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Hello Everyone,
I am in desperate need of some local help for a decision to move to Poughkeepsie or Rhinebeck. I am a single mother with a two year old toddler. I moved from the city to get my son out of being micromanaged all the time to go outside and to give him the ability to live in nature. We moved to Pine Plains and although we have acreage we have NO community and we have to drive to everything which I hate.
I have good food connections up here as I am big into farm raised and organic food and we currently have a CSA through the winter that we love.
I have to move as my ex is kicking us out of our house. So I am stressed and faced with a tough decision. I was not able to find any childcare help in Pine Plains and I am trying to finish my thesis so I need to find something asap!
Rhinebeck is walkable and digestible to me. I have been there a few times, but I do not see many programs or things for my toddler to do. The Montessori requires him to be 3 years old and there is a dayschool program that might work, but it seems like slim pickings. Then the library there has programs for older kids or the ones that they have are during my son's nap time. There is a pottery place and there is a maternity story, but other than that I am not in the loop. I am a 35 year old mother. Are there easy ways for parents to meet up? Any information would be soooo helpful. I found an apartment right in town and I can walk or bike with my son to everything which I love. But the apartment does not have a washer and dryer and is fairly small so visitors will be limited. But I can walk to a community garden to grow vegetables in which is huge for me and I am right behind the farmers market and they have one that goes year round and we still remain close to the farms that we now love and know.
VS.
Poughkeepsie
I found an apartment on South Cherry street that is very spacious. It has a washer and dryer. It has a backyard as well. I can walk with my son to a playground and there is the library near which seems to have excellent programs for kids. There is Vasser College and a Montessori nearby that both have programs for my son before he is three and there is perhaps more opportunity for me to find work in the schools (I used to teach) so that I can continue to be with my son, but also begin to do something for myself. There is a farmers market but it is seasonal. The drawback is that the city seems a little bleak to me from the outside. It does not really inspire me to get out and walk around much. It also seems big and like I would need to be in my car all the time. However, it seems there is more potential to meet parents through meetup groups and there is a high chance of finding some childcare fairly quickly to help me so I can get my thesis finished. I can plant vegetables in the yard, but I would need to take the time to get it all established. I would have to drive up to where we are now to pick up our CSA.
Sounds like you are looking for city amenities in the country. Why then move to Rhinebeck? There are no programs there where paid instructors will teach toddlers how to traverse its hiking trails, identify the wide array of flora and fauna, enjoy the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, chose locally-grown ingredients for home cooking and how to work in a barn. Those are the amenities that Rhinebeck has to offer and only the parents and guardians can expose the kids to all that.
The parenting community in Red Hook is a bit more cohesive IMO. There is a very active facebook group (search red hook moms) that may be able to help with childcare and activity suggestions.
Off the top of my head, I know there is a local kindermusik program, and a handful of preschools that accept 2 year olds. There used to be some swim classes and preschool arts programs at Bard, but I have no idea if those still exist. There may be mommy and me yoga classes in Rhinebeck. There are plenty of playgrounds - you'd be able to walk to a couple of them from the center of the village. 2 is a tough age for organized activities unless you are in a full time daycare or preschool program. It's nice to not have to worry about the pressure though.
Living in one of the villages will allow you to get out and walk, get coffee, work in the community garden or grab lunch, and that's a great gift to have, but you are going to have to compromise and spend some time in the car.
Given the choice, I would pick Rhinebeck over Poughkeepsie even if I had to commute to Poughkeepsie.
This reply is a tad late but, Rhinebeck and Poughkeepsie are two different worlds. Rhinebeck is a beautiful small town that has been untouched by the decay of the rest of NY state, and there's lots of rich folk that live there also.
Poughkeepsie is a crime ridden dump, just like most upstate NY towns, thanks to importing "diversity" from NYC, if you catch my drift.
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