Town of the Week: Red Hook

  |  September 12, 2011

No, not that Red Hook. This Red Hook is a small city of 10,000 of so near Rhinebeck, not the waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn. And it’s an interesting place for those who want some semblance of town life: it has an actual downtown, with a great diner, a not-so-well-stocked pharmacy, a wonderful artistan shop, a terrific Italian restaurant and the best burritos on the East Coast — no hyperbole there, it is simply fact. Of course, I’m focusing in on the more yuppie-ish amenities. One of the great things about Red Hook is that it ain’t fancy. It’s not Rhinebeck, not al all. It’s a sweet and sleepy little town that has somehow not been particularly gentrified. I don’t love walking through the downtown for some reason, maybe because the roads that go through it are relatively busy. It’s cute, but not dripping with curb appeal — but then again, that’s one of the great things about it. Too much curb appeal, and you cross over the line into precious.

Red Hook is known for having good schools (whatever that means), which attracts NYC-folk overwhelmed by the educational system here. As far as real estate…the latest numbers from Coldwell Banker show 109 single-family properties on the market, the lowest being $149,000 and the highest, $2.39 million. The average is over $500,000, which is a surprise to me — I figured they’d skew cheaper, since the town isn’t Hudson River-front nor right on the train (although only 10 minutes from the Taconic exit).

We’ll be looking at some of the more affordable Red Hook homes this week, as well as our regular Friday doozy of a house. Let us know if you’re looking in Red Hook, or live there, or want to give us any tips about buying there. I will say that when I think about leaving the city permanently, Red Hook is on my list of possible places to live. I’d go for sure if the old movie theater, now an antique store, was turned back into a cinema. Just sayin.

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