Help! Where to move from SF to Westchester? (Yonkers, Rye: houses, neighborhoods)

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by justinian

Any place in Westchester that requires you to transfer metro-north trains is crap. So that means anything North of Croton Falls Station on the Harlem Line.

Also it's very important that you are in walking distance to a Metro-North rail station. Most stations are notorious for poor parking since many of the towns do not want to be normal like even most places in Long Island and update the parking with more spots.

For laid-back feeling the areas near Crestwood, Larchmont, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Dobbs Ferry stations are the closest places that can replicate Northern California.

The former two are about a 30-45 minute commute into Grand Central. The latter two are about 45 minutes to over an hour and they are on the Hudson Line.

Oh and if work on the lower westside(such as the west village) or upper west side, you are better off driving, cause train connections will be hell.

I have to disagree with 2 of these statements. Why is it important to be in walking distance to a station? It is important to check out the parking situation at the local station and make sure you can get a permit. I only had to wait 2 months for a permit at Croton-Harmon, and there is lots of daily parking (for a daily fee) there. If you want to live in-town, being able to walk to the station can be a plus. But limiting yourself to walking distance means you have to be in a village, which lots of people don't want. My rule of thumb when we were house hunting was no more than a 15 minute drive to the station.

The other thing I disagree with is the statement that commuting to the west side is "hell." I commute daily to 33rd and 7th Ave and the trip from Grand Central is 10 to 15 minutes (take the shuttle to Times Square and then the 1,2,3 one stop). And the walk is about 15 minutes. Not bad at all.

[justinian]

Originally Posted by dma1250

I have to disagree with 2 of these statements. Why is it important to be in walking distance to a station? It is important to check out the parking situation at the local station and make sure you can get a permit. I only had to wait 2 months for a permit at Croton-Harmon, and there is lots of daily parking (for a daily fee) there. If you want to live in-town, being able to walk to the station can be a plus. But limiting yourself to walking distance means you have to be in a village, which lots of people don't want. My rule of thumb when we were house hunting was no more than a 15 minute drive to the station.

The other thing I disagree with is the statement that commuting to the west side is "hell." I commute daily to 33rd and 7th Ave and the trip from Grand Central is 10 to 15 minutes (take the shuttle to Times Square and then the 1,2,3 one stop). And the walk is about 15 minutes. Not bad at all.

If you have to take 3 trains from westchester to get to work, that is quite worthless and a waste of time. Better off driving if that were the case which means a higher chance at getting to work on-time, even if it means paying extra for a garage and paying saudi scum for gas. I personally don't enjoy having to transfer a load of trains. My max of number of trains i would take is 2. I used to work near Penn Station, and I was late to work for the first month each time, till I just decided to drive in. Now thank god I am back working on the east side.

Maybe if Hudson and New Haven line trains are allowed into Penn Station, everything will be fine.

As for walking distance to a train. That is very important. It is quite useless to drive a long time to a train station and stuggle to find parking or pay a big load for parking. And you don't have to be necessarily in the village to walk to the train station. Most people live a stones throw from the village. 15 minute walk is better than a 15 minute drive.
If I had to drive more than 10 minutes to get to a train station in NY, I rather just drive to Manhattan, or move to L.A.

[dma1250]

Well, I guess I'll just have to totally disagree with you on all of the above.

[sfeast]

Thanks so much! To answer some questions. . .

Our budget is about 800K and we'll rent (house, condo, other) for a few months to get a feel for the towns before buying. Our apartment now is just 1000 sq ft - anything will be an improvement!

My husband's office is in Times Square (convenient) and he won't have to commute every day - still, it would be great to live close to metro north and I don't think we want to live more than 60 minutes from the city. I teach yoga and stay at home - no commute for me.

I LOVE that I don't keep up with the Jone's in San Fran. and hope to find a community w/ a similar vibe. Don't need to live in the same town as a mall and although we have several friends in Scarsdale, it's not for us.

Sounds like we should check out Hastings, Croton, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry. . .

[justinian]

Originally Posted by sfeast

Thanks so much! To answer some questions. . .

Our budget is about 800K and we'll rent (house, condo, other) for a few months to get a feel for the towns before buying. Our apartment now is just 1000 sq ft - anything will be an improvement!

My husband's office is in Times Square (convenient) and he won't have to commute every day - still, it would be great to live close to metro north and I don't think we want to live more than 60 minutes from the city. I teach yoga and stay at home - no commute for me.

I LOVE that I don't keep up with the Jone's in San Fran. and hope to find a community w/ a similar vibe. Don't need to live in the same town as a mall and although we have several friends in Scarsdale, it's not for us.

Sounds like we should check out Hastings, Croton, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry. . .

You may want to skip Irvington. But do take a look at Larchmont, Crestwood, Scarsdale, and Mamaraneck as well since they have a village like feel new the train stations.

[ponytrekker]

Originally Posted by sfeast

Thanks so much! To answer some questions. . .

Our budget is about 800K and we'll rent (house, condo, other) for a few months to get a feel for the towns before buying. Our apartment now is just 1000 sq ft - anything will be an improvement!

My husband's office is in Times Square (convenient) and he won't have to commute every day - still, it would be great to live close to metro north and I don't think we want to live more than 60 minutes from the city. I teach yoga and stay at home - no commute for me.

I LOVE that I don't keep up with the Jone's in San Fran. and hope to find a community w/ a similar vibe. Don't need to live in the same town as a mall and although we have several friends in Scarsdale, it's not for us.

Sounds like we should check out Hastings, Croton, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry. . .

Walk from Grand Central to Times Square is maybe 10 minutes. Extra subways = extra time and aggravation. especially now, with a far hike looming and the trains being crushed because of the holidays. There's always a delay or two a day. For me commuting from Pleasantville to downtown takes an hour forty five on average at peak rush hour. Train station is 5 minutes from the house but parking and walking from the lot, or accounting for a bit of traffic means I have to leave at least 15 minutes before the train arrives.

That means I leave just short of 8 to get the 8:16 out of Hawthorne. That gets into GCT about 9:10. Minimum a half hour more to get into the office on East Wall Street. I am usually in the office by 9:40.

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by ponytrekker

Walk from Grand Central to Times Square is maybe 10 minutes. Extra subways = extra time and aggravation. especially now, with a far hike looming and the trains being crushed because of the holidays. There's always a delay or two a day. For me commuting from Pleasantville to downtown takes an hour forty five on average at peak rush hour. Train station is 5 minutes from the house but parking and walking from the lot, or accounting for a bit of traffic means I have to leave at least 15 minutes before the train arrives.

That means I leave just short of 8 to get the 8:16 out of Hawthorne. That gets into GCT about 9:10. Minimum a half hour more to get into the office on East Wall Street. I am usually in the office by 9:40.

My daily ride from GC to Times Square is never more than 10 minutes--usually a lot less. There are three shuttles on three tracks and they run like clockwork--one pulls in as another pulls out. I never have to wait more than 2 minutes for the train--unless one is out of service, which happens maybe once a month. After 7:30 at night the shuttles slow down a lot and you have to wait for one. I agree that the walk is fast and far more pleasant, but the shuttle is really quite quick and reliable.

Ponnytrekker's account of his/her commute from Pleasantville is interesting. I leave my house in Yorktown at 8:05 to catch the 8:23 from Croton-Harmon, which gets in at 9:10. I get to the office (at Penn station) by 9:25--9:30 at the latest.

[bmwguydc]

Originally Posted by justinian

You may want to skip Irvington. But do take a look at Larchmont, Crestwood, Scarsdale, and Mamaraneck as well since they have a village like feel new the train stations.

Crestwood is Yonkers, and the city's schools are not the best in Westchester. The neighborhood itself is fine and convenient, but if you plan to use public schools, you are much better off in another district.

[manyroads]

I've lived in Westchester for almost my whole life, and as another poster said, I don't really think of any place within the county as being laid-back. That being said, I would agree with those who suggested places like Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Croton. I lived in Croton (as a renter) for a while and it's a nice little town. It has a nice townhome development right on the Hudson River (Half Moon Bay), a county park also right on the river (Croton Point Park), a large train station and 2 chain supermarkets. There is also at least one coffeeshop there (The Black Cow Coffee Company).

[justinian]

Originally Posted by bmwguydc

Crestwood is Yonkers, and the city's schools are not the best in Westchester. The neighborhood itself is fine and convenient, but if you plan to use public schools, you are much better off in another district.

Actually near the train station, east of the bronx river, it's Eastchester. It's decent, but not great in schools.