The Upstate town has become an affordable haven for New York designers enticed by the opportunity for a life removed from – but still close enough to – the big city The echo of the train whistle bouncing across the landscape is a constant in Hudson, which sits on an elevated perch on a bend in its namesake river two hours north of New York City. It’s a familiar sound in many towns in the Hudson Valley. But what sets this one apart is a burgeoning creative community that frequently draws comparisons to that global epicentre of cool, Brooklyn. And there’s a reason for that: over the past five years, scores of young New Yorkers have been moving to Hudson, enticed by its affordable property and growing population of designers, makers, artists, architects and musicians. Hudson’s economy has long fluctuated between boom and bust. In the 1950s the population dwindled significantly, with many of its historic buildings abandoned and boarded up for decades. But things began to change during the 1980s and 90s, when savvy antique dealers started buying up the beautiful old buildings on Warren Street, injecting new life into the centre of the broken town. Soon other creative individuals began to seize the opportunity for a life removed from – but still close enough to – the frenetic bustle of NYC, encouraged by the frequent trains to the metropolis’s Penn Station. |
Photography Corey Olsen
Words Mikki Brammer |
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