The Insiders' Insider: Sheila Buff's Hudson River Valley
by Jane Dodds

Review of Insiders' Guide to Hudson River Valley by Sheila Buff. Globe Pequot. Publication mid-March.

Sheila Buff's new addition to the Insiders' Guide series, Hudson River Valley is, in fact, focused specifically on the mid-Hudson Valley. The region is delineated by the reach of the Hudson River watershed into three counties on the river's east side: Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, and on its west side by Orange, Ulster, and Greene. If the contours of the watershed don't come to mind, its extent east and west of the river correlates roughly with the Taconic State Parkway and the New York State Thruway I87, respectively. While it may appear as a relatively narrow swathe of the world, those familiar with the mid-Hudson region know the area is packed with history and both cultural and natural attractions. So much so, that a friend who interprets things and places professionally for museum exhibitions calls the region a veritable interpretopia. The point is: there's a lot to bring together here, and About Town frequent-contributor Sheila Buff has done a thorough and logical job of creating an excellent resource for visitors, newcomers—and houseguests that you wish to send out into the field for a few hours.

There is also plenty in the book for those who live here and think they know the place. I was surprised, to cite a few examples, to learn that you can see all-girl roller derby in Kingston (the Hudson Valley Horrors are the home team), and professional ice hockey games in Poughkeepsie. Touring in an RV? Pull it into the RV park in Rhinebeck. And have you visited the Cement Industry Museum in Rosendale, or Steepletop, poet Edna St. Vincent Millay's home, in Austerlitz? Along with historic sites, museums, and spectator sports, descriptive listings provide guidance for numerous other pursuits, indoors and out, including movie-going, bar frequenting, winery touring, shopping, hiking, farmer's marketing, and eating out, as well as listing of events, organized by month, and infrastructure, such as hospitals and local media outlets.

A succinct historical overview of the mid-Hudson prefaces the guide, and historical background, as well as a summary of existing conditions, combine to give a sense of each featured town and city. The stories of the towns and cities share a similar recent trajectory: decline in the 1950s and 60s, followed by resurgence beginning in the 1980s and 90s. The renewal, attributed largely to an influx of artists, second homeowners, and other migrants, engendered the clusters of restaurants, galleries, shops, and "scenes" (e.g., music in Woodstock) typical of many of the mid-Hudson towns as described in the book.

Like all guides, this one is also a snapshot of a place and way of life at a particular moment. What's striking about this snapshot is that it happens to capture the moment just as the region stands poised, in the face of economic, social, and environmental crisis, to engage in what might be considered a "war of necessity" against unsustainable ways of living. Given that, the thought can't be resisted that the second edition of this guide may be heavily revised—in ways predictable (comprehensive regional public transit?) or as yet unimagined.