MONTICELLO, NY — Over the past three years, the village of Monticello, along with six other Hudson Valley communities, has been the top contender on three “Top 20 Worst Places to Live in New York State” lists. 

The village was established in 1804 and is a diverse epicenter for those visiting and living in the Catskill Mountains region. 

Why was Monticello ranked as #1?

In the age of advanced technology and social media, travel websites have grown to be increasingly popular tools for those planning a vacation or relocation. These platforms allow for all users to acquire quick and easy information about every inhabited part of the world. Users can base their opinions and destinations on other’s opinions and experiences. 

In 2020, a travel website, RoadSnacks (2020), published the first article of a future trifecta deeming Monticello the worst place to live in New York State. A second website, the Hudson Valley Post, in 2021 utilized some of the information gathered from the previously published article as well as their own to post the same list, keeping Monticello as number one. 

The websites used a formula when producing the lists. Each selected town was ranked based on the unemployment rate, median income rate and leisure options.

Although the Hudson Valley Post stated that the platform disagrees with the number one ranking for Monticello in terms of leisure options, the community’s ranking did not shift. 

“In our opinion, there are a number of things to do including Resorts World Catskills and The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark,” the Hudson Valley Post said. 

In March, a third website, Money, Inc., published their top 20 list. The deciding factors were the same as the other platforms; however, it noted that crime was not a major issue and did not contribute to the town’s ranking.

The Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization with a stated dedication to forging a more dynamic and inclusive American economy, calculates the communities’ Distressed Communities Index (DCI). A community’s DCI is dependent upon variables such as the poverty rate, unemployment rate (adults between the ages of 25 to 54 not working), housing vacancy rate, median household income, change in employment and individuals not possessing a high school diploma. 

Overall, the Monticello community had a score of 80.4. Although this score occupies the first quadrant of the distressed section of the graph, Monticello’s score had improved from its previous 90.9 DCI in 2000. 

A mayor’s insight

Mayor George Nikolados is excited for the futre of the village of Monticello

The Village of Monticello lies within the Town of Thompson, approximately 100 miles from New York City. Monticello is one of the most ethnically diverse communities in Sullivan County, with a DCI score of 49.3 percent of the population not being non-Hispanic white. Within the past decade, the village has undergone renovations and changes to increase tourism traffic and make the community healthier and stronger for residents. 

Village of Monticello Mayor George Nikolados continues to take strides toward creating a safe and welcoming environment. Nikolados is a local business owner—of the Miss Monticello Diner—and an advocate for community growth. 

Q: What do you think are the most special aspects of Monticello?

A: Well, the diversity of the people, first off: new people that are coming in, the people that have been here, I think, is one of the best things. 

, our small businesses. You can go down Broadway and eat different cultural foods. Our walkability: we have East Broadway now with new sidewalks and bike lanes. I think it’s become a better place to live and people can really access all the things they need right within the village. 

Q: Any upcoming projects?

A: Over two years ago, there were 27 vacant buildings. I think we’re down to seven right now and out of those seven, I think four have full renovations happening and the other ones are for sale or in the process of being sold. We have about 65 apartments that have opened up on the second floor of buildings, which has driven the economy and the lower parts of the buildings. 

Before, you couldn’t have any apartments on the upper floors of these office buildings. The landlords had to rely solely on their first floor to fund the entire building. In 2016, we started allowing people to renovate these upstairs. When I ran in 2017, I ran on setting up a historical district, which we got done in 2019.

That’s why you see everything, all of a sudden, over the last two years, start to pop open. The more residential you have above the commercial buildings helps not only the village businesses like my own, but it also helps the businesses underneath. The more traffic you have in the village, the safer it is.

The COVID pandemic might have set us back a little bit, but at times it helped too. You had an influx of people coming to the area and buying homes. Our median home price continues to rise. 

Entertainment-wise, it might not be exactly in the village, but you have a new million-dollar art gallery right here on Broadway, the racino and we’re extremely close to Bethel Woods.

Q: What are the top three issues you would like to tackle in the future? 

A:  The opioid epidemic. Unfortunately, that drives a lot of the crime here. It’s not really a lot of the village residents that live here either; a lot of them are being placed here by the county for emergency housing. Some seem to find their way here, whether it be something like the drug trade. 

Secondly would be youth activities. We’ve been working for years. The school I started, the St. John Street Hub, has been a really good center for the kids. In the village, in our economic state, to be able to build a first-class youth center is almost impossible. You might be able to build it but you won’t be able to staff it or [you’d] have trouble running it. I’d like to get the whole county together and involved in building a youth system where kids from all over the county can come to. 

Third, in terms of the village, I’d like to see more redevelopment on the side streets off of Broadway, like a lot of the commercial properties. We could redo some of the sidewalks, fix some of the main roads that are coming into the village, and just make it easier for people to come and enjoy walking around.

I assume, within the next year, a lot of the businesses will be filled. Being a business owner here, I see the amount of people that are coming from out of the area. People are coming, and they’re coming back more and more. Businesses have been going up and all the other businesses in the area have been sustained. 

Q: Would you say this is helping decrease the poverty rate in the village? 

A: Absolutely. When the casino opened, you could see a lot of our village residents were getting those jobs. The problem was, there wasn’t housing. People were trying to upgrade their housing and move to a nicer apartment or buy a house and that has been a problem. We have a shortage of homes. However, you see that those projects made a difference in village residents’ lives. The average income was going up and there were jobs available. 

I think Sullivan County had the lowest unemployment rate after the casino and the Kartrite opened before the pandemic hit and I believe that we were a part of that. About 10 percent of the casino workers were village residents. 

Q: Overall, what is Monticello’s biggest strength?

A: Our diversity and the availability that we have here. Someone could live in the Village of Monticello and not have to own a car and have, pretty much, all of their needs met. If you need to go somewhere else, we do have public transportation that comes through the village all the time. 

We are a community. You have real neighbors and you have a neighborhood. People have pride in their neighborhoods and you can see that neighborhoods are improving. People are taking care of their houses and their lawns more. It’s just more of a community feeling and it seems to be growing.

Putting it all together

The journey toward an ideal community environment is ongoing, and one might say it requires continued dedication and adaptability. Ultimately, it could be the strength of the community that propels the town forward into a brighter and more promising future.

That’s something that the website lists simply can’t measure.

For more about the distressed cities index, visit www.eig.org/distressed-communities.