The Hamptons? So last year, my dear

In the Hamptons – that exclusive idyll of privet hedges and multimillion-dollar mansions on the far reaches of southern Long Island – the season kicks off with polo matches and champagne receptions. In Hudson, two hours north of New York City, it begins with Musty Chiffon.

Musty, a drag queen with mountainous false breasts and wrinkled stockings, would not be your chosen entertainment for a society event in Sag Harbor. But in this town, she is huge, in more ways than one. On Tuesday she hosted Hudson's annual "Glad Rag" fashion show. It was a night of drunken hilarity that raised $14,000 to be spent on a block party in September.

Here is the good news. If you are a city dweller for whom the onset of heat and humidity means one thing – fleeing town – there are alternatives to the Hamptons. Manhattanites are turning their cars to upstate New York. They are going to the Catskills,Hudson, and the rolling hills of surrounding Columbia County.

The not so good news is that it threatens to change all that makes these places special. House prices have soared as second-home buyers from the city move in. The dairy farms that used to abound in Columbia County are almost all gone. Even the stars are coming. Bette Midler can sometimes be spotted trawling the antique shops that line Warren Street in Hudson. Ismail Merchant, the film producer, has a house in Hudson. And Sigourney Weaver occupies a summer haven in Duchess County, just south of here.

For those who discovered spots such as Hudson a few years ago, the danger of "Hamptonisation" is real. "I am proud to say I have never been to the Hamptons," chips in Alana Hauptmann, owner of the Red Dot restaurant, and an organiser of the Glad Rag show. "People come here to be part of the community." And, she says, the Hamptons folk would not fit in. "We're all crazy alcoholic freaks in this town."

But even Ms Hauptmann, who worked for Versace in the city before tiring of the pace, admits it could happen. For the past four years, hers has been the only restaurant in town with dishes like squid ink ravioli. But this summer at least two new fancy establishments are to open. And plans are afoot for two boutique hotels.

Francis Greenburger, a property developer with homes in the Hamptons and Columbia County, has been watching the transition. He regrets the increasing density of houses and the loss of the dairy cows, but celebrates the new cultural opportunities. Just a week ago, nearby Bard College opened a stunning new Frank Gehry-designed arts centre.

It is still possible to buy a house for what you might pay for a summer in the Hamptons. "A Federal-style house on three acres might go for a million and half now," says Peggy Lampman, a local estate agent. "That was unheard of before."