Enclave, Escape, Trap?
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5/9/2010
Hudson has earned a unique distiction over the past ten years. An overwhelming herd of baby-boomers from downstate locations such as Westchester, Rockland, and NYC have made it their mission to "liven up" Warren Street, and turn it into a real retail destination for antique hunters. These are not your average junk shops that you will find in other towns around here. These are world-class, interior design meccas with fabulous un-affordable goods from every timeframe, theme, and exotic locale. It is not uncommon to see professional shoppers walking into the dealerships with binders full of celebrity orders to fill. The result has been a rennaissance for Warren St., which has only seen a minor pang from the recession, and will still grow if the appetite for small town charm (that is remotely located anywhere near NYC) keeps the fantasy alive for some.
The flip side to all this, is that you still have a town underneath it whose apex was reached in the mid nineties when the first Wal-Mart was built, which ended up serving the needs of more than three counties. Since then, we got upgraded to a Supercenter. The majority of the economic activity here revolves around county social services, justice/corrections, and the hospital. The weekenders mostly stick to downtown or hide in their farmhouses.
The main complaint about living here is the poor quality of professional services, especially construction. Commonly, GC's will hire people from way downstate or up past Albany to do just about anything that requires a competitive bid. Also, the Hudson city school district is so poor in quality, that families will actually *rent* homes in Red Hook, so they don't have to send them to Hudson. It is definitely a town with two sides to it: a glossy, charming surface and a dubious, bumbling core.
Joe | Hudson, NY