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Hello everyone. My husband and I want to move and are looking north to mainland NY. Any suggestions? Please consider the following:
We are a family of four (four-year-old and two-year-old sons). We want greenery (but not isolation!), sizable back yard, good schools, not too far away from "culture" people seem to usually associate with museums, etc. and city live-life (I guess ::shrug:. Basically we'd like to be around stimulating things we can do, especially as as a family, and not live in a place where our kids or ourselves will eventually want to jump off the roof of our home from boredom or loneliness.
Must-Haves:
-Good schools and opportunities like music lessons, martial arts, sports, etc.
-Good access to groceries and supplies (home, school, etc.)
-Area not susceptible to flooding, tornadoes, dangerous blizzards
-Stuff to do not so far away
Limitations:
-My husband works in downtown Manhattan. Commute should preferably be no more than 2 hrs.
-We have $50,000 to spend on buying a home and CANNOT have a mortgage much more than $500/month
Where we live now: Staten Island, NYC in an area that is more urban than it is suburban. However, before anyone puts us in a box or slaps a "city slicker" sticker on our foreheads, please don't. Although I myself am originally from Brooklyn (I know, still NYC, but TRUST me when I say there is a difference), my husband is from a more rural town in Moldova (Eastern Europe).
One last concern: Racism. I am black, husband is white, kids are mixed, so we also don't want to live somewhere where that would still be an issue. Forgive me if that seems an ignorant concern, but I honestly don't know what mainland New York is like (with the exception of the Bronx NYC borough).
Sorry this post is so long. I just wanted to give as much info as possible to get the most useful answers. Hopefully what I included is useful to you, but if you need other info, please let me know! We need your help!!!
Last edited by rinseand:||; 11-02-2012 at 05:12 PM..
-Area not susceptible to flooding, tornadoes, dangerous blizzards
-We have $50,000 to spend on buying a home and CANNOT have a mortgage much more than $500/month
Pretty much all of New York is out if you're worried about floods, tornadoes, and blizzards. And by blizzards do you mean snow or an actual blizzard? All of those things can happen just about anywhere. No place is immune to natural disasters. If there was such a place, it would be filled to the brim with people.
For only $50K, you won't be anywhere near Manhattan. You'd have to go waaaaaay Upstate and even then, you're not looking at good neighborhoods really. Unless you get super lucky and find a bargain foreclosure that no one else wants. Chances are VERY slim for that and the house would no doubt need MAJOR repairs for that price.
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Rockland towns would fit your suburban dream but it's doubtfull you would find a home to purchase that would place your mortage within your price limit.
No way. Your mortgage couldn't be over about $105K to keep the P&I in the $500 range, that doesn't include taxes, insurance, and applicable HOA. With closing costs, that only gives you about $140K to buy a house with. Not happening unless you go further out or into neighborhoods that are iffy at best.
If you are willing to go into a suburban condo (ie yard areas for kids and probably an on-site playground) you could fins a lot in your price range in Middletown, NY. Not the best schools but not awful, the commute would be a good two hours each way.
Thank you all for your feedback! it is highly appreciated.
Ss20ts, by "blizzard" I meant blizzard.... not just snow. It snows plenty in NYC for me to know the difference. Also, I know English. And of course there are no areas with zero risk for natural disasters, but some areas are more susceptible to certain types of inclement weather in general. What I was trying to say was that we'd like to move to an area that doesn't experiences a lot of devastating weather annually. Sorry to all if I was unclear or spoke to casually. However, just as a note to ss20ts: you should probably work on not sounding so condescending in your responses because if you hadn't meant to be, your writing betrayed you on that.
Based on everyone's answers thus far, I realize moving upstate would be difficult at best. Annerk, I will look into Middletown. Thank you all for your insight.
Ss20ts, by "blizzard" I meant blizzard.... not just snow. It snows plenty in NYC for me to know the difference. Also, I know English. And of course there are no areas with zero risk for natural disasters, but some areas are more susceptible to certain types of inclement weather in general. What I was trying to say was that we'd like to move to an area that doesn't experiences a lot of devastating weather annually. Sorry to all if I was unclear or spoke to casually. However, just as a note to ss20ts: you should probably work on not sounding so condescending in your responses because if you hadn't meant to be, your writing betrayed you on that.
Blizzards anywhere are rare. I asked if you meant an actual blizzard or snow because many people who aren't from snow country consider 2 flakes of snow a blizzard. NYC doesn't get squat for snow compared to Upstate. Over the last 2 years, NYers have learned that no place is immune and just because it was in the past doesn't mean it is anymore. Some people enjoy 100" of snow per winter and don't consider that devastating. Others consider any snow period devastating.
As for sounding condescending, that's your personal interpretation. Wasn't condescending at all. Answered your questions.
If you move from NYC to say, Middletown, you won't see THAT much more snow. Central Park averages 27 inches/year and Middletown 39. Once you get into the Catskills and north and west is when you will start to see a serious climb in annual snow total, but you aren't going that far north.
You will also find that the weather in Middletown will nearly match that of NYC most of the time. The main difference will be on winter mornings; there is no 'heat island' effect in the Hudson Valley, thus, it can get very cold (compared to NYC).
Agree on Middletown weather, although I think it might rain a little more in the summer for some reason. Not deluge rain, just, well, rain.
It's 90 minutes to two hours on the Port Jervis line from Middletown station to NY Penn, then probably another 20 minutes on MTA to Wall Street, so it''s going to actually be over two hours each way if you factor in drive time to and from the station. Keep in mind the monthly commuter pass is $368.00 plus parking costs plus Metrocard. Over $500 a month in commuting costs--ouch!
Have you considered NJ? I used to live in North Brunswick and commute to NYC. It's typically an hour and 45 each way door-to-door. There are three condos for sale right now in North Brunswick in your price range.
The one on Birchwood is not in a desirable neighborhood. Either of the other two are in solid, safe neighborhoods, good schools, lot's of amenities nearby, lot's of open space for kids to play. There's a Suburban Transit commuter bus stop a five minute walk from the Hidden Lake condo, the other one would be a 10-15 minutes walk and I think the monthly pass is $320. Might be something to consider.
The weather in that area is about the same as the weather in NYC.
Thanks Dreamshot. That gives me a good idea of what to expect in Middletown, weather-wise. Annerk: We'll look into NJ, though we were trying to avoid moving there. No particularly good reason I suppose, just old stigma held from childhood.
What about Monroe? Does anyone know anything about that area?
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. Basically we'd like to be around stimulating things we can do, especially as as a family, and not live in a place where our kids or ourselves will eventually want to jump off the roof of our home from boredom or loneliness.
