Thoughts on Peekskill? (Hastings, Hudson: low income, section 8, transplants)

[Americasman]

The good or the bad? Is it a good place to raise a family?

[Breezy300]

I'm wondering the same thing. Did you wind up moving there or ever get any answers?

Thanks!

[mainelander]

Its a cesspool! do not move there!

[cali_to_nj]

There are several existing threads about Peekskill that you can peruse for info:

//www.city-data.com/forum/westc...ekskill-4.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/westc...peekskill.html

[sxebmx]

We moved to Peekskill from Brooklyn last spring because we were having a baby and didn't want to have a child in the city. Our experience has been pretty good.

The commute:
I commute to Midtown Manhattan daily, fortunately my office is only a few blocks from Grand Central, and my commute is ~ an hour and 15 minutes (we live in downtown Peekskill, I walk to the train.) The parks and community are pretty great.
Kids:
There are a good amount of young families and city transplants, though there are just as many if not more less desirable neighbors and areas. If you are moving because you have kids, be wary about the schools.
Overall:
We have a few years before they matter, and are up in the air as to wether or not to buy in Peekskill, but we feel that there are enough young 'hip' people working their way up there, as it is the last affordable town on the Hudson in Westchester, so it will have to gentrify itself sooner or later...

[mainelander]

Yeah peekskill is definitely getting the hipster treatment, but it doesnt always take, especially since its impossible to dislodge to WIC card crackhead families deeply ensconced there. Id still not let my wife walk into the parking garage after 8 pm alone

[grouse789]

Just curioius. Why not move into one of the surrounding towns/areas? (cortland manor/yorktown)

[dma1250]

As a Brooklynite I always find the posts about Peekskill to be rather shocking. Peekskill today is pretty much identical to what most of Brownstone Brooklyn was like 10 years ago--and what a lot of it is like today. Gentrification is generally measured in amenities, and Peekskill boasts an array of coffee houses, microbreweries, farm to table restaurants, and music venues that many brownstone brooklyn hoods would kill for. It certainly has a good deal of poor people and urban grit, but that's what makes it appealing to hipsters. (By definition, hipsters require a degree of urban grit to validate their hipness--which is why no real hipster would ever consider a place like Hastings!). As for WIC families, most brownstone Brooklyn nabes in which houses start at over a million still have huge populations of section 8 residents--it's part of what keeps it real. Personally, I moved out of Brooklyn in order get what the city can't offer (natural beauty, land, and privacy for starters) and I wouldn't consider living in Peekskill (or anywhere south of 281), but I love having Peekskill just 15 minutes away and I go there often when I need a fix of urban cool.

[dma1250]

I just heard about another cool looking place opening in Peekskill, The Yellow Brick Road Cafe, right across the street from the Riverfront Green and the train station (and across from Dylan's Wine Cellar):

https://www.facebook.com/TheYellowBrickCafe

Page say it is opening this week.

[Yoowanna]

Peekskill is beginning to show signs of rapid improvement over the past few years. It's not a cesspool, yet it's no Mt Kisco either. It offers many lucrative affordable housing, plus a newly developed condo complex facing the river. It's probably a good starter town for young couples looking to get a taste of the suburbs, along with many cultural offerings, albeit a line of some pretty highly zagat rated restaurants and bars. The overall perception has been negative over the years, but many newcomers are making this a pretty cool town despite it's low income pocket areas and lower rated schools.