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With our kids approaching kindergarten age, we're nearing the end of our "5 year plan" and are planning to move from our condo in northern Westchester within about a year. We've been town hunting in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess. In these forums there seems to be about an even mixture of very objective and very biased points of view, so one needs to parse it all in context to be best informed. For schools, a pattern I've noticed is that folks from town X emphasize that their schools are very good, on par with the best schools in the area. Folks from town Y who pay higher taxes than in X believe their schools are at least (Y taxes - X taxes) better than X, if you'll pardon the algebra pun. Not at all implying that people are cynical; their respective points of view are understandable.
We need to choose our town carefully now, because it will determine whether we we are really: a. rich & entitled elitist jerks b. lower middle class people who can't make the grade and have to settle for something less c. hippie liberal new agey progressives, or d. uncultured rednecks. Having a little fun with this, but it sometimes seems that other folks' perception of who you and your family are is primarily determined by the town you chose live in. We really are considering a wide range towns that I've heard people put in all these categories.
While we're more familiar with Westchester towns, yesterday we decided to spend an afternoon in Pawling. Had a very nice downtown right near the train station. The housing areas surrounding the town center are very eclectic: a mix of country homes, 30-100 year old townhouses, and a splash of 'modern' homes here and there. A minority of homes seemed in disrepair, but not quite enough to be a blight on the area in my opinion. All of it very affordable, not even in the same ball park with Westchester home prices. While certainly farther away distance-wise, it's still very commutable to Manhattan (where I work). I couldn't find anything anything 'wrong' with Pawling besides its distance to the city and other large towns and shopping areas, which I'm sure puts it out of consideration for a lot of people. We haven't been able to find out anything about its schools or community groups, there's almost nothing on the internet. We drove out to see the high school. On the way, we thought we found it but realized were instead in the Trinity Pawling boarding school campus nearby, which I hadn't been aware of. My first thought was that means there is money in the area, but I suppose more likely the money is elsewhere, probably out of state. If you currently live, or have lived in Pawling, have kids and commute to the city I'd be very interested in your thoughts.
Hi diy, the two websites you mentioned are what I mean. For the high school, one has only two reviews (which are outdated), and the other doesn't have any. It seems that Pawling locals aren't active online; I so far haven't been able to find out much.
How long is the commute from Pawling to GC? How would this compare with, say, New Paltz which has an Andrionak Trailways depot and commuting to Port Authority?
According to the MTA schedule, Pawling to GCT ranges from 1 hr 55 mins to 2 hr 47 mins, which is longer than I'd originally thought it would be. I can't imagine the trailways bus would be shorter than that, especially during rush hour.
According to the MTA schedule, Pawling to GCT ranges from 1 hr 55 mins to 2 hr 47 mins, which is longer than I'd originally thought it would be. I can't imagine the trailways bus would be shorter than that, especially during rush hour.
Check the Andrionak Trailways commuter schedule. It comes out to less than 2hrs from New Paltz:
I agree completely. Try making a few "dry runs" of the commute from Pawling to Manhattan before you decide to move, and you might quickly change your mind about Pawling. Whether you commute by car or by train, you're looking at a minimum of 2 hours, door to door, each way, in the best case scenario.
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