Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do not agree with the negativity expressed in some of the posts regarding Kingston. Clinton Ave is not all ghetto, but the portion that is in "Uptown" Kingston is mostly commercial. Kingston has its problems, but name me another small city that doesn't.
My husband and I moved to Kingston 25 years ago from California, and we have not regretted the move. When we finally retire we will remain in this area. I love the Uptown Farmer's Market and all the festivals. I'm really looking forward to the celtic festival this weekend.
I think everyone here means to be helpful and I hope you have/had a successful move.
Last edited by deja_vu; 08-29-2007 at 04:16 AM..
Reason: wording change
I grew up in Saugerties, and thus knew Kingston like the back of my hand. I got my degree from SUNY New Paltz and would recommend living around there rather than moving to Kingston. New Paltz just seemed a little more interesting somehow (college town) than the "whatever-it-was/-is" that Kingston was becoming and has become. I spent many years overseas both in the military and privately. I moved back home after 9/11 to give it "one more shot," and I must say that, in the end, I just left scratching my head after seeing the degradation of classic American towns like Kingston and Saugerties. I remember watching the tanks roll down Broadway with my father and uncles--all WWII vets--on the 4th of July. I remember walking alone down to Broadway from my aunt´s house (at 6 yrs old!) to get pixi sticks from the drugstore. When I went back with my little boy, I wouldn´t let him out of my sight alone for a minute--in Kingston, or anywhere else in NY for that matter. What has changed? Examples: When a nutcase shot up the mall a couple years back, a reporter asked the Mayor if it might have been gang related--"No...we don´t have those kinds of problems here!" I worked at an electronic security outfit in Kingston and checked out mid-town Kingston all night long through a powerful surveillance camera and watched the cops drive past the hookers and the crack heads all night long. What has changed? American society has changed. Nowhere else is it clearer than in small town America. Gangsters beside millionaires, cops and mayors getting fat (check out the county jail scandal), and Hillary Clinton using it all as a stepping stone to the Whitehouse (she hopes.) God save New York!
I grew up in Accord NY and I attended Kingston High School from 1995 to 1999. Since then, I have lived in five different states and fourty other communties before landing in Tennessee. And I must say, Ulster County NY is the worst place I have ever lived, especially Kingston. Even when I started high school there- and that was 12 years ago!- the gangs were already in full force. Black gangs prowl the hallways of the school, and White children are victimized unless they join one of these groups. The police force is completely ineffective in that city. Go down by the waterfront on a Friday or Saturday night, just start driving down Broadway. The King's Inn is crack central. When i was in school, I was forced to carry protection on me, as I was not in a gang. Oh, and I lived in Stony Run, a "nice" part of Kingston, outside of the town centre, where I was jumped by three other youths, two black and one white, on my way home from work one night. Simply because I was not in a gang. And that is a nice middle-class apartment complex. Don't let size fool you. Kingston is not as bad as Newburgh or the city, but it is nowhere near the size of those places, either. The facts speak for themselves , people. Income is about 75% of the state average-- once IBM shut down, so did all the good jobs... The only local work consists of retail or food service, and that pays nothing... Even in 1999, my rent was $800 a month, and now in TN, I pay $400 a month, for a nice place... Not only is the income level much lower than NY, but the taxes are high, even for NY... The school system is pathetic, so the money is not even being used wisely....
Cyberstation IS NOT an amusement park, it is a video arcade where children sell drugs... Poverty level is high for NY
Okay. this is reffering to the person who wrote this post below. First of all. Exit 19 is NOT a gang. ALL my friends are in this so called "gang" and to get this one thing straight it's a car club. everyone in tha club hasto have a Honda, and at least a Turbo put into it. So please get your facts straight before you say its a gang, because everyone in it, alls we talk about is cars. nobody would hurt a fly.
NOW. about Kingston. I lived here my whole life, and ive been everywhere around here, including the "ghettos." Kingston honestly isnt that bad. sure, there are some places that are a little shady, but its actually a pretty nice place to live. I useto live on the worst street in Kingston, (Henry St.) , and honestly if you mind your own business and dont go looking for trouble...there will be no trouble.
ALSO. that "300 pound gangbanger" would be my bestfriend. and ex boyfriend. First of all, lets get this one straight. he has never been to jail. also YEAH he was responsible for the whole KKK rally, but mabe you should know that the kid that got punched, was the biggest racist in the KHS and called him a "big dumb ****** that should be killed and lynched." I know this kid better than anyone, and he isnt the kind of person to let somebody sit there and put him down. and he IS big, so thats probably why the kid got hurt so badly. He shouldnt have said that, and he wouldnt have gotten hit. I remember one time we were driving around in his car, and stopped at a gas station to talk to his cousin, and there was a moth in the car.So i told him. He freaked out,jumped out of the car,and made his cousin kill it before he would get back in the car. He is the biggest teddy bear I know,and even thought he DOES look like a "thug" and a 300 pound "gangster" but he really isnt.he wouldnt fight unless hes forced to.
And the shooting of Henry St, where JR got killed, had NOTHING to do with gangs. i was also close with him, too.
it was over a girl.not a color.
K, now that you know the facts a little better... hope you like Kingston!
Well I hope you can handle it, here it goes... First, Do NOT move to Clinton Ave. even the "nicer" parts are on the brink of the ghetto. The whole midtown area is dangerous, there was a fatal shooting (of a 16 year old) a few blocks away on Henry St. in January, and a recent drive- by also on Henry St. There is an encroaching gang element of "bloods", "Cripts", and some weird gang called "exit-19" (referring to Kingston's NYS thruway exit). The police here are poorly trained for these situations and are scared themselves, if you call them about a fight in progress they will tell you to go outside and get information.
The best areas of Kingston are not in the city proper, but in the surrounding towns such as Esopus, Town of Ulster, Lake Katrine, Certain "parts" of Port Ewen (River road), Ulster Park, West Park, Hurley, Stone Ridge and parts of Saugerties. Benedictine is a good hospital, but has just been forced to merge with Kingston Hospital, so I hope it can maintain the same level of excellence.
The high school is mediocre at best. There are many gangs in the school, overcrowded and has some "racial issues". Last year, a white kid was beaten up by a black kid, and the KKK and other white supremacist groups came to Kingston to protest. Though I must say Kingston did repel them quite well.
If you do choose to live within the city limits :-0 just remember stay away from midtown, especially if you have teenage children. Use caution with Downtown there are Jamaican gangs, and Broadway East a very large low- income Project. Uptown is the best choice around Linderman Ave, Washington Ave., Emerson St., Miller's lane, Merritt Ave. Mountain View, Ringtop and Overlook Rd. Though around Benedictine is also very nice, the best streets include : Mary's Ave, Pine Grove, West O'Reilly, Andrews st. ,West Chester st. and I've saved the best for last *West Chestnut Street. These are very close to the high school and the hospital--- and there are no gangs.
I hope you look into Kingston more and read some of the newspapers like the Daily Freeman (midhudsoncentral.com). If you really want to find out what the neighborhood is like ask the realtor for the name, and address (if possible a phone number) of a neighbor and ask them about the area. Best of luck with your search and welcome to the area.
Okay. this is reffering to the person who wrote this post below. First of all. Exit 19 is NOT a gang. ALL my friends are in this so called "gang" and to get this one thing straight it's a car club. everyone in tha club hasto have a Honda, and at least a Turbo put into it. So please get your facts straight before you say its a gang, because everyone in it, alls we talk about is cars. nobody would hurt a fly.
NOW. about Kingston. I lived here my whole life, and ive been everywhere around here, including the "ghettos." Kingston honestly isnt that bad. sure, there are some places that are a little shady, but its actually a pretty nice place to live. I useto live on the worst street in Kingston, (Henry St.) , and honestly if you mind your own business and dont go looking for trouble...there will be no trouble.
ALSO. that "300 pound gangbanger" would be my bestfriend. and ex boyfriend. First of all, lets get this one straight. he has never been to jail. also YEAH he was responsible for the whole KKK rally, but mabe you should know that the kid that got punched, was the biggest racist in the KHS and called him a "big dumb ****** that should be killed and lynched." I know this kid better than anyone, and he isnt the kind of person to let somebody sit there and put him down. and he IS big, so thats probably why the kid got hurt so badly. He shouldnt have said that, and he wouldnt have gotten hit. I remember one time we were driving around in his car, and stopped at a gas station to talk to his cousin, and there was a moth in the car.So i told him. He freaked out,jumped out of the car,and made his cousin kill it before he would get back in the car. He is the biggest teddy bear I know,and even thought he DOES look like a "thug" and a 300 pound "gangster" but he really isnt.he wouldnt fight unless hes forced to.
And the shooting of Henry St, where JR got killed, had NOTHING to do with gangs. i was also close with him, too. it was over a girl.not a color.
K, now that you know the facts a little better... hope you like Kingston!
Exactley i have lived in midtown kingston (henry street,O'neil street) and every thing is fine just not so pretty sure there are a few gangs but they arent violent(not compared to anywhere else)
just dont go out looking for trouble on broadway at 12 o clock and youll be fine.
ps im a white dude
Kingston is a strange place. It's probably the only city of its size with an uptown, a midtown and a downtown. Uptown is where the charming 19th century houses are and downtown (also called the Roundout) is the old restored commercial area with lots of bars and restaurants. I like uptown and downtown.
Midtown, however, is a dump. So don't live in midtown.
The posts here are ridiculously negative. They make Kingston sound like Newark, Camden or East St. Louis. Kingston is not that bad, and it has some very nice things going for it.
Deja, you are mistaken--- I can name a small city without that problem- Sparta TN- there is no gangs there, and it is about the same size as Kingston, about 30,000 people or so. And Marticus, you want to know what happened? All the decent Americans are leaving the northeast. By decent, I mean those who work for a living. When and where the jobs go, so do they. If you want to see real America, come down south, or head out west. I have been gone from NY now for 7 years (except when I tried to come back for 6 months due to family reasons), and I dont miss it a day. I dont miss the nasty people, the gangs, the nightly gunfire, the trigger happy police, the welfare deadbeats, the taxes, the rent, stepping in piles of dog crap on the street or in the park. The only thing I can say I miss is the pizza and the bagels. I hate telling people Im from NY here, because they think Im "one of those people." And I hate to say it, they have a point. I never met anyone from NY who was decent--- until I moved here.
Deja, you are mistaken--- I can name a small city without that problem- Sparta TN- there is no gangs there, and it is about the same size as Kingston, about 30,000 people or so. And Marticus, you want to know what happened? All the decent Americans are leaving the northeast. By decent, I mean those who work for a living. When and where the jobs go, so do they. If you want to see real America, come down south, or head out west. I have been gone from NY now for 7 years (except when I tried to come back for 6 months due to family reasons), and I dont miss it a day. I dont miss the nasty people, the gangs, the nightly gunfire, the trigger happy police, the welfare deadbeats, the taxes, the rent, stepping in piles of dog crap on the street or in the park. The only thing I can say I miss is the pizza and the bagels. I hate telling people Im from NY here, because they think Im "one of those people." And I hate to say it, they have a point. I never met anyone from NY who was decent--- until I moved here.
There's a great solution for the original poster. Move to Sparta, TN!! Dude, where do you think the murder rate is higher, in Tennesee or New York? In Memphis or in NYC?
Gotta go. A welfare deadbeat is outside my door shooting off his handgun and letting his dog crap on my property.
My husband was offered a good job at Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, New York. We plan on looking into moving there in July. We've looked at houses in the area and we were interested in house that was on a street called Clinton Ave., I believe it was. I have a 16 year old son and a 14 year old daughter, so I would like to know if the schools are good, along with the area. We are not set on purchasing the house, but we liked the look of the house, the only problem is we've only seen pictures of JUST the house. We have no clue about the area surrounding the house. We would like to visit the area first before making our decision. So please if you have any advice on Kingston, I would greatly appreciate it.(schools, taxes, crime/violence, malls, etc.) I wouldn't mind looking into surrounding areas of Kingston also. Thank You!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
If you can stand having to lock your doors 24/7 and worry about your car radio being stolen... then yes, Clinton ave is wonderful. I lived about 2 blocks from that street and its pretty bad... not to mention raisng teenagers there; lets just say the kids are not the best influences. Alot of them are gang involved. Just last year my younger cousin got jumped at the kingston city mall, nad had all of her things stolen (money, purse, cell phone, jewlery, etc...) a week later on christmas eve, her cousin got jumped for telling the cops at the mall who was involved. He was severly beaten, and wound up in the hospital. The funny thing is? The court system did NOTHING about it. If you want to have to worry about your kids even when they are in school? Kingston is THE place.
First of all, obviously, you know nothing of geography. Yes, Memphis is in Tennessee, but Memphis is five hours west of Sparta, about the same distance Albany is from the city. I am not saying anywhere is perfect, and Kingston isn't the worst, but it is damn near so. The only place worse I have lived is Williamsport, PA. Perfect example of this.
Recently, I placed a call to the administration of Kingston High School, as my diploma was misplaced several years ago, and I need a new copy. Despite it being 10 am on a Monday- a work day, I was transferred between several voicemail sub-systems before reaching an actual person. As soon as she picked up the phone, I could tell she was from downstate. The attitude from her, was as if I was some dumb southerner. When I started quoting law at her, she quickly changed her tune, and she did as I requested, after several veiled threats of legal action.
The problem with New York is that it essentially should be two seperate states. Upstate was farms, factories, mining, and lumber; downstate is money-changing, money-laundering, crack, coke, dope, smuggling, and usury. Now, of course, that is changing, as the city people move north, and those of us who are young and unconnected enough to do so, escape for more oppurtune climes. So eventually the whole state will collapse. I just feel bad for those, such as my grandmother, who are unable to leave.
Kingston used to be nice, just as Poughkeepsie and Newburgh used to be, before the crap from the city started showing up.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why not New Paltz?
Kingston...
