Bronxville/Fleetwood summer housing (Yonkers, Mount Vernon: sublet, apartment, crime)

[umdstudentintern]

I am a student at the University of Maryland and I recently received a summer internship with the Journal News in White Plains. I'm completely unfamiliar with the area and have been having trouble finding affordable housing for myself and another roommate. We located an apartment along the Bronxville/Fleetwood border. The person who owns the apt says it is Midland Avenue down the street from Cross County Mall. The location, while descriptive, means nothing to me since I've never stepped foot in Westchester before. I've heard mixed descriptions about the area, so I was interested in getting a general sense of what the area there is actually like. My biggest concern, of course, is safety (personal and property-wise, including cars parked on streets), followed by accessibility and generally whether it's a good place to stay for the summer. If not, I'm interested in other suggestions of what towns to look into and just where in the area has potential for summer sublet housing. Thanks in advance!

[bmwguydc]

That part of Yonkers is fine. Midland is fine, which is a mixture of various types of apartment buildings. It's not as nice as Bronxville by a long shot in terms of the streetscape being dominated by the Cross County Parkway, but other than the aesthetic drawbacks, I don't see that it would be an issue to live there, especially since you're close to Bronxville for nicer restaurants/coffee establishments than you would find in the immediate vicinity of Cross County.

If you're driving to White Plains, it's very convenient, via the Sprain Brook Parkway or the Bronx River Parkway. You can even go through Bronxville and take Central Avenue (Route 100) to White Plains as well. Plus, there are many shops and conveniences along Central Avenue, which is where I would recommend shopping, in addition to Cross County that does have a large grocery store.

Parts of Mount Vernon are not very nice or safe, so I'd not encourage anyone who's not very familiar with that city to explore it, although the Fleetwood area is perfectly fine. Much of the crime is in the more urban areas of Mount Vernon, much closer to its border with NYC.

[moxiecat]

It depends on which part of Midland Avenue the apt is located. If you're talking about the 1200 block (and lower) then the area is relatively nicer since it is north of the Cross County with clusters of smaller apt. buildings along the way. It's also near the campus of Sarah Lawrence College off Kimball Ave.

I would avoid the 1300 block of Midland AVenue which is a very heavily traveled road and can get backed up at the lights during rush hour - however, there is one complex of apartment buildings with security and its own traffic light at the main entrance. The complex is in a very convenient location to the highways but there's nothing scenic about that area since it's directly across from the cross county parkway so you may have highway noise.

That location does give you an easy walking distance to the Fleetwood train station, plus Dunkin Donuts, CVS, Starbucks, Subway, pizzeria. Further east of that, the Gramatan Ave/Fleetwood section of Mt. Vernon is not bad and far safer than anything that's right near the Cross County mall.

At the mall, you have a Mobil gas station, the huge Cross County mall which has Stop & Shop supermarket, Gap, Blockbuster, Boston Chicken, multiplex cinema, Sears, Sports Authority, and other low-to-middle-end retail. It's definitely more iffy especially at night along this part of Midland Avenue right near the mall and where it intersects with Kimball Avenue (Sarah Lawrence campus is about half a mile north of that intersection).

From that general area, you're less than 1 mile from Bronxville where you have fine restaurants and shops in a very pleasant, idyllic and walkable village setting. It's a nice run or bike ride too along the path parallel to the Bronx River Parkway.

[umdstudentintern]

Thanks so much for your detailed descriptions, they are extremely helpful! I believe the apartment is in the 1400 block of Midland Ave. Does that change anything?

[bmwguydc]

Actually, it does, and for the better, since that section of Midland is where it turns, under the elevated Cross County Parkway toward the Village of Bronxville. It's physically separated from the other side of the parkway (where Cross County Center is located) and where the less appealing (though still pretty safe) areas are located.