How bad is Ossining? (Yonkers, New Rochelle: house prices, neighborhoods, movies)

[Kiley]

Relocating to White Plains area for a job - and looking at home in the 550 - 600 range and Ossining has nice home in that price range, Is the town really bad? Heard that they have problems - and the schools aren't that good. I have a 2 year old so want a place where the schools are good (or are improving). Is Ossining on the rise? Thanks for any input!

[ExNYC]

Relative house prices in Westchester are usually a good guide. If Ossining is able to offer decent houses more cheaply than nearby towns, then it usually measn the schools are not great. I lived in Ossining twenty or more years ago. At the time it was a small town "building a new future" with restoration of center buildings etc. I believe that's where it stopped.

[rscap]

Here's the deal with schools and house prices in Westchester....
All the schools are EXACTLY the same - same quality teachers, same programs offered, same curriculum give or take. The ONLY difference is the make up of the student body. You will find that Scarsdale and Byram Hills and Chappaqua do GREAT on SAT scores, and college entrance percentages, because everybody who lives there is very well off, and they all get tutored, and their parents are generally very wealthy professionals who are not about to let their children become Highway Dept Workers.

Ossining schools are wonderful, they get a bad rap because of the racial diversity and a lower standard of living found in some Ossining neighborhoods, which share the same schools as your children. Ossining is very popular in Westchester as the town where young couples start out, due to the lower cost of housing, live there for 5-10 years until their children reach elem school age,and then they move on to places like Pleasantville or Ardsley. I have two sisters who live in Ossining, and my brother in law is an Ossining cop. It's a beautiful town, but it does have its scary areas where drug dealing is the norm. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Hope this helps!

[PB313]

We moved to Ossining in1979,as teachers we couldn't afford anything else in westchester. Our daughter went to Ossining schools & is now a college graduate. Our house is worth 8-10 times the original price. We also moved here because of the diverse population, the town services & the location. You can be in NYC or upstate NY within an hour. There are numerous parks around & of course Teatown Lake Nature Preserve. You do have to travel 15min or more to major stores or movies but we manage. We would rather wake up to the noise of birds than to sirens of the city. If you don't care for the award winning public schools , then you can enroll your child in many other parochial or private schools in the area. In any case it's important to be actively involved in your child's education. There are many wonderful areas of Ossining,especially east of Rt. 9 & in all of the unincorporated part of the town. Don't forget to tour the area around SingSing. My friends always want to see that first! Then take some pictures of the sunset on the Hudson!

[jyyanks]

Ossning does have questionable areas as well as some beautiful areas. In that way, its similar to New Rochelle and Yonkers(both have beautiful and expensive neighborhoods, as well as not so great neighborhoods) but the schools are better. I think with your budget around $600K, you can find a home in Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Pleasantville, Eastchester or Mamaroneck.
I'm not knocking Ossning. My brother lives in Indian Village in Ossning and one of my parents best friends live there. Both have nice homes in great neighborhoods. Neither of them have kids. If schools are important, I would consider other areas. You'll be better off in the long run.

[Bombay10]

I am decently familiar with ossining, and it is a nice town, like most along the hudson. it is very diverse and has a lot to offer. the schools are pretty good, not the best however. other areas similar to ossining would be sleepy hollow, pleasantville, hawthorne, and elmsford. the thing that is great about these areas is that they are working/middle class areas and not stuck up like alot of places in ny.

[Jason_Els]

Ages ago we had family in Ossining and my uncle would sit everyone down to dinner and in the middle of the meal the lights would dim and my aunt would say, "Old Sparky's working tonight!"

It was actually my uncle playing with the dimmer switch.

[dpng]

This is very useful info... we're moving also to the area from Dallas, TX. All the research I've done so far has knocked Westchester County as unaffordable. My husband work location is Yorktown Hts, NY.

Given the following parameters, is this doable in Ossining or area cities along the Hudson?
- Single-family residence w/sidewalk/driveway, 0.5acre lot or less.
- Average $450K for a 3BDRM/2bath 2,000 sqft, not older than 10yrs
- Catholic community with parochial schools
- Montessori preschool-K schools

Any Suzuki music schools in/near the city?

How do I find out a comparison of costs for property tax, school tax and city tax across Westchester County, Putnam, and possibly into Duchess County?

It would be nice not to have to pay high school taxes as our preference is parochial education...

Thanks much!

[DennisX]

Ossining is a great town that's on the rise. The only thing that diverts people from Ossining is Sing-Sing. But besides that. Very affordable Multiple-Family homes.Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[truegrip]

WONDERING , did any of you know that Ossining HS sent 6 students to Harvard this year from the 2007 graduating class? They also sent students to other Ivy League schools but 6 to Harvard alone. So..........all that crap about a second rate school system is BS, they have a great school system and I bet any school District in the US would be thrilled to send 6 to Harvard in one year. Did any other school district in Westchester County do that this year or any other year ever? Don't bet your house on it. What you can bet on is that Ossining has gone beyond the "its an up and coming Town", it is the hottest spot in Westchester now. A new world class Library, a new indoor pool facility, new sports fields and a new track, a great waterfront with sailing galore and a wonderfully diverse community. Plus the School District sent six students to HARVARD this year!!!!!!!!!!