relocating & looking for good family towns within 1 hour commute of NYC (New York: lawyers, house prices)

[FloridaSue]

Originally Posted by sf2nyc08

Family of 5 considering big move from San Francisco Bay Area to East Coast for job in NYC. Looking for a good family town/city, good public schools, diversity, down to earth people, decent shopping & restaurants nearby. Trying to keep the commute to NYC to under an hour. Its a lot, I know, but I thought I'd start my search aiming high. Hoping to spend in range of 800K to 1.2M for minimum of 4 bed/ 2 bath. Coming from a family oriented, beautiful, semi-rural community just outside SF with great schools. Hoping to find something similar. I've been checking out North Nassau County on Long Island, seems like a good commute but what's it like living there? Any ideas upstate NY or NJ? Seems like CT is over 1 hour commute, true? Are high school rowing clubs easy to find/get into? I'm worried about making the right choice for my kids (2 in middle school, 1 in high). Appreciate any ideas. Thanks!

North Nassau is awesome and there are several towns you can look into such as Manhasset, Port Washington, and Glen Cove. Westchester though has some terrific semi rural communities and the commute on the Metro North is easier than the LIRR. 1/2 hour on the express trains to Grand Central.

[NS4Ever]

Port Washington, particularly the Beacon Hill, Baxter Estates, or Port Washington Estates areas. I personally am biased toward PW Estates.

[TheImportersWife]

Former rower here. There are a handful of schools on the N. Shore that offer crew programs. Check out the schools listed at Sagamore Rowing Association (http://www.sagamorerowing.org/programs/programs.html#high_school - broken link). That's who most of the N. Shore HS rowing programs use.

[maxile]

what about sands point.
its a wonderful community.
not sure about the land acreage out there for 1.1 million

[babr1999]

Originally Posted by sf2nyc08

Family of 5 considering big move from San Francisco Bay Area to East Coast for job in NYC. Looking for a good family town/city, good public schools, diversity, down to earth people, decent shopping & restaurants nearby. Trying to keep the commute to NYC to under an hour. Its a lot, I know, but I thought I'd start my search aiming high. Hoping to spend in range of 800K to 1.2M for minimum of 4 bed/ 2 bath. Coming from a family oriented, beautiful, semi-rural community just outside SF with great schools. Hoping to find something similar. I've been checking out North Nassau County on Long Island, seems like a good commute but what's it like living there? Any ideas upstate NY or NJ? Seems like CT is over 1 hour commute, true? Are high school rowing clubs easy to find/get into? I'm worried about making the right choice for my kids (2 in middle school, 1 in high). Appreciate any ideas. Thanks!

Then you should consider Port Washington, NY - Long Island. The train from Port to Penn Station in the city runs all day - it takes about 45 minutes or less. The town is beautiful - right on the bay. It has great restaurants, little shops, supermarkets right in town, close to malls in the area (8-20 minutes drive) depending which mall you want to go. Very quaint. Great parks. The schools are excellent - specially elementary and high school. Check it out on the web - here are the links for the town and some real estate + school district info:
PORT WASHINGTON, NY – PORT WASHINGTONGUIDE.COM – PORT WASHINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND GPWBID
Port Washington School District
Welcome to Accents on Real Estate, GMAC Real Estate® - Nassau New York Real Estate Listings–Homes for Sale - Home Buying - Home Selling Information - accentsonrealestate.com
Hope this can help.

[GCGuy]

Originally Posted by maxile

what about sands point.
its a wonderful community.
not sure about the land acreage out there for 1.1 million

I don't think you can get much of anything for $1.1M in SP.

[Kbinspections]

Originally Posted by GCGuy

I don't think you can get much of anything for $1.1M in SP.

not much for 1.1 in Manhasset either..........

[Ekulu]

One of the posters suggested Mamaroneck, I agree its a great community with good schools (Mamaroneck and Rye Neck School districts) and diversity. Since Mamaroneck is on the water, the middle and high schools may offer a rowing club but I am not certain. Shore Acres by the water in Mamaroneck has a private beach, pool and boating facilities available to residents of homes in that area, you will be able to find a home there in your price range.

[GCGuy]

Originally Posted by Ekulu

One of the posters suggested Mamaroneck, I agree its a great community with good schools (Mamaroneck and Rye Neck School districts) and diversity. Since Mamaroneck is on the water, the middle and high schools may offer a rowing club but I am not certain. Shore Acres by the water in Mamaroneck has a private beach, pool and boating facilities available to residents of homes in that area, you will be able to find a home there in your price range.

Once again, this is not on LI.

[Babui]

To sf2nyc - I live in Manhasset Hills (Herricks SD) and would recommend Manhasset Hills, Herricks, Searingtown, East Williston and the Roslyn and New Hyde Park areas that fall in the Herricks SD. The Herricks SD is one of the best in Long Island. The student population is 50% Chinese/Korean, 25% Indian and 25% White American (unfortunately not too diverse). The houses go from $500,000 Capes to $1.5 mill Splits with most house prices clustered in the $650,000-$950,000 (prices are not dropping too much but owners are very 'negotiable'). The closest train stations are Mineola and Merillon Ave which are within 1-2 miles. The train commute is 35-40 mins to NYC-Penn Station. By car - in no traffic - I've reached midtown Manhattan in less than 1/2 hr . Of course - in peak traffic - the crawl is an 1:15 mins+. The Queens border is less than 3 miles away. All neccessary shopping is whithin 2 miles (along 2 major arteries - Hillside Avenue and Jericho Turnpike). A major mall and a large shopping area is 5-7 miles away (Old Country Road).
I've lived in this area 10 yrs and my neighbors are, generally, high level professionals (doctors, lawyers, executives). The neighborhoods are generally quiet and there are many local community organizations. The water is within 5-7 miles (Port Washington and nearby places) and there is boating facilities. THe beaches are 1/2 hr away (Jones Beach and nearby areas). Hope that helps.