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My husband and I are thinking about relocating to one of the river towns. We have 3 young children, ages 5,3,and 1. We don't know much about Hastings on the Hudson, Dobbs Ferry or Irvington. We are looking for a friendly, down to earth town with great schools and walkability. My husband works in midtown and I am currently home with our children.
About us... We are foodies! Love the arts. We are Christians so finding a good church is important. As a stay at home mom, I would love to find a very community oriented town. It's important to us to have a support network and good friends since none of our family is close by. We're open to renovating a historic home. We are also considering moving to the city. We're torn. Any help would be so greatly appreciated!
You can't lose with any of the three towns you mentioned. We live in Hastings-on-Hudson, and our family (wife, kids 3,7) love it there. It has everything you seem to be looking for: Artistic bent (purpl, galleries); good community feel (farmer's market, walkable downtown); good schools; churches. Also, it is a touch closer to Manhattan, though only by a few minutes (that wouldn't probably be a deal-breaker). There are quite a few cafes and restaurants for a town its size; it's enough for us, more or less (though we go to Tarrytown occasionally to eat).
If possible, I might recommend spending some time in each town and seeing what vibe suits you best; while the towns are close together, they do "feel" a bit different. Just a few hours might be enough to tip the scales for you.
Best of luck!
All the towns you mentioned are really nice, the best way to get a good idea is to visit! (time permitting)
We really agonized between a few towns (Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Irvington, Tarrytown, Dobbs, Hastings). After losing out on a few bids in Briarcliff, we eventually found a nice home in Dobbs. It all comes down to personal preference, but timing also has a lot to do with it. We found the market to be pretty active, but if you're looking to renovate an older home you may find a few more options available. We took a look at some very nice older homes in Tarrytown/Briarcliff but eventually shied away from them as first-time buyers since it seemed like a huge project to take on.
In terms of churches, you should have plenty to choose from. I've noticed in the river towns it seems to be mostly Episcopalian with a few other denominations sprinkled in. There's even the Old Sleepy Hollow historic church which, as far as I know, still holds services several times of year in the original building, heated with a wood-burning stove and lit with candles.
Wow, thank you! Good to hear that the towns are nice. We really are looking for a great community. I heard a lot of the surrounding towns can be very upper class and "snobby", but they say the schools are great. We will try to visit the towns at least a couple times. Anywhere to go in particular to get a good feel of the towns? Restaurant? Downtown events or stores? Parks? Thanks again!!
So far everyone I've had a chance to meet in the river towns has been really, really nice. Business owners, residents, etc. Many of the folks I talked to have lived in the area 20+ years and have raised their families there and have largely good things to say about the area. That said, with taxes so high, I'd imagine the remaining residents are sort of a self-selecting pool; those staying there are doing so because they love the location, etc.
The best way to get a feel for the towns is to visit. The communities tend to feel more bustling on weekends, when people are out and about, on errands, etc. Dobbs, Ardsley, Tarrytown, Irvington and Hastings all have that traditional "main street" feel. As they are located quite close together, you could probably visit all of them in the same afternoon. I think another poster on this forum visited several of the towns some time back and took a few pictures, maybe try searching for that to get a feel for how they look?
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