Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We see there's a lot of comparisons of Pleasantville to Chappaqua or Armonk but we were wondering how Briarcliff Manor fits into the mix. We like the farmhouses / colonials / rural feel of Bedford, but the commute to NYC is not tenable (need to be under 1 hour to Grand Central). Can someone please give us a sense of what Briarcliff Manor would be like or any other suggestions. We're familiar with Darien and Westport in CT and like both those towns, but would prefer to Westchester as we have family in NJ and want to be closer to them. If it helps our budget is around $1-1.25M and would like at least an acre of land.
My sense of Briarcliff Manor is that there is no real Main St and generally less "stuff" around than in the other towns you listed. Now, you can drive to other town's "stuff" in a very short amount of time, and you'd have to drive in all the other towns too (especially if you want an acre), but Briarcliff doesn't really have much of it's own. I think the schools are also considerable smaller than the other towns listed.
I live in Pville. BM and Chapp are similiar in that they are more spread out with a larger lot size. Both have a downtown that more or less consists of one "strip" with a few restaurants, delis, etc. Chapp may offer more in that regard but BM does have a couple good spots on Pleasantville Ave and then just on the other side of Rt. 9 are Squire's and a new place (both pub / restaurants). A neat sort of hidden spot in BM is Scarborough, on the Hudson line, with a little community beach on the river.
BM's town park also looks really nice although I've never been in, just driven by.
Pville is more of a dense "village" and more walkable, with the obvious trade-off of smaller lots, although on the edges of town and east end of town there are some larger homes and lots with a more wooded feel.
All three towns are probably within an hour of GCT, not counting whatever time you need to get to station and park. I know Chapp has more trains and some express trains that skip Pville. Each town has some houses from which you could walk to station which will cut down on your time in the morning, but you'll trade some privacy or space or price.
The great thing about all three, especially Pville and BM, is that you are adjacent to TONS of open space between Rockefeller properties, Hardscrabble, Graham Hills and other smaller town parks. So getting outdoors is easy and close. The Rockefeller lands are probably the greatest under-discussed resource up here. Not just paths in the woods, but a real park designed and built like central park (by the same Olmsted crew) well more than twice the size of central park with a similar variety of wooded rivers, craggy overlooks and wide open fields. Of course up in Bedford you have Pound Ridge Res which is also a gem.
You didn't mention kids or number of beds or anything, but your budget should be more than sufficient. Make sure you get a good handle on taxes (Zillow is useless in this regard) on the several different tax bills you'll have (county, town, village, school dist.), and remember you'll lose the SALT deduction but probably gain in income tax vs NYC and AMT vs. last year. The schools in each town are among the best in the state.
I agree completely with this poster. I live IN Briarcliff but all are great towns and can give you what you are looking for. Town is small but so close to other towns, great schools, small town ,everyone knows each other.
I think you may get a slightly less competitive feel than you get in Chappaqua in terms of keeping up and schools and schools much smaller.
Thank you all for your input! To follow up on this thread, I'd ask for some clarity on a few of the items discussed - do all three towns have similar tax rates at the end of the day and what is the best way to learn about all the various county, village, town taxes? Also, it seems like inventory is relatively low in BM and Pville compared with Chappaqua. Do you think this is a function of the time of year with new listings traditionally coming out in the spring time or are there just fewer people selling in these two towns. I really like the area of Scarborough but I've only been able to find a few listings.
Lastly, how is the vibe in this area different from say Irvington / Dobbs Ferry, which is where a friend suggested I look since the commute is shorter.
At least an acre of land is going to be well above your price range in Irvington or Dobbs and have $45K+ a year in taxes. They are nice towns, but are more about the village feel and short commute as opposed to a semi-rural feeling in the larger plot sections of Chappaqua or spaced out town feel in outer Pleasantville/Briarcliff Manor.
For $1-1.25 in the rivertowns you'd typically get between a quarter and a half acre depending on how far away from the train and town center you are located. They are nice neighborhoods, but it has more of a standard suburban feel than what I associate with > 1 acre average lots.
The assessments are public, so you can see what various properties are assessed at and try to get a feel for why (new vs. old, square footage, number of bathrooms, etc.)
Then each taxing entity has a mill rate. These should also be public; you can call the assessor's office for each town and they'll tell you or at least tell you where to look. You'll have
assessed value X mill rate = yearly bill, for each taxing entity.
Also be advised you if you buy a house that's underassessed, you may be pulled out of line for a "random" screening and find your assessment has gone up to "magically" just under the price you paid for the house, six months to a year after you buy it. Welcome Stranger.
Realtor.com and Homesnap.com were both very helpful and relatively accurate websites for me. I found that in my search I could almost always rely on the taxes reported on these sites. When I was really interested in a property, I would go directly to the town assessor lookup and verify the taxes posted.
Regarding taxes, in general, if you have Pleasantville or Chappaqua schools you'll have higher taxes. You can be in Pleasantville/Chappaqua with either Mt. Pleasant schools or Byram Hills schools and have lower taxes. Not sure about Briarcliff but I assume it's more like Mt. Pleasant or Byram Hills school district in terms of taxes.
I'm in Chappaqua with Byram Hills schools and my taxes are significantly less than if my home were a few blocks up the street with Chappaqua schools. (taxes are $17-18k on an $850k home).
Also, in comparing towns, note that Pleasantville schools have no bussing, unlike neighboring districts. Some people like it, some don't. But you don't get a discount on your taxes for the reduction in services.
Thank you all for your help. I'm starting to get a much better handle on taxes and have started using the local town's assessor website to look up assessed values.
Next question for the group is are there any express or fast trains to Mt. Kisco, Bedford, Pound Ridge? I haven't been able to figure that out. One thing we both really seem to prefer is the style of house in these areas (farmhouses), although find the commute to Chappaqua / BM much more appealing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
