Scarsdale - Fitting In (Yorktown, New City: fit in, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[ghguy]

I'm hoping to get some information about living in Scarsdale.

My wife and I are considering buying a house in the Arthur Manor section of Scarsdale (for about 700K). She's concerned about whether we'll fit in and that our kids might feel the need to "keep up with the Joneses" because, she feels, we'll be on the lower end of the spectrum from a socio-economic standpoint (we make about 200K combined). She's afraid that we'll be living in Lexus/Mercedez country when we're Toyota/Honda people....

My attitude is if we can get our kids into the best schools possible, while still being able to afford a decent house, while not totally mortgaging our future, we should do it.

Is there a strong "snooty" factor in Scarsdale?

Also, does anybody know if there's busing available for all schools in Scarsdale? I thought I read somewhere here that there are no buses for the elementary schools....

Thanks

[karen824]

Hi,
We lived in Arthur Manor for about 6 1/2 years before relocating upstate this past June (to be closer to family.)
I think of all the neighborhoods in Scarsdale, Arthur Manor may have the lowest level of "snootiness." I would guess that most families are somewhere near the income level you'll be having. Ours was just about the same as yours when we moved in.
The neighborhood has quite an active neighborhood association and they are always looking for new members. The park in the neighborhood (Davis Park) is a nice gathering place for neighborhood events--there's a very popular July 4th celebration, a holiday tree lighting/carol sing, concerts, etc. One thing we really liked about the neighborhood was the friendliness of many of the residents--because the homes are closer together than in other parts of Scarsdale, I think it makes it easier to meet your neighbors and get involved. If you like to take walks (or have a dog you need to walk) you'll meet many others out for walks, too!
I think the time you may start to notice more of the "snob factor" will be when your kids start at the middle school. That's when they'll start to meet kids from the wealthier parts of town, who live in real mansions, take expensive vacations, drive Mercedes, etc. (we are a Saturn family ourselves.) My kids never really showed any envy or feelings of inadequacy when this started, but I think a lot hinges on your attitude. We always tried to have a welcoming home for their friends (we lived near the park and a lot of their friends from other neighborhoods thought that was really cool, that they could just run out and play there any time they wanted.) We'd talk about the wastefulness of driving gas-guzzling luxury SUVs, having 'way more house than one needed for a family of four, etc. (obviously we didn't do this in front of their friends!) :-)
In terms of the school busing, you're right, there is no busing to any of the elementary schools. Depending on where you're thinking of buying in Arthur Manor, the walk to Edgewood school shouldn't be too bad. There is busing to the middle school when your kids reach that age. Then once they reach high school age, they will not be eligible for busing to the HS unless you live on the far edges of Arthur Manor.
Feel free to PM me if you'd like more specific information about the street you're considering buying on, the schools, etc.!
Karen

[ghguy]

Karen,

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response.

I'm just curious: How did you like the schools? Did you buy in Scarsdale because of the schools? I ask because we spent alot of time debating whether it was worth it to sacrifice so much to send the kids to a great school district. We looked at houses in Rockland county where we could have gotten much more for much less. I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences....

Thanks Again!!

[karen824]

We moved to Scarsdale from Peekskill, when our kids were about to go into 1st and 3rd grades. At that point we felt we had no choice but to find a better school district for them, so moving to a town with good schools was a definite deciding factor--that, plus my parents live in Scarsdale and I grew up there from 4th grade on, so I felt comfortable there and knew what to expect.
I was very pleased with the schools and the education my kids got there. I won't say that every teacher was perfect or that every class was stimulating, but I think there is such an overall commitment to education in the town that the overall standard is set very high. Scarsdale goes out to get the best teachers it can find and I think that overall they are very, very good.
One thing that I do admire about Scarsdale is that I think the district/Board of Education really does strive to give kids the best-quality education they can get, whether or not that means the district will land on all the "top schools" lists or get the highest scores on state tests. Teachers do NOT "teach to the test" but rather strive to give kids a deep and broad educational experience. So, for example, the high school is starting to phase out AP courses and is replacing them with "AT" (Advanced Topic) courses, which are designed by the teachers. The kids can still take the AP exams but the courses will not "teach to the AP test." This decision was quite controversial in the community and a lot of parents were worried that it would affect their kids' chances of being admitted to top colleges, but the Board of Ed. is going ahead with it because they feel it's best for the students.
One thing I will say is that when kids get to the HS, there can be a LOT of college pressure. I think a lot of this comes from the parents, though, not the school. There are definitely some parents in town who feel that their kids MUST get into an Ivy League or other top college and put a lot of pressure on their kids to achieve this goal. If you don't fall into this trap, your kids won't, either.

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by ghguy

Karen,

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response.

I'm just curious: How did you like the schools? Did you buy in Scarsdale because of the schools? I ask because we spent alot of time debating whether it was worth it to sacrifice so much to send the kids to a great school district. We looked at houses in Rockland county where we could have gotten much more for much less. I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences....

Thanks Again!!

It is not worth the sacrifice. Plenty of Scarsdale kids end up going to average colleges. No district can turn a kid with average innate intelligence into a superstar. At the same time, superstars who attend "average" school districts get into the Ivy League.

If you like Rockland County, stay there and get twice the house for the same money. There are plenty of great school districts in Rockland that send their kids to the top colleges.

[karen824]

Rubygreta,
I was assuming that the poster was interested in moving to Scarsdale because of the quality of education his children would get while they were enrolled there, from elementary school up through high school. I didn't see any indication in his post that he was considering moving to Scarsdale solely to "insure" that his children would somehow be turned into "superstars" and get into Ivy League schools. That certainly wasn't the reason we moved to Scarsdale. We wanted our kids to have access to excellent teachers and a challenging learning environment. I think Scarsdale is actually quite good at encouraging all kids to succeed in school, not just the "superstars."

That said, though, I will add that I certainly don't advocate moving there if it is going to cause a serious drain on your finances or otherwise make your lives more stressful than they need to be. If you find that moving there will mean that you are living paycheck to paycheck, with no ability to save or to be prepared for emergencies, then Rubygreta is right, don't do it. There are definitely other towns out there with perfectly good schools that aren't as costly.

[ghguy]

Thanks again, Karen.

Actually, we'd probably spend the same on a house in either place, it's just that we'd get a much smaller house in Scarsdale. We had been looking at a relatively new 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, maybe with an in ground pool in Rockland (Pearl River/Orangeburg/New City) for 700K. In Scarsdale, we'd get an older, much smaller 3 BR on a smaller lot that probably needs a new kitchen and bath.

I get that the schools in Scarsdale are awesome, I guess we just need to make a personal decision if the sacrifice is worth it.

In case anybody's wondering why I'm not discussing other towns in Westchester, it's because I find the areas that have the really good schools are all similarly priced and we just like the Scarsdale area......

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by karen824

Rubygreta,
I was assuming that the poster was interested in moving to Scarsdale because of the quality of education his children would get while they were enrolled there, from elementary school up through high school. I didn't see any indication in his post that he was considering moving to Scarsdale solely to "insure" that his children would somehow be turned into "superstars" and get into Ivy League schools. That certainly wasn't the reason we moved to Scarsdale. We wanted our kids to have access to excellent teachers and a challenging learning environment. I think Scarsdale is actually quite good at encouraging all kids to succeed in school, not just the "superstars."

That said, though, I will add that I certainly don't advocate moving there if it is going to cause a serious drain on your finances or otherwise make your lives more stressful than they need to be. If you find that moving there will mean that you are living paycheck to paycheck, with no ability to save or to be prepared for emergencies, then Rubygreta is right, don't do it. There are definitely other towns out there with perfectly good schools that aren't as costly.

It was not my intention to put down the Scarsdale School District. My point was that no school district can guarantee that a child will take school seriously or guarantee that he/she will get into a great college. My other point is that there are good school districts out there where you can get a much better house for the money. So if you can afford to live in a school district on one income or 1.5 incomes, while it takes two incomes to live in Scarsdale, you might be better off in that other district.

[tennisaj]

Scarsdale is a wonderful community, with such a diverse and interesting population. People are respectful of others, regardless of religion, cultural background, financial background, occupation. I moved here for the village and community, and quality of life and have found it to be a village of people who have many different life experiences but who care about their family and the world at large. It is international, cosmopolitan, yet a village which encourages residents to get involved.
I recommend that you visit the communities you are interested in, and talk to people who live there and find out about the other things the towns have to offer, such as community pool, adult ed classes, train schedule to midtown if you commute, guest lecturers at the local library, swim/diving teams, debate teams, music programs, etc. In my opinion, Scarsdale offers more than many other quality school districts in terms of family services. I am from N.J. originally, but I am a Westchester convert, and I love Scarsdale!

[ping pong ball]

Originally Posted by ghguy

Thanks again, Karen.

Actually, we'd probably spend the same on a house in either place, it's just that we'd get a much smaller house in Scarsdale. We had been looking at a relatively new 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, maybe with an in ground pool in Rockland (Pearl River/Orangeburg/New City) for 700K. In Scarsdale, we'd get an older, much smaller 3 BR on a smaller lot that probably needs a new kitchen and bath.

I get that the schools in Scarsdale are awesome, I guess we just need to make a personal decision if the sacrifice is worth it.

In case anybody's wondering why I'm not discussing other towns in Westchester, it's because I find the areas that have the really good schools are all similarly priced and we just like the Scarsdale area......

Since you are already using the word "sacrifice", then I'd have to agree with rubygreta. Your child would likely do as well in a "good" school district as in a "really good" district.

There are several of these types of school districts in Westchester (Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Croton, Pleasantville, Eastchester, Yorktown, etc.).

Quality of Life (including Ease of Commute), Ability to save for the future, Closeness or distance from family would be more important considerations for me personally.