montana transplants (Peekskill, Hyde Park, Depew: real estate, apartments, to rent)

[michael11747]

hello, i was born and raised on long island and moved to bozeman, mt when i was in my early 20's. we love it out here, the scenery, the hiking, climbing, biking, road trips, ghost towns, etc... but after the bankruptcy of the yellowstone club, all construction has ceased and we need to move back east. although i am originally from new york, it has been about 7 years since i have lived there, and i have hardly any experience in westchester county, or further upstate.

so my question is this: what would be the best outdoorsy town, with decent real estate to purchase and fix, about 1-2 hours from the city, and with some down to earthy people?

we are looking hard at peekskill because it seems like an awesome investment, and is close to good hiking. i have heard a lot about new paltz, but it is a little far off. our plans are to take our business back east, and invest so jobs are not an issue. we would like to be near a college town, since we are still in our twenties, and want to be around people our age. no suggestions on long island please, i hate it there.

so to sum it all up:
-fairly priced real estate (run down areas are ok)
-outdoors! the more hiking the better
-young people, with as much diversity as possible
-jobs not an issue
-1-2 hours from NYC

i have always found this site to have the best advice on real estate, and moving to other places, hands down, on the whole wide web, so i am excited to hear from you! thanks, mike.

[Viralmd]

It would really help if you gave us the budget you're working with.

[michael11747]

well i am looking for handyman specials. for a handyman special in peekskill, they are running 150-250k. it does not matter what the price is as long as they are a good deal. i know the prices in the area, just looking for ideas about cool places to live. thanks, mike.

[michael11747]

let's just run a ballpark figure of 500k for multi families, 150-250k for a run down single family.

[dma1250]

Peekskill is probably the best bet for that price, unless you want to look a lot further north in Beacon or Hudson. Or perhaps Brewster and Pawling. But Peekskill does have what you seem to be after--great old houses in need of work that sell for very little, an artsy community, and great hiking.

[michael11747]

peekskill seems like the place. we are very nervous to leave montana. we are used to having millions of acres of wilderness literally in our backyard. i remember going to camp in the catskills when i was a kid, and remember it as a jungle paradise in the summer so i am trying to stay optimistic.

what is the hiking like? where can you go to get away from humans? do people hunt much out there? if i were to pull into a gas station with a whitetail bleeding out of it's mouth, would someone call the police? i never remember seeing dead animals on trailers when i was a kid. not once in my 18 years in new york.

pawling and brewster are too far north for us. it's also hard to rent apartments out there from what i gather. anything else comparable to peekskill? thanks again, mike.

[havoc315]

There are wonderful areas further upstate, but in your geographic range, Peekskill is likely the best bet. You won't have a tremendous amount of wilderness in your "backyard," but you will have plenty of options in reasonable driving range.

[bmwguydc]

Peekskill, I agree, does seem to have what you want closer in to the city. If you want to go further into the Hudson Valley, I would check into Cold Spring, New Paltz, and Hyde Park, which are closer to your maximum preferred distance from the city.

[dma1250]

Peekskill's main park (Depew Park) adjoins the 1,500 acre Blue Mountain Reservation. So you can actually walk from your house into the woods. For more serious hiking, Anthony's Nose is just about 5-10 minutes north; Fahnstock Park is about 15-20 minutes; Bear Mountain/Harriman State Park is about 15. Those are the biggest nearby that I know of. You can also get the Appalachian Trail east of Cold Spring (about 15 minutes north of Peekskill).

This map lists hiking trails. You can zoom in an area: Hudson Valley Hiking - Hikes

[oberon_1]

Just one little detail omitted from previous posts: Peekskill is next door to an Indian point...