For the last ten days, a thrilling contest has been taking place on the popular social media site Reddit, within a “subreddit” named r/hudsonvalley, popular with over 43,000 members who range from locals to tourists to the transplant-curious. Hanging in the balance is no less than the title of Greatest County in the Hudson Valley.
Each day of the competition, commenters suggested which county they felt should be eliminated. The elimination suggestion that got the most votes from users triggered that county’s defeat. Sullivan County was the first to be eliminated in the popularity contest, followed by Albany, Rensselaer, Westchester, Rockland, Greene, Columbia, Putnam and Orange (in that order).
At the time of this writing, the final day of voting is underway, Ulster and Dutchess are facing off as the finalists. And while Ulster County has not officially been declared the winner, early voting suggests Ulster is the massive favorite, with votes to eliminate Dutchess outnumbering Ulster at least ten to one.
“I think Dutchess has acted like this was their birthright. But Ulster has Walkill, New Paltz, Saugerties, Minnewaska State Park, Mohonk, hell, even Kingston, all quintessential Hudson Valley towns. Dutchess has Poughkeepsie and the hell that is Route 9,” read the top comment at the time of this writing, by user ThreesKompany.
“Get rid of Dutchess,” wrote user flyfisher12401, “it’s just people that moved up here because ‘the Hudson Valley is beautiful’, then they all go to Ulster to hike and actually experience the Hudson Valley.”
Not all were in support of Ulster, with user TheCremeArrow commenting, “My only real experience with Ulster is getting hit by cars in the Walmart parking lot.”
“We should just stop right here,” pleaded user jasperbocteen, “A river valley has two sides, it doesn’t make any sense to pick one side of the river over the other.”
Reddit is a free-to-use social media site which profits from collecting user data, displaying advertisements, as well as offering paid premium features. The r/hudsonvalley community is a great place to discuss local goings-on, give and get advice on local businesses and activities, and yes, have good-natured arguments over which county is best.
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