Relocating to NYC suburbs from Metro Boston (Carmel, Fishkill: real estate, travel)

[spaingirl1027]

Greetings...I've been researching some of these threads and am very interested in receiving more input from the readers. I have recently accepted a life changing position in NYC and will have my family (husband and two boys, 14 and 6) moving down at the end of the next school year. The family visited the area a few weeks ago (stayed in Fishkill, drove around quite a bit) to get a sense of where we might like to live. At this point, I think we've narrowed things down to Carmel/Mahopac...I've read and heard good things about the schools and am prepared to deal with ultra high real estate taxes and lengthy commute (I already travel 1.25 to 1.5 hours each way). We prefer an older, needs some TLC type of home, as our preference is to have a bit of land (maybe an acre to an acre 1/2) around us versus a bright and shiny new interior. My older son plays hockey, so I'd like to know about leagues in the area...although academics are much more important in the long run. I'd love to hear any and all input that you folks out there could offer. I'll be commuting for the next 9-10 months, so I have time to really think this through, but this is a life altering decision and I want to be sure that I make the right one for my family. Many thanks in advance to all of you.