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And here we thought Portland was the new Brooklyn! It turns out that an upstate town called Rosendale is the new Brooklyn. “This depressed former cement manufacturing town of 6,400 has lately had a steady influx of creative freelancers with 917, 718 and 646 area-code cellphones,” writes the New York Times this morning. “Some hop on the bus for the hour-and-forty-five-minute ride to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, others telecommute, and many have traded in their office jobs for less psychically demanding ones in landscaping or food service while they pursue their music or art on the side.” If you’ve ever driven through Rosendale’s main street, though, it’s not hard to see why it’s been attracting Williamsburg types, especially at a time when the urban woodsman look is sweeping Kings County. The average house price of $201,797 clearly doesn’t hurt either.
90 Miles Upstate, a Brooklyn Feel [NY Times]
Photo by emptyhighway


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  1. there maybe a few that commute from place like this but really not many – especially the 9 to 5 types.
    And can find plenty of props for under $200k. All depends on what looking for.

  2. did vinca wake up on wrong side of bed? All brownstoner did was link an article from nytimes that he thought readers might find interesting. he had no comment on it.
    geez. grouch.

    we all know these are fluff pieces from nytimes, nymag, wherever and we can make fun of them.

  3. Brownstoner, get a clue. Brooklyn existed before you moved to Brooklyn, Philadelphia existed before you moved to Brooklyn, Portland existed before you moved to Brooklyn, upstate NY existed before you moved to Brooklyn. Before a new crop of Brooklynites overcame their aversion to crossing the East River bridges (but most not yet overcome their aversion to crossing Caton Avenue), all these places existed. They’ve neither been birthed, reborn, nor will they live or die solely by virtue of having crossed your consciousness.

  4. The house we rented was owned by a young family based in Riverdale. It was their weekend/summer place. They rented it out one month a year. It was one of those fantastic Dutch stone farmhouses you see in the area. Beautiful gardens, a pool… I can see why there are a lot of part-timers up there. It’s incredibly quiet and peaceful, lots of natural beauty and privacy. Kingston is not a bad town. Like so many other River Towns… Saugerties is also very lovely with good restaurants and shops.

  5. i know 200K sounds cheap compared to brooklyn prices, but you still have to wonder who these people are buying houses for that much money up there. it’s not like 200K for areas like this are much of a bargain either. am i wrong on this?

    *rob*

  6. We actually rented a house one summer in Rosendale. A fabulous dutch farmhouse that had a sensitive renovation with modernist touches. Great place to get our kids out of the city for a few weeks. Didn’t anticipate spending the next month in Poughkeepsie, though. Went into premature labor and found myself on bed rest at Vassar Brothers hospital in Poughkeepsie until the baby was born (no NICU at the local hospital in neighboring Kingston). I will pass on these two observations. Vassar Bros is a fantastic hospital (I had a private room with views overlooking the Hudson and the food was great, not to mention the first rate care), and although my husband had lived in NYC for over 15 years, Poughkeepsie was the only place anyone tried to sell him drugs on the street.

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