Want it all - prox. to NYC, great schools, nice town, walk-ability, $800k for 3-4BR

[CA2008]

This website is very helpful. I am curious about what people mean by "snobby." Unfriendly to outsiders? Materialistic? Unfriendly to people who have less money? I'm confused because Chappaqua is described by some as "snobby." At the same time, it is described as "liberal." I know there is no way to sum up a city/town and its people in a word or two, I'm trying to get a sense of the general vibe. Are people equating wealthy with snobby? I've seen a couple of houses in Chappaqua that seem actually affordable, but community is as important to us as excellent schools (I think). We've been fortunate not to have to choose between the 2 in our current situation and are hoping to find a community with a similar vibe.

[Frangi914]

The village of Briarcliff Manor also has excellent schools and is a great town, full of really nice wonderful people. It's only a 40 minutes train ride on metro north, it's close to transportation, a small intimite village, with resturants, stores and shops, almost non-existent crime, just a great place to raise a family. And yes, you can find a house for the price you quoted. God luck to you!

[FutureCop]

I live in Scarsdale and I love it. You're not in the White Plains bummy areas, you're in an upper class town with beautiful houses and classy residents. People are uptight, my family is uptight, but that's the Tri-State Area for you. 800k will buy you a nice place here. Schools are great, I'm in high school and it's a great school, the teachers are cool, the school isn't some grimy hole like in some areas, we have a nice student lounge, the school has a nice interior and exterior, etc. We're closer to the city than White Plains and Chappaqua and we're close to shopping, dining, and recreation. The town is peaceful and people are well-educated. I highly recommend it... Probably the richest town in the area and wealth is here for a reason... It's the best place in Westchester to live!

I know Bill & Hillary Clinton live in Chappaqua.

[Ekulu]

If you are truly looking for all the things you mentioned, from your list I will pick Larchmont Village, it has very little diversity but it shares middle and high schools with Mamaroneck (Mamaroneck School District) and gets most of its diversity that way. In my opinion it is the only one on your list that meets all the criteria.

You should also consider looking in Mamaroneck Village or Town of Mamaroneck (as an aside, most of the homes in the town of Mamaroneck have a Larchmont postal address which can be confusing). Town of Mamaroneck/Village of Mamaroneck is very diverse socio-economically, homes on the market at the moment range from $550K to $18 million. Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate is a good website to use for an initial search.

Although a part of Rye shares a school district with the part of Mamaroneck in the town of Rye, that part of Rye is very expensive and typically homes typically start at $1.3m and above. It is also not walking distance to downtown Rye.

[Kevrltr]

Westchester County School Districts 2004-2005
Has your school information.
You probably want to be in the Area of Interstate 287 or South for an easy trip to NYC.
I would recommend you drive up in the evening, you could do 2 or 3 towns a night and get a feel for them. They are close together with very different personalities.

The first post was great, but
White Plains does have some great suburban areas too.
All the best!

Kevin O'Shea