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So I was just offered a job in ulster county..Kingston, NY to be exact ... Im looking for a home somewhere near there that has a low crime rate n good schools New Paltz Highland and Fishkill are areas that I have been looking into some of these schools are pretty good and well the crime rate is low overall... But I do notice these areas have about a 4-10% African American population. I will like to know if there is a lot of racism in these areas? I do understand anywhere u go u will have to deal with it from time to time, but I am a mother of 3 boys 1,7 and 16 and this is not something I want them to have to deal with on a everyday basis..Please help me out here ...I have 3 weeks to move.
I am not African American but am a minority and may be able to give some insight. Kingston is fairly diverse and more so than New Paltz or Fishkill. I do not think that your family will experience racism on a regular basis but your family may still have negative experiences. As you pointed out it may be time to time experiences. For instance if your 16 year old son drives a nice car or you live in a "nice" neighborhood he may draw the attention of local police. It would likely be "where do you live, where are you going" etc. My significant other who is a minority experienced that while walking to her luxury car in an upscale community in Newburgh.
If you are looking for diverse school districts Newburgh is very diverse and has a somewhat undeserved bad reputation. Their school district is large and covers beautiful neighborhoods in the Town of Newburgh and very poor neighborhoods in the City of Newburgh. Its a fairly easy commute to Kingston which is just 2 extis north on the thruway. The schools are what you make of them and they offer many AP courses and after school activities. Poughkeepsie is also a very diverse school district and much like Newburgh covers nice areas and poor areas. It is also close to Kingston.
Fishkill is more of a suburb of NYC with a lot of fairly new upscale housing. New Paltz is a college town and more rural. Each town has all the conviences close by. New Paltz has a very progressive hippie vibe and has beautiful natural surroundings. New Paltz is a very popular weekend destination, and Main St. becomes a parking lot on the weekends. Being a college town there are a lot of bars in town and lots of college kids walking around. It is also a lot closer to Kingston than Fishkill. Fishkill is an easier/closer trip into NYC if thats important.
You may want to look at Woodstock which is very close to Kingston and I'm assuming has a good school disrict. Cool little town if a but touristy. Rhinebeck is a beautuful town but not very diverse but again I assume they have good schools.
Hope that helps.
I would consider Kingston itself. The community is reasonably diverse. Plenty of amenities nearby and a variety of housing stock which is surprisingly affordable. The schools vary by area at the elementary level, and while the high school has its challenges it does provide a solid education and graduates do successfully move on to college and careees. I echo the above comments about possible racial profiling in specific situations. I am not of color myself but I have had a couple of instances of being targeted for being an outlier in that area.
In general, in the mid Hudson area, the best performing schools are Red Hook and New Paltz. Neither is particularly diverse although NP is slightly more so than RH.
I would very strongly suggest against looking in Columbia County.
I guess I am biased with my choice since I chose to live in New Paltz with my family. I agree with the poster above that New Paltz and Red Hook are the top schools in the mid-Hudson valley (the only two districts I would think of putting my kids in). I am also biased to New Paltz Schools since I work for the district. My wife works for Kingston schools and it can't compare to New Paltz. My daughter is a senior in NP HS and she has had opportunities academically that you could not get in any other school districts in the county. As a senior she has taken or is currently taking 11 AP classes, has taken a foreign language (French) since kindergarten (currently on French 4 at the college level for college credit), 3 engineering classes for college credit,... . We had are once a year fight in the HS last week. In the Kingston HS there seems to be a fight every day.
The downside to New Paltz schools are they are only around 20% minority. Also, New Paltz property values are high compared to other towns in the region. Many homes in New Paltz are second homes for people from Manhattan etc. Even the full time residents are not home grown. Most of us moved up here from LI, Westchester, NYC, etc.
If you truly want a school district that is more diverse I would definitely chose Kingston over Newburgh. Avoid Newburgh at all costs.
Perhaps Marlboro, Wallkill and Spackenkill just outside of Poughkeepsie may work. Perhaps Valley Central, Saugerties and Hyde Park are worth a look as well.
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