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We're a small family with a four year old kid and both parents working. My husband in Briarcliff Manor, and I in Midtown Manhattan.
We'd love to buy our own place soon, and we'll need a great school district.
But here is a challenge: we are keen on living in a very "walkable" area with easy access to a train to Manhattan and warm, vibrant community. We are in early 30's so we love being around other young families and singles of artistic/creative types. We also lived our whole lives in cities, so a transition to a nice but very quiet village where can't get around without a car would be a huge challenge. Our budget is modest, too, at around $450K.
So we have this idea of buying a coop instead of a house, in Mamaroneck, Rye, or Larchmont. We like Bronxville and Eastchester's Garth Rd coops and neighbourhoods too, but most of them dont allow pets (and we have 2 small dogs).
I read a lot of great feedback on Mamaroneck and Rye communities and it seems these are pretty close to what we're looking for.
But a question is -- are there many families with kids living in coops? Would our kid considered an "outlier" in his school if he lives in an apartment and not in a house?
In Larchmont and Mamaroneck, yes, your children would be in the minority. Probably less so in Mamaroneck - there seem to be more apartment complexes there, both rentals and owner occupied co-ops. My experience in Larchmont so far is that the majority of families living in apartments move before their kids hit elementary school - usually because they had more than one child and they need more space. That said, in my building there are two families with school aged kids.
Are you targeting 3 bedroom apartments? if so, you'll find that the inventory is fairly small, at least in Larchmont. I think that's one of the main reason why you don't see many families with older kids in apartments here. In Bronxville, there are many more 3-4 bedroom apartments (but the prices are usually way above 450K...)
...We also lived our whole lives in cities, so a transition to a nice but very quiet village where can't get around without a car would be a huge challenge. ....
It's all personal of course and a question of what is important to you and what feels right. My wife and I were in the same situation. We both grew up in brownstone Brooklyn (5 blocks away from each other, but didn't meet until our 20's). When we decided to move to the burbs in our mid 30's (with a kid) we initially had the same assumption as you and started our search in southern Westchester, Maplewood, and Montclair. But after spending lots of time in those places we realized that even though they were walkable they did not give us what we really cared about and what made the city vital and vibrant for us. So we expanded our search to far flung places and, much to our surprise, they felt like a much better fit! We realized that if we were going to give up what we loved about the city we wanted to get things that the city cannot offer--natural beauty, land, space, and privacy, hiking, etc, as well as lovely little towns to hang out in when we wanted to. We ended up with a 1700's farmhouse on 4 acres on a lovely quiet road that we love to take long walks on, with loads of wonderful nature preserves and hiking, and close to more than enough towns. And with plenty of creative professionals around!
My point simply being that you should take the time to explore a variety of places and see what actually feels right. You might end up right where you started, but you might surprise yourselves.
Don't know if you are still looking, but Rye has a great coop building with many families called the Blind Brook Lodge. I lived there 7 years with my 2 kids and are only now just moving out because our 2 BR place is just too small. But the location could not be better in terms of convenience via foot to many great places -- you have the Art Center directly across the street for art, music and dance classes, the Rye Nature Center across the other side of the building for hiking and nature programs, and the Recreation Center also 5 mins on foot. All have great summer camps and programs. We regularly walk to the center of town for dinner, coffee, local homemade ice cream, some shopping. Its a 10 min walk at a relaxed pace. As mentioned there are quite a few families in the building since the Elementary, Middle and High school are all walking distance. There are both 2 BR and 3 BR units, although the 2BR are more in your price range. It is a relaxed and friendly coop, and children do not feel out of place. Unfortunately though, dogs are not allowed. Good luck!
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