Where to live in Westchester? (White Plains, Ossining: apartment, renting, condo)

[precisio]

I'm Single, Sucessful, mid-30s African-American, Middle Class female. Where are some of the best places to live in Westchester, where I can comfortable mix socially?

[havoc315]

Renting or buying? Budget?

Combining all those factors though, White Plains would have the greatest proportion of singles as well as racial diversity.

In exploring the more suburban towns, you may have to ask yourself the degree of racial diversity you require. Putting aside towns with nonexistent minority populations, would you be comfortable in towns with 3-6% approximate African American populations?

[Pivot Point]

It's hard to make recommendations without knowing whether you want a house, condo, or apartment. Also, it's not clear about what you mean by "mix socially"? Are you referring to racial, socioeconomic or affinity-group mixture?

[quelinda]

So in towns where there is the "3-6% AA population", do the small proportion of people of color mix comfortably with the white folks there and vice versa? In other words, do they hang out together or do they sort of segregate on personal time?

[havoc315]

quelinda, I was using that number as a rough approximation that describes many of the suburban towns in Westchester. I cannot speak for each individual's experience. Myself, because me and my wife both work, we don't really socialize with people from our own town, regardless of their race, ethnicity, etc. We do socialize with families from our children's daycare, and that's a comfortable mix of people.

I think it's really a matter of individual experience. There are towns like Bronxville-- where the official stats of their school diversity show 96% Caucasian, 4% Asian, leaving 0% for anything else.

But there are other towns, like my own town of Chappaqua. Certainly, it's predominantly Caucasian. The high school is listed as being 89% Caucasian, 8% Asian, 3% Hispanic, and 1% African American.
From my limited perspective, "minorities" seem to mix pretty comfortably. There is certainly no outright discrimination. At the same time, there may be an extra glance from people here and there... and an individual may or may not be comfortable being one of the only minorities in any group.

Where minorities populations are so small... like the 3% range... Segregation is practically impossible (Who would the minority students hang out with if there are only 3 African American students and 8 Hispanic students in the entire high school?) Exclusion is certainly possible, but I don't really see it. (Again, my very limited perspective).

If anything, I see segregation more commonly in areas with greater racial diversity. For example, there was recently a discussion of Hartsdale schools. The area is certainly racially diverse. But it is also very segregated -- The High School is only 11% Caucasian. It is 59% African American, and 24% Hispanic. In other words, for the most part, the white families send their kids to private school, and the minority families utilize the public school.

[quelinda]

I met an African-American from Ossining who found his kids' school diverse and he seems happy in where he and his family are living.

Dont forget too that there are tons of varying ethnic groups in the Bronx and other parts of the City, so certainly there is a close proximity to a more diverse location at any rate.

[havoc315]

I don't know that much about Ossining, but it does appear the schools are quite diverse.