Scarsdale OR Ardsley (New Rochelle, Rye, Mamaroneck: low income, rent, houses)
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We're a Canadian family moving from Paris to Westchester and planning to put our four year old in a French School. That leaves us Scarsdale (FASNY) or Ardsley (Lyceum Kennedy).
We're looking for a town that is not pretentious (I'm a journalist, not a banker), has an actual downtown with stores, and is within a 15 minute DRIVE of either Scarsdale or Ardsley.
To complicate matters, my job requires me to be 45-50 minutes maximum from the office, in Lower Manhattan. So I'd ideally find a house that is within 10 minutes walk or bike ride to a train station which can get me to Grand Central Station in 35 minutes.
We'd rent -- and could pay upwards of $5000 monthly.
After all that -- DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A PLACE THAT MEETS THESE CRITERIA?
Scarsdale meets the commuting requirements, and has a very nice downtown.
Ardsley is less pretentious, but does not have its own train station, and does not really have much of a downtown.
Larchmont would meet the grade for commuting, but may be a bit pretentious. It has a very nice downtown, close to the water (LI Sound.)
Going west of Arsdley, you also have the real river towns -- Hastings, Irvington, Tarrytown and Dobbs Ferry, all could meet your requirements.
Ardsley does not have a nice town center or a train station although if you commute you can find parking in the Scarsdale train station which is very close by (5-8 min from my house). Last I checked, they had open spaces but its been awhile. If you are commuting to Lower Manhattan, you have to factor in the commute to the train station, the train ride itself plus the subway to downtown which may be over your allotted 50 minutes.
Scarsdale has a nice downtown and a train station (see above).
I think Larchmont has a larger French population so you may want to consider moving there --great downtown and its own train station.
However, if you are not using the schools, I don't see why you have to spend the extra cash to in Scarsdale or Ardsley.
I would look into Dobbs Ferry or Tarrytown in the West side of town if you want to send your child to Lyceum or Tuckahoe or Hartsdale if you are interested in FASNY. Good Luck!
I would also add Pelham to the mix, if you're considering Ardsley. The downtown is not as comprehensive as Larchmont, but the other villages and shopping conveniences are moments away. It's a fast commute to NYC and to other areas of Lower Westchester, and does not have the same reputation as other areas that can be a tad more pretentious. I also agree with Viralmd that the better parts of New Rochelle are worth considering, closer to Scarsdale, as is Larchmont. Even the nicer parts of Mamaroneck, the town in which Larchmont is a village might not be a bad bet.
FASNY is not really Scarsdale, it is only Scarsdale for preschool, not worth living there for that reason all the people I know with kids in FASNY live in Mamaroneck or Larchmont which is where the high school and elem school are located respectively. New Rochelle or Scarsdale are of course other places you could live in but I will only consider them if you cannot find anything you can not afford anything in Larchmont or Mamaroneck or don't find what you like. It will be nice if your kids can hang out with kids from school after school and you will usually find these kids in parks in Larchmont and Mamaroneck.
The parts of New Rochelle you would like to live in will be at the north end or on the border of Larchmont and New Rochelle. The north end is very far from the station, but some people on the border with Larchmont can bike or in some cases even walk (not a brief walk though) to the Larchmont Station.
You can walk or bike to the station from either depending on where you live, even parts of Mamaroneck and Larchmont by the water are biking or short driving distance to the station.
If you live in some parts of Scarsdale such as Fox meadow and Edgewood you may be able to walk or bike to the station. Ardsley is not a good place to live from a commuting point of view since they don't have their own train station and have horrendous traffic at peak times, but it is a nice place otherwise. I will suggest Dobbs Ferry instead.
I have always wondered why Ardsley house value is so much lower than that of houses in other top tier school district. Is it just "name" or is there any other reason? It always feel to me that ardsley is a relatively lower income town than those like scarsdale, edgemont, rye brook, armonk. But the school seems to be in the same tier. anybody knows why is that??
Actually, Ardsley median income is comparable if not higher than Rye Brook, Irvington and Armonk. Scarsdale is pretty far up there so Ardsley can't compete with that. And Edgemont is technically part of Greenburgh which actually puts the median income lower though I imagine the families in Edgemont rise the overall media income in Greenburgh. Ardsley does not have nice town center or a train station which is probably why homes are considered to be less than comparable districts but I would not call Ardsley "low income"
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