Westchester County, Rockland County or Long Island? (Nassau: income, work)

[mickey mouse is dead]

Okay, so my wife and I are going to work in NYC, what region would be better to live between Rockland, Westchester and Long Island (Suffolk/Nassau)? We are thinking of buying a house, and our combined income is 160k. We are probably going to be hanging out in NYC every weekend, but still, I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere. Any help would be gladly appreciated. Thanks!

[ghguy]

Rockland is a very difficult commute to Manhattan during rush hour. Non-rush hour you can probably do it in 30-40 min.

You might want to start looking at homes online to figure out what you can afford. Generally, the closer you are to the city, the more expensive. My wife and I have been asking ourselves this question for awhile now. We'll probably end up in Rockland because we don't commute to Manhattan and we can get much more for our money there.

Have kids? Are schools important. Again, the better the school district, the more expensive. You're probably not going to get the house of your dreams on a 160K income and still have a good commute....

[lad-59]

21 years ago I had the same question you are asking. I grew up in brooklyn and Staten Island. I have lived in orange county for 21 years and if you are thinking about rockland I hope you have saved some money. ghguy is right, traffic has gotten very bad during rush hour over the years. If you are going to be spending as much time in the city as you say, rockland really doesn't have an easy mass transit system. There are buses( and train service takes you thru new jersey.) Not easy. You will get more for your money in rockland than westchester and long island and the traffic is still better in rockland then the other two but is getting worse everyday. hope this helps

[ghguy]

lad-59

You a Blue Devil/Sedgewick Slasher?

[lad-59]

You are correct ghguy. Are you still active or retired?