New York Times: Hartsdale (Great Neck, Manhasset: 2014, apartments, condo)

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

Looks like there are homebuyers like Jasleen Monga who do not mind paying the taxes despite not using the schools:

A Mix of Residents and Housing
In Hartsdale, N.Y., Everything From Small Apartments to Large Houses
New York Times
December 7, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/re...e-houses.html#

[outofbrooklyn]

Originally Posted by Forest_Hills_Daddy

Looks like there are homebuyers like Jasleen Monga who do not mind paying the taxes despite not using the schools

My understanding is that the Greenburgh schools are not that great. Anyone disagree?

My wife and I have looked at a couple of nice houses in the Hartsdale area but have hesitated on making an offer because, based on our research, the Greenburgh schools just aren't up to scratch for the taxes we would be paying. We don't have any kids yet, so certainly things can change in a few years but it's a worry for us.

[bg7]

We found a great house in Hartsdale about 6 years ago, but skipped on it after doing school research. But I can't say if all of Hartsdale is zoned for that district.

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

Originally Posted by outofbrooklyn

My understanding is that the Greenburgh schools are not that great. Anyone disagree?

That the Greenburgh schools are not great is well-known. What's not easy to reconcile is the relatively high taxes in Hartsdale - well, one can probably mitigate this by getting a small property like an apartment.

[STEVEN 1]

Sounds like a nice place to live if your kids are are at the age where public school is no longer a concern. Both my boys are 18 and 21, I would no longer care about the school district.

[rosarita74]

Originally Posted by bg7

We found a great house in Hartsdale about 6 years ago, but skipped on it after doing school research. But I can't say if all of Hartsdale is zoned for that district.

All of Hartsdale is not zoned for Greenburgh schools. There is a section, off Secor Road, that is Ardsley schools, which are excellent.

[Tales From Hartsdale]

Just purchased a condo on E. Hartsdale Ave with my wife and we are expecting our first child. Our plan is to use the public schools for the first 8-10 years. At that point we will be moving anyway so it works out. We have other friends who have done the same in Hartsdale and had perfectly good experiences with the earlier school years in Greenburgh Schools. They especially appreciated the child's exposure to diversity. Also let's not forget, in those earlier years, the most important schooling is at home.

[DelightfulNYC]

Sometimes bad schools increase home values. For instance out on Long Island the Lawrence School District in the 1980s was top notch, litterally one of the best school districts in the whole country. Right up there with Great Neck, Manhasset, Cold Spring Harbor.

Slowly the Orthodox started moving in to the area and took control of the school board and voted no on everything. All their kids go to Yeishiva. School taxes are now very cheap.

Some non-Jewish areas within school district property values are doing very well. Getting retirees, childless, families who send kids to Catholic school and folks who dont really mind the schools as is.

Some homes go for up to $10 million in a town with so so schools. But low school taxes is a massive savings on a ten million dollar home. Even if you have to send kids to private schools.

Meanwhile in some high high tax blue ribbon school towns and I grew up in one. My lower middle class parents living in a 40 by 100 house with 4 kids in the small section of town with smaller older homes would all vote yes as we knew the tax is a rate based on home values and the folks in the multi million dollar mansions would pay a much larger share.

I dont blame folks for taking less taxes over better schools.