Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Possibly moving from South Jersey right outside NYC. I plan on commuting to the city and found that those counties all have reasonable traveling distance. It is me, my wife, and my son. We are looking for a 3 or 4 bedroom house with a price of $200k-400k. We are looking for a nice suburb that has a decent amount of amenities. We don't want to be in a REAL city, just looking for a nice suburb that has the basics: bars, movie theater, couple mini-shopping malls, major resturants (Applebees, PF Changs, etc).
Topography wise we love hills, trees, lakes. Flat and open is bad We are young parents raising kids so we also don't want a town that is too rural. We'd rather a town with a decent amount of recognizable places to eat than a bunch of small mom & pop places. A real mall within a half hour is also ideal.
So far we have found good homes for good prices in places like Carmel, Mahopac, Cortlandt, Yorktown Heights, Congers, Pearl River, New City and Ramapo. However, it is hard to get a true feel for the town. What we honestly want is not a real "city" but that there is tons to do in the center, but outside the center it is nothing but nice developments. We are aiming for middle class-upper middle class areas, and would rather a "newer" town with updated buildings. Really not trying to sound snobby.
Since you are coming from South Jersey, you may not realize that you are likely making a huge mistake with regard to how you are shopping for homes in suburban NYC. In NYS outside of large cities (NY, Yonkers, Buffalo, etc), public schools are administered by school districts. These school districts are their own governmental entities, separate from cities, towns, and villages. They have boundaries that are different than that of cities, towns and villages. They are governed by a school board elected by residents of the district. The School Board assesses property taxes to pay most of their budget. These property taxes constitute the largest portion of your overall property tax bill (school taxes are much higher than county/town/village taxes). And its the school district that has the greatest effect on your community - its property values, the type of people that live there, etc.
What this all means is that when you buy a house, its most important feature is what school district it is in. This is especially important when you have children.
As applied to your post, you are citing a budget that is small, but yet are indicating that you have found decent homes within that budget in numerous areas. At least for some of these areas, this is likely due to the fact that the home may be in a very undesirable school district. When you say "Ramapo", keep in mind that Ramapo is a HUGE town that contains an endless array of hamlets and villages. There are three school districts within the Town of Ramapo. One of them (East Ramapo) is extremely undesirable - it is a huge district educating students that are nearly 100% poor and minority, while its board is dominated by hasidic and ultra-orthodox jews whose children exclusively attend yeshivas. Houses in this district are SIGNIFICANTLY discounted because of this. Also, parts of New City are in this district as well. Northern Ramapo is in the North Rockland School District, which is only moderately desirable. The western portion of Ramapo is in the Ramapo Central School District, which is excellent. Thus, any house that is in Ramapo or New City that looks like a good deal very well may be a good deal because it is in the East Ramapo School District.
Congers is entirely (I believe) within the Clarkstown School District, which is excellent. Pearl River is mostly within the Pearl River School District, but some of it is within the Nanuet School District. Pearl River is excellent and Nanuet is probably just a bit behind but also very good. But your budget in any of these three school districts would only get you an small, not updated, cape, and you will be on the very low end housing-wise.
I know less about the other areas, which are all Northern Westchester or Putnam, but the same is true regarding school districts. Many of those areas cover multiple school districts. I believe all possible school districts in that area are good though.
Also important is where in the city you will be working and what mode of commenting you will want to utilize. Pearl River is the closest to the city of all areas you mentioned, for instance, but communities on the Jersey side of the river have less convenient public transportation options relevant to their closeness to the city. Where you will be working, and how you will get there, should also be a determinative factor after you navigate through the school districts.
In addition to travel time, are you also looking at how you'll commute? To me it seems like commuting to NYC from Rockland would be a huge pain because there is no Metro North service, whereas you'll have pretty easy access to train stations in much of Westchester and Putnam.
While Putnam does have lots of wide open spaces, great parks, hiking trails, you won't find much in the way of 'recognizable' places to eat- but I have to say, the mom and pop and non-chain places are far superior, even the ones that don't look impressive.
My advice would be to spend some time in the places that interest you, drive around, check out the attractions and shopping. I don't know if you'll find everything you're looking for in those areas but it might help to see the reality and decide what you can and can't live without.
In addition to travel time, are you also looking at how you'll commute? To me it seems like commuting to NYC from Rockland would be a huge pain because there is no Metro North service, whereas you'll have pretty easy access to train stations in much of Westchester and Putnam.
While Putnam does have lots of wide open spaces, great parks, hiking trails, you won't find much in the way of 'recognizable' places to eat- but I have to say, the mom and pop and non-chain places are far superior, even the ones that don't look impressive.
My advice would be to spend some time in the places that interest you, drive around, check out the attractions and shopping. I don't know if you'll find everything you're looking for in those areas but it might help to see the reality and decide what you can and can't live without.
There is no Metro North train service in Rockland????
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 16 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,220 posts, read 17,075,134 times
Reputation: 15536
Quote:
Originally Posted by 987ABC
There is no Metro North train service in Rockland????
Service is limited with stops in Spring Valley, Nanuet, Pearl River and another line which services Suffern, all lines will require a transfer in NJ to get into NYC. http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm
East Ramapo isn't 100% poor or minority. There are middle class areas within that school district such as Hillcrest, which has a six figure median household income, with some other areas scattered in that district. With that said, it is the least regarded SD in Rockland County. Here is a source that allows you to view info at different levels within the SD(or any SD): East Ramapo Central School District - USA.comâ„¢ School enrollment is around 90-95% minority though and there are high free/reduced lunch percentages. So, a lot of the middle class and up go to private schools.
Nyack is solid, but due to the perception of demographics, it may not be as socially regarded by some in Rockland County.
South Orangetown is another SD in Rockland County and may be worth looking into.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 06-12-2016 at 07:03 AM..
East Ramapo isn't 100% poor or minority. There are middle class areas within that school district such as Hillcrest, which has a six figure median household income, with some other areas scattered in that district. With that said, it is the least regarded SD in Rockland County. Here is a source that allows you to view info at different levels within the SD(or any SD): East Ramapo Central School District - USA.comâ„¢ School enrollment is around 90-95% minority though and there are high free/reduced lunch percentages. So, a lot of the middle class and up go to private schools.
Nyack is solid, but due to the perception of demographics, it may not be as socially regarded by some in Rockland County.
South Orangetown is another SD in Rockland County and may be worth looking into.
I said "nearly" 100% poor and minority, so I don't see the need for you to contradict me with your first statement. Citing stats for Hillcrest adds nothing to the questions asked by the original poster. If you have driven through the streets of Hillcrest recently you would know it does not look like a nice middle class neighborhood. More importantly it has no identity independent of Spring Valley and the East Ramapo SD, and no sense of community separate from surrounding areas, so it's median income figures will have no apreciable affect on persons living there. There are a fair number of people who live in Hillcrest who don't even know they live in Hillcrest. In short, Hillcrest is not a thing. Anyone with middle class money in Hillcrest is either an Hasidic or Orthodox Jew who will have nothing to do with you unless you are similar, or is black/Hispanic sending kids to catholic school who will do nothing in Hillcrest but sleep, or is just simply poor. Due to the school district, Hillcrest is getting poorer and/or more Hasidic by the minute.
I said "nearly" 100% poor and minority, so I don't see the need for you to contradict me with your first statement. Citing stats for Hillcrest adds nothing to the questions asked by the original poster. If you have driven through the streets of Hillcrest recently you would know it does not look like a nice middle class neighborhood. More importantly it has no identity independent of Spring Valley and the East Ramapo SD, and no sense of community separate from surrounding areas, so it's median income figures will have no apreciable affect on persons living there. There are a fair number of people who live in Hillcrest who don't even know they live in Hillcrest. In short, Hillcrest is not a thing. Anyone with middle class money in Hillcrest is either an Hasidic or Orthodox Jew who will have nothing to do with you unless you are similar, or is black/Hispanic sending kids to catholic school who will do nothing in Hillcrest but sleep, or is just simply poor. Due to the school district, Hillcrest is getting poorer and/or more Hasidic by the minute.
I'd say that it is a predominately Black and middle class area, with a low poverty rate that just happens to be in the East Ramapo SD. According to this source, the Black median household income is a little over $104,000: Hillcrest, NY Income and Careers - USA.com™
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 16 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,220 posts, read 17,075,134 times
Reputation: 15536
East Ramapo School district is probably the worst performing district in the county and has been under investigation by the state for irregularities. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/ny...itor.html?_r=0 .Even though their may be pockets such as Hillcrest that look nice those with the options and the money are sending their kids to other than the public schools. To live between New Square and Spring Valley is not a wise choice as New Square like a plague extends it's overcrowding and squalor in any direction that it is able to.
I'd say that it is a predominately Black and middle class area, with a low poverty rate that just happens to be in the East Ramapo SD. According to this source, the Black median household income is a little over $104,000: Hillcrest, NY Income and Careers - USA.comâ„¢
Anyway, I agree that most of the Rockland County SD's are solid to very good.
But the "just happens to be in the East Ramapo SD" part is EVERYTHING. The purpose of this forum is to help people, answer their questions, and engage in meaningful discussion. Blindly citing statistics without context doesn't always help people. The OP asked a question about a prospective move to an area he knows little about. Based on his use of the word "Ramapo", and his statements about housing prices for places he has found (likely online), he clearly is ill-informed about the area, as he should be not being from there. Throwing out numbers that make it seem like Hillcrest is a nice viable middle class community is misleading. In practice, there is no such thing as Hillcrest. Yes, it may be listed somewhere as a CDP (census designated place), but this fact alone means nothing to someone's day to day living or quality of life. It does not have its own schools, youth organizations (sports, etc), shopping, or really anything else that makes a community a community. Your existence is dominated by the fact that you are in the East Ramapo School District, and your quality of life, and everything about your experience living there, will be 99%, if not 100%, the same as someone from very nearby who is also in the East Ramapo School District but may be in a much poorer or more crime ridden CDP.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are young parents raising kids so we also don't want a town that is too rural. We'd rather a town with a decent amount of recognizable places to eat than a bunch of small mom & pop places. A real mall within a half hour is also ideal.
