Irvington v/s Valhallah v/s White plains (Yonkers, Mount Vernon: fit in, house)

[acdc]

Young (early 30s), highly educated indian immigrant family with kinder garden kids, stay at home mom who will start work in HR soon (~60K), dad makes 200K slaving away for IB world (bonus extra but leave that away for kids if we start seeing bonuses again). We like to make friends with diverse, down to earth people and send kids to school where kids won't come back asking for brand name clothing, latest gadgets, expensive vacations or feel like total losers if they don't get that. Is Irvington the right sort of place for us or is it Valhallah or is North White plains. Looking to buy around 600K

[fyrisle]

Assuming I could find a nice house I could afford in that neighborhood, I myself would choose Irvington because it has very high SAT scores (611 verbal, 671 math). The web site Great Schools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community gives Irvington very high ratings and shows that a very high portion of kids meet or exceed the state tests.

[acdc]

Thanks for the response - my kids have high IQs - they find schools a breeze and we end up teaching them a lot at home beyond school syllabus on demand. I need them to get more EQ, a well rounded upbringing and being able to fit into the class.

[fyrisle]

Eq?

[acdc]

Emotional Quotient - essentially a place which fosters diversity, maturity, sensibility, humility coupled with disciplined, competitive approach towards academics. I realize it is mostly parents who are involved in well rounded upbringing but having down to earth communities and schools is a big plus.

[bmwguydc]

Valhalla is a more down-to-earth community, comparatively, though I am partial to Irvington for reasons other than academics. White Plains schools are mixed, some are good and others are below average. One of the best factors, from the EQ perspective, to recommend Valhalla is that it is not a stereotypical wealthy Westchester town. Irvington is lovely, but it's a mixture of the affluent and the wealthy, with not much diversity.

Valhalla is more the typical suburban town (hamlet, actually) with more down-to-earth people. White Plains is more diverse, but its school system is not as good as Irvington or Valhalla. For cities in Westchester, it's not terribly bad, placing better than Yonkers or Mount Vernon, but compared to small suburban districts, it's just not on the same level.

[acdc]

thanks bmwguydc - digressing a bit how does croton - hamdon stack up in this comparison.

[ponytrekker]

Originally Posted by acdc

Young (early 30s), highly educated indian immigrant family with kinder garden kids, stay at home mom who will start work in HR soon (~60K), dad makes 200K slaving away for IB world (bonus extra but leave that away for kids if we start seeing bonuses again). We like to make friends with diverse, down to earth people and send kids to school where kids won't come back asking for brand name clothing, latest gadgets, expensive vacations or feel like total losers if they don't get that. Is Irvington the right sort of place for us or is it Valhallah or is North White plains. Looking to buy around 600K

Irvington has best school system of the three.

[havoc315]

Of the towns you initially mentioned, Irvington schools are considered far superior. But you will not easily find a nice house for 600. Think more like 800 and up.

You then mentioned Croton on Hudson, which I would give a strong endorsement. Very good schools and a bit more down to earth. Could find a decent house for between 600 and 700.

[bmwguydc]

I think that Croton-on-Hudson would be a good place to consider. It has a good school system and is a good suburban environment for families. It's not a town that's overly wealthy, and driven by status-conscious individuals, and has an express train from Croton-Harmon to Grand Central for a better commute.