Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Whats that got to do with leaving Westchester? Thousands of people leave NYC each year to live in... Westchester. For the good schools.
As for middle class, earning 6 figures doesn't exclude you from being middle class as you mistakenly say. A good proportion of middle class households earn 6 figures - 100K isn't so hard to achieve. I think you may be confusing working class with middle class.
I should've said Westchester since I lived in Yonkers for 7 years before making the move.
Everyone, pls chill. I would like to get actual answers and information on this forum. You guys (assume you are guys) are spending too uch energy and taking from the real question. I just moved here from Texas and im curious as to why some people would leave...
Everyone, pls chill. I would like to get actual answers and information on this forum. You guys (assume you are guys) are spending too uch energy and taking from the real question. I just moved here from Texas and im curious as to why some people would leave...
The answers are embedded in some of the above debate:
House for money = Bad unless you go faaaaaaarrrrrrr north.
Property Taxes = Bad
State/Local Taxes = Bad
Gas Taxes = Bad
Water Taxes =Bad
Sales Taxes = Bad
Utility Costs = Bad
The above leads to having to make what seems to be good money, but is eaten away by house payment/taxes/utilities all so you can travel oh about 2+ hours to work round trip every M-F of your life for the foreseeable future, miss your kids growing up.. The prop taxes figure will triple if you plan to stay in the house for 20yrs.....so theres that that eats into whatever equity your house gains. We will leave the maintenance out for now but realize the housing stock in Westchester is mostly 70+yrs old.
Weather = Bad
Every once in a while the lovely mayor of NYC will let random groups shut down bridges and tunnels for (insert your cause here).......which may make above commute more of a nightmare or disrupt the one time you decide to take the wife to the city for a brunch/dinner.
So in summary, you better be so well off to inoculate yourself from the above.....or far enough below it to partake of the welfare state.
It just isn't the same as when we were growing up there. When it was a small middle class town. Where everyone knew everyone and their families. My grandfather, father and myself all at one time worked for the village. My uncle was a cop. Just about everyone was a volunteer fireman. Same for my wife's family. If anything happened to someone it affected us all.
Those towns that stay the same for generations do not have something like Metro North, Henry Hudson, Saw Mill etc. that put them at stones throw away from office jobs in NYC. You will see the same thing in CA with neighborhoods that have easy access to BART and Metrolink, yet NYC takes it to a different level. Because of that, they tend to attract a certain demographic (like me! ) with different priorities. To you, the new cost regime looks insane. To the newcomers, it's a good deal when compared with NYC like private schools, access to nice parks and open space etc. etc. And while you feel driven away from Irvington's rising costs, they too were driven away from rising costs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. You should probably ask whether there is a way to keep families from moving out of the city and to the suburbs. Lots of people have thought of this question for years, and still no solution. Some urban planners thought that NYC could be more attractive by adding amenities like better schools, playgrounds, developing the boroughs and the like, yet the addition of such amenities only made NYC even more expensive and pushed more families to go suburban. My spouse's coworker was outbid in buying a house in Tarrytown many times before finally closing on one at list price.
Those towns that stay the same for generations do not have something like Metro North, Henry Hudson, Saw Mill etc. that put them at stones throw away from office jobs in NYC. You will see the same thing in CA with neighborhoods that have easy access to BART and Metrolink, yet NYC takes it to a different level. Because of that, they tend to attract a certain demographic (like me! ) with different priorities. To you, the new cost regime looks insane. To the newcomers, it's a good deal when compared with NYC like private schools, access to nice parks and open space etc. etc. And while you feel driven away from Irvington's rising costs, they too were driven away from rising costs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. You should probably ask whether there is a way to keep families from moving out of the city and to the suburbs. Lots of people have thought of this question for years, and still no solution. Some urban planners thought that NYC could be more attractive by adding amenities like better schools, playgrounds, developing the boroughs and the like, yet the addition of such amenities only made NYC even more expensive and pushed more families to go suburban. My spouse's coworker was outbid in buying a house in Tarrytown many times before finally closing on one at list price.
All valid points! Where I am now is about as close to the Irvington that I knew while growing up there.
#9 was the only valid point. There are many other places throughout the country that have all of the same amenities if not more that Lohud brags about. That article tries to make people feel guilty for leaving, same for those who are contemplating such a move. Or that we are somehow less sophisticated than Westchesterites. Propaganda at it's finest. Not surprising coming from that newspaper. Sorry, Lohud it didn't work. At least not for me.
Thanks, "CD111" for mentioning it. It was an interesting article nonetheless.
Those towns that stay the same for generations do not have something like Metro North, Henry Hudson, Saw Mill etc. that put them at stones throw away from office jobs in NYC. You will see the same thing in CA with neighborhoods that have easy access to BART and Metrolink, yet NYC takes it to a different level. Because of that, they tend to attract a certain demographic (like me! ) with different priorities. To you, the new cost regime looks insane. To the newcomers, it's a good deal when compared with NYC like private schools, access to nice parks and open space etc. etc. And while you feel driven away from Irvington's rising costs, they too were driven away from rising costs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. You should probably ask whether there is a way to keep families from moving out of the city and to the suburbs. Lots of people have thought of this question for years, and still no solution. Some urban planners thought that NYC could be more attractive by adding amenities like better schools, playgrounds, developing the boroughs and the like, yet the addition of such amenities only made NYC even more expensive and pushed more families to go suburban. My spouse's coworker was outbid in buying a house in Tarrytown many times before finally closing on one at list price.
Good post. But NYC will never have better schools and that is the #1 reason families flee the 5 boroughs. You see it in almost every post on these forums (want good schools within 1 hr of NYC). All the 5 boroughs meet the second part of that criteria....almost none meet the first....so young families flee in droves. The ones that stay either settle for less than good schools and hope for the best or can afford top private schooling. There are just a handful of good NYC public schools. Incredible when you think about it bc on a per student basis no school system in the country spends more money. But don't fret, Comrade DiBlasio is on the case--once he closes those evil over performing charter schools it will all be much much better. :rollseyes:
Can someone please shut this stupid thread down? Regardless of the original poster's intentions (which are totally inexplicable to me), this is the Westchester forum and not the politics forum. I don't want to hear about "Comrade" DiBlasio or Obama, and how they're allegedly so evil. Take it to the politics forum and stay out of this one. Jesus.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) with different priorities. To you, the new cost regime looks insane. To the newcomers, it's a good deal when compared with NYC like private schools, access to nice parks and open space etc. etc. And while you feel driven away from Irvington's rising costs, they too were driven away from rising costs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. You should probably ask whether there is a way to keep families from moving out of the city and to the suburbs. Lots of people have thought of this question for years, and still no solution. Some urban planners thought that NYC could be more attractive by adding amenities like better schools, playgrounds, developing the boroughs and the like, yet the addition of such amenities only made NYC even more expensive and pushed more families to go suburban. My spouse's coworker was outbid in buying a house in Tarrytown many times before finally closing on one at list price.
