Chappaqua or Katonah? Need advice! (school, live in, train)

[jjinla]

I thought the LIRR was going to start going to GCT in the near future?

At any rate, I assume your move to a rural area is well thought out and your kids are on board with it. My husband and I went back and forth on that and in the end, decided that while it was all good and well for him to get away from it all since he spent most of his week in the city working, I'd eventually want to shoot myself being stuck in the sticks 24/7. But moving from Great Neck to southern Westchester is a big move and commute for your husband for not a huge change of scenery.

[NYCLawyerMama]

Originally Posted by NS4Life

Those toxic plumes and cancer clusters are just dandy!! Goes great with traffic.

The whole point of living in a place like Northern Westchester is space, peace and quiet. If the "price" you have to pay for that is a well and septic tank, I'd say it is a good deal.

Exactly.

[NYCLawyerMama]

Originally Posted by jjinla

I thought the LIRR was going to start going to GCT in the near future?

At any rate, I assume your move to a rural area is well thought out and your kids are on board with it. My husband and I went back and forth on that and in the end, decided that while it was all good and well for him to get away from it all since he spent most of his week in the city working, I'd eventually want to shoot myself being stuck in the sticks 24/7. But moving from Great Neck to southern Westchester is a big move and commute for your husband for not a huge change of scenery.

At the rate the LIRR is going-it will take them as long to complete the GC project as it has taken the MTA to complete the 2nd avenue subway. At the moment, they are canceling LIRR express trains left and right, combining trains without notice, and apparently raising the fares in 2013. For the fantastic service they provide.

I wouldn't call Chappaqua the stix. I think it's a quaint little town. Looks a lot more laid back than Great Neck anyway.

[NYCLawyerMama]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Brilliant! We can always count on a lawyer to mischaracterize the salient points with reductio ad absurdum rebuttals.

As for LI, I hope you're a better lawyer than geologist. The whole of LI, at least Nassau and Suffolk, are the morraines and outwash plains from the glacial periods - sand, pebbles, gravel, some boulders. You never hit bedrock. Same as Cape Cod. A glorified sandbar is exactly what it is.

You'll fit right in up here (though Scarsdale might be a better fit).

You are a strange and angry fellow.

[jjinla]

Chappaqua IS quaint, I'm just used to way more development and not having to drive a few miles to an adjacent town to even hit a real grocery store. Its all relative...if you work a lot it's not as big a deal but being home with young kids all the time...it would be easy to feel isolated.

Yes, you couldn't pay me to live in Great Neck, no offense. Heck, I know several people in Scarsdale that even think its too Jappy.

[NYCLawyerMama]

Originally Posted by NS4Life

Former Corp. Counsel now working across the street from GCT, obviously Wilson Elser.

FWIW I grew up in Northern Westchester with a septic and well water, it was tough, but we managed to survive. Personally, I always thought it was nice drinking perfectly clean, completely untreated water directly from the ground.

In any event, if things that like that bother you, you should not consider looking anywhere north of 287.

EDIT: 2nd Ave. Subway has been planned since the late 20s and halted due to multiple financial crises.

Yes I am a former Corp. Counsel. But not at Wilson Elser lol. I am a partner in my own firm focusing on eminent domain and real estate law.

Yes I too like the idea of clean water from a natural source. But I am nervous about contaminants from dumping. Did you read the article about Cuomo prosecuting Chappaqua water and sewer co (or whatever their name is) because one of their employees dumped raw sewage into a stream that feeds directly into the Croton Reservoir? That's what makes me nervous about well water.

The house that we are probably going to bid on happens to have muni water so that's a plus.

And you are 100% correct about the 2nd avenue subway.

[NYCLawyerMama]

Originally Posted by jjinla

Chappaqua IS quaint, I'm just used to way more development and not having to drive a few miles to an adjacent town to even hit a real grocery store. Its all relative...if you work a lot it's not as big a deal but being home with young kids all the time...it would be easy to feel isolated.

Yes, you couldn't pay me to live in Great Neck, no offense. Heck, I know several people in Scarsdale that even think its too Jappy.

I agree with you on all counts. My kids are 6 and 8 and in school all the time, then day camp in the summer. And I work a lot. I'm not too keen on driving to get to a real supermarket either, but you can't have it all. I'll sacrifice that for the backyard space we can get.

We moved to Great Neck 3 years ago from Brooklyn. I thought the commute would be great, and the schools were rated highly. 3 years later I CAN'T wait to get out. Although I will admit I made a few very good friends here, who I believe I will continue to be friends with after we move out. But they, like me, are the minority here. It's not only Jappy, but getting to be uber religious. We are Jewish but not observant. It's getting to be way too much. Time to go.

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

Originally Posted by jjinla

Chappaqua IS quaint, I'm just used to way more development and not having to drive a few miles to an adjacent town to even hit a real grocery store. Its all relative...

I guess Walgreens (replacing a very quaint D'Agostino's) can be construed as being "quaint". It's all relative after all.

Originally Posted by jjinla

Yes, you couldn't pay me to live in Great Neck, no offense. Heck, I know several people in Scarsdale that even think its too Jappy.

I find Chappaqua to be more livable than Great Neck. But neither of them are quaint.

[bwap_bonk]

Originally Posted by NYCLawyerMama

Yes I am a former Corp. Counsel. But not at Wilson Elser lol. I am a partner in my own firm focusing on eminent domain and real estate law.

Yes I too like the idea of clean water from a natural source. But I am nervous about contaminants from dumping. Did you read the article about Cuomo prosecuting Chappaqua water and sewer co (or whatever their name is) because one of their employees dumped raw sewage into a stream that feeds directly into the Croton Reservoir? That's what makes me nervous about well water.

The house that we are probably going to bid on happens to have muni water so that's a plus.

And you are 100% correct about the 2nd avenue subway.

I did not hear about that, but that sewage would be fed into the reservoir and would not get into the groundwater. During the summers when I was in college, and shortly after college, I worked for a drinking and waste water company; the owners of the company lived in Northern Westchester, with well water. They did not consider that a risk in anyway.

The water of Northeastern Westchester is exceptionally clean, and the zoning/regs in the Croton Watershed are probably the most stringent in the country. Croton Watershed Map In Westchester, when you sell a house with a well, you are required to test it and provide the buyer with the results. We did this when we sold my mother's house, no issues. Another friend of mine (who has a health nut organic only wife) just tested his well at her insistence, and it reported no contamination whatsoever, cleaner water then a bottle of Poland Spring. There is also no legacy of heavy industry in the area.

Anyway, my point is, if you find a great house, do not pass up on it b/c it has a well.

[jjinla]

It's still way more quaint than NYC, but at the end of the day the problem is that while people may love to look at mom & pops, very few people shop at them. In my village alone, there is a kids store that costs 3x what I'd ever pay, some cute boutiques that cost 2-3x what Macy's does, etc. What they lose on volume they make up for with outrageous prices, keeping more people away. That is why everything is becoming a bank, coffee house, CVS or realtor.