Greater Rochester: How is Webster, NY? (schools, visit, parents)

[melkat]

Webster is definetly not upper middle class...there are quite a few areas that have shabby houses (which you won't find in Pittsford) and very nice houses on the lake (my FIL owns one actually!) A lot of Webster is very rural and it will take you a half an hour at least to get to the city (more in the winter) Their schools are good but a lot bigger than Brighton and Pittsford. Henrietta schools are no where near as good as Brighton or Pittsford (and to be completely honest and *snobby*..like the pp mentioned LOL... being from Brighton I would never live in Henrietta..too much variation in income for my taste )

Kitty..Penfield is close to the city and not snooty (my sister in law lives there with her 3 children as well as some cousins) I think it is one of the most down to earth suburbs. Parts of Penfield can be rural though. My SIL lives in a great neighborhood that is walking distance to Indian Landing elementary school and loves it there...so many kids in the neighborhood and VERY safe for the kids to play outside together.

[JWilliams]

OK, we searched around for a while and we actually bought a house in Walworth but with Penfield schools. A small section on the very west of Walworth, a stone's throw within Wayne county and immediately ajacdent to Penfield, has Penfield schools but also property prices low enough that we were able to buy a new 4 story house for a smidge under $200k, something we were totally unable to find anywhere else.

We really liked Fairport and its area but our budget was going to put us into an older home and they invariably had what I refer to as torture basements, but then I'm not used to having a basement, so having an older non-walkout basement in an older house just felt really weird to me and more to my wife. Now we have great schools, a new house, and a big backyard plus a wicked field immediately behind our house that's maintained by the city. We're 8 minutes from the 441/250 intersection.

I do like Penfield, too. Its in a superb location and has a lot of great stores.

We looked at Webster but its schools are certanly not better than Penfield and the houses we looked at were more expensive than what we ended up with, so we saw no compelling reason to buy anything there.

[kitty71]

I was looking up posts on Webster - guess why? This past weekend we looked at houses... and now have an offer in on a gorgeous house there - we are now knuckle-biting, waiting to see what happens. Actually, our mailing address will be Penfield, but Webster schools.

We looked at all the east side suburbs, and we definitely found our dollar went farther in Penfield than anywhere else, taking into consideration we wanted a home we won't have to fix up at all.

Just wondering if anyone else ended up moving there or is planning too?

[spizzo]

I grew up in Webster and graduated from Webster High School. The schools have a lot to offer and are very good. There is a big rivalry between Webster, Pittsford, and Brighton which has been going on since I was a kid and I am sure before that. My sister now lives and attends school in Brighton and although it is a good school district as well it is much smaller and as that town grows I think that they will find it difficult to manage the influx of students since the last time I checked they only had 1 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high school. Websters athletic teams are very good.

If you have any other questions I would be more than willing to provide you any information since I can speak from experience as to what this town has to offer.

[melkat]

Originally Posted by spizzo

I grew up in Webster and graduated from Webster High School. The schools have a lot to offer and are very good. There is a big rivalry between Webster, Pittsford, and Brighton which has been going on since I was a kid and I am sure before that. My sister now lives and attends school in Brighton and although it is a good school district as well it is much smaller and as that town grows .

Brighton isn't growing..it is actually shrunk. We had 3 elementaries, 2 middle and 1 HS growing up..they have totally changed their schooling and they have k-2 at council rock 3-5 at French Road and 6-8 at the middle school...there is not much undeveloped land in Brighton so they really don't have any fears of becoming overcrowded.

I have never heard of a Brigthon, Pittsford and Webster rivalry (I grew up in Brighton as did my siblings and my mom went to Brighton and my uncle went to Webster)..they are in different divisions in sports and have been for a long time..pittsford and brighton yes but Webster is different demographically and not really comparable.

[rochacha]

My only concern about Webster would be infrastructure. It certainly hasn't kept up with the growth, especially around the village. If you commute into the city, 590 is miserable during rush hour (by Rochester standards at least). Irondequoit Bay almost acts as an isolator in this regard. I live in neighboring Irondequoit, so I can attest that the area and living within a stone's throw of the Bay and Lake are wonderful.

[gastric]

I live on the west side so I cannot confirm this personally. But I have a couple friends that live in Webster and one of them mentioned that the Webster schools have anti-radiation-sickness pills on hand due to the proximity to the local nuclear power plant North East of Rochester. I'm not saying this is a good reason for NOT moving to Webster as it has a lot to offer. But I hadn't seen proximity to the nuke plant mentioned.

[mcmartian]

Radiation sickness pills at the high school has got to be a rumor/urban legend. If there was that kind of leakage, they'd be evacuating people and everyone that worked at the plant and lived close to it would be on meds.

[kitty71]

Actually I have to substantiate the rumors. They do indeed have the tablets on hand, but only in case of a theoretical emergency. It is the state law that any school within a ten-mile radius of a nuclear power plant must have such emergency measures in place.

How do I know? Well, I was shocked myself when I recently went to download the school enrollment package, and there is a notice and permission slip all about this. Of course, (HOPEFULLY!!!!!) there is a minute chance of this ever occurring... not the best feeling in the world, though, when I saw that ....

[mcmartian]

hmm interesting. they probably don't have enough on stock for the whole school. lol murphy's law