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Old 11-12-2013, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Harrison
865 posts, read 2,467,911 times
Reputation: 512

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People are recommending Katonah and Bedford when the OP is coming from Queens and says she doesn't want a rural setting?

Even if you manage to buy a house right in the village center of Pleasantville or Katonah or anywhere in northern Westchester, if you drive less than 5 minutes away you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. I get that some people like that, and don't mind driving on winding roads through forests to get anywhere, but that is rural to me.

With your budget and other considerations I'd look in Mount Kisco or Ossining. (FYI Some parts of Mt Kisco are zoned for Chappaqua schools.)
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Old 11-12-2013, 12:23 PM
 
Location: Katonah
83 posts, read 167,273 times
Reputation: 49
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forest_Hills_Daddy View Post
Agree that Katonah's downtown is nicer than P-Ville's IMO. As a heads up though, I have a coworker who lives there and he leaves the house at 6am before kids awake to make it to the office in WTC by 830am, and leaves work at 430pm to be home in time to put them to bed. Also don't know if they have houses in cul-de-sacs like P-Ville.

That is a long commute but it all depends on where you live in relation to the train and how far from grand central you work. In the mornings I leave my house at 7:15 and am in my office before 8:45. And depending on when I leave at night, as an example if I leave my office at 5:30, I am home by 6:45.

My friend lives in Chappaqua and when we take the same train home at night I am in my house in Katonah before he gets home because he gets stuck in the parking lot and then has a 5 mile drive.
People always say, I could never go north of Chappaqua, or Scarsdale, or Bronxville or whatever town because of the commute, and that's fine. But like me, you could have a shorter commute than someone in Chappaqua or Pleasantville, depending on how far from the train station you are.

I know we are discussing Pville and Katonah but the express trains are faster to Chappaqua than they are to Pleasantville, and Katonah is anywhere from 8-15 minutes longer than both. Which I agree, does add up but it just depends on how far from the train you are. For me I would rather relax on the train for a little longer and walk home than hurry up and get off the train and then sit in my car. And even if there was the same house within walking distance to the train Pleasantville, I would still prefer to ride the train longer because we liked Katonah that much more.
But again, it's personal preference for you and your family, and the OP might not even need the train, they didn't mention they needed it.

There are a few cul-de-sacs on the south side of the village and then it is basically all cul-de-sacs if you go over to Lake Katonah and that area.
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Old 11-12-2013, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Katonah
83 posts, read 167,273 times
Reputation: 49
Quote:
Originally Posted by streetsmart View Post
People are recommending Katonah and Bedford when the OP is coming from Queens and says she doesn't want a rural setting?

Even if you manage to buy a house right in the village center of Pleasantville or Katonah or anywhere in northern Westchester, if you drive less than 5 minutes away you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. I get that some people like that, and don't mind driving on winding roads through forests to get anywhere, but that is rural to me.

With your budget and other considerations I'd look in Mount Kisco or Ossining. (FYI Some parts of Mt Kisco are zoned for Chappaqua schools.)
You call us out for those recommendations and then suggest Mt Kisco? How is that any different? 5 minutes away and you are in Bedford, which has those dreaded winding roads through forests. 5 minutes from Katonah and you can also be on those forest roads or you can stay on the main road and in 5 minutes be in Mt Kisco. If you would like to do that. I don't see your point. And the OP said they left Chappaqua off because they didn't want a high pressure school, so I'm not sure why you would mention that.
Ossining I have no experience with so maybe that could also be a good suggestion.

And to the OP, as far as kids go, they are always out on their bikes or scooters together and running around in each other yards. On the weekends too, we always see kids out, some even stopping for lunch on their own together or getting bagels. Lots of sidewalks and places to go. The park has tennis courts, ball fields, paddle tennis, basketball courts, and they are always busy. The schools are great with an involved sports program as well.

These are all reasons I suggested Katonah, it might be difficult to see your neighbors if you are on the Bedford or Somers side and are in the 2 or 4 acre zoning neighborhoods, but the village is very involved for families and doesn't have to feel rural at all.
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Old 11-12-2013, 02:54 PM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 6,983,542 times
Reputation: 3338
^^^What he said.
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Old 11-12-2013, 04:51 PM
 
18 posts, read 40,882 times
Reputation: 22
thank you all for the recommendations! I was thinking kantonah might be an option for us, I think we may just have to get over the "rural" area (or what we think is a rural area), anything where the houses are more than 100 feet apart is rural to us We are going to start making trips up there and check it out. As my husband puts it, if we hate it, we just move back to queens after the youngest child graduates HS. Hoping its a good fit, otherwise we may have to start exploring Connecticut (which neither of us want) My husband works in the Bronx and commutes very early and leaves earlier than 4pm on most days so the commute hopefully won't be to bad for him.
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Old 11-12-2013, 05:46 PM
 
44 posts, read 138,862 times
Reputation: 17
I know I will get some hate about it, but Scarsdale is a great place to live. The people aren't as snobby as the stereotypes portray. You will definitely find cul-de-sacs here, and not to mention the schools are great. I suggest looking into the Edgewood area, please take a visit! I guarantee you'd love it. The people are friendly, and you can always see children playing on the streets and people walking dogs. It has a very good atmosphere to it. Also, Scarsdale's charming downtown is very close by (walkable distance.) It is a great place to hang out, eat, and from time to time there are concerts and childrens activities in Chase Park. There is a big Jewish and Asian community here, which is nice, since it makes the village diverse. I GUARANTEE if you make the move there, there'd be no regrets! Oh! I almost forgot, there is a metro-north train station to provide fast transportation to NYC. Infact, you can get all of this under your price range. Prices for a single family home go from around 450k to 10 million! (Just checked on Trulia)

Where ever you move, may you be happy
Hope it's Scarsdale though!
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:00 PM
 
Location: Armonk NY
425 posts, read 1,206,613 times
Reputation: 113
Quote:
Originally Posted by hgeb View Post
You call us out for those recommendations and then suggest Mt Kisco? How is that any different? 5 minutes away and you are in Bedford, which has those dreaded winding roads through forests. 5 minutes from Katonah and you can also be on those forest roads or you can stay on the main road and in 5 minutes be in Mt Kisco. If you would like to do that. I don't see your point. And the OP said they left Chappaqua off because they didn't want a high pressure school, so I'm not sure why you would mention that.
Ossining I have no experience with so maybe that could also be a good suggestion.

And to the OP, as far as kids go, they are always out on their bikes or scooters together and running around in each other yards. On the weekends too, we always see kids out, some even stopping for lunch on their own together or getting bagels. Lots of sidewalks and places to go. The park has tennis courts, ball fields, paddle tennis, basketball courts, and they are always busy. The schools are great with an involved sports program as well.

These are all reasons I suggested Katonah, it might be difficult to see your neighbors if you are on the Bedford or Somers side and are in the 2 or 4 acre zoning neighborhoods, but the village is very involved for families and doesn't have to feel rural at all.
I was going to say the same thing...Mount Kisco is about 10 minutes south of Katonah and, while its a very nice place, its not Katonah...
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:02 PM
 
Location: Armonk NY
425 posts, read 1,206,613 times
Reputation: 113
Quote:
Originally Posted by traveller123 View Post
I know I will get some hate about it, but Scarsdale is a great place to live. The people aren't as snobby as the stereotypes portray. You will definitely find cul-de-sacs here, and not to mention the schools are great. I suggest looking into the Edgewood area, please take a visit! I guarantee you'd love it. The people are friendly, and you can always see children playing on the streets and people walking dogs. It has a very good atmosphere to it. Also, Scarsdale's charming downtown is very close by (walkable distance.) It is a great place to hang out, eat, and from time to time there are concerts and childrens activities in Chase Park. There is a big Jewish and Asian community here, which is nice, since it makes the village diverse. I GUARANTEE if you make the move there, there'd be no regrets! Oh! I almost forgot, there is a metro-north train station to provide fast transportation to NYC. Infact, you can get all of this under your price range. Prices for a single family home go from around 450k to 10 million! (Just checked on Trulia)

Where ever you move, may you be happy
Hope it's Scarsdale though!
Find me a home in Scardale for 450k? Maybe a 1000 square foot converted bungalow right on top of a busy road..
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:29 PM
 
Location: Harrison
865 posts, read 2,467,911 times
Reputation: 512
Quote:
Originally Posted by hgeb View Post
You call us out for those recommendations and then suggest Mt Kisco? How is that any different? 5 minutes away and you are in Bedford, which has those dreaded winding roads through forests. 5 minutes from Katonah and you can also be on those forest roads or you can stay on the main road and in 5 minutes be in Mt Kisco. If you would like to do that. I don't see your point. And the OP said they left Chappaqua off because they didn't want a high pressure school, so I'm not sure why you would mention that.
Ossining I have no experience with so maybe that could also be a good suggestion.

And to the OP, as far as kids go, they are always out on their bikes or scooters together and running around in each other yards. On the weekends too, we always see kids out, some even stopping for lunch on their own together or getting bagels. Lots of sidewalks and places to go. The park has tennis courts, ball fields, paddle tennis, basketball courts, and they are always busy. The schools are great with an involved sports program as well.

These are all reasons I suggested Katonah, it might be difficult to see your neighbors if you are on the Bedford or Somers side and are in the 2 or 4 acre zoning neighborhoods, but the village is very involved for families and doesn't have to feel rural at all.
Are you kidding? Because at least Mt Kisco is somewhat more populated and has less of a rural vibe. It is constantly mentioned on this board as the northern Westchester "hub" to go to for shopping. They're coming from Queens, I'm assuming a convenience factor is important and comforting. And I don't "get" Katonah so maybe I'm biased. Way too far out for me and much too quaint. I hate having to drive long distances for basically everything. Not convenient enough for my taste unless all you want to do is go hiking. And I mentioned the Chappaqua schools issue exactly because if the OP wants to look in Mt Kisco and they DON'T want Chapp schools they should be aware of the zoning. Sorry you couldn't follow my logic.

I based my comments on what the OP said. They are coming from Queens and don't want rural. Katonah and Bedford are NOT the first places that come to my mind. Based on budget I made suggestions. The end.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 6,983,542 times
Reputation: 3338
Quote:
Originally Posted by streetsmart View Post
Are you kidding? Because at least Mt Kisco is somewhat more populated and has less of a rural vibe. It is constantly mentioned on this board as the northern Westchester "hub" to go to for shopping. They're coming from Queens, I'm assuming a convenience factor is important and comforting. And I don't "get" Katonah so maybe I'm biased. Way too far out for me and much too quaint. I hate having to drive long distances for basically everything. Not convenient enough for my taste unless all you want to do is go hiking. Sorry you couldn't follow my logic.
In reverse order, cause that's how it makes sense:

Logic: really??

Long distances to shop from Katonah: All the strip mall stuff that you "convenience shoppers" crave is literally 5 minutes down Rt 117 in Bedford Hills and Mt K. In fact, I'd wager that the travel time to shop for day-to-day stuff in Katonah is less than most of Southern Westchester. True, the malls are farther - maybe. If your life requires instant access to malls then it's not for you.

Too quant: Hmm, this is breaking new ground. Aesthetics are a negative. Baffling.

Are you kidding: Are YOU kidding?
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