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This is a perspective from a 23 year old female who moved to Beacon with her boyfriend so that we could have a house and still be within commutable distance to NYC.
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So I want to write a little about Beacon because I have sort of a newcomer's outlook, but I've been here long enough (7 months) to kind of know what it's like. And I was just thinking about it, it was about a year ago now that we started looking for houses here! As I recall, I learned about the area from city-data.com. There were a lot of people from the city talking about moving here/wanting to move here and it had a reputation as being an artsy/pretty culturally diverse up and coming city. We also knew it was more affordable compared to other cities near NYC and it had metro north, so was commutable.
Beacon is 60 miles north of NYC, and depending on where you work in the city, it's about a 1-2 hour commute. My boyfriend walks to the train (10-20min walk) and works near Astor Place, it takes him almost 2 hours door to door.
It's 20 mins from Poughkeepsie, and right across the river from Newburgh, where there is a small airport. You can go to either Fishkill, Newburgh, or Poughkeepsie for bigger commercial shopping centers. It's in the ~beautiful hudson valley~ even the train ride up is awesome. You come up along the river with tree covered hills/mts on the other side. The backdrop to our house is Mt. Beacon. Drive around anywhere/ to nearby cities and you get amazing scenic views.
Beacon is interesting to me, because it's such a "small city", you'd pretty much want to call it a town, but it's not. Population is around 16,000. There is one strip of "main street" which I just looked up, and it's about 1 mile long. Beacon is somewhat of a tourist attraction because of the DIA (modern art museum) for one. It's a short walk from the train and then a lot of tourists will walk up a hill which leads to main street.
They are actually talking about developing the area down by the train/river, but I think the majority of Beacon is against it, because we have a lot of empty commercial space on Main street and it would get even worse/people probably wouldn't make the trek to Main street. There is a "loop" bus, but it is confusing as far as I am aware.. instead of coming straight from the train to the beginning of main street, it goes around to the back or something. I don't think there is a clear map explaining how the bus works or that would help a lot with tourists.
So down by the water (train/river) there is a farmer's market and they also have a plot of land that juts into the water, where they do festivals and things like that. From what I hear, a lot of businesses come and go in Beacon, but as it is right now, at the beginning of Main Street there is a coffee place, handmade goods store, a glass blowing place where you can watch it being made, a bakery is in the works, there are some other restaurants and shops of course.. go down a little and there are some neat stores, one called Play and one called Dream In Plastic which is more vinyl toys/decorations and has things like lomo cameras. There is a tea/sandwich place, an organic chocolate shop and a wine/cheese place. Going towards the middle there is one of the only bars, Maxs. It's definitely a kind of man/sport bar, but there is a restaurant attached with good food and they have ~ladies drink special~ on Wednesday. Oh and Sushi! Cant forget the sushi. There is also a place called Homegrown Foods that uses local food. There is a grocery store right there too, so that is convenient for us since we don't have a car. Then there is the library.. post office.. etc. The only sort of franchise we have here is Subway.
When youre at the grocery store, it looks like the shops kind of end and I've heard some tourists stop here. It's just a little more desolate looking I guess.. I don't know. If you keep going, the other end of Main is really cute because the mountain is more of the backdrop, the buildings are cute/antiquey looking and if you go further, around a bend, there are really neat old brick buildings and a waterfall. Down here there is also a popular coffee shop that does live music a lot, an irish bar, a couple consignment shops, lots of antique shops, some restaurants, etc. There is also an old theater that just got purchased and is in the works of being renovated to it's 30's charm which will have plays and other things. Beacon is very excited about this!
So now onto the people.. there are a lot of people that move here from the city to get a house or start a family. Also surprisingly, when I ask people why they live here now, they say work. But I think a lot of the times, they dont necessarily work in Beacon, but at a city nearby. There are a lot of outdoorsy people here. People bike, hike, canoe, all the time. There are a lot of people into gardening/being green. There are tons of artists and galleries. People are generally really nice, friendly/helpful, and love Beacon. A lot of people also know each other/are connected by friends, and people in their 20's-50's..will hang out together at events/etc.
There is a huge lack of nightlife. There are only the couple bars, and then there are a lot of events that go on. It's much more of an event/wine nightlife kind of thing going on, but there are dance party/dj/house party things once in awhile too. If you want more nightlife, there is some in Newburgh along the waterfront, although I think it's kind of "clubby" and pretty much same for Poughkeepsie, but we haven't been able to explore as much without having a car.
There is also a stadium nearby, oh. and a huge jail. hah.
We are far from the ocean, but it's drivable/trainable and we're used to long commutes already. There are some places to swim but I havent been able to check them out yet.
The houses in Beacon have small yards generally and are close to each other, but some people are lucky or if you go out towards Fishkill or Wappingers it's more suburb-y.
I am considering moving to Beacon and I really enjoyed your post because it was informative. Would you happen to know anything about apartments and their rents? Is it expensive to live in Beacon?
This is a perspective from a 23 year old female who moved to Beacon with her boyfriend so that we could have a house and still be within commutable distance to NYC.
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So I want to write a little about Beacon because I have sort of a newcomer's outlook, but I've been here long enough (7 months) to kind of know what it's like. And I was just thinking about it, it was about a year ago now that we started looking for houses here! As I recall, I learned about the area from city-data.com. There were a lot of people from the city talking about moving here/wanting to move here and it had a reputation as being an artsy/pretty culturally diverse up and coming city. We also knew it was more affordable compared to other cities near NYC and it had metro north, so was commutable.
Beacon is 60 miles north of NYC, and depending on where you work in the city, it's about a 1-2 hour commute. My boyfriend walks to the train (10-20min walk) and works near Astor Place, it takes him almost 2 hours door to door.
It's 20 mins from Poughkeepsie, and right across the river from Newburgh, where there is a small airport. You can go to either Fishkill, Newburgh, or Poughkeepsie for bigger commercial shopping centers. It's in the ~beautiful hudson valley~ even the train ride up is awesome. You come up along the river with tree covered hills/mts on the other side. The backdrop to our house is Mt. Beacon. Drive around anywhere/ to nearby cities and you get amazing scenic views.
Beacon is interesting to me, because it's such a "small city", you'd pretty much want to call it a town, but it's not. Population is around 16,000. There is one strip of "main street" which I just looked up, and it's about 1 mile long. Beacon is somewhat of a tourist attraction because of the DIA (modern art museum) for one. It's a short walk from the train and then a lot of tourists will walk up a hill which leads to main street.
They are actually talking about developing the area down by the train/river, but I think the majority of Beacon is against it, because we have a lot of empty commercial space on Main street and it would get even worse/people probably wouldn't make the trek to Main street. There is a "loop" bus, but it is confusing as far as I am aware.. instead of coming straight from the train to the beginning of main street, it goes around to the back or something. I don't think there is a clear map explaining how the bus works or that would help a lot with tourists.
So down by the water (train/river) there is a farmer's market and they also have a plot of land that juts into the water, where they do festivals and things like that. From what I hear, a lot of businesses come and go in Beacon, but as it is right now, at the beginning of Main Street there is a coffee place, handmade goods store, a glass blowing place where you can watch it being made, a bakery is in the works, there are some other restaurants and shops of course.. go down a little and there are some neat stores, one called Play and one called Dream In Plastic which is more vinyl toys/decorations and has things like lomo cameras. There is a tea/sandwich place, an organic chocolate shop and a wine/cheese place. Going towards the middle there is one of the only bars, Maxs. It's definitely a kind of man/sport bar, but there is a restaurant attached with good food and they have ~ladies drink special~ on Wednesday. Oh and Sushi! Cant forget the sushi. There is also a place called Homegrown Foods that uses local food. There is a grocery store right there too, so that is convenient for us since we don't have a car. Then there is the library.. post office.. etc. The only sort of franchise we have here is Subway.
When youre at the grocery store, it looks like the shops kind of end and I've heard some tourists stop here. It's just a little more desolate looking I guess.. I don't know. If you keep going, the other end of Main is really cute because the mountain is more of the backdrop, the buildings are cute/antiquey looking and if you go further, around a bend, there are really neat old brick buildings and a waterfall. Down here there is also a popular coffee shop that does live music a lot, an irish bar, a couple consignment shops, lots of antique shops, some restaurants, etc. There is also an old theater that just got purchased and is in the works of being renovated to it's 30's charm which will have plays and other things. Beacon is very excited about this!
So now onto the people.. there are a lot of people that move here from the city to get a house or start a family. Also surprisingly, when I ask people why they live here now, they say work. But I think a lot of the times, they dont necessarily work in Beacon, but at a city nearby. There are a lot of outdoorsy people here. People bike, hike, canoe, all the time. There are a lot of people into gardening/being green. There are tons of artists and galleries. People are generally really nice, friendly/helpful, and love Beacon. A lot of people also know each other/are connected by friends, and people in their 20's-50's..will hang out together at events/etc.
There is a huge lack of nightlife. There are only the couple bars, and then there are a lot of events that go on. It's much more of an event/wine nightlife kind of thing going on, but there are dance party/dj/house party things once in awhile too. If you want more nightlife, there is some in Newburgh along the waterfront, although I think it's kind of "clubby" and pretty much same for Poughkeepsie, but we haven't been able to explore as much without having a car.
There is also a stadium nearby, oh. and a huge jail. hah.
We are far from the ocean, but it's drivable/trainable and we're used to long commutes already. There are some places to swim but I havent been able to check them out yet.
The houses in Beacon have small yards generally and are close to each other, but some people are lucky or if you go out towards Fishkill or Wappingers it's more suburb-y.
Any specific questions, let me know!
This captured ALL of the good things about Beacon, and NONE of the bad things which made my laugh, like Beacon's rough-on-the-edges crime rate, suicide attempts because of the community being so racist to certain groups of people, and I don't expect you to know any of this. I wish people would post this positive about Poughkeepsie.
In conclusion, a disclaimer: This post captures ONLY the positive of Beacon
Hi Stasiia, I just logged on quickly to thank you for your post and to say that I hope to see you around the neighborhood sometime.
VanillaCoffee, I don't like to prejudge, but you seem to have a huge axe to grind with the city of Beacon and you aren't doing yourself or others any favors by incessantly posting rage and hate-filled rants against it.
Most of us have moved or are moving to Beacon from NYC in order to have a 'best of both worlds' scenario. We aren't naive to the fact that Beacon has had its ups and downs as a city and that there are PROS as well as CONS to living here. And, as most of us are coming from NYC, we aren't scared of a little crime! Hell, Beacon might as well be the safest place on earth compared to the neighborhood where I spent the last 10 years. And have you seen the public schools in NYC? Talk about a step up. Furthermore, your comment regarding race is confusing to me as my husband and I were encouraged to see that Beacon has a much more racially diverse demographic than any of the more southern towns on the Hudson.
Point being, we know the sacrifices we make and the benefits we gain by moving here. We've all done our homework and it isn't necessary for you to wave the anti-Beacon flag anytime someone else logs on to research a city to which they're interested in moving. I'll be the first to say that Beacon isn't perfect, but it is my home. It's my opportunity to work in the greatest city in the world and come home to a home of my own every night. It's my opportunity to have a little yard, a walkable Main Street, and a decent commute to my job. And that's all I ask of it. Period.
Hi Stasiia, I just logged on quickly to thank you for your post and to say that I hope to see you around the neighborhood sometime.
VanillaCoffee, I don't like to prejudge, but you seem to have a huge axe to grind with the city of Beacon and you aren't doing yourself or others any favors by incessantly posting rage and hate-filled rants against it.
Most of us have moved or are moving to Beacon from NYC in order to have a 'best of both worlds' scenario. We aren't naive to the fact that Beacon has had its ups and downs as a city and that there are PROS as well as CONS to living here. And, as most of us are coming from NYC, we aren't scared of a little crime! Hell, Beacon might as well be the safest place on earth compared to the neighborhood where I spent the last 10 years. And have you seen the public schools in NYC? Talk about a step up. Furthermore, your comment regarding race is confusing to me as my husband and I were encouraged to see that Beacon has a much more racially diverse demographic than any of the more southern towns on the Hudson.
Point being, we know the sacrifices we make and the benefits we gain by moving here. We've all done our homework and it isn't necessary for you to wave the anti-Beacon flag anytime someone else logs on to research a city to which they're interested in moving. I'll be the first to say that Beacon isn't perfect, but it is my home. It's my opportunity to work in the greatest city in the world and come home to a home of my own every night. It's my opportunity to have a little yard, a walkable Main Street, and a decent commute to my job. And that's all I ask of it. Period.
Okay, I finished my coffee and tea. I'm a Caffeine-addict... Yes, I should print that out. Which neighborhood have you spent a hell in? Too uncomfortable?, then state the State [you lived in] at least. I feel safer in Poughkeepsie and some areas in even Newburgh than I do Beacon. I even felt safer in downtown Buffalo, NY when I visited it last week, god I loved that area, not really Buffalo at all, just Erie's southtowns. But that's just me. I've seen stealing in Beacon, I've seen fights in schools throughout the city, I saw kids throwing balls at building and destroying the windows in the building the so-called "artsy community" quickly hides-up. I've heard gunshots to see the dummy-light shot out. A few years ago some sicko deposed of a body he killed in the creak near the dummy light, OHHH! What a waste of land! I've never been fought and never almost been fought, I'd love to beat the **** out of one of these idiots! I'm just waiting for someone to do something to me, I do what I have to do, but these lazy idiots will likely never pick a fight, I just curse them out as a general rule, but it doesn't mean they ain't drug addicts going to come and try to stab me to death. See that Santana kid or who the hell ever who got killed a few months ago... That happens every now and then, oh it's just a sick world, huh? No, it's this ghetto you call Beacon. I call it HELL ON EARTH.
Here's your no crime: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Too bad it's hiding the what? 60-80, 30-50 on lucky years (I personally would think there's well over 100 a year in Beacon reported or not) assaults a year, the 2-4 rapes a year, the murder every year or two, the robberies and assaults. I bet they hid it on purpose, aha.
Haha, Griddy griddy griddy. Of course Poughkeepsie is much rougher, I'm just saying. I defend Poughkeepsie, too. I'm SO SICK AND BLOODY TIRED OF POUGHKEEPSIE BEING LOOKED IT AS IF IT'S ALL A GHETTO. THERE'S MORE THAN THE BAD AND THE CITY OF POUGHKEEPSIE, AND THERE'S THE WHOLE #&%$ING TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE!
By the way, the next time I meet my acquaintance, I'll print out your ridiculous Beacon-defensive post and show her. You think I cry racism, I am Autistic, and have never been treated like such a piece of ****, and while I'm heard, I assure you, I will make every one of your lives HELL! I hate you idiots so much, I can't wait to get out, and don't worry, the door can't slam me in my ass, I've already banged it out trying to escape this HELL *I hear some pothead coughing in background* HOLE!
*spits*
Disclaimer: I am mentally sane and stable, but I will ruin your day if you give me just one look. Thank you for understanding...
I am considering moving to Beacon and I really enjoyed your post because it was informative. Would you happen to know anything about apartments and their rents? Is it expensive to live in Beacon?
I don't know entirely.. I have seen expensive apartments on Craigslist, but have heard of people sharing/renting out houses for a better deal & also the lowest ive heard is people getting small apts/studios for $500.
I don't know anything about Beacon, except they have a newer, clean and safe train "station". When we go to NYC, from Rochester, we just drive down 390, to 86, and catch the Metro North in Beacon. You can leave your car there for a few days and nobody messes with it. I think there is a police station on a hill overlooking the station.
In the short drive along the edge of town it looks nice. Some large victorian houses.
I don't know anything about Beacon, except they have a newer, clean and safe train "station". When we go to NYC, from Rochester, we just drive down 390, to 86, and catch the Metro North in Beacon. You can leave your car there for a few days and nobody messes with it. I think there is a police station on a hill overlooking the station.
In the short drive along the edge of town it looks nice. Some large victorian houses.
Yes but the bad outweighs the good in that town. Way too touch crimes in drugs in certain areas of Beacon. Poughkeepsie's town of, topples Beacon is safety and quality of life.
Beacon is your choice if your coming here from the city. The surrounding towns are very rural and the ambulance response time in Dutchess county is poor at best, Unless your in one of the major city's Poughkeepsie/beacon but then again the best two hospitals outside of Weschester medical are in Poughkeepsie where you probably dont want to live.(Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed) Across the river from beacon in orange county are two hospitals one good the other is in a very dangerous neighborhood in Newburgh which is riddled with drug addicts, gang violence, and massive local govt corruption.(Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed) The schools are terrible all through Dutchess county your best bet is private if you can afford it which there are several ranging from parochial schools to west point other than that your child's education will suffer unless you really take a active role in it take my lack of punctuation into consideration I'm a product of the beacon city school district regents diploma and all I cant even punctuate or spell the word punctuate without spell check. Now dont get me wrong I love beacon Ive lived here my whole life but remember there are bad people everywhere and there are bad people in beacon I know i live here. What you dont know is when you live here every other town thinks beacon is sh#% my whole life i would meet people from outside of beacon in the area and tell them where i was from and get the same thing eww Beacon Beacon sucks or Beacons dirty dont get turned off but be smart there are areas you would like to avoid in Beacon. Beacon was a very dangerous place in the late 80s early 90s before they installed city wide surveillance. oh that's right! Remember big brother is watching you... There is a small degree of gang and drug violence that leaks over from Newburgh that you will never know about unless you actually live here and witness it yourself. Main st ,the parks, the river all the new art projects, the history, hiking the mt and all the trails, and most of the people here are amazing very diverse and once your from beacon your always from beacon you cant get away i have friends that have moved here from overseas and moved on all the way across the world to japan they all say the same beacon is where I'm from get to know the people in and around your neighborhood and you will see and however beautiful and enticing the mt can be it is very dangerous people have died gotten seriously injured bitten bye wild animals and dealt with flooding in the spring thaw do not hike alone and do not go above your own limits most of the trails on the mt are advanced if not completely inaccessible during the winter the main fire rd off mt rd is your best bet all year long however i would def recommend the first trip to be with a guide the views from the top are spectacular I'm not trying to steer anyone away from Beacon like i said Ive lived here all my life and i love it but no one is telling you the bad so someone had to. It gos without saying the surrounding towns and areas are just as bad and some worse they hide it better due to there large rural layouts and small town justice witch sorry to say still goes on upstate here. Its safe to say every town/city has there problems but if your from the city and have a degree of street smarts beacon is the best place up here. oh and i smell a real estate agent on here
Last edited by Yac; 11-29-2010 at 07:37 AM..
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The truth about beacon
oh and i smell a real estate agent on here
