Sleepy Hollow, anyone? Advice? (New Rochelle, White Plains: apartment complexes, crime, how much)

[DrN]

Visited Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown last year and loved it. Very quaint and looks like a great place to raise a family. Would like to get some input from people who live in that area and are raising a family. What are the pros and cons? My initial research has yielded conflicting results. We are in a position to buy a larger sized home (saw some nice homes in Phillipse Manor and Sleepy Hollow Manor), although the shock of the property taxes is still taking some getting used to! My understanding is that alot of those tax dollars goes to the schools. However, from what I've read, it seems the (public) schools there are not necessarliy that great. Not bad, but not so great in relation to how much money they get. Is that an accurate assessment? For those of you who live in Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown, how would you rate the area with regard to:

1) schools
2) safety
3) community
4) quality of life

Also, do you see a noticeable change that the town is going through? In particular, does the area appear to be getting better or worse? For those who have invested a great amount in your homes, do you feel that you get a substantial return on the investment with regard to quality of life?What's your forecast for this area in the next 5/10/20 years?
Btw, we currently live in San Francisco so, if you've lived in both areas, I'm interested in hearing your comparison.
Thanks, in advance, for your input.

[MacheteJames]

1) Schools: Can't comment, no kids

2) Safety: These are both very safe communities. Crime is not really a concern, though it does happen from time to time. Tarrytown has no real "rough part of town", while Sleepy Hollow does.

3) Community: I find Tarrytown to be friendlier. Sleepy Hollow has a very large Latino population that tends to keep to themselves, as is the case in many of the river towns. Both are family-friendly communities, but this is the case for almost all of Westchester (so much so that I'm a fish out of water as young single guy and am moving to NYC). Nightlife isn't really there, although there are a couple of pubs in Tarrytown there is no "scene" per se. Tarrytown has more quaint shops, a nice coffee shop, and some excellent restaurants (especially the Greek restaurant Lefteris, on the corner of Main St. and Broadway). Sleepy Hollow has more ethnic Latin cuisine as well as a Thai restaurant, a Japanese place, etc. Tarrytown has more of a hipster vibe due to the two colleges that are in town, up on the hill. The college kids liven things up a bit.

4) Quality of Life: Both have a high quality of life, I'd say. You have stunning Hudson River views and pretty much all the basic amenities of life that you need between the two Villages. Traffic on the Tappan Zee Bridge is absolutely nightmarish at times, however, and Broadway tends to get backed up in Tarrytown daily. These are both walking communities... you'd use your car to get to work and back but then take care of most of your necessities within the Villages on foot. Parking is tight in both Villages because there are so many houses that have been converted to 2 and 3 family dwellings. They both have a residential parking permit program so that residents get priority in on-street parking. Rail access to NYC is there via Metro North, down on the waterfront. It's a 5 minute walk from downtown Tarrytown and 10 minutes on foot from downtown Sleepy Hollow. I concur that the property taxes are absolutely outrageous but this is a problem region-wide in the NYC area thanks to municipal home rule. NJ is no better in this regard, Connecticut is, however.

As far as improvements over time, Tarrytown is ahead of Sleepy Hollow, which is still definitely more of a blue-collar community. In my estimation, the forecast for both Villages is very good. They are suburbs but have an urban vitality that you don't see in stereotypical suburbs. If you worked in NYC and could walk to the train, you'd hardly ever need to drive a car unless you wanted to.

Hope this helps.

edit: saw that you're looking at the Phillpse Manor subdivision. It's kind of cut off from the rest of Sleepy Hollow, so you'd definitely be stuck driving for day-to-day necessities. It has its own Metro North station but all of the downtown amenities are at least a 15-20 minute walk away.

[DrN]

thanks for the breakdown, MJ.

sounds good, so far. as we plan our family we know that we'd like to move to the burbs from SF. our options are either staying in the bay area or moving out east. my wife is from NJ so we do have ties out there. i am a bay area native so this would be a HUGE move for me. we like that out east we can get more house/land for our money without having to be too far away from a great city hub. and the river towns definitely have a character we find appealing. yes, the weather would take some getting used to, but i don't know yet if that would be a deal breaker. i know more people who have moved east to west, rather than west to east, so i'm questioning whether i'm doing the right thing!

that's good if the areas, as you describe, are safe and family friendly. my concern is whether they can stay that way. but i guess only time can tell.
as far as having to drive everywhere, we're in the bay area, so we're used to that. wouldn't be a problem. and as far as nightlife, not an issue either. we're done with all the partying and such, and ready for a slower paced lifestyle ( but like the idea of being close to restaurants/cafes/shops, which Tarrytown appears to have a good selection of). top priority now is finding a great place to grow a family. that includes finding good schools. since i haven't found anyone on the forum 'raving' about the sleepy hollow schools, i need to figure out whether it's worth the high property taxes. do many residents send their kids to private schools? that's not an option for us.

thanks for your estimated forecast of both villages. as i mentioned in the previous post, our targets are sleepy hollow manor and phillipse manor. i like how they're somewhat isolated neighborhoods. my concern is whether they can stay that way. i see so much free land so close by that i wonder if shortly those areas would be filled with apartment complexes, thus increasing the congestion and taking away the quiet atmosphere. maybe because of my bay area roots, it's hard to find free land that won't soon be developed. again, only time can tell. btw, since rockefeller state park is so close by, are there any known ordinances that prevent development from happening between SH manor/phillips manor and the park? just wondering...

this is a very difficult decision...is it worth it leaving the comfort zone?
thanks.

[nadia32]

Tarrytown/Sleep Hollow is a great, vibrant community with lots of diversity. There is a large Hispanic population. Many residents send their kids to private schools, but those who I have met that have kids attending the public schools absolutely love it. The school system is large and offers many programs- loads of AP courses, etc- each year they have a large contingent of students who move on to top tier Ivy league schools. You may also want to check out neighboring Irvington, more expensive, but schools are considered one of the top in Westchester. Best of luck!

[DrN]

Thanks, Nadia. I appreciate your input.
Glad to hear a vibrant community exists there. This is so confusing. If the public school is so good, why are people sending their kids to private? Especially, if they're paying such high taxes! Is this an east coast thing? Your info tells me that the public schools have alot to offer. Is there something lacking, though, which forces parents to send their kids to private? Or, is this some elitist thing where parents don't want their kids mixing with "commoners"? Ok, that last line was meant as a joke. But seriously, what gives?
Regarding the large hispanic community, how does this reflect the area as a whole? Is there good integration with the rest of the community? Or, is there a blatant social stratification? We definitely value diversity. However, are we dealing with a ticking time bomb?

[nadia32]

I think it varies from one family to the next. There are many families which choose to send their kids to private because Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown schools are not ranked well- according to test scores- in Westchester County. Many parents, who are not Spanish speakers, may feel that Latino population is overwhelming, as I believe it is over 40- 50%. Just as some other large school districts in Westchester- like White Plains and New Rochelle- that do not rank in the top- many of the students that go there may be some of the top achievers in the county. It depends what kind of school environment you want for your kids. In Westchester- many consider the best school districts to be the ones that have students with the highest SAT scores. Obvioulsy- that is for you to decide. But yes- the taxes in tarrytown are very high- especially since many do not facilitate the educational services. Like I said- check out the other Rivertowns- that are south of Tarrytown- all of which have highly regarded school districts- Irvington, Dobbs Ferry and Hastings. Good Luck!

[bmwguydc]

Part of the issue with schools is the comparison with other neighboring districts for about the same money spent on houses, albeit somewhat smaller. Ardsley, Irvington, Scarsdale, Edgemont, Bronxville, Pelham, etc. are all known as top districts and people pay premiums to get into their borders. It's not to say that the other schools are not as good, sicne most offer excellent programs for children who excel, but they may not have the same resources and faculty. Sleepy Hollow schools are by no means horrible, but when faced with a $1M+ purchase price and high taxes, people tend to want to get the best possible district when using the public schools.

Philipse Manor is a very nice community, overall, and I do think you'd be quite happy there, especially with improvements coming to the area on the former General Motors plant site. Shopping and dining are convenient, as is the commute to NYC. Plus, there's a great sense of history in the Hudson Valley that's at your front door. I think it would be a good fit if you find the house and community that you like.

Some neighborhoods tend to be a little more isolated and insular, but I would not think it to be to the level of waiting for an eruption due to class stratification. The river towns, in general, are less stratified than other Westchester locales that are known for being "money" towns. And, the situation in Sleepy Hollow is not unlike Mamaroneck or Mount Kisco which also have larger populations of people in the downtown area of Hispanic descent.

[DrN]

thanks a ton nadia and bmwguydc,
your positive input is quite encouraging. maybe i'm over-thinking the issues here, but i just wanted to get a good idea of what the place has to offer. regarding the schools in sh/tarrytown, from what i'm hearing, they sound like they have enough to offer. but what a school has to offer is not the be all and end all to this issue. i know that the level to which parents are vested in their children's education is most important. maybe i'm looking for answers to a question that can't be unequivocally answered - are a majority of the parents in this school district vested in their children's education? the answer to that question, if indeed answerable, would help in getting a feel for the learning environment in these schools. but as has been pointed out, many students do go on to reputable higher learning institutions so that's good to know.
coming from california, i'm really trying to come to terms with the property taxes and need to weigh the pros and cons. your input has been helpful.
regarding other rivertowns, we've looked, albeit briefly. but what we like about sh/tarrytown is that we can get a larger home. this is important as we anticipate having a full house (kids, my parents, dogs, etc.)
thanks again!

[bmwguydc]

I would say that in the areas you're considering within Sleepy Hollow, you will find parents who are interested in the education system and of their children. This is balanced by populations that may not have the same level of commitment, and may not be as invested as top performing districts where parents hire outside tutors and coaches or enroll in after school education programs to further the advancement of their child within an already top district. An interesting thing to note with many colleges is the importance of class rank, especially the top 10% mark, in addition to GPA and SAT, so being in the top of an "average" district can make a positive difference in admissions scoring.

The parts of Sleepy Hollow that you're considering have families that are very similar in terms of counterparts in Irvington, Hastings, Ardsley, etc., but the overall score performance of the school district trends more to the average, hence the hefty premiums paid for other towns, primarily for the school district. You can get a bigger house in the SH area, and it's a safe, respectable, family community; and, it sounds like you will need the space, so I would not consider it a trade-off at the expense of your childrens' education as they can excel in the schools just the same as they can in a top performing district.

[DrN]

bmwguydc,
thanks again for your time in answering my questions. you have been very helpful.