[movingtowestchester]

My husband, me, and our 1 year old twin boys plan to move out of Manhattan. Our priorities:

1. 15 min commute to White Plains (30 min max)
2. 45 min or less commute to NYC
3. Nice neighborhood: safe environment, pretty area, young professional families with children, friendly vibe (not snobby)
4. Home with 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths on a quiet street, flat yard for boys to play, proximity to parks

Public schools are not a priority as we will send them to private schools or leave the area before they start school.

What towns/neighborhoods would you recommend? We are open to Westchester OR Connecticut (so please ignore my username!). Thanks for your advice in advance.

[MikefromCT]

If you're going to be relying on private schools, you might want to look at Stamford. It's a city (if that's an issue) of about 125,000 that's both very safe and diverse (culturally, religiously, economically, etc.) There's a lot of nice residential neighborhoods here, a great downtown, easy access to I-95 and the Merritt and an MTA station. And as with most cities it's very tolerant - and the reason I say this is because I don't think you'll find quite as much social hierarchy as you'd find in other nearby towns that are more exclusive. I don't think the snob factor will be as bad here. There are some very wealthy areas even here, but also more middle-class ones. You should be able to get to White Plains in about a half hour or thereabouts.

There's a few other places in Westchester that come to mind, but I don't know them as well as those towns in southwestern CT.

[JayCT]

To be that close to White Plains you would have to be right on the border. check out Greenwich which is a great town that will give you the access to New York City you desire. Beyond Greenwich though you will not be 15 minutes from White Plains and 45 minutes to NY. As noted, Stamford may be an option as well but you would not be 15 minutes from White Plains. otherwise, you are going to need to look in Westchester itself. Good luck, Jay