What Will East Hampton Be Like in Ten Years?

It is the start of a new year. As one gets older there are only so many of these new years left. Therefore, it is not unusual to look deep into the future and wonder how things will change and how other things will remain the same. East Hampton is a very beautiful historic town. It’s only normal to wonder what will happen to this town 10 years from now.

If one is an optimist one see’s great things and if one is a pessimist then one see’s quite the opposite. When there was a Bridgehampton National Bank its CEO said to this author, “as long as there is that ocean, the east end will prosper.” he said that when real estate was crashing in 2008 obviously real estate has rebounded quite well in 2025.

However, there is more than just real estate value, there is quality of life. If one has spent the last 20 years observing the east end as this author has it is easy to point out specific changes.

First of all, a lot of old, traditional businesses and establishments owned by prestigious families cashed in and moved out. There is no doubt that long time east end residents became real estate rich. Will, the same trend with the same percentages continue or eventually level out is only a guess, but who really sees the values going down?

No one can deny that immigration has changed the face of the population of the east end. Hard-working folks have always been part of the fabric of the east end culturally and spiritually over the decades. That remains the same as one group moves out another moves in.

One could guess that the legacy wealth will always remain south of the highway living a lifestyle that can only be labeled, “of the rich and famous.” That has been a constant since the early 1900s.

Then there is the ocean itself how long can it stay clean and beautiful, how long can the fish, the whales and the porpoises thrive?

One has to believe that every year moving forward the east end will become more of a second home situation with service jobs and then a community struggling to thrive on local year-round business. How this will affect the school systems and other services is anyone’s guess.

The final question or prediction might be on building codes, multistory condo, homes? Will the beaches of the East End eventually look like Miami or the far Rockaway NYC? Also, what types of businesses that can survive a summertime economy ten years from now? Concluding with humor, Will the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett still have a long line on Saturday nights?