Bred in Brooklyn, Hipsters Now Colonizing the Suburbs

Only a decade ago, decamping from Manhattan to Brooklyn was akin to giving up on the city for the more "suburban" pleasures of the outer boroughs. But as pricey real estate forces a “mass exodus from Brooklyn," "The creative class is trying to replicate urban life in the suburbs,” says Mitchell Moss, an urban-planning professor at New York University.

"Indeed, in the era of artisanal chic, a move up to the Hudson feels like Back to the Land lite," reports Alex Williams.

While the small Hudson River Valley towns are decidedly sleepier, commuter-oriented and less diverse and dense than Brooklyn, they are becoming an attractive alternative for middle-aged Brooklyn hipsters, especially those with small children.

Offering more space, often in urban-style brick townhouses, good schools, proximity to New York City and pedestrian-friendly Main Streets with locally-sourced gluten-free food, vegan handsoaps and yoga studios, places like Hastings, Dobbs Town and Tarrytown are becoming suburban hipster outposts.

While leaving Brooklyn is a difficult choice for most, property prices have more than doubled in the borough where traditionally hipster neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Cobble Hill are undergoing a steady Manhattanization.

"While this colonization is still in its early stages, it is different from the suburban flight of decades earlier, when young parents fled a city consumed by crime and drugs. These days, young creatives are fleeing a city that has become too affluent," writes Williams.