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Except arguably, Pelham and Katonah, there are few towns in the county that are naturally quaint unless you consider Key Foods, Waldbaums (goodbye D'Agostino!), Dunkin Donuts, A&P, Houlihan Lawrence and some poor excuses for diners to be "quaint". If you're looking for quaint, go up to Dutchess or Putnam. Cold Spring, Rhinebeck, Piermont (across the Hudson) - those are the authentically quaint towns and not faux quaint.
Do you need to have "life, entertainment, shopping, cafes, etc." in the same neighborhood that you live in? Westchester isn't known for those things except for White Plains. Tarrytown has the Music Hall, Pleasantville has Burns Theater, Katonah has Caramoor - but they have little of anything else that is acceptably "entertaining". You will have to fill in the blanks by driving elsewhere for shopping (Yonkers, Kisco) and taking the MNR to Manhattan for entertainment and "life".
You need to update your list to include the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Since its renaissance its been doing very well. While I wouldn't advise living in Port Chester itself, its got some good entertainment and food. Bar Taco right on inlet is a nice place to eat out in the summer, and there is plenty of latin dancing if you know where to look.
We're moving from SoCal (Irvine) after the school year. My wife is Asian and I'm Jewish and we have one son who will be starting 9th grade this fall. We both grew up in the NY metro area, however, we've lived in CA for 16 years. As our son is a CA boy, my wife and I are very concerned about him acclimating. (We didn't have an option on moving here - had to move for a new job - need to be employed). His school in Irvine is roughly 40% Asian or Asian/Caucasian, so we're trying to the extent possible to get him into an environment that wouldn't seem too different than what he’s used to. And of course we want a good school. We don’t need a school where all the kids are predestined to head off to Harvard or Yale. Scarsdale is not my kind of place - even if we had the money to buy there. Don’t want to be too far north because of the commute - and don't want to rural. We'll probably get about $650k for our place in Irvine, so that would be our target price for a home in Westchester. Does Mamaroneck HS or Rye Brook HS sound like good choices? What’s the diff between the 2? Are there any other communities that we should consider where the kids will be accepting of a new kid? One who’s multi-racial? Thanks
We're moving from SoCal (Irvine) after the school year. My wife is Asian and I'm Jewish and we have one son who will be starting 9th grade this fall. We both grew up in the NY metro area, however, we've lived in CA for 16 years. As our son is a CA boy, my wife and I are very concerned about him acclimating. (We didn't have an option on moving here - had to move for a new job - need to be employed). His school in Irvine is roughly 40% Asian or Asian/Caucasian, so we're trying to the extent possible to get him into an environment that wouldn't seem too different than what he’s used to. And of course we want a good school. We don’t need a school where all the kids are predestined to head off to Harvard or Yale. Scarsdale is not my kind of place - even if we had the money to buy there. Don’t want to be too far north because of the commute - and don't want to rural. We'll probably get about $650k for our place in Irvine, so that would be our target price for a home in Westchester. Does Mamaroneck HS or Rye Brook HS sound like good choices? What’s the diff between the 2? Are there any other communities that we should consider where the kids will be accepting of a new kid? One who’s multi-racial? Thanks
My kids are multiracial and have had no problems - though it was an (unfounded) concern of ours after leaving Brooklyn. Look at a site like great schools.org - you can find the racial breakdown, so you can avoid a school thats, say, 95% white if you think your kids will feel like the odd ones out. Mamaroneck HS (serves Larchmont and most of Mamaroneck) would be fine - its about 25% non-white diverse. Thats the same ratio as our HS which is also part Mamaroneck, and part Rye (Rye Neck HS). I don't think you'll have a problem finding somewhere. I have no info one way or the other on Rye Brook, someone else would need to chime in.
Having come from SoCal ourselves I'd definitely urge you to check out what $650k will get you in either of those places first. Also figure in that your property taxes will be about $14k a year in that range. I'd guess you lived in a newer home? That will get you a 1915 home with about 1600 sq. ft with few updates...it will be a bit larger if you go closer to a busy street. Rye Brook is the least diverse school district and it is a PITA trying to get to the train from there since you have to go to Port Chester.
Mamaroneck and Rye Brook differ greatly in the size of the class size. rye brook has only one elementary school while mamaroneck as 4
Edgemont is also a great school district that size wise is in the middle. It has 2 elementary schools. Scarsdale has 5.
westchester magazine offers great ratings of the schools and more detailed information
My family and I (wife, and 7 year old son), are thinking about a move to Westchester. I am trying to determine what villages/areas are most family friendly with quality schools. We are not keeping-up with the Jones types, and I plan to work in White Plains (I'm an attorney) and don't want a huge commute. We are looking for an area that is not rural, and has some life/entertainment, e.g., shopping, Starbucks, etc. My wife and I are in our late 30s. I grew up on Long Island, but have been in California for 15 years now. I know a lot has changed in Westchester. We are looking to buy (eventually) as well, but don't want to break the bank or be looking at over-the-top property taxes.
Any help, or advice would be welcomed. If you have good websites to point me to, I'd love to see them!
thanks!
Irvington, Edgemont, Scarsdale, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck are great towns to start.
Westchester Magazine offers a lot of ratings on Schools, Communities and provides overall reviews.
Westchester Magazine offers a lot of ratings on Schools, Communities and provides overall reviews.
Bad advice.
Do yourself a favor and ignore EVERYTHING Westchester magazine has to say about anything except celebrity sightings. It's "ratings" and the cover are designed strictly to get people to open the magazine so they see the ads. The editorial content is worthless (though occasionally entertaining).
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