What is the best town for NYC dwellers who must reluctantly move?

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by Viralmd

The problem is the commute to Manhattan, which is made unbearable by having to get across the Hudson River. Better to stay in Westchester.

The commute over to Westchester County has to be looked at in a broader sense. I commuted over 25 years. It all depends on what time the commuter crosses the bridge. For instance, I crossed at 4:45am and returned at 4:40hrs and rarely had a problem. Sitting is rush hour traffice is totally different. Many people prefer the Rockland side and work their commute in with no problem. Also, consider the Ossining Ferry, which many people opt from the Haverstraw side.

[SLP247]

BlueDiamond64 is correct. Time has a lot to do with it. When I use to work in Manhattan, I had to be there before 6am. Since the Metro North only has two trains that can accomplish this: 2:02 am or 5:45 am, I was forced to drive on most days. The traffic 5am is basically non existent throughout the region. Then again, a 15 minute drive to the station or across the bridge at most hours can easily increase to 30 minutes and longer if you hit rush hour just right.

Something to consider is your location between two bridges. Bear Mtn and Tappan Zee for instance. Or Tappan Zee and the GW for another option. Their are a number of Ferry's near most bridge crossing, but you do have to be mindful of the ice flows in late winter, early spring.

[tpwpny]

To the OP: If you're looking to move from Manhattan but don't want to feel too homesick, get a place in White Plains. Downtown is getting more of a NYC feel all the time, and the restaurants and nightlife make an impressive commotion on weekend nights. As someone else said, the "sidewalk" culture is here, and when you get a taste of some of our rush hour traffic, you'll feel like you're in a smaller version of NYC. Best yet- the train is only 35 min. from Grand Central if you need to head back in-- and when you want to leave elsewhere on a getaway, the access to the highways from here is unbeatable.

[nonny]

I am just discovering downtown New Rochelle. The restaurants there are incredible. The stores are interesting. The prices are good. I would definitely check out NR.

[annette gasparro]

You should take a ride to the ares, that are recommended and spend a few hours or a day.. Walk around, have luch or dinner, and talk with peole and get a feel for the community before you decide... AA

Originally Posted by jennly

Hi there. We are a boring white middle/upper middle class family with three kids who live in Manhattan. Our kids go to a great international school and we live in a down-to-earth part of Manhattan (there IS such a thing) with a lot of regular old people who are not ostentatious or fashion/money conscious. However, our lease is up soon and our rent is out of control and we need to think about moving.

For a while we thought we'd move to Bronxville, and then Pelham, but whenever I read about these places my chest just constricts. I dress like a bit of a slob myself, so I don't want to be in a place where everyone is very skinny and fashion conscious and where I will feel out of place. I don't want to send my kids to a pressure cooker school with a bunch of other privileged white kids (although I do want the schools to be good schools). I'd like a nice yard and a reasonable downtown area. And the commute to Grand Central needs to be under 40 minutes. And I'd really like some friendly neighbors who don't give a hoot about the kind of car I drive.

We've often been to the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck for performances and we like the more substantial downtown area, but it seems as though few people have positive things to say about Mamaroneck or the schools.

If anyone has any thoughts on communities I might be overlooking, I would appreciate hearing them.

[annette gasparro]

Croton on Hudson

[JSS_Pelham]

Jennly,
I am one half of a couple living in Pelham. I relocated over two years ago from Manhattan, with my partner coming from the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area. We picked Westchester as a "compromise" location which gave us quick access to the City (for me, I work near Grand Central) with enough space for someone used to the larger unit sizes (as in Northern Virginia, for my partner) at a reasonable cost. I say partner because we are (gasp) a same-sex couple. Yes, there are such people in the suburbs!

We do not have children and thus don't have the issue of school districts to consider, but I *completely* understand the "chest constricting" feeling of certain towns. At the time, the thought of living in some of the towns you reference made me unable to breathe. Lovely for some people, but not for me.

But in addition to the vibe of the town, and how "interesting" the village area is, other things to consider are: how much/often/far are you willing to drive, and how much/often/far will you *have* to drive to get to places you'll need/want to go? How often will you go into the city, and will you be driving or training it? What places, specifically, will you most go to in the city, and are they more accessible by car than by train to Grand Central? Are you set on a house, or will you consider a condo/co-op/townhouse? What types of establishments, practically, will you most often want to have nearby? Must you be near a Whole Foods or specialty grocer, or a certain gym chain?

It was these additional factors layered into the "vibe" equation that ultimately led us to choose Pelham over White Plains, New Rochelle, Tuckahoe, Yonkers and Tarrytown, which all have much more "stuff" in the downtown area than Pelham, because we found a multifamily unit to buy in Pelham that was literally right next to the train station (we can SEE the train from our unit) and also adjacent to the town's retail offerings, while also right down the block from the highway (Hutch) entrance. The best of all possible worlds for access in terms of driving or training it to urban and suburban locations alike.

We thus have the space, peace, green and quiet of suburbia with lots of great options nearby. We have a few restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance, and a walkable village with a park to stretch our legs. Is the town as cute as Bronxville, or have everything we need in walking distance like White Plains? No, but we can zip in the car and shop in the big-box chainland of retail in Mt. Vernon or New Rochelle in 5 minutes, or be in Bronxville and Downtown New Rochelle in 10 minutes or White Plains in 15 minutes. We can train it to Grand Central in roughly 30 minutes and zip over on foot to the theater, or we can drive in and park on the weekends to go to (Fill in Blank: Lincoln Center, Chelsea, TriBeCa, Natural History, etc) in the same amount of time if we plan it right.

So, as you consider all these practical things, back to the issue of snootiness/vibe. We've gone out to dinner and gone shopping in most every South or Central Westchester town multiple times now, and I can say this: if I wasn't so worried about commuting ease to Grand Central, I'd consider living in almost ALL of the places we originally considered: Hastings-on-Hudson, Tarrytown, Tuckahoe, White Plains, or even Yonkers or New Rochelle, even though I feel White Plains is the most compelling place for us, of the latter three which are the "urban" Westchester towns (WP, Yonkers, New Ro).

For me, I would probably not want to live in Scarsdale, Bronxville, Rye, Larchmont, or Mamaroneck, even though they all have far "prettier" downtown/village-y areas than where I live. I know people who are WONDERFUL who live in all of them, but I do not feel at home/comfortable in them for longer than an evening at dinner. They are great places, but not for everyone.

I would advise you to spend some serious time on foot and in the car in the various towns, at times of day when you are likely to be out and about (evening daytime, weekend, whatever), and try to replicate trips you might likely often take in daily life. We took friends of ours (opposite-sex couple with newborn) potentially relocating from Manhattan to check out towns, and they thought certain towns were so PRETTY....until they spent some time in them and got treated very shabbily in them. They ultimately moved to Forest Hills, Queens, and as the wife of that couple puts it, "In Westchester, the prettier towns, the snobbier the people". Perhaps a bit harsh, but there may be a grain of truth to it, and if snobs bother you as they do me, it's important to consider.

Also, it is very useful to go to open houses, even if you don't think you'd even consider the town the house is in, because you may find out a lot through observation. We went to a few open houses in one town we thought might be nice, and the agents completely ignored us and were, in some instances, downright rude. In another case, we got the stare-down from the neighbors. In contrast, the agents where we eventually bought were warm, pleasant, attentive and charming, and the neighbors and people we passed on the street also seemed pretty chill.

Spend some serious time on the ground, do your homework, and listen to your instincts. That's my advice!

Good luck!

[Beautypiggy]

Definitly White Plains or nicer parts in Bronxville

[popham]

We took friends of ours (opposite-sex couple with newborn) potentially relocating from Manhattan to check out towns, and they thought certain towns were so PRETTY....until they spent some time in them and got treated very shabbily in them.

That's unfortunate. What towns? Who treated them shabbily?