Orange County, help! (Monroe, Warwick, Newburgh: house, to buy, school districts)

[nicole7176]

Hi, my husband and I are looking to buy a house in about 6 months. I have been looking online at Rockland/Orange County. It seems that Orange is more affordable. We want to stay close to the Monroe/Woodbury towns because I commute to Bergen County NJ and my husband would be commuting to city. I have heard mixed things about monroe. I have heard that there is a large pop. of orthodox jewish families. Not that it really matters. I was just wondering if this is accurate. Also, what about harriman, central valley, corwall, etc. I am looking for a good school system and a town that we could commute under an hour and a half. any info. would be appreciated.

[laj24]

Have you looked into the Warwick area?

[nicole7176]

I have, but the commute would be about 2 hours for my husband..a little too far

[Nancy-NJ-NY-ME?]

Good train stations -- Harriman and Salisbury Mills/Cornwall. I commuted for years to NYC by train and agree with your instincts of not moving to Warwick. While it's a nice town/village, the commute to Bergen and NYC is not so good. From Warwick, some take the bus; others drive to Harriman and take the train.

http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf -- This is a map of the NJ Transit system; look at the box with the Port Jervis line. While this piece is in NY and is technically part of Metro North, it is operated by NJ Transit. Here's the Metro North map; it might be eaiser to read. MTA Metro-North Railroad Schedules are available at both sites.

From Harriman or Salisbury Mills, you'd ride to Hoboken or the Secaucus Junction station.

Around these stations, there's several villages, towns and hamlets in which to reside. The school disticts in the area are: Monroe-Woodbury, Washingtonville, Cornwall, and Newburgh.

[joeymarine]

Originally Posted by nicole7176

Hi, my husband and I are looking to buy a house in about 6 months. I have been looking online at Rockland/Orange County. It seems that Orange is more affordable. We want to stay close to the Monroe/Woodbury towns because I commute to Bergen County NJ and my husband would be commuting to city. I have heard mixed things about monroe. I have heard that there is a large pop. of orthodox jewish families. Not that it really matters. I was just wondering if this is accurate. Also, what about harriman, central valley, corwall, etc. I am looking for a good school system and a town that we could commute under an hour and a half. any info. would be appreciated.

Nicole,

Glad to see more new faces coming to the area! There is a large population of religious folk here, to be correct they are Hasidic Jewish, and they live in their own little town called Kiruous(sp*) Joel. It can take a little getting used to their customs, but once you do they aren't bad poeple.

Both Harriman and Central Valley would be good choices for you as they are both also in the Monroe/Woodbury School District. Also look into Highland Mills. Cornwall is very nice, but it's a little isolated, the schools are great--very good place to live if you have/plan to have children, I just think the commute may be a bit problematic.

Best of luck to you and don't hesitate to ask anymore questions...that's what we're here for.

~Joe

[nicole7176]

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I have my eye on a house in Highland Mills. The school is Central Valley Elem and MW Middle and High School. Any thoughts on Highlnd Mills and these school systems?

[joeymarine]

Originally Posted by nicole7176

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I have my eye on a house in Highland Mills. The school is Central Valley Elem and MW Middle and High School. Any thoughts on Highlnd Mills and these school systems?

Nicole,

Highland Mills is a very nice town. The Monroe-Woodbury School District is one of the more saught after school districts in the county and I believe it ranks as number 2 or 3 in the county. You can go to either schoolmatch.com or schoolmatter.com and get all the statistics on the school there though.

The prices have come down a good deal over there and you should be able to get a very good deal.

Best of luck to you and don't hesitate to ask any questions.

~Joey

[cbanh.007]

Are you still looking to buy a house here in Orange County? I want to help.

[Titus Pullo]

I'm looking to buy!

Okay, this may be a delayed response. But I'm considering Orange County around Harriman. I found Harriman to have a good mix of people and having that Metro-North station makes a big deal. I was looking in Rockland, but I realize I can get so much more in Orange w/ my low budget of $225K.

[7laura397]

Goshen is a nice town, and the drive up rt 17 to the monroe park and ride is about 10 mins. Again, google Kiryas Joel, also look at "the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA)", understand that Kiryas Joel is determined to spread its borders, as it has been doing since its inception, consider where your high town taxes are going when over 90% of Kiryas Joel residents have incomes less than $15,000, families of more than 8 children, and use welfare and social services as their main financial support, and then consider what the value of your home will be in 10 years under these conditions. Goshen or Chester, which is even closer to the Monroe park and ride than Goshen, seem to be better choices. Just things to think about.