Thinking about Peekskill (New York, Poughkeepsie, Yorktown: low income, real estate, mortgage)

[smash1031]

My wife, teenage daughter and I recently saw a beautiful house on Parkway Pl in the Northern most part of Peekskill. Just above the BMP. My daughter is in her last year of high school, so we won't be using the local schools. And I know they're below average. I've also heard the quality of life in parts of Peekskill are not ideal either. We did do several drive bys during the day and night and noticed it first hand, but the downtown area had some decent looking restaurants. But the block that this house is on seemed very quiet and peaceful. Does anyone know if this area is a "safe enclave" or is the low income element moving up there as well? Thanks in advance.

[Ex New Yorker]

smash1031:
Please I beg you, do not move there. We weren't very far from the BMP either and our neighborhood was once peaceful and quiet, until people started to move out with the lower classes moving in. I am familiar with that area it's very close to the BMP which can be quite noisy especially if you want to sit outside during the summer. There is also a bus stop at the top of Parkway Place on Division Street along with a mini mart. I have seen quite a few undesirables hanging out at the mini mart. It had also been robbed a couple of times. Peekskill is not a place where you will want to invest your money in a home, in the few years before we moved our neighborhood was becoming over run with illegal immigrants, which the city turned a blind eye to. If and when the time comes to sell your home you will have a very limited market, and more than likely it will be people with lower incomes. People with lower incomes can barely afford to pay the mortgage on their homes let alone maintain them. There are rundown homes in practically every neighborhood, which will have an adverse effect on your property values. So will Peekskill's lousy school system. Ours was considered to be one of the better neighborhoods, picking up litter was a constant chore. Calls to the police about speeding vehicles throughout the neighborhood were repeatedly ignored. Not to mention those loud music systems that rattled your windows as they raced by. We also had drug deals taking place in vehicles outside of our home, I guess they felt it was safer to conduct their business in residential areas as opposed to downtown. So they would rendezvous in these neighborhoods. There are a whole class of people, middle and upper income that will avoid Peekskill like the plague. It took us over 3 years to sell our home. Our property taxes were over $10,000 a year to live in such a dump of a city. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere Putnam Valley, Cortland, Mahopac, anywhere but there. The farther north you go the better except for Poughkeepsie, or Newburgh. As for me I no longer live in New York State, and I thank God for that.

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by Ex New Yorker

smash1031:
Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere Putnam Valley, Cortland, Mahopac, anywhere but there. The farther north you go the better except for Poughkeepsie, or Newburgh. As for me I no longer live in New York State, and I thank God for that.

You lose a lot of credibility with this statement. I am not familiar with the OP's block, but there are neighborhoods in Peekskill that are just fine.

You really shoot yourself in the foot when you bad mouth Poughkeepsie, considering that the OP does need the public schools. Southern Poughkeepsie and the area around Vassar College are safe and gorgeous, and you should know that. If the OP could look that far north, I would say to buy a house in the City of Poughkeepsie.

So my advise to the OP is to find other sources besides ex New Yorker regarding the City of Peekskill.

[Ex New Yorker]

rubygreta:
I lived in Peekskill for 30 years, and I call it as I see it. If it were so great living there or in New York State for that matter I would have stayed there. My wife and I packed up and moved, leaving everything that we were familiar with and everyone that we knew, both family and friends with whom we had long term relationships with. We moved to a state where we knew absolutely no one. Just to be free of that God awful state and it's insatiable demands of more money to satisfy the needs of those who feed at the public trough and of the politicians that pander to them. It's just not worth paying all that money in taxes to live in a run down deteriorating city. Since "smash1031" is looking to buy a home in New York, I don't want to see them make the same mistake as we did by moving to Peeksill, N.Y. there are a lot better places in that area that they can move to if they have to live in New York. If they ever do get fed up with all the crap that New York State and it's localities imposes on them and wish to sell their home at least they will have a better chance of doing so and getting more for their money if they choose to buy elsewhere. By the way Poughkeepsie is no better. You should know that. Sure, every city has it's "nicer" neighborhoods, but you still have to put up with all the garbage that surrounds you. Personally, I have no skin in the game and have absolutely nothing to lose by telling these people the God's honest truth about what it's like living in and owning a home in Peekskill, N.Y. You will note that I suggested they look in Putnam Valley, Cortland Manor or Mahopac if they choose to live in that area. They can take my advise or ignore it.

[dma1250]

Peekskill has lots to offer and has been steadily improving over the last 12 years since I moved to the area. It has lots of good restaurants, a very lively gastropub and music scene, and a growing arts community (including a small but vital museum). There are lots of festivals, a good farmers market, and a very strong sense of community. Not to mention that it has some of the nicest parks in the county and is seconds from great hiking.

If you remove the hyperbole, hysteria, and obvious prejudice from Ex'a comments, there are small grains of truth in there. Peekskill has a lower class population and a good deal of urban grit. Some people don't like that--others love it!

My Peekskill friends all live in Mortgage Hill and along Depew Park. That's a lovely area with wonderful houses.

[john70]

I agree with Rubygreta on this one, I go to the Poughkeepsie area numerous times a year for business. While the downtown is largley a mess (not as bad as Newburgh), there are some very nice areas near Vassar. Not sure about the school dist. in that area -- I know Spackenkill (sic?) is decent. The cost of living has to be markedly less than Peeskill. People are also a little more laid back up there.

[Ex New Yorker]

dma1250:

"If you remove the hyperbole, hysteria, and obvious prejudice from Ex'a comments"

I'm guessing that you live in Yorktown Heights? As your location says. I'm also guessing that you've never had to experience the futility of selling a house in Peekskill? Or deal with city code enforcement while illegal immigrants are being packed into the single family home next door? Or looking out your window and seeing drug transactions taking place? Spending a lot of time picking up litter? Watching speeding vehicles with their loud blaring noise fly through the neighborhood?
Sure going to the farmers market, visiting the parks, although I wouldn't want to go there after dark, eating out there and hiking etc. etc. are fine. But why do you not choose to live there, instead of Yorktown Heights? There's a big difference between living there and dropping in for a visit now and then. I could not in good conscience recommend that someone looking to buy a home buy one in Peekskill, especially when there are better alternatives close by. This has nothing to do with prejudice. I lived there.

"My Peekskill friends all live in Mortgage Hill and along Depew Park. That's a lovely area with wonderful houses."

Like I've said in my post "Sure, every city has it's "nicer" neighborhoods, but you still have to put up with all the garbage that surrounds you." Likewise if that same home in Mortgage Hill or Depew Park were in a different location say Mahopac, Cortland Manor, Yorktown Heights, or Putnam Valley you would have a better standard of living and receive a better return on your investment should you decide to leave. As you readily admit, "Peekskill has a lower class population and a good deal of urban grit. Some people don't like that--others love it!". I'll bet that most people wouldn't like it especially when you have to live amongst the "urban grit". I can't understand how "urban grit" can help your property values, taking into consideration that your home will most likely be the biggest investment that you will ever make.

[dma1250]

^^ Actually I have experienced all of those annoying side effects of urban grit, not in Peekskill but in Brooklyn. That's one of the reasons I chose to move to an old farmhouse on 4 acres surrounded by nature preserves and horse farms. I adore visiting Peekskill, but I don't want to live in a town or village. But plenty of people want exactly what Peekskill has to offer. And urban grit doest stop people from paying well over a million for houses in areas far more dangerous and gritty than Peekskill.

As for one's investment, my friends have done quite well with their investments in Peekskill. One bought a rundown Victorian near the park for practically nothing and then sold it for more than double after renovating it. Now he's working on his new house in the same hood. There are plenty of people looking for lovely old houses in gritty, funky towns with good restaurants, an arts and music scene, lots of drop dead gorgeous scenery, and an easy train commute to Manhattan but still close to nature. For them, Peekskill is ideal.

[Ex New Yorker]

dma1250:
Most of the people that I know moved to Peekskill for the same reason that I did, it was about the only thing they could afford in Westchester County. For me it was also in close proximity to my job. The neighborhood that I lived in changed drastically in the 30 years that I lived there, none for the better. Five of my neighbors moved out within five years of me, all out of state. That's when the "annoying urban grit" got worse and began to destroy what was once a pretty decent neighborhood by Peekskill's standards. Very few people want to put up with the "annoying side effects of urban grit". That is why the property values are so low in Peekskill. I don't think you are going to find too many real estate adds listing the amenities as "annoying side effects of urban grit", "terrible school system", and high property taxes. You might have chose to put up with it in Brooklyn, but you did get out, and chose not to live in Peekskill and remain in the kind of environment that you profess that so many people love. So you are making my point. I don't think you are going to find too many million dollar homes in the middle of a litter strewn, noisy, drug infested slum either. Agreed, there are many beautiful Victorian homes in Peekskill, many are rundown and dilapidated, I suppose that if someone knew how to wheel and deal they could make a profit. You really have to know what you are doing flipping houses. If that same amount of time and effort were put into that same home in a different location the profit would probably be three times that. I have no idea what a "funky" town means. I do give you credit though, since you enjoy the arts and music scene along with Peekskill's restaurants and scenery, you made a wise decision to visit and not live there. This is precisely why I recommended that "smash1031" look elsewhere for a home.

[dma1250]

. I don't think you are going to find too many million dollar homes in the middle of a litter strewn, noisy, drug infested slum either.

Check out Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, and Ditmas Park, to name a few hoods in Brooklyn that I imagine you would totally hate but where houses routinely sell for well over a million. All of the people I know who've moved to Peekskill are refugees from those neighborhoods. They want the grit and funk, the microbreweries and coffee houses, but at a fraction the price and with quick access to hiking, kayaking, and sailing. Peekskill gives them all of that.