family of 5 looking for a great place to live (New Rochelle: house, condo)

[chanamiryam]

NEW ROCHELLE
Bethlehem PA; Poconos
Mamaroneck
Fleetwood/Mount Vernon-Westchester County
Springfield New Jersey

of these cities/towns above....what can be said of them? profiles of their neighborhoods, prices, amenities, schools, safey, etc.

thanks

also very important....easy commute to Manhattan

[Viralmd]

You've already posted on this board, asking the same question...I don't understand why you've started another thread with the same question.

And you've already heard that the Poconos have an awful commute. You seem to be limited by your budget. I think you said that you wanted to rent. But you have pets. That's always a problem for renters, as well.

[FutureCop]

New Rochelle - residential-urban, schools are pretty good from what I've heard. It's right outside of the city, so commuting will be easy and it's within easy access to the amenities of the city.

Same with Mamaroneck, Fleetwood, Mount Vernon... Close to the city (right outside of it).

Bethlehem - not sure about. I do know that it's quite a long commute to Manhattan.

You may want to wait and see what other members have to say about the schools. I don't know much about New Rochelle and Mount Vernon schools.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by Viralmd

You've already posted on this board, asking the same question...I don't understand why you've started another thread with the same question.

And you've already heard that the Poconos have an awful commute. You seem to be limited by your budget. I think you said that you wanted to rent. But you have pets. That's always a problem for renters, as well.

mt. vernon and to a lesser extent new rochelle have issues with the urban problems of the bronx spilling over to these towns, that doesn't mean the entire area is bad but if planning on moving there be wary and do your homework before committing.
and you're right, same question and the answers will be the same.
I could suggest the bayshore area of monmouth county, the commute to NYC will be 1 hour plus but they might find something available in their price range in some of the older areas

[newtoli]

You have a salary of $80k for a family of 5. You have several pets. You got very good advice in the other thread. I'd look into possibly Mahopac in Putnam County in your price range... you might be able to find a rental there... I've seen 3BR rentals for around $2200, but the pets could be an issue. You're also not going to get new and modern like you said you wanted in the other thread, you'll get something like this (apt in a 2 family house):



I'm assuming you're used to something more like this:



The rent on a house like that (I pulled it from a realtors website), in Putnam County, is $6000/mo

[mead]

Ok I don't know why no one has helped you with your question so far. It seems pretty straightforward in my mind.

You are basically looking for an affordable location with a good number of Jews, preferably Orthodox, with a somewhat reasonable commute to Manhattan. You have also stated that you would prefer not to live in the city, even though this might be one of the better choices on your budget (with a place like Borough Park in Brooklyn). I am Catholic, so the following are my observations. Someone can jump in and correct me if I posted something wrong.

So some areas I would suggest:

- Rockland County, NY has the country atmosphere that you are looking for and is fairly reasonably priced. The commute into Manhattan will be rough, but your husband could probably take a bus from Rockland over to Tarrytown or White Plains and then take MetroNorth down into the city. Percentage wise Rockland is the most Jewish county in the USA (with nearly 1 out of 3 people being Jewish). There are lots of towns made up almost entirely of Hassidic people (Monsey comes to mind). Check out this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/ny...25walmart.html

- Bergen County, NJ has a lot of towns with high numbers of Orthodox Jews. Most of the area is comprised of single family homes, so renting might be more difficult. THere are a lot of nice towns in Bergen though that are fairly close to the city. Bergen is fairly expensive, but some towns are reasonbly priced.

- Towns of Milburn/West Orange/Livingston/Springfield in New Jersey. Fairly big Jewish community in the area (moved to these towns from Newark, NJ after the riots in the late 1960s). I think they are more reform Jews here than Orthodox. There is a fairly large Jewish high school near the Livingston Mall, and the town of Livingston itself is heavily Jewish. Milburn is very nice, but also very upscale/expensive and I believe it is more reform than Orthodox.

- Lakewood, NJ has a lot of what you are looking for, but I think the commute would be entirely way too far.

- Some towns in Westchester County, NY like New Rochelle and White Plains are worth a look. Most people wouldn't like living in these towns with children becuse the public schools are not that good. However if you are sending your kids to private school then it is not a problem. White Plains is becoming somewhat pricey with the opening up of new luxury condo/rental buildings. New Rochelle is more affordable, but not as nice as White Plains. In both of these towns you will trade convenience (lots of stores, especially in White Plains, and a 30-40 minute commute into the city by train) for space. You would definitely have to live in some type of apartment or garden apartment building. I don't see how you could rent a house on your budget in this area.

- Riverdale, NY, nice Jewish area with some Jewish schools in the area. This area is more urban than the other places I have posted, however the construction is fairly new so it doesn't look industrial or dirty. Riverdale can be somewhat expensive though, so I don't know whether it will be in your budget.

[chanamiryam]

Originally Posted by mead

Ok I don't know why no one has helped you with your question so far. It seems pretty straightforward in my mind.

You are basically looking for an affordable location with a good number of Jews, preferably Orthodox, with a somewhat reasonable commute to Manhattan. You have also stated that you would prefer not to live in the city, even though this might be one of the better choices on your budget (with a place like Borough Park in Brooklyn). I am Catholic, so the following are my observations. Someone can jump in and correct me if I posted something wrong.

So some areas I would suggest:

- Rockland County, NY has the country atmosphere that you are looking for and is fairly reasonably priced. The commute into Manhattan will be rough, but your husband could probably take a bus from Rockland over to Tarrytown or White Plains and then take MetroNorth down into the city. Percentage wise Rockland is the most Jewish county in the USA (with nearly 1 out of 3 people being Jewish). There are lots of towns made up almost entirely of Hassidic people (Monsey comes to mind). Check out this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/ny...25walmart.html

- Bergen County, NJ has a lot of towns with high numbers of Orthodox Jews. Most of the area is comprised of single family homes, so renting might be more difficult. THere are a lot of nice towns in Bergen though that are fairly close to the city. Bergen is fairly expensive, but some towns are reasonbly priced.

- Towns of Milburn/West Orange/Livingston/Springfield in New Jersey. Fairly big Jewish community in the area (moved to these towns from Newark, NJ after the riots in the late 1960s). I think they are more reform Jews here than Orthodox. There is a fairly large Jewish high school near the Livingston Mall, and the town of Livingston itself is heavily Jewish. Milburn is very nice, but also very upscale/expensive and I believe it is more reform than Orthodox.

- Lakewood, NJ has a lot of what you are looking for, but I think the commute would be entirely way too far.

- Some towns in Westchester County, NY like New Rochelle and White Plains are worth a look. Most people wouldn't like living in these towns with children becuse the public schools are not that good. However if you are sending your kids to private school then it is not a problem. White Plains is becoming somewhat pricey with the opening up of new luxury condo/rental buildings. New Rochelle is more affordable, but not as nice as White Plains. In both of these towns you will trade convenience (lots of stores, especially in White Plains, and a 30-40 minute commute into the city by train) for space. You would definitely have to live in some type of apartment or garden apartment building. I don't see how you could rent a house on your budget in this area.

- Riverdale, NY, nice Jewish area with some Jewish schools in the area. This area is more urban than the other places I have posted, however the construction is fairly new so it doesn't look industrial or dirty. Riverdale can be somewhat expensive though, so I don't know whether it will be in your budget.

Hey thanks for such great input.....

well we are modern orthodox and Lakewood and some of the other areas you mentioned are ultra orthodox (Haredi etc) which is too religious for us.

as far as Rockland, I have been looking there, it seems very nice....

I was told that the Hudson Valley area all the way up is really great....I looked a prices and Iam amazed how cheap they are...so is this because its bad? or not convenient for commutting?
I do like the country living up there

[chanamiryam]

Originally Posted by newtoli

You have a salary of $80k for a family of 5. You have several pets. You got very good advice in the other thread. I'd look into possibly Mahopac in Putnam County in your price range... you might be able to find a rental there... I've seen 3BR rentals for around $2200, but the pets could be an issue. You're also not going to get new and modern like you said you wanted in the other thread, you'll get something like this (apt in a 2 family house):



I'm assuming you're used to something more like this:



The rent on a house like that (I pulled it from a realtors website), in Putnam County, is $6000/mo

uhhhhh NO and NO those are too big and obviously more house then I can afford. I do not expect to find that. Iam looking for a 2000 sq ft house, 3-4 bedroom, 2 car garage, a nice backyard, fenced, good schools, safe community and a jewish synagogue. Ima finding alot of great stuff in Hudson Valley...what do you think?

[newtoli]

Originally Posted by chanamiryam

uhhhhh NO and NO those are too big and obviously more house then I can afford. I do not expect to find that. Iam looking for a 2000 sq ft house, 3-4 bedroom, 2 car garage, a nice backyard, fenced, good schools, safe community and a jewish synagogue. Ima finding alot of great stuff in Hudson Valley...what do you think?

What part of Hudson valley, how far up?

[chanamiryam]

Originally Posted by newtoli

What part of Hudson valley, how far up?

i have no idea....Iguess I was looking pretty high up