Where to start looking in Westchester? How to narrow it down?
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Nyack is just across the river from Tarrytown and is a nice little city. Rockland County has a nice suburban feel to it that you just can't find in Westchester. It might be worth a look.
From my own experience, Bronxville has a decent sized European/foreign transplant population, especially from the UK. The schools are top-notch with scores competing at the highest levels nationwide. Additionally, the village itself provides a quaint, small-town cutesy feel with a walkable layout and a lack of chain retail stores. The high-end clothes, furniture, crafts and jewelry boutiques are supplemented with a huge variety of restaurants, cafes, delis etc. Not to mention the amazing outdoor recreational features like Bronxville's tennis courts, paddleball courts, track, and scenic trailways for walkers, runners, bicyclists..
Putnam tends to be more exurban, and village centers are not as well defined as the first suburbs in Westchester, primarily because of the patterns of development when the areas were established. I agree with Katonah being a good consideration as well, but the taxes are not going to be lower than other areas in Westchester, and are higher than some.
For lower taxes, you need to look at Connecticut, but that would be pushing the 45-minute time window. An area like Ridgefield is a great town, for example, but you would be about 30 miles from Tarrytown, so right at 45-minutes without any delays, owing to the need to get to a highway from Ridgefield that would facilitate the commute to Tarrytown. Route 35 through South Salem to Katonah to 684 or the Saw Mill is the easiest way to Tarrytown; however, since Route 35 is a two-lane road for most of that stretch, you will encounter slow vehicles, buses (K-L has school buses), etc. Ridgefield is a quanit New England town, but is sophisticated, with an active arts scene, so it would meet many of your criteria for a walkable area, etc., with lower taxes than Bedford, Briarcliff, etc. The only drawback is the drive, as inclement weather would push it to over an hour to Tarrytown. Unless you really loved the area, and your husband could deal with the extended commute times some days, it would be more practical to look at Westchester. I mentioned Ridgefield because you mentioned Putnam, which has a similar commute, about 30 miles, but I would tend to look at Ridgefield as meeting more of your criteria than an area like Carmel, for example.
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Putnam tends to be more exurban, and village centers are not as well defined as the first suburbs in Westchester, primarily because of the patterns of development when the areas were established. I agree with Katonah being a good consideration as well, but the taxes are not going to be lower than other areas in Westchester, and are higher than some.
For lower taxes, you need to look at Connecticut, but that would be pushing the 45-minute time window. An area like Ridgefield is a great town, for example, but you would be about 30 miles from Tarrytown, so right at 45-minutes without any delays, owing to the need to get to a highway from Ridgefield that would facilitate the commute to Tarrytown. Route 35 through South Salem to Katonah to 684 or the Saw Mill is the easiest way to Tarrytown; however, since Route 35 is a two-lane road for most of that stretch, you will encounter slow vehicles, buses (K-L has school buses), etc. Ridgefield is a quanit New England town, but is sophisticated, with an active arts scene, so it would meet many of your criteria for a walkable area, etc., with lower taxes than Bedford, Briarcliff, etc. The only drawback is the drive, as inclement weather would push it to over an hour to Tarrytown. Unless you really loved the area, and your husband could deal with the extended commute times some days, it would be more practical to look at Westchester. I mentioned Ridgefield because you mentioned Putnam, which has a similar commute, about 30 miles, but I would tend to look at Ridgefield as meeting more of your criteria than an area like Carmel, for example.
I used to work in Tarrytown and had 4 colleagues that I can recall that lived in Ridgefield. None of them was overly bothered by the commute and all of them loved the place. It was vastly nicer than anyplace they could afford in Westchester. And, when the commute is lousy, it's lousy for everybody. By coincidence my wife works there, she loves it too.
Just to say thanks guys for all the really useful information.
We toured the area last week. We eliminated the Rye / Mamaroneck area, not really because of the commute, but just because we really liked the rivertowns. Also liked Pleasantville.
Kind of blown away by the property taxes in Westchester though.
Although amazingly you can get a lot more square footage for your money in Westchester than you can in the Bay Area, the property taxes are approximately double what we pay now for a similar sized home.
It does really show though. Far wider range of choice for schools, better kept roads etc. You get what you pay for I guess.
Thanks again. I'm sure I'll be back here again with a ton more questions.
What did you think of Irvington, Chappaqua, and B'cliff ?
Hi there,
I liked Dobbs Ferry, Irvington and Hastings all equally. I could very happily live in either one. Walkability is a big factor for me and they all had that. I love that they are improving the walkable access along the river too. Not much on the market in Irvington though at the moment. We went for dinner at Harvest-on-Hudson. Loved it. Chappaqua I wasn't sold on - too rural for me. We didn't get as far as Briar Cliff.
Actually I do have a question about Dobbs Ferry High school and the IB program. I've checked out all the scores for Dobbs v Irvington and frankly there's not much between them. In fact Dobbs beats Irvington in some aspects: Dobbs has a better College readiness index score.
I wondered if anyone had any kids at Dobbs and how they are finding it? I'd love to know if anyone has had experience of the IB program there.
Keep it simple. I'd definitely look right in Tarrytown first. You'll work there. Why even consider Mamaroneck or anything on that side of the county if you don't have to? You'd be dealing with the dreaded east-west commute on 287 and the Hutch which is really a schlep unless you work off-hours... The river towns are a sensible choice for you as well but Tarrytown should be your jumping off point since you have a very good downtown and a Metro-North station for crying out loud. Best of luck
i am about to start a dobbs ferry --> purchase --> dobbs ferry commute
i hope i dont hate my life
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