Looking for commutable town with good middle school (White Plains, Rye: apartments, rental)
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Single parent and my child is about to enter middle school. Leaving sleepy upstate area with little job op for a commute into times square area. My criteria are, in order of importance, a) good public education, b) decent commute time, c) safe area, d) Rent in the $1500-1800 area e) other singles?, laundry, yard, parking (all about equal).
What areas would you suggest I check? Any suggestions welcome. I have friends in Westchester but I'm also considering NJ.
If you're commuting to Grand Central, are you looking at absolute time station-to-station? Frequency of trains? Access to highways? Houses within walking distance to trains and other amenities? Availability of car parking in the train stations?
For example, some people would consider Poughkeepsie "commutable". What are your expectations?
Ideally 40 mins or less door to door. Short walk to train? Easy parking at train? Frequent trains - express even. No, Poughkeepsie wouldn't work for me. LOL
That's a pretty tall order because even the most express trains from the closest towns in Westchester run about 30-35 min then no matter how close you live to the station, on the other end you have about 10 min to Times Square either on the shuttle or walking. The middle school requirement in that price range (I assume for a 2 bdrm?) is also tough. I would suggest maybe North White Plains with Valhalla schools? If you can stretch the commute to an hour door to door you can consider Hawthorne/Thornwood/Pleasantville.
Another thing I will say is that any town with a solid middle school will be dominated by families not singles, but since you're working in NYC you'll be able to meet people that way.
For that budget, you might get a small 1 BR in White Plains or something slightly bigger in Mt. Pleasant. But yes, you won't be able to meet your commute target.
Try looking at NJ also. Montclair and South Orange might have something in your price range.
If you're willing to stretch your commute further, I would suggest Nanuet or Pearl River in Rockland. Commute to Times Square would reach 1 hour (express bus drops off in Bryant Park) but they have good public school systems (Nanuet UFSD, PRSD) and 2 options in both areas to get to the city - by express bus or train, both of which are walkable from their downtowns.
Look in Pleasantville, Awesome schools. Small district. Also you can live downtown near the train station and walk to train/work. Plus your child can walk to school. (no buses in Pville).
The town has a large nightlife for a small village. Best of all you will feel safe and secure living in the village
It's probably at the upper end or just above your price range, but Hastings has a short commute (but not as frequent trains as the bigger places), good schools, safe, pretty, has decent housing in walkable areas etc. but you'll strike out in the singles and yard department. White Plains will have more mediocre schools, but will be better for pretty much everything else. Pelham actually might meet your requirements pretty well, the schools are good, the town is walkable and the housing will be fairly affordable. The train ride is short, but it's not an express stop. It's not the glitziest, and as is the case in southern westchester, everything is pretty tight living, lots of apartments and houses with very small yards. It is also bordered by undesirable areas, but there are plenty of very educated well off people who are perfectly happy there, so I'm guessing that's more of a perception thing than reality.
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