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I just recently moved back to Westchester a few months ago and I am in the process of looking for a home. I found two homes that peaked my interest one is located in Croton on Hudson and the other in Shrub Oak (Northern Yorktown area). At this point I am leaning toward Croton, mostly because there is much more info available. The property in Shrub Oak is a much newer... early 90's and larger home 3000+ sf on 0.5 acre. While the Croton house is around 2300 sf on 1 acre and built in the 1960's.
A little info about myself:
I am in my late 30's, single...but plan to start a family sometime in the near future. So schools will be a priority eventually. I am of Asian Indian descent enjoy diversity in culture, food, etc.. like the outdoors, like having a little space between the neighbors. I enjoy going to the city 2-3 times a month. Currently work in a hospital near White Plains, but open to working in the city later on for career growth etc..
Any information regarding these 2 areas will be greatly appreciated. Are there other areas that would be a good fit for me? Thanks so much!
If you enjoy going into NYC, and think that you may possibly work in NYC in the future, then I would recommend Croton. Croton has a major Metro-North train station (plus Cortlandt and Ossining stations are also relatively close by), while Shrub Oak has no rail line at all. You would have to drive from Shrub Oak to Peekskill to get the train. It's about a 7 mile drive across Route 6, but that road can get congested with traffic at times.
For commuting to White Plains, in Shrub Oak you'd be close to the Taconic Pkwy, while in Croton you'll be close to Route 9/9A. If you go to work in the morning like other commuters, you'll likely encounter traffic on both of these roads (I'm more familiar with 9A myself).
Neither of these areas is ideal for a single person, though. Don't expect anything in the way of nightlife in either area. You'll either have to head into White Plains, or hop the train to NYC for that.
Personally, I'd opt for Croton, because I am partial to anything near the Hudson River (some great sunsets to be seen in the evening in any community on the east side of the river), but that's just me.
How are you single yet starting a family soon?
Are you about to get engaged?
If you're single, get the hell out of Westchester ASAP. You're not getting any younger.
Move to NYC and commute to WP (particularly for minority with infinitesimal ethnic dating venues/prospects in this area, which is dominated by blue collar Irish and Italians)
You simply do not need a house. Stay mobile.
But if you must, Shrub Oak and Croton might as well be on 2 different planets, in terms of the people.
For you, stick to Croton. Not even a question.
White Plains or Stamford will be better choices as far as dating within your age group, and while I wouldn't consider either place particularly diverse in culture or food, it will be a mile ahead of Northern Westchester. The city is obviously best, but if you really want some space, a car and the outdoors those will be the best compromises. What do you need a 3K sq foot home if you are living alone??
Of the two, Croton wins on train access, schools, ease of getting places.
I apologize for not being able to respond sooner. Thank you for your help thus far.
Manyroads, thanks for your input. I am leaning towards Croton right now, just because it seems that it's a nice place to be if you want to be surrounded by nature. I'm not single, will be engaged soon: 5-6 months. I would like to be close to city for a variety of reasons: 1) My sister lives there 2) Enjoy going to restaurants, shows now and then 3) nightlife
Shouldhaveleft: I appreciate your advice. You do make some good points, I have seen from your other post you are definitely a proponent of renting/being mobile. I think this is good advice for some and not so for others. Can you please expand on this sentiment a bit more? "But if you must, Shrub Oak and Croton might as well be on 2 different planets, in terms of the people. For you, stick to Croton. Not even a question"
Are you speaking about culture, diversity or things to do or something else? Ultimately we all want to live in place that is accepting of everyone, as long as your not infringing on anyone else rights, freedoms etc.
MDM1- is the Lakeland school districts that much below par from Croton. From my research thus far, Lakeland does not seem to have a great reputation. Although I have read that it is improving, I am not sure how valid that perception is.
If anyone has more info on the school districts, please let me know. Right now it seems more people favor Croton; please continue to chime in with any information. Thanks to everyone.
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Ok, so since you are getting engaged, I will retract the advice to live somewhere with singles.
However, I'd still strongly recommend living somewhere cheaper and/or closer to the city and then move to somewhere with nice schools. You will be paying a lot of money in taxes/increased property values for a service you won't be using for 6 years or so. Sure, moving sucks, but after that 6 years, you won't have to move for two decades if you don't want to.
The social scene in the places with good school districts will be heavily oriented towards having children and going to AYSO games, birthday parties, etc., so you probably won't have a huge "in" into the community by getting there earlier and being childless. What makes this effect even stronger is that a lot of your kids' friends will be very recent transplants. The "normal" pattern for a Northern Westchester family in a desirable school district is to move from NYC/other area with crappy schools just as their oldest child reaches schooling age and then stay in town at least until the youngest goes off to college.
I don't know much about how much the reputation will jibe with reality, or know about any improvements real or imagined, but generally good school districts are associated with rich, well-educated families. Croton is richer (median family income of $120k vs $87k for shrub oak) and better educated (57% bachelors degrees or higher vs 40%). Croton is probably the most convenient place to commute to the city north of Tarrytown, which makes it a magnet for people working white collar jobs in Manhattan who want a little better bang for their buck and some greenspace. Shrub Oak isn't a convenient commute to the city, because the Peekskill train situation is worse than Croton, and driving to the Croton station is >20 minutes.
Shrub Oak's not a wasteland of rednecks or anything close to that, you'll get educated/cultured types from IBM, Indian Point, some of the white collar stuff in White Plains/Purchase but there's also a blue collar element that will reduce the whole "must go to college and be ambitious vibe" you'd get in Croton, Pleasantville, Chappaqua, etc. A quick stat to prove the point: of general ed students in Croton 85% go to 4 year college, but in Lakeland 76% matriculate to 4 year colleges. Not huge, but still a significant difference.
If you're not single, then forget my renter/mobile advice.
If you're moving to 914, you just need to forget the whole NYC thing.
Let it go. You're not going to dinner in NYC after a day's work.
Simply plan around a 99.5% life in 914.
Above post is a good contrast of Croton vs. Shrub Oak.
Generally, the more north you go, the less professional the element.
If you're not single, then forget my renter/mobile advice.
If you're moving to 914, you just need to forget the whole NYC thing.
Let it go. You're not going to dinner in NYC after a day's work.
Simply plan around a 99.5% life in 914.
Above post is a good contrast of Croton vs. Shrub Oak.
Generally, the more north you go, the less professional the element.
I'm not sure I agree with the statement I highlighted above. I have plenty of customers that go into NYC on weeknights, whether it is to go to a restaurant, the theatre, or to a fundraiser or other black tie event. I actually wish sometimes that they wouldn't go into the city and would go someplace in Westchester or elsewhere instead; it's no fun driving a car around NYC.
Even if the OP found that she didn't have the energy to make the trip into NYC on a weeknight, she could always go there on the weekend.
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