East Versus West: What Side of the River Is Right For You? #1

  |  July 11, 2011


We’re going to spend a lot of time in the future talking about the differences between the east and west sides of the Hudson. We expect it will draw some ire from both sides, and that’s fine. Let’s duke it out once and for all–which side do you think is better, and why? We’ll be polling residents, real estate agents and vacationers for their opinions, but in the meantime, here are some quotes I gathered from a recent upstate trip. You’ll notice some of them take a morally superior tone on behalf of the east side residents–those who live in Tivoli, Germantown, Milan, Ancram and other hamlets serviced by the Taconic and Amtrak. On the other hand, the west side has one big leg up on the east: cheaper prices.

  • “The west side is for people who want to be in nature; the east side is for people who want to look at nature. Do you want to be in the mountains, or have mountain views?”
  • “The west side has a lot more gray ponytails.”
  • “The west side has folk artists who paint flowers; the east side has Chelsea artists who make sculptures of folk artists painting flowers.” 
  • “On the west side, you have access to big box services (like the Wal-Mart and Target along 9W in Kingston); on the east side, you have boutique services.”
  • “On the east side, you get the sense that man has conquered nature; on the west side, you still feel that nature reigns.”

Well, folks? Agree? Disagree? Have a strong allegiance to one side or the other? We are prepared to eat our hats here, although, for the record, these are not the opinions of Upstater, just the opinions of people Upstater happened to be hanging out with.

Read On, Reader...