another one moving to westchester! all input appreciated :)

[New Yawker]

Originally Posted by bg7

OK, since you're continuing it..You said the schools were slightly better than average for Westchester. When the High School is below average, to me thats an eyebrow raiser, and its misleading to the OP.

I also didn't say you were comparing the HS to the elite schools, thats a strawman.

Maybe you have trouble reading what I actually said. I said the schools (plural) are slightly better than average, and that INCLUDES the lower grades as well as the high school. For you to continue to try to make my original statement about only Woodlands, as opposed to the Hartsdale public schools as a whole indicates that YOU are the one being disingenuous.

[jojoboulette]

Hartsdale might be your best bet. Good commute, close to White Plains shopping, I believe schools are pretty good.

I spent several months in WP recently, the housing is not that much more affordable there and the schools are not as good. Hartsdale is much nicer/smaller than WP (which is a fairly large city) and you'd be very close to the benefits of WP (mostly shopping, IMO).

Bronxville is quaint (at least on the surface) but very pricey. Personally, I found the vibe there to be a bit cold and focused on materialism. High-class materialism, mind you, but it's all the same in my book... :P If you are middle class, I'm not sure you'd find your niche there.

Mt. Kisco would be an excellent choice, except for the commute factor. Going to Queens from there would be a drag.

Unless your husband can somehow figure out how he'd handle the commute, I'd say go for Hartsdale. Otherwise, Mt. Kisco would be my 2nd choice in your list.

Originally Posted by cairennoid

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for your responses!

My family and I will be moving to Westchester county in the next 2 months or so - I will be working in Mt. Kisco and my husband will be attending grad school in Queens. We have two children who are elementary school aged.

The reason we started looking into moving was because the town we live in currently (in farm country in western NY) is too much of a small town! We moved here from a very populous suburb of Phoenix, AZ and want to get back into a suburban area. Not too big, not too small. We are hoping for an easy commute to both my work in Mount Kisco as well as his school in Queens. We are big fans of public transportation but we do own a car as well. I love shopping and malls, but I also like trees and parks and playgrounds for my children

White Plains seems like a definite possibility - we like that there is a choice of schools and it looks like the district is great. Bronxville and Hartsdale also look nice but possibly a bit more pricey than White Plains. We are hoping to buy eventually but rent for now, until we sell our house here. Living in Mount Kisco is also a possibility but that would be a very long commute for my husband to go to Queens for school.

I should mention, most people in Westchester would consider us to be poor - where we live now we are middle class

Any input would be great! Thanks so much everyone!

[cairennoid]

Thanks! Hartsdale is definitely looking the best!!

[cairennoid]

Thank you!, Maestra07! The info about the commute is really helpful! Also thanks for the reassurance about the schools!

[ShouldHaveLeft914]

Originally Posted by bg7

I think thats a bit disingenous of you to state that. While Hartsdale has a lot going for it, the high school, Woodlands at least, is considered, and ranked, quite below average for Westchester.

Woodlands (Hartsdale) high school ranks in the cellar of 914 schools, any way you slice it. It's even below Yonkers, Port Chester, and New Rochelle.
High Schools 2011