Pelham or River Towns (Dobbs Ferry, Hastings: houses, neighborhoods, school district)

[Jernow]

Seeking advice on Pelham vs River Towns. We are Americans but have lived overseas (Europe and Africa) for the past 8 years. We have both been working in the refugee and human rights fields for a good long while. We have two boys, ages 8 and 10. We like green space, funky towns, walkable neighborhoods. I keep going back and forth bet Pelham (where I love the architectural styles but lots seem small and there are a lot of major avenues and highways) and the River Towns (more trees, maybe more economic diversity). I guess I also should say that we would prefer a town that doesn't feel super-rich or posh, whatever that means. Thank you!

[RJS5689]

I might be a good person to comment. I recently moved from Dobbs Ferry to the Pelham area (I work on the Pelham/MV border).

Funky towns: point goes to the river towns--hands down!

Walkable neighborhoods: this could go either way, depending on where you chose to live in each town... I much prefer the river towns, due to the more laid-back vibe and mom and pop owned stores and restaurants (which you can find in Pelham as well, but with less abundance).

Pelham has a bit of a reputation for being one of the wealthier towns in Westchester. You do have a wonderful school district, though.

The river towns tend to have less of a "keeping up with the Joneses" feel to them, which I absolutely loved (which was a wonderful change from where I was raised in Westchester).

How do you feel about food? The river towns have an intense concentration of wonderful restaurants and great farmer's markets in the spring/summer time.

Which river towns were you considering? What type of budget are you working with?

[Jernow]

This is really helpful. We are very into food and cooking (lived in France for a long time). Also hiking and generally being outdoors. The problem for me is that the housing stock in Pelham is mostly these 1920s and earlier houses, which I love. I am not loving the housing stock in the River Towns (Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington) and also there is very little on the market. So we have to decide whether to prioritize the feeling of the town vs the specific house. I don't know enough about the schools or American schools to know how this point tips. (The boys are good students, bilingual French, in accelerated math and reading programs.) Our budget is around 1M, hopefully under. Thank you!