One unchanging trend in the New York property market is the search among aspiring novelists and songwriters for a neighbourhood where they can afford to live. This quest is closely tracked by affluent investors who know that the latest artists' quarter sooner or later becomes a sought-after address. SoHo and NoHo lofts in which Wall Streeters now live on seven-figure salaries were once the squalid homes of penniless painters. Williamsburg in Brooklyn is another now-gentrified former creative hangout. As a result, the writers have packed up their laptops and gone farther afield, up the Hudson River to the towns of Peekskill, Haverstraw and Beacon, an hour by train from midtown Manhattan. Will the rich speculators follow?

The tale of Tina Voltz, a comedy screenwriter, is typical of the trend. Four years ago she moved with her husband, Michael Bongar, and their labrador, Buddha, from a rental property in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to Peekskill, which already had arty settlers. “We rented in Brooklyn and wanted to buy,” Voltz says. “When our son went to college and we didn't need to be near good schools, we started looking for different possibilities. I fell in love with the area. It's right on the Hudson River. You come out of the city on the train and suddenly you are in Yonkers. It is such a beautiful train ride.”

Tina and her husband bought a 100-year-old, three-bedroom house with a porch and backyard for $250,000 (£128,000). They estimate that their neighbourhood has one artist for every three locals, a mix that brings some tension between the two groups, who do not mix. “We looked at Beacon, but Peekskill was closer to Manhattan and had a nicer village feeling,” she says. “There was also more happening on the creative front. It was a good place to work, with idyllic views, being so close to the [Hudson] river and Bear Mountain.”

With so many cheaper towns an hour or so from Manhattan, there was a deliberate effort by Beacon and Peekskill to attract creative types - funding centres to attract exhibitions by established artists, talks by writers and new theatre. Peekskill has the Paramount Centre for the Arts and the Hudson Valley Centre for Contemporary Art, while in 2003 Beacon opened the Dia Art Foundation's Riggio Galleries in a former Nabisco factory: its 300,000 sq ft holds some of the most influential art from the 1960s to the present, including work by Andy Warhol.

Seventy years ago Peekskill's downtown area was heaving with factories. Would a stranger visiting the town today notice its burgeoning creative community? The Peekskill Coffee House offers a clue. Set up eight years ago by James Lorr and his wife, Laura Gillen, a former film-set designer, the café has local art on its walls and jazz bands in the evenings. Tina Voltz and Michael Bongar (who trained as a clown with Barnum Circus and specialises in pie-throwing) are regulars at the café, where Voltz taps out her scripts on a laptop. Her latest comedy? “It's about a guy who hates clowning and who wants to get a real job.” She smiles: “And, yeah, it's ripped from real life.”

WHERE ELSE TO LIVE CHEAP BY JOWL WITH ARTISTS:

ART DECO FLAT IN LONDON

Homerton, E9: one-bed flat with parking

What you get: One bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, reception room.

Where it is: The Strand Building is just five minutes' walk from Hackney Central, a transport hub with bus and train connections.

Upside: Access to the well-kept shared gardens, plus there is secure parking...

Downside: ...which you might need as the surrounding area is rather crime-ridden.

Cost: £229,000.

Contact: Keatons, 020-8525 7788.

LOFT APARTMENT IN BERLIN

Mitte: mansion flat with city views

What you get: One bedroom, modernised kitchen and bathroom, large reception.

Where it is: On Kremmenerstrasse, a popular street in the city's creative centre.

Upside: This tree-lined street is in a prime location and the block has been done up. There is a wealth of space - 1,066 sq ft.

Downside: A bargain by London standards but expensive for Berlin.

Cost: €280,000 (£211,500).

Contact: Buy Berlin, 020-8315 7517.

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers