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Poughkeepsie Is Top Pick for New Yorkers Seeking Small-Town Life

Poughkeepsie Is Top Pick for New Yorkers Seeking Small-Town Life

Plenty has been written during the pandemic about New Yorkers relocating to Florida or the Hamptons. Poughkeepsie is climbing up the list too.

New York-to-Poughkeepsie ranked as the eighth most popular relocation in a survey of Americans who left big cities last year -- up from 17th a year earlier. The study by StreetLight Data, a transportation analytics firm, examined migration out of the country’s 10 biggest metro areas, based on cellphone data.

Only Philadelphia and Miami were more popular destinations for departing New Yorkers last year than Poughkeepsie, a town of some 30,000 people about 80 miles north of the city.

“There has been an uptick in people moving to our area,” Mayor Rob Rolison said by e-mail. “That’s true across the Hudson Valley.”

Americans who relocated last year were more likely to seek smaller communities. Among those who left the 10 biggest cities, 48% opted for a metro area with a population of less than 1 million, up from 44% a year earlier, according to the survey.

The StreetLights data includes temporary relocations like college students returning home or people fleeing Covid-19 hot spots to stay with relatives.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.