Opinions on Pleasantville? (White Plains, Scarsdale, Tarrytown: renting, house prices, buying)

[Raffaella]

Hi there,
I am looking for information on Pleasantville: schools, community(we are looking for a family oriented and friendly community), property tax, house prices, type of people living there. My husband maight get a job in Manhattan from summer 2008. We are thinking of renting at first. What can one get with $2500? We are a family with 3 children and lots of visitors so we really need a 4 bedroom house. Eventually we are thinking of buying and we have a budget of 550K. Any hope?

[Futcha]

4 bedrooms in Pleasantville for 550k? You should be fine. Not sure about rent, though.

Schools, from what I hear, are great.

People... Typical NYC suburban community. Snobby, wealthy, but still nice people once you get to know them.

[Futcha]

Expect a house like this for 500k-550k...

Single Family Home - 10 Beaufort St, White Plains, NY, 10607 - Realtor.com

and this...

Single Family Home - 24 Cloverdale Ave, White Plains, NY, 10603 - Realtor.com

White Plains is closer to NYC than Pleasantville, and it's also a nice, wealthy town.

[dma1250]

Pleasantville is very nice, if a bit suburban. There are some good restaurants and the Jacob Burns theater is amazing. The schools are supposed to be excellent. But I think 550K will be hard, depending of course on exactly what it is you're after. If you want a basic ranch that should be doable. Parts of White Plains are a lot cheaper, and that lovely Tudor house FutureCop posted is on the Sprain, which is why it is so cheap.

[Raffaella]

Thanks for your advice, I have been looking into White Plains. House prices are better but schools performance is quite low compared to many other parts of Westchester.

[Kathleenh54]

Originally Posted by Raffaella

Thanks for your advice, I have been looking into White Plains. House prices are better but schools performance is quite low compared to many other parts of Westchester.

Do not move to W.P. if you have kids in school. P-ville is very nice; safe, suburban and boring (but in a good way).

[newtoli]

Pleasantville is not as snotty as most of the other towns in Westchester... it's a little more working class.

[Raffaella]

Thank you all for your opinons, they are really helpful. It is very hard to take such decisions when you live on the other side of the ocean and have never lived in the States. So any bit of help is welcome.
Any opinion on Tarrytown and Dobbs Ferry?

[newtoli]

Another place to look if you want good information on Westchester is the website of the local paper, The Journal News. THE JOURNAL NEWS: LOHUD.COM.

[ThisJustIn]

People choose Pleasantville for the schools. They are on par with the best in Westchester (Chappaqua, Byram Hills, Scarsdale), but the housing costs are a little less. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of stay at home moms in Pleasantville. Don't get mad at me for saying this, but Pleasantville has much less of an attitude of snobbery than in other Westchester towns. Some economic diversity here. And with the Jacob Burns Film Center and an annual Music Festival, its establishing itself as a cultural center. Having said all that, finding a four bedroom for less than 700k might be a real challenge.