Pine Plains - opinions please (Poughkeepsie, East Fishkill: house, buying, place to live)

[musiclovers]

Hello. We've lurked here for a few months but now we need help.

We're thinking of buying in PP (teehee) but need some encouragement. Rhinebeck looks wonderful and we've been tempted to buy there, but the PP house is much better than what we could buy in Rhinebeck (as we would want a village location and not an isolated rural one), and we love the idea of swimming/fishing in the nearby lakes and pond. But would we kick ourselves down the road for choosing the wrong place?

Quite a few small eateries have opened in the main area of Pine Plains; is this growth expected to continue? Someone told us it could be "the next Rhinebeck". I know this is probably a great exaggeration, but is there a touch of culture in this little village, apart from the Stissing restaurant? And we're aware of major developments currently being evaluated, and zoning laws being established. Any insights on this would be wonderful.

Finally, is a commute from PP to Hopewell/East Fishkill a ridiculous idea, or just a little on the long side.

Any help would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by musiclovers

Hello. We've lurked here for a few months but now we need help.

We're thinking of buying in PP (teehee) but need some encouragement. Rhinebeck looks wonderful and we've been tempted to buy there, but the PP house is much better than what we could buy in Rhinebeck (as we would want a village location and not an isolated rural one), and we love the idea of swimming/fishing in the nearby lakes and pond. But would we kick ourselves down the road for choosing the wrong place?

Quite a few small eateries have opened in the main area of Pine Plains; is this growth expected to continue? Someone told us it could be "the next Rhinebeck". I know this is probably a great exaggeration, but is there a touch of culture in this little village, apart from the Stissing restaurant? And we're aware of major developments currently being evaluated, and zoning laws being established. Any insights on this would be wonderful.

Finally, is a commute from PP to Hopewell/East Fishkill a ridiculous idea, or just a little on the long side.

Any help would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi - I think it will all depend on what you are actually looking for - both places have their own pros/cons. I grew up in Pine Plains and then moved to Rhinebeck. Both towns have been growing (as well as the rest of Dutchess County). Pine Plains could be the next Rhinebeck - both areas are attracting more and more people from NYC and that is influencing many things in both towns. PP to Hopewell/East Fishkill is a long commute - my uncle did it for years before the population and traffic exploded, as did many people. IBM in Fishkill/Poughkeepsie/Kingston was the "big employer" for the area at that time. I'm not sure what the major employer is for people in PP now, with all the IBM "resource actions."

As for which place to live, it will depend on what you are looking for - I would suggest you talk to the people who currently live in both places and see which town "feels" like the right fit for you. I believe Rhinebeck still has the minutes of their board meetings, etc., on line which often discuss new plans for the town - I'm not sure if PP has that or not - if it does, you could read through those and get a sense of what is planned/projected for each area.

Rhinebeck is more "accessible" for any traveling (IMO)- close to both the Thruway and Taconic as well as the train. Pine Plains has easy access to the Taconic.

I don't know if this has helped you in any way or not, but I hope it did - we left NYS last year, so I'm "out of the loop" on most of what is currently going on in the area......

[musiclovers]

Thanks windchimes, your comments were helpful and we'll try and meet some residents and see what they have to say.