Is Peekskill A Good Move? (Considering Moving There From NYC) (New York: apartments, crime rate)
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Hi everyone. I have been wowed by the housing stock, space and scenery you can get in Peekskill for a modest budget (relative to NYC). I've done a lot of reading of threads here and elsewhere as well as NY Times profile of the city. Most of that content was from years past.
I currently make 100K and have 100K saved. Homes and space in Peekskill in the 400K-500K range get you what would probably be the equivalent of 1.5M+ here in the five boroughs. I am from Queens. I have a few questions:
• How are the schools?
• How is Public Transportation?
• How is the commute to NYC? (Say to Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens) - Do any of you regularly commute?
• How is the city vibe? (Nightlife, Friendly People, Gyms, Shopping?)
• What else do I need to know about Peekskill?
I currently work for a city agency in NYC and won't be leaving that field/position anytime soon except for career advancement.
Other questions:
•*Any of you in Peekskill ex-NYCers? Do you miss the city?
• Any of you regret/or very happy that you purchased property up there?
I believe the commute to NYC from Peekskill is about an hour by Metro North, but it sometimes takes me an hour+ to get home from Manhattan when going to Eastern Queens (in the mornings and evenings) during my daily commute.
Just looking for some information. I am impressed with the properties and price ranges. A lot of what I've seen a look like recent builds. Even the mid-20th century properties look great. It's either Westchester or Queens for me. I have friends who have moved to Rockland from NYC and sometimes complain about the commute, but don't regret buying up there (i.e. I have one colleague who commutes from Beacon in Dutchess to East New York, Brooklyn everyday for work)
Peekskill is a nice area and can certainly be viewed as a bargain by some. It is a bargain though because the schools are not very good and there is a crime rate significantly higher than the surrounding area. This includes violent crime that is almost non-existent nearby. You will get more for your money compared to most of Westchester and NYC. There is also a decent nightlife. I'll put it to you this way. I would move there if I were single or maybe as a couple. There is no way I would raise a family in Peekskill. That's my opinion and others may feel differently.
Based on your post, I'm thinking that you would probably be able to drive around the different parts of Peekskill and based on your observations, determine for yourself if you would want to move to a neighborhood there. You could always talk to the local police department to get an idea about crime issues as well.
Peekskill is an excellent option for a city person, as the downtown is going through a revival with bars, music and arts. HOWEVER, make sure you buy within the Courtland or Hendrick hudson school districts for resale value. You want Walter Panasonic high school zone will be essentially in a great part of Peekskill area without the bad schools. All of the benefits, less headache
I love Peekskill. Great restaurants, aa branch of Westchester Community College and a hip art museum. While my husband and I have been looking in Peekskill to downsize during retirement, we are having second thoughts.
1) There is a significant non-english speaking immigrate population.
2) As a result, I agree with eileen824. You don't want to be part of the Peekskill School System.
3) Many MetroNorth trains end at Croton Harmon, the stop before Peekskill. Check the schedule to see how many continue on to Peekskill. FYI, MetroNorth is much better than NJ Transit.
4) Decent houses to purchase are far and few between - like two or three a year. The rest of the houses on the market are overpriced and in unlivable condition.
5) Indian Point Nuclear facility is scheduled to close in 2021. Don't how property taxes would be affected.
6) You would still need a car in Peekskill. Why not expand your look to Cortlandt Manor or Ossining? White Plains is a real city and has great apartments.
I live in Yorktown. It is dull. We miss walking around a town. We want to be closer to a train station. However, it is pretty and we have deer, rabbits an groundhogs on our yard. Twenty years later, my husband still misses living in NYC. I couldn't live with crowds and noise. We had hoped that Peekskill would be an alternative.
From what I've heard, my families move to White Plains because property taxes are low but send their kids to private schools. My son attended Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains. The school had so many students from Yorktown/Peekskill area, they provided bus service. I know Yorktown is suppose to have great schools, but not in our experience.
New Jersey has the highest property taxes. NJ's property tax includes a school tax. However, Westchester has the highest overall taxes - property tax, school tax and county tax. These three taxes are all separate! Make sure you get the full picture.
Beacon is in Dutchess County and I don't know if they have a county tax.
Taxes in Peekskill are usually more than $10,000 per house.
We used to lived in Peekskill for 20 years. I'd have to agree with most of these posts. It took us a long time to sell our home as most buyers did not want to put their children in the Peekskill City Schools. However there are some pretty nice houses in the 400K to 500K range and you will get a lot more for your money house wise than in many other parts of Westchester.
You may want to look in the Mortgage Hill (southern end) section of Peekskill. Most if not all of those homes are in the Hendrick Hudson School district. The neighborhoods there are pretty nice and away from all the riff-raff. The neighborhoods around Carhart Avenue, Frost Lane (Pataki Farm), Benefield Blvd aren't too bad except for the parkway noise. The neighborhood around Buena Vista and Oakwood Drive have some pretty nice homes and you won't have all the parkway noise but you'll still be in the Peekskill City School District. If your gonna' live in Peekskill try and find a neighborhood without any sidewalks. Although Union Avenue, Depew and Ringold Streets have sidewalks that neighborhood is pretty nice. There are probably other decent neighborhoods too but those are the one's that I'm familiar with.
It really is a shame what happened to Peekskill as it is in a prime location along the Hudson River with some of the most beautiful old Victorian homes you could ever imagine. Unfortunately many have been neglected for a long time and turned into multi family units. Just about, if not all the neighborhoods that are close to downtown are very ghetto like and dilapidated. There's also an abundance of litter. Most of the crimes when we lived there were drug related. There was a major drug bust right in our own neighborhood about 3 years before we moved.
Indeed as one poster noted there is a significant amount of non-English speaking population, a lot of them are illegal invaders. During the last coupla' years that we lived there, as long time residents moved out the illegals started moving in turning single family homes into illegal apartments and along with that came all the noise. Volley ball games late into the night, drinking out on the street, public urination, vehicles racing up and down the street, hip hop blaring so loud it would rattle all the windows and of course littering, things like that. But if you choose the right neighborhood you'll avoid all that.
Peekskill was about the only place in Westchester where we could afford to buy a home that was convenient to our jobs, family and friends. Our neighborhood wasn't too bad when we first moved there but like I've mentioned above the illegals started to move in as the long time residents sold their homes and moved out. Obviously no one can predict the future of any given neighborhood, but that's something you should keep in mind about Peekskill.
You can drive to Croton and take the express train to the city, that would probably be your best bet. Croton is about 10 minutes away if you get on 9A.
Last edited by Ex New Yorker; 03-22-2018 at 08:46 PM..
Thatcareerguy , you say you work for NYC. What is your work schedule? I commute 10 minutes from peekskill to Manhattan everyday by car. However, my work hours are usually 6am-2pm. No traffic either way. If you have more traditional hours like 9-5 commuting by car would be a nightmare.
We moved up from Staten Island 18 years ago and have been happy up here. We too looked at the nice homes in Peekskill, but felt there was too much urban activity around to raising a family there.
Like I said, I'm 10 minutes from peekskill and it's worlds different.
That said, there are great restaurants there, the paramount theater has top notch bands, 4th of July parade and fireworks. All fun to visit, but live there..... nah.
I commute 10 minutes from peekskill to Manhattan everyday by car. However, my work hours are usually 6am-2pm. No traffic either way.
I had to read this a couple times to realize you meant you commute from somewhere that is 10 minutes from Peekskill. I kept thinking, I don't care how little traffic there is at 6am how the hell are you getting to Manhattan in 10 minutes from Peekskill?!
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