bureau Home Page web site as well for additional demographic inforation.

I hope you can take the cold, Upstate has that apenty. I would suggest visiting in the winter, say late January, early Feburary. The nearest airport for comercial flights is probably Albany. which is a good hour drive to Hudson. even on the thruway and crossing the river at the Rip Van Winkle bridge.

A broker told me houses go for 200 a sq ft in Chatham - pricey houses geared to NYC richies who pay cash for the houses..it is very expensive there are you sure this is the same Chatham you speak of?

What's austerlitz like? kinderhook? Where do the houses get cheaper but still close to the Berkshires? Thanks

[catchick30]

Columbia County is a great place, beautiful, quiet and low crime. There is plenty to do in and around Hudson. Hudson has been an antique town since I left in 98. I can see good change when I go home (and yes I STILL call it home even though i now live in NC).
I cant say Hudson is "artsy", at least it never struck me that way, but it is close to EVERYTHING. NYC is only 2hrs away. You've got the Catskills which offer an abundent aray of activities, Woodstock (very hippie town) minutes down the rd. Massachusettes is only a hope skip and jump, There you have Lennox and Springfield to mention a few. Vermont and Conneticut are only an hour or so away (closer when you know "back" roads). And for those that dont know Columbia County is the home of the late Edna St Vincent Millay, of which her estate is being run as an "ART COLONY" artist from all over the world stay a month. It is a beautiful beautiful area. To me the biggest down fall of Columbia County is the cold weather and snow up to your knees. And when I say cold try 0 - 15 as an average temp in Jan. I personally have lived in Greenport. I perfer the outskirts of Hudson in the Mountains where it is peaceful, plenty of wild life but plenty accessible to evrything. Hope my ramblings help.

[traveler73]

Ahh...Hudson, the first charted city in the US (1785) and was a vote away from becoming the state Capitol, so much history in that small town.

I grew up in Hudson, from 1979 to 1995. It was so much fun back then. Small town living yet it was only 2 hours from the largest city in the US and less than an hour from Albany. I have been all over the country and few areas can rival the beauty of the Hudson River valley.

Been back a few times since then and everytime I go back things change. Where there were once charming mom and pop grocery stores and department stores are now antique shops mostly owned by NYC people. It was a little secret town that has been spoiled and now is a weekend getaway for the rich city people and there antiques. (I'm not bitter...lol!!)

Cost of living used to be low because there were never any high paying jobs. Most people either took the train to NYC or drove to Albany for work. Now with the NYC people owning everything, the real estate prices and cost of living have gone through the roof and you can't live there on $35,000 anymore. Maybe that is by design. I have a feeling it will only get worse.

If you could have lived there when I did you would have seen a much different place, it was a better place back then in my opinion. Today, it's turned into a playground for rich NY'ers. It's a tourist spot now instead of that sleepy historic town that no one knew about. The things that made it a nice place, like the old city charm and natural beauty of the river and the Catsklll Mountains have ultimately done it in. (Kind of like what has happened in Florida.)

I'm sad at what has happened to my home town. But things change and life goes on. But hey, at least Hudson has a Wal-mart!

[poshaccent]

Let me revive this thread. I have just moved from Washington DC to Hudson area but I have lived all over the world and in some pretty rotten places. I moved to the area because I thought it was historically significant, rural but close to NYC. I have looked at houses from the Canadian border to Saranac Lake to, Canajoharie to Cooperstown to Schuyler Falls before I accidently found my house near Hudson.

I have to tell you there are two versions of Hudson which makes the entire enterprise fascinating to me. Its true this clearly was a small town made up of die-hard locals at one time. They still live here and man do they HATE the infusion of antique shops, NYers and the big GLBT scene. People are always telling me to avoid this or that place because 'they" go there - when I g there its just a trendy bar or resturant. I guess hip or expensive means gay to some people There is public housing at the western side of the town near the train station that is somewhat probelmatic (and where the police patrol heavily) for the refined tastes of some people but it is a racially and economically diverse small town. It has several espresso cafe's and hip bars which are populated with surprisingly hip local artists. As for the outsiders from NYC they run some of the larger businesses ... in the same space are diners, garages and lots of construction workers, contractors and hunters. I mean the town is really a wild variety of people... especially on weekends when the town becomes the NY state antique mecca. They have a farmers market most of the year too.

I moved here and never saw Hudson until I had to take a train to NYC (2 hours!) and was floored. So you have lots of culture, homey town feeling, racial and sexual diversity (though the low income African-Americans and poor whites are not integrated very well into town from what I can see) and a Wal-Mart society... all mashed together. Freaky. The area is dotted with lots of nice halmets including Stockport, Chatam, Ghent and the really historically nice Kinderhook. There is also strip-mall to the north, with all of the small business killing big box stores, called Greenport.

So I like the town allot. I got here in time for the Winter Carnival and hired a great contractor for my house. I am pretty pleased with myself for finding a nice small town. So if you want something small, culturally on par with a small hip neighborhood in NYC, rural but accessible to NYC and that has both a Tractor Supply and a French-speaking Cafe ... then Hudson is it. Did I mention the super cheap housing prices ... Sweet.