I’m writing aboard the 6:39 a.m. Amtrak from Rhinecliff to Moynihan Train Hall. Nearly all the passengers are dressed in a version of business casual and have by their feet a backpack or briefcase. Before boarding, acquaintances made small talk about their commuting regimens or their children’s weekend activities, but on the train, passengers are silent or asleep. If everything proceeds according to schedule, we’ll be at our desk jobs by 9:00 a.m. While some of my trainmates have been doing the professional-managerial supercommute since the aughts or earlier, many more (myself included) moved to the Hudson Valley at the start of remote work. The cost-benefit analysis was simple: City jobs pay more, but those salaries go further upstate, particularly for housing (an office and a garden?) and especially if you have kids (a second bedroom?). You live in and around charming towns with tight-knit communities and proximity to nature, but you don’t lose access to the city’s amenities.
According to a 2023 report from Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, the overall populatio…