North NY city suburbs?

[hjlacey]

Check out Orange also

[winnie]

Originally Posted by donnellprobst

We are originally from west suburbs of Chicago, currently living in north San Diego suburbs, considering a relocation to NY area. Any suggestions on suburbs north of NY city that are an hour or less of a commute to the city (preferrably by train), but nice area, family friendly, good schools, space to breathe??? Looking for established areas, not new construction...

This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions here - and my answer is NO!

If you can stretch to an hour and a half or slightly longer - then yes you can pull it off.

The train that gets to NYC the fastest runs on the east side of the hudson. That area is INSANELY EXPENSIVE and you are talking Peekskill, Tarrytown, Ossning - basically Westchester county. CONDOS there are running 1 million dollars. For a crowded area. The commute will still push over an hour door to door and your property taxes on an AVERAGE home there will push you 15K. Then there is the cost of living which makes CA or Chicago seem dirt cheap.

There is no open air within an hour commute of NYC. Not by my standards at least! And if you DO find it you better keep it secret because there are thousands of people looking for that same thing!

[winnie]

Originally Posted by hjlacey

Check out Orange also

Not unless Monroe...and the commute still is over an hour by bus. OP wants a commute under an hour. Northern Orange is GREAT but you really pay with the commute - pushes 1.5 hours at least. You can get a nice house for under 400K in Wallkill and have OK access to the train (under 20 minutes).

[Y-Move]

Check out Rockland County.
Especially New City - Clarkstown School District.
Or Nyack or Nanuet.
Really lovely areas - very country like - I think that's an area really worth looking at.
Good Luck!

[starfire]

Suffern, in Rockland County is beautiful, has excellent schools, and is, generally, a very down to earth town. Just like everywhere around the lower Hudson area, though, it is quite expensive (you can find a house for about $550,000 - $650,000 average (but that tends to be a little on the low side), and average taxes are around the $10,000 range! But the schools are excellent, and if I could afford to, I would move to Suffern.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by donnellprobst

We are originally from west suburbs of Chicago, currently living in north San Diego suburbs, considering a relocation to NY area. Any suggestions on suburbs north of NY city that are an hour or less of a commute to the city (preferrably by train), but nice area, family friendly, good schools, space to breathe??? Looking for established areas, not new construction...

Try Washingtonville, Warwick, Cornwall. A little farter out but not as far as Wallkill. If you are gonna search in Wallkill be sure to look in Walden too.
Balmville is very nice also, it's located around the Newburgh area(NOT NEWBURGH THOUGH) A nice hidden gem away from the garbage, even Marlboro.
Hopefully you'll like the quiet smalltown feel and not be bored to death like I was.

Good Luck.