Maybe you can crash on Rob300c's couch for a few years.
I don't know the area too well, but from what I've seen of it, wouldn't want to live in Poughkeepsie. I'm kind of a country boy at heart though.
Some of the towns on the other side of the river up that way - Highland, Milton, etc. are pretty laid back, but a pretty good commute to Tarrytown.
What's Poughkeepsie like? It's hard to tell from what little research I've done online. I am meeting with a realtor in the Putnam/Dutchess county area that is paid for by my company, and a lot of places are in Poughkeepsie/Wappinger's Falls area. I live near Hershey, PA now, so I'm used to a more rural setting, but I also lived in downtown Harrisburg for a couple years, and enjoyed "city" life while I was there, but I'm not sure I really want to live in a bigger city again. The place we are most interested in (although we haven't seen any pictures yet) is a small 3br house for rent that is on a 200 acre farm in Rock Tavern, NY (I think it's near New Windsor if that helps). Anyone know anything about that area? It sounds like it's not too far from some towns that have things to do, but it is definately a more private setting, which I think we might also like. It's supposedly ~50 minutes from Tarrytown, so that's kind of a bummer, but we just can't afford to live any place in West Chester county that is even remotely close to the size of the place we live in now. I will only be at this entry level position for 2 years max, so after that promotion, we might be able to afford to live closer. We'll see. Any advice is greatly appreciated because until we go up there this weekend, we are flying by the seat of our pants with no idea about the places we are looking into.
Look forward to herfing with everyone up there.
I used to live up there as a high schooler and travel this whole area for business now.
Rock Tavern (original home of Orange County Choppers) is just North of Newburgh, NY...New Windsor is a suburb of that area by way of Route 32, nicer suburb (older, more planned developments and it's own shopping at the top of Rt. 32). Newburgh is where the hub of most of the highways are...NY State Thruway (N/S), Route 84 (E/W), Rt. 17K, and Rt. 52 ....plus tons of County roads with many little towns around there....and it's all kinda new shopping wise right there, Home Depot, Fridays, Applebees, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. Rock Tavern is rural like Hershey without the new progress, laid back....Poughkeespsie is like Harrisburg....Wappingers Falls is an older, more quainte area....rural with a small hamlet/town area. Check out the Cornwall area (may be a little pricey but try) which is going towards West Point from Newburgh (which is major decline over the years). Further North and the next exit up from Newburgh (Poughkeepsie exit) and the same side of the Hudson River is the Highlands area....kind of like Wappingers Falls but nicer. Than a little further West is New Paltz...awesome college town (New Paltz College)...coffee shops, Tai food, brew pub, good pizza, live music in small clubs, apple orchards everywhere...etc. As a younger couple that would be a nice place to hang out and maybe live. It's at the base of the Minnawaska State Park where there is tons of hiking trails, rock climbing, hang gliding, mountain biking...a crystal clear lake in the top of the mountain. On the other side of the mountain is (Rt.44/55 with beautiful vistas) Kerhonkson/Accord/Stone Ridge area...then East on Route 209 is Kingston (Uptown Cigars!)....which is the next exit North from New Paltz. At that point, you're too far North to commute. The NY State Thruway in that whole area is not too bad....not a ton of traffic either way. You get a little clog (just like the PA Turnpike in the Hershey area at rush hour) but not too bad...but you have to make it over the river unless you're on the Poughkeepsie side going through Peekskill to get to Tarrytown.
If you get off at Newburgh...
1) Rock Tavern is 10-15 minutes N from there (an hour to Tarrytown)
2) New Windsor is 10 minutes W from there
If you go East on Rt. 84 over the Newburgh/Beacon Bridge out of Newburgh to Fishkill (IBM area with some $$) then....
1) Taking Rt. 9 N towards Poughkeepsie you pass Wappingers Falls 15 mins
2) Another 15-20 minutes N to Poughkeepsie (an arena for concerts, restaurants, with some decent suburbs)....90 minutes to Tarrytown
At that point you're in the Route 9 coridor which will take you back South towards Tarrytown..but it's a hump of a ride....not a major highway by any means.
You may want to look in North/Western New Jersey...the Mahwah area (another college town, Ramapo College)...5 miles to Suffern, NY which is a nice area and way closer to Tarrytown (30-40 minutes). Rural, mountainy, no acreage, just country living with major stuff around you...also another hub...Route 287, NY State Thruway, and Route 17. If you still have family in Pa, easy to get to. A short ride by train to NYC...tons of stuff to do in the Big Apple!
Hope this helps. You have to check this all out to see if it suits your life style.
Good Luck and if you move up there, buy a hybrid car!...lol
