A region of New York State. While it technically could mean everything in the Bronx to Albany corridor, people who identify with this region are those who live just past the NY suburbs but relatively close to the city, typically in Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, or Putnam County. Poughkeepsie could be said to be the capital of the Hudson Valley region.

Whether you like it or not, the Hudson Valley is becoming the new Hamptons. While it's no secret that there's always been a pocketful of old money up there, more and more affluent New Yorkers are starting to head north and buy vacation homes, pricing out people who have lived in the area for generations. Much like the British countryside, the Hudson Valley's lush greenery has made it prime real estate for HUGE country estates since the late 1800s. Like Long Island's North Shore, the area experienced a boom of rich New Yorkers building country homes in the 1920s, but gradually became overlooked in favor of the Hamptons. Nowadays, droves of Land Rover Range Rovers and Mercedes-Benz G-wagens shuttle yuppies and Hamptons refugees north to small towns like Rhinebeck, New Paltz or Beacon, and it's a matter of time before some upscale mall disguised as a 'country mart' opens up. The artsy nature of the Hudson Valley has also made it popular with hippies, who still contribute to the 'bohemian' nature of the area. Basically, the Hudson Valley is quickly becoming the Hamptons, whether you like it or not.

A region in New York State around the Hudson River north of the immediate suburbs of New York. Contrary to every travel guide I've ever seen, Lower Westchester is NOT part of the Hudson Valley, and grouping sophisticated metropolitan people like us with some upstate hicks is both insulting and degrading. Saying Mount Vernon has more in common with trailer-trash Monticello, NY than with the Bronx is absolutely absurd.