Sean actually sparked a thought for me. He asked how the real estate market is in Hudson and Columbia County, to be brief they are two differant animals. Hudson has that SoHo,Village kind of feeling beginning to really take over and the County is strongly influenced by weekenders.
Anyway my thought here is to give a few examples of how Hudson in particular is and has changed. The old church on the corner of 6th and Columbia has been bought and word is the Manager of Lenny Kravitz is putting a recording studio there. The old dress shop on 4th and Columbia is also a recording/music store. Just around the croner at the old bus garage an absolutely beautiful restaurant/night club is being built, also has recording for the music acts. I took a brief tour of the place a few weeks ago and all I can say is WOW. Hudson has never seen anything like it,ever. It has live entertainment,restaurant,bar on the 1st floor and a banquet facility upstairs. Of course there is Mexican Radio,Cia Maia,Swoon,Vico to name a few Restaurants, a new one called pm, just wine and tappas there. Waren Street has less and less antique shops and more and more art galleries and specialty stores. I think this is a great change. There can be just so many antique shops, at one time there was near 70 of them. The river front is being developed into public parks and public use, awesome idea.
I'm sure I forgot some and hopefully others will chime in here and let everyone know what they have seen as far as changes. There certainly is more to come, a Hotel in the 500 block of Warren Street is being discussed another new building is planned for 5th and Warren on the empty lot, proves to be interesting. There has been talk of a micro-brewery coming to town as well as talk of a whiskey distillery(all just talk right now).
Also Sean to answer your question, real estate in Columbia County as a whole has certainly slowed like the rest of the country. There, however, have been spurts of steady business. It will bounce back and continue to move forward. Hudson is without saying, unique, as we all know. It has a very long main strip,Warren Street, offering a 1 mile long business district with pretty pristine store fronts.
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Thanks for that interesting summary. I've not spent much time in Claverack these past 10 years (or more), and have spent even less in Hudson, so I'm intrigued to hear about all the changes. I was particularly interested to hear about the music scene -- I think a couple of friends of mine from Boston may have actually had a gig in Hudson a few months back; will have to get the name of the place.
As often happens in these kinds of transitions, I'm sure there are a number of people who lament the passing of familiar landmarks and the general character of the place: the old shops or churches you mentioned, for example.
Where we live, just to the west of Boston, the real estate market has been booming for a while. Lots of people (including us) moving in because of, among other things, the quality of the public schools. And if people didn't find the house they wanted, they'd build it (or knock down what was there and put up something else). But over the 16 years we've been here, we've gotten to know a fair number of people who were born and raised in town, which provides a valuable perspective; some of them are rather bitter about the changes, others are philosophical, and still others think it's great.
Which is a roundabout and long-winded way of saying that I'll look forward to explore the new Hudson when I get a chance sometime -- hey, maybe some of my old HHS mates might be willing to show me the sights.
Ah, I found the name of the place I'd been thinking of: The Stray Bar? My friend Laura Cortese played there last May, I think.
The Stray Bar has changed it's name to I don't know what, something like the Upstairs Bar..
Certain landmarks are certainly be altered or even knocked down, look at the Polar Bar, gone for a Walgreens. Progress sure does come with it's ups and downs.
I personally do not feel Hudson will ever be able to lose that small town feeling. There are enough of us old-timers still around to keep that in check. One thing for sure though it will take some time for the newbee's to understand or appreciate what in was like growing up here. Having true roots and family as well as decades of friends.
One landmark that has certainly touched most if not all of us in some way was the Blue Anchor. Now that will be a story to be continued.
I just did a Google search, and it's now Jason's Upstairs Bar [http://www.jasonsupstairsbar.com/]
This is a little farther afield, i.e., over in Chatham, but I'm curious as to what people know about a place called Peint o Gwrw? I hear there's an Irish/Celtic music session there on occasion; would be interested to check it out sometime.
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