Diana Demaj

City of Peekskill

Peekskill, New York

Personally, I haven’t been in Peekskill myself but using Google I was able to do research on this location browsing through a variety of websites and social media platforms. I was able to find information on what’s so great about this city in Westchester.

Image of what first appears when I searched up Peekskill

Location: Where is Peekskill?

Located in northwestern Westchester County, adjacent to the eastern bank of the Hudson River. It is approximately 35–50 miles north of New York City and serves as a vibrant suburb and Hudson River Valley community, accessible via Metro-North Railroad. 

Often considered part of the “Lower Hudson Valley,” the city offers a mix of urban and suburban atmospheres, featuring a historic downtown area and a thriving arts scene, including the Hudson Valley MOCA. 

What’s in Peekskill?

The public generally views Peekskill, NY, as a diverse, scenic, and culturally vibrant “artist’s paradise” on the Hudson River. Where you can experience a city with historic charm, commuter-friendly, and walkable downtown.

Attractions

Offers a mix of arts, history, and nature, featuring attractions like the Hudson Valley MOCA, the historic Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, and scenic riverfront spots like Peekskill Landing Park. Other key highlights include the Lincoln Depot Museum, Blue Mountain Reservation for hiking, and a vibrant downtown with galleries and restaurants. Peekskill Farmers Market –  operates every Saturday on Bank Street, from opening day, June 7th, from 8 AM to 2 PM, thru November 17th. Attic Treasures Flea Market—An annual downtown event which provides hours of fun and amusement hunting for unique antique and vintage treasures, as well as a couple of great bargains.

City of Peekskill Website

Another thing that would be nice if they have more images of the community, events or artsy/historic visuals of the city. through out their websites. Since their goal is to attract more visitors it needs to give uniqueness and personality.

Comparing it to other city websites, one thing I noticed is missing is Accessibility or Translation option. I visited the NYC Website and Raleigh, NC Website and they let you changed the language for users to understand better. Accessibility for changing text sizes, color contrast, screen reader etc.

Things to Do in Peekskill
  • Arts & Culture: Explore the Hudson Valley MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), catch a show at the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, or visit the Peekskill Museum.
  • Dining & Nightlife: Enjoy craft beer at Birdsall House, ramen at RameNesque etc.
  • Outdoor Recreation: Walk the riverfront at Peekskill Landing Park or Charles Point, and hike nearby at Blue Mountain Reservation.
  • Shopping: Visit the Bruised Apple Books & Records or the seasonal Farmers Market on Bank Street. 

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Vibrant Downtown & Arts Scene: The downtown area is easy to walk around and full of art galleries and studios. It has a trendy, artsy feel.
  • Easy Commute: You can hop on the Metro-North train and get to NYC easily.
  • Great Outdoors: You’re right by the Hudson River with plenty of parks and nature nearby.
  • Diverse & Fairly Priced: It’s a welcoming, multicultural area that’s usually cheaper than other parts of Westchester.
  • Food & Drinks: There are tons of great restaurants and local breweries to choose from 

Cons According to Google

Overall, people mostly have good things to say about Peekskill not a lot of complaints:

  • Safety: While generally considered safe by many, some areas have reported incidents of crime, and it may not feel as safe as other, more affluent surrounding towns.
  • Traffic and parking issues: Finding a parking spot downtown can be a headache, and the roads get crowded.
  • Schools: The public schools are “okay”—they are getting better, but they aren’t the top-rated ones in the area yet.

How I feel about Peekskill based on what I found?

Overall, I see people on social media describing Peekskill as a artsy and historic place. But through social media such as their YouTube channel, I feel like they don’t show off how artsy they really are. Their YouTube channel looks old and boring, not eye-catching. The videos are just simple and not really engaging. One thing they can do is create a thumbnail images on each videos. That image is the first thing the users gonna see before the title of the video, making it eye-catching will help to get more views. On Instagram, all their posts visually looks basic and wordy. Peekskill has beautiful scenery and events in the community, they have few videos showing that but I feel like it should be all over their social media page. Social Media nowadays is all about videos and the content you display, visuals is what gets audience want to see more.

What can we do to showcase how amazing this city truly is?

Projects from Social Media Ad, Video, Postcards, Stickers, Sway, Animated GIFS and Digital Design for print, Web. There’s many projects we can decide upon:

  • Video: A vlog of “a day in Peekskill” visiting its iconic and well known places and local food areas.
    • Visiting Art galleries
    • Local Food Areas
    • Nature: Parks and Trails etc.
    • Video of interviewing locals asking them “Why they love Peekskill? Where’s there favorite spot to go? etc.”
  • Poster: Create a poster that shows a glimpse or representation on how beautiful and fun Peekskill is.
  • Social Media Ad: Create an print/animate/video ad that shows Peekskill being a place to visit. Showing everything they have to offer.
  • Photographic: Use photography to document the juxtaposition of industrial, natural, and artistic landscapes in Peekskill. Art gallery of Peekskill beauty and uniqueness.

Official Website: https://www.cityofpeekskillny.gov/

What is Design Thinking?

In short, design thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach to creative problem-solving that focuses on the user needs to develop innovative solutions.

There’s many processes and methods but the 5 basic steps in design thinking is :

  1. Empathize– Understanding the people we are creating for. Observe, research and collection of data; Identify the feeling and needs of your audience and determine problems of our products or services to know what needs to improve upon.
    • Research
    • Surveys
    • Interviews
    • Reading Body Language etc.
  2. Define– After gathering information, define the problem and what’s the goal of your design. If you can’t define the problems people are having then you need to gather more information.
    • Data Analysis
    • Personas
    • Problem Statements
  3. Ideate– Coming up with many ideas/solutions; Quantity and Diversity.
    • Mind Maps
    • Sketches
    • Storyboards etc.
  4. Prototype– Creating a mockup of what we are trying to make/design. Through trial and error, multiple prototypes will be made and you can learn from those failed designs.
    • Paper Prototypes
    • Animatics
    • Wireframes
    • Walk Throughs etc.
  5. Test– Refine, Learn and Solve. Finalize the design or creation and get feedback from users. Some creations are never “finished” its something we can keep improving and updating through out time. Reflection on the work and have users “test” your creation.
    • Print
    • Publish
    • Promote
    • Release
    • Beta etc.