lincoln park and park hill yonkers (Victor: coop, houses, neighborhood)

[flanker]

thoughts and opinions on this area? We do not have kids, looking for a starter home and easy commute to a) west side manhattan driving b) rockland county. we are a gay couple looking for a comfortable place to live.

we have been looking all over yonkers and this area seemed the most reasonably priced and not ghetto.

any insight from people in the know

[rubygreta]

You can't go wrong in either neighborhood. Park Hill has lots of interesting old Victorians, along with some in-fill post-World War II houses. Lincoln Park is developed with Colonials and Tudors from the 1920's and 1930's. Property values are considerably less than what they would be in other school districts.

Don't know what you mean by "starter" home. What is your price range? You probably can't afford the Victorians in Park Hill or the nicer parts of Lincoln Park. But Park Hill does have those more modest post-war houses, and sections of Lincoln Park would be considered more affordable.

[flanker]

thanks for the reply. we are looking at homes in th 450K to 500K price range. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, about 1800 sq feet. not looking for anything too big

[rubygreta]

I think you will do very well, especially in this slow market. And if you are living in Manhattan now, you will be absolutely shocked at the value differences. In these areas, you will get a nice house for I'm guessing around $250 per square foot (not like a $900/sq.ft. coop in Manhattan). Plus you get a yard and a place to park. And you will only be 20 minutes from the Upper West Side.

Good luck!

[flanker]

thanks for the response. does anyone have input on what these areas are like to live in?

[jmcr515]

I recently moved to Park Hill this past summer with my husband and two kids and we love it. I work in lower Manhattan, but I drive to my parent's home in the Bronx then take the subway down. You could probably take the Metro North to the city, but I don't think I would have lived there if we didn't have a car. It is definitely close enough to everything (which I love) but removed enough (since most of the homes are up on hills) so that random people are just not strolling by. The best thing about it is that we were made to feel so welcomed -- neighbors brought over cake, pizza -- we never expected that. In addition, all the hills and trees make for a beautiful sight. Oh, and you can definitely afford something nice there -- our limit was much less -- 400K - 450K and we brought a post-war colonial that needed lots of cosmetic updates, but we have slowly been fixing it to our taste. Best of luck!