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Earlier poster is wrong: I live in Westchester and work in Manhattan and I do NOT PAY NYC TAXES. There used to be a "comutter tax" but there no longer is.
Also, Westchester RE taxes vary from town to town, but generally are lower than NJ.
good stuff, thanks for all the input. keep it coming. we are looking at trying to get a home in the 500-600 range which i know limits our options, would prefer public schools, my husband is OK with 45-60 minute commute to work, etc. just trying to figure out if we are living in a dream world. we have a near 200k offer to move there and trying to make it work economically and at the same time make sure we are giving our kids a good life. thanks in advance....
OK.....a little confused because of conflicting info. if my husband works in manhattan, do we automatically pay NYC income tax or does it matter where we live?
You guys could probably do alright in the North-West Bronx, assuming you never enter any other part of the borough - all either too ethnic or too different.
husta- what burbs would you recommend north of the bronx in our price range with decent schools. i wouldn't mind getting some where with a little green. on the other hand i was also visioning some brown stone (ala the Huxtables) with an iron fence where we can walk to the butcher on the corner, etc. where can we find something like that as well.
husta- what burbs would you recommend north of the bronx in our price range with decent schools. i wouldn't mind getting some where with a little green. on the other hand i was also visioning some brown stone (ala the Huxtables) with an iron fence where we can walk to the butcher on the corner, etc. where can we find something like that as well.
^If you want brownstones, maybe Brooklyn would fit. New York City style housing/ architecture ends at mid sections of Yonkers and Mt. Vernon. After that, it's the straight up 'burbs. Try Riverdale or Van Cortlandt Village. I heard the latter was still very affordable and has a "village"-like atmosphere. Ask Freak for details
Yeah you're not going to be finding any brownstones or corner stores in the suburbs. The suburbs of NYC are like the suburbs of any other city, they are just more densely built.
Also if you want to live in an urban area with brownstones, corner stores, etc, you're most likely not going to have any "green" stuff around, with the possible exception of a local park.
on the other hand i was also visioning some brown stone (ala the Huxtables) with an iron fence where we can walk to the butcher on the corner, etc. where can we find something like that as well.
The Cosby Show was set in Brooklyn Heights.
This is a premier NYC neighborhood. You can also find the brownstone lifestyle - and a very (upscale) family-oriented lifestyle - in Park Slope Brooklyn. Brownstones in these areas start at $1.3 million or so.
As an earlier posted said, this is not a suburban lifestyle. You live very close to your neighbors and parking is a problem. Brownstone streets generally don't have driveways or garages.
$500K - $600K will basically get you an ordinary, nothing special 3BR house in the burbs, Queens or Southern Brooklyn.
As a relocator myself, I'd advise renting for at least the first year. There is a huge range of housing and lifestyle choices in the metro area: city/suburbs, lowrise/highrise, near the ocean/near the mountains, etc. You'll need that much time to get to know the area, assess the pros and cons of various locations, and figure out what works best with your budget, family needs, and commute tolerance.
I get annoyed at the simplistic descriptions of NYC's suburbs since there are a huge number of options. They are not all "dense" or "straight up 'burbs." I live in Yorktown Heights in northern Westchester, in a 1700's farmhouse with a barn on 4 acres with an apple orchard. Our neighbors on one side have 35 acres of woods and on the other side is a 75 acre horse farm. All of the houses on the street date from the 1800's or earlier. It feels like the country, but we're within 15 minutes of a large number of towns, art museums, galleries, restaurants, parks, and other "urban" amenities. There are also thousands of acres of nature preserves with stunning hiking trails and lakes for swimming. To me, it is the perfect balance.
The area has a number of towns which can afford a village experience (walking to the corner store and so on). Katonah, Croton, Ossining and Peekskill all fit the bill. These towns have victorians, tudors, capes, colonials--but no brownstones.
I commute daily to Manhattan, as does pretty much everyone else up here, and the commute to Grand Central is 65 minutes. I have a 15 minute drive to the station--if you live closer, the commute is shorter (train ride from Croton-Harmon is 45 minutes).
As for price, you can find houses for under 600K, especially in the towns (getting land costs more).
Brownstones in Park Slope start at closer to 2 Million and run up to 5 Million. 3 Bedrooms start at about 800 to 900K . To get a brownstone for 1.3M, you'll have to go to Bed Stuy or another "gentrifying" area.(I'm a Brooklyn transplant.)
Hope that helps.
Last edited by dma1250; 09-29-2007 at 09:19 AM..
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