Best Township,Cities to live in near NYC area (Greenwich: fit in, apartment)

[PlazaGirl]

Currently living in Overland Park Kansas and husband commutes to Manhattan weekly. Husband is still in negotiations on his contract so it is not 100% yet that we are moving. Anyway, we are familiar with the city however, not too much with the townships outside of the city.

Other CEO's that he has met in NYC have made suggestions to their towns but I was wondering if there is anyone on this board that can help me narrow down my research hours.

We are in our late 30's. 3 kids, 14 yr old that will be starting high school next year, 9 yr old and 7 yr old. Great schools are a must. We have our kids in public school here and in one of the top school districts in the country. So that is important to us. I know my 14 yr old daughter wants to do cheerleading, same with our 7 yr old, plus dance classes, volleyball, soccer and our son loves soccer, and football.

We are able to fit in the $800,000 - maybe low $2 million range on house based on his new salary. Our current home has 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and 2 half baths. and around 3800 sq ft home. we have a large fenced back yard. and all stores like grocery, target, pet smart, restaurants are within a 3 - 10 mile area. I have lived in a small town environment before so its not a shock for me. And my family moved around a bit when my dad worked for the military. So what do you guys think? Sell me on your township or city. I'm flying in for a trade show Jan 29th so I will have a 3 days before show to drive around.

My husband will want to take the train to work through Penn Station. He and I want him to have a less than one hour commute to work. If there is a town less than 45 minutes, that would be awesome. We know for sure we don't want to live in Greenwich or long island. We did some research and super expensive and not a lot of house. He will also be flying back to Kansas City, San Francisco, and Florida, so we need to be convenient to the airport.

I know, I know, it's going to be a change for me to adjust to the size of house for the price. I found that out from an apartment we rent in the city through our company and its more than our mortgage and the apartment is the size of our home kitchen and dining room.

I dound the mta site, and found this map, MTA Metro-North Railroad but not sure if these are the townships. Should I just stick with this map and google these names. I wish I knew how to google a list of nearby cities within 45 miles of NYC. We are open to Jersey and CT. But from what I have read on these boards, the taxes are going to kill us. Although can't be any worse than all the property taxes we pay here.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you.
V.