Upstate House

Kingston: Rooted in Renewal

By Anne Pyburn Craig  |  David McIntyre  |  Fall 2025   |  Community Spotlight

Maggie Inge, operations manager at the Kingston Land Trust, first got involved when she realized that the organization’s Land in Black Hands project was serious about addressing injustice. “It really attracted me that there was an organization that was looking at those issues with a commitment to do something about it,” she says, citing the national statistic that Black farmers own less than one percent of US agricultural land, down from 14 percent in the early 20th century.

And do something about it they have. Last March, it was announced that a 54-acre parcel inside city limits had been acquired after a two-month fundraising campaign. “We’re still in the planning phases, but we’re transforming that into an agricultural education center—too many young people think milk just starts from a carton—and a resource for the community,” says Inge. “Sections of it will be planted to feed the public. That’s the important thing about what we do—we’re protecting land in order to keep it available to benefit all of us, for free.”

Other Kingston Land Trust projects include trails at the Red Fox Ravine and a food forest at the Rondout Gardens apartment complex, and the TapRoot Community Land Trust, which will create affordable homeownership opportunities on land that will be protected in perpetuity, controlling the price of resale.

To get the word out and build community connections, the Kingston Land Trust holds frequent events: There are Stewardship Parties every couple of weeks, in which all are invited to come out, help with outside chores, and get to know their collective property—working on the Red Fox ravine trails, for example—and Comidas y Tierra, a Spanish-immersion conversation series that happens at Mexican and Central American restaurants across the city. A pollinator garden is being created in Midtown, along with a series of bee-friendly plantings and sculptures being created on along the Kingston Greenline rail trail, a partnership with the city and county that’s creating ever more opportunities for non-motorized transportation.

“There are good things in every part of this town, and whatever demographic you might represent at any given point in time, we have something for you,” says Inge. “This city has a lot of features available to everyone that you don’t normally find within city limits, like Kingston Point Beach and Sojourner Truth State Park. And things aren’t static—there are things being developed in the pipeline that bode well for the future. It’s a safe, friendly city, a great place to live and to play.”

The Kingston Scene

Joe Gonzales co-created the Kingston Art Walk a decade ago; this year’s event, scheduled for September 20-21, will be another extravaganza involving around 200 artists opening their studios. The tour is free, and digital and paper maps will guide folks to the participating studios and galleries all over town.

“The range is vast,” Gonzales says. “We have painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, woodworking, fine furniture making, fabric arts—it runs the gamut. People can come and take a two-hour nibble or spend both weekend afternoons. It’s a great tourist draw—I think we’re the biggest open studio event in the Hudson Valley—and it’s great for the artists, many of whom tell me they cherish the conversations and interactions they experience. And it’s great for residents, who can look at the map and find out there’s a working artist or two right down the block that they’d never even realized existed, and maybe stop by. It makes our community a deeper, richer environment in so many ways.”

It’s far from the only chance to get elbow-deep in artful Kingston this fall. Just a couple of weeks later, October 10-12, the 15th annual O+ Festival will immerse the city in music, art, and wellness, adding to the wealth of murals adorning these historic streets and presenting live performances in spaces ranging from the soaring cathedral of the Old Dutch Church to breweries, galleries, parking lots and alleyways. That same weekend, Field + Supply will bring their Fall MRKT—craft vendors, food, and music aplenty—to the Hutton Brickyards, and on Sunday, the Italian American Federation will be hosting their annual bash down along the Rondout waterfront. A scant two weeks later, on October 25, My Kingston Kids will throw a parade and then take over Kingston Plaza with a free festival both Saturday and Sunday. This year’s theme is “Wizards and Sorcerers.”

The Kingston Real Estate Market

Jeanne Rakowski, a broker with Corcoran Country Living, says things are still hot in New York’s first capitol. “I would say in the fours to eights, it’s still incredibly busy. When you’re placing something on the market at that price point, there are a number of offers, and most of those properties go well above asking price, with multiple backup offers. And most of those properties are sold in less than four or five days.”

Believe it or not, that’s actually slower than things were at peak pandemic madness. “Buyers are doing a bit more due diligence,” Rakowski says, “waiting a minute before they go into a bidding war, and some are actually backing away from the bidding wars. However, there’s still enough competition in that range that it usually does go to ‘highest and best.’”

A continued shortage of inventory means things can get downright hectic. “For instance, I placed a house on the market on Thursday and ran an open house on Saturday and Sunday. We had over 40 buyers in, and by Monday, we had an accepted offer. I think that’s pretty fantastic; it just goes to show how strong the market still is, and how many buyers are still out there.”

At press time, there was an opportunity to own the one-bedroom Troll House, nestled under a bridge facing the Rondout and fully upgraded by a plumber and an interior designer with metal roof, radiant floors, rain shower, and large stained glass window, for just $374,000. Priced at $699,000 was a four-bedroom 1871 Victorian on West O’Reilly Street, with original hardwood floors and picture moldings, finished basement, eat-in kitchen, and 10-foot ceiling in the grand entryway. Some lucky soul with a cool $8,350,000 to spend could become the proud owner of a former Livingston estate property on 34.5 acres, featuring six bedrooms in the “remarkably well-preserved” main house, a half mile of river frontage, and far too many luxe features to list here. 

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