Tarrytown or Pleasantville (Hudson, Burns, Hope: apartments, homes, high school)

[mattrudy]

My wife and I are planning on moving to Westchester and want the skinny on both these towns. What are the schools like? Recreation? Restaurants/Bars? etc... Any input is greatly appreciated. Or any other towns like these too.

Thanks in advance!

[MomOfToo]

Pleasantville all the way! I used to live in Pleasantville and it is a wonderful place to live. It is a small town and you can take nice walks through it. The schools are good, but they do not have buses to take your children to and from school. Tarrytown is way too congested and the schools aren't as good.

[dma1250]

They are really very different, but both have definite plusses. Pleasantville is very suburban and...pleasant. It has some nice restaurants and stores, and the Jacob Burns Film Center is amazing. The schools are supposed to be very good.

Tarrytown is much more urban. It too has some good restaurants and stores, and the Tarrytown Music Hall is great, and the riverside park is great too. I do not think the schools are supposed to be great, but that is probably just because the large population of second-language speakers pulls down the test scores--so that does not tell you anything about the actual quality of the teaching. Tarrytown is a slightly shorter train ride--and being on the Hudson makes a huge difference!

Hope that helps.

[ghguy]

Much better schools in Pleasantville....

[mattrudy]

Originally Posted by ghguy

Much better schools in Pleasantville....

Are the schools in Tarrytown that bad?

[MomOfToo]

No that bad just that Tarrytown is very diversified where Pleasantville is a small town. Like the PP said-the non speaking students just bring down the scores.

[Frangi914]

Tarrytown has many old homes that have been converted to apartments and there is a large immigrant population in some areas. I have no idea about the school system. There are some nice antique shops and restaurants which run along Main Street. It's probably true that Tarrytown is more congested than Pleasantville. Pleasantville on the other hand is up and coming. There are plenty of really good restaurants, shops and the Jacob Burns Film Center has some great old/foreign films. The town has an eclectic vibe, again I don't know much about the schools but many of my co-workers say the schools are good. Good Luck!

[AurorainTarrytown]

A couple of years ago we were choosing between Tarrytown and Pleasantville and ended up in Tarrytown partly because of the access to the Hudson River. I felt a little "closed in" in Pleasantville, if that makes any sense. Nice town, though. It has a great bookstore.
As for the schools, we don't have kids yet. However, from what I understand the schools are fine; it's just that the non-English speakers bring down the average test scores. The high school sends students to good colleges every year so something must be working.