Friendly, New England style town for childless couple within 1.5 hours of midtown Manhattan? (Monroe: 2009)

[nycbound2009]

Dear all,

We are relocating to the NYC area next spring. I work for a firm in midtown and only need to be in the office 2 days a week, so commuting is not the priority.

My wife and I are in our mid 40's and childless. We're both originally from New England so we like pretty towns with some character and green space such as Sherborne, Weston, Wellesley or Duxbury Mass if you know those. Ideally a place with enough to offer to make it home for a very long time even after we stop working.

For activities we like road biking (need country roads without a lot of traffic) and golf. My wife also likes art, theatre and Indie movies. Hard combination.

Coming most recently from the midwest, we would really value friendly, welcoming people and some green space.

We originally focused on CT towns such as Greenwich and Westport due to Metro North to GCS, lower taxes and green space. We found Greenwich a bit expensive for what you get, but Westport still seems to be a strong choice given our needs.

There are so many nice towns, we want to make sure we check out the best of NY, NJ and CT.

We are open to any ideas...thank you very much for your consideration.

[dma1250]

It sounds like you want to be in a village, in which case I'd suggest Katonah. Veryy pretty in a New Englandy way. Good array of stores and restaurants. Nice town park. Surrounded by lovely country with quiet roads good for biking. Close to good hiking. There's a good museum (Katonah Museum) and a few galleries. The library has a longstanding poetry reading series. The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville is just 15 minutes away, and the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill (which also shows lots of indie films) is about 25 minutes. (Peekskill also has a good museum and galleries). There's a metronorth station in town and the ride is aprox 55 minutes.

Or Ridgefield, in CT. It's about 15 minutes from Katonah. Very New England, with an excellent museum (the Aldrich) and a nice town park.

[havoc315]

Katonah immediately comes to mind. But not sure about your budget. For some nice areas that are more affordable, on the far end of you 90 minute commute, there are some nice towns in Orange county.

[SLP247]

I have to agree with dma, Katonah Village is as nice as it gets. Think Bedford Falls (movie reference) This is supposedly the location they based that on.

A village is definitely what you may be interested in. We have many around here! We also have an extensive Rail Trail throughout Westchester County now. Westport is nice as well, but definitely newer. The New England feel you get from that is from planning, not history. Depending on your housing budget, there various Villages to check out. Most villages really shine during the Holiday Season so its a great time to look.

[rsmith5160]

Check out North Salem, it is horse country and quite gorgeous. Having lived in Connecticut and Maine, I do not believe you can find another place as beautiful within shooting distance of Manhattan.

Originally Posted by nycbound2009

Dear all,

We are relocating to the NYC area next spring. I work for a firm in midtown and only need to be in the office 2 days a week, so commuting is not the priority.

My wife and I are in our mid 40's and childless. We're both originally from New England so we like pretty towns with some character and green space such as Sherborne, Weston, Wellesley or Duxbury Mass if you know those. Ideally a place with enough to offer to make it home for a very long time even after we stop working.

For activities we like road biking (need country roads without a lot of traffic) and golf. My wife also likes art, theatre and Indie movies. Hard combination.

Coming most recently from the midwest, we would really value friendly, welcoming people and some green space.

We originally focused on CT towns such as Greenwich and Westport due to Metro North to GCS, lower taxes and green space. We found Greenwich a bit expensive for what you get, but Westport still seems to be a strong choice given our needs.

There are so many nice towns, we want to make sure we check out the best of NY, NJ and CT.

We are open to any ideas...thank you very much for your consideration.

[zitro36]

It's hard to get an overall opinion on a neighborhood if someone answering you has only lived in a couple of places their whole life.
I've moved around a lot and didn't get attached to any particular neighborhood-mainly because I am child-free, don't go to church, don't work in my neighborhood and don't own dogs and knew I was only in those neighborhoods for a while until I was ready to buy a home.
I've lived in Bklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Lower Westchester and Nassau County-the latter four as an adult.
But I would never buy a home in those areas because I love open spaces and I don't like crowded malls or neighborhoods. I knew what I liked cause I lived in Puerto Rico for 3 years as a kid and (hated) NYC when I returned and I spent almost every weekend upstate from age 19 to 31 and loved it. (The Berkshires)
All the counties closest to NYC will have the highest taxes and the smallest backyards-many without privacy. My husband and I work in construction (NYC) and were landlords (Connecticut) so I was ready to make any move that would give me the home setting I wanted-even if it took 5-10 more years and I had to leave NY and my job. Luckily I started looking across the Hudson and went all the way into Orange County and found Warwick.
I don't live in the village so my taxes are more affordable. There is so much to do in this area it's overwhelming. Twenty minutes to Woodbury Commons, more shopping in Monroe and Middletown, parks and hiking everywhere, golfing, horseback riding, boating at Greenwood Lake-9 miles long, free summer concerts every weekend , martial arts, yoga, dancing, wineries, great restaurants, parades, festivals, clubs, churches, farmers markets, lots of farms, apple orchards, drive-in movies, a real theatre, great schools (resale), hunting, fishing, ATV stuff and snowmobiling, skiing, close to Vernon NJ....
Check out the Warwick Advertiser, Warwick.org, Warwickinfo... Spend a weekend at a B&B. The people are actually friendly and courteous.
We commute early so we beat the madness. The bus here will get you into the Port Authority in 1 1/2 hours. Parking at the park n ride is free. Driving into Manhattan-always go threw Jersey.
It seems you have to give up one thing to get another. Good luck.
For more info on commuting: NYRides.com