Middle Class Coop Living In Scarsdale: Smart Or Foolish? (New Rochelle: sales, houses)

[bmwguydc]

It all depends upon your definition of best when it comes to Scarsdale. There are districts that get kids into the ivies without too much fuss and they're not the hyper competitive Scarsdale. By one measure, Scarsdale may have a higher raw score on a test, but in terms of academic achievement, there are any number of good districts that don't have the same baggage attached to them. Also, one thing to remember is that Scarsdale has higher numbers because the parents will pay extra money for tutors and coaches to get the SAT score higher, so it's also a system of teaching the test.

I agree that it's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison to use a school that's exclusively an IB magnet school in comaprison with other public high schools in the region.

[aliay]

. Also, there is a prevailing trend toward appearances and while your child may find normal people who do exist in Scarsdale, it can be a challenge when other children are indulged to a large degree.

Not true. I grew up in a relatively modest household (modest by Westchester standards, at least, it's all relative) where my family and I lived comfortably but not luxuriously. (No fancy restaurants, no vacations, simple cars, shopped at TJ Maxx and Pathmark). I attended Scarsdale High and never for a second felt out of place materialistically. Most of my friends, whose parents made about as much money or more than mine did, grew up with similar values.

There are plenty of things and attitudes to dislike about Scardale, but "Real Housewives" it is not. I loved my time in Scarsdale and at the high school because I found a lot of highly intelligent and thoughtful students who obviously didn't care that I couldn't afford/ parents would never pay for designer stuff.

What I dislike about Scarsdale is that it's practically allergic to any kind of diversity while pretending to be "liberal" and "progressive." I also dislike the parent-imposed emphasis on elite colleges, and the parents who sticker their car with the name of the colleges their kids go to. No SUNYs or CUNYs for this crowd-- it's all Penn, Cornell, Michigan, etc.

I can't say that other towns would be better, though. Wealth is a common theme throughout this area, and pride in brand names is a human reflex more than a Scarsdale-centric thing, and I am truly thankful for the amazing experiences I had in the school system. The town itself is beautiful, the homes are charming, and your neighbors are likely very smart, interesting people to have over for dinner.

[streetsmart]

Having just bought a house in Scarsdale I can tell you that it is NOT the over-the-top wealthy town it is made out to be. Yes, there are some ridiculous estates in the Heathcote area, but if you drive around the entire village you will see some very regular houses on some very regular and downright small lots.

We moved here for the schools. Period. If I meet people who are snobbish and are only interested in how much money we make and how much this and that costs, well, whatever. I really don't care to know people like that. I've already met most of my neighbors and I have to say that they all seem very down to earth, not at all snobby, and not even as wealthy as I imagined ALL households in Scarsdale to be. Just regular people who want to live in a great school district and a pretty and conveniently located town. I'm pretty sure that if you raise your children to value people and not things then you will be very happy here.

[bmwguydc]

Much of Scarsdale is about the appearance, in my experience, and that's with the people whom I know/have known who live/lived in Scarsdale. They are almost always more interested in money, status, and appearance than other areas of Westchester, but then again I grew up in an area that's the reverse of much of Lower Westchester. It's not uniform wealth, by any stretch, but many whom I have known in Scarsdale have a nice house, but seem to want to justify that it's not as large as others' houses in other places by virtue of the fact that it's in Scarsdale. Now, this could just be the people with whom I have known, but most who have lived in Westchester for any length of time know the stereotypical Scarsdale denizen.

[WJFM]

Your research is impressive. I did not know of this SAT score link, though I was generally aware of avg sat scores for some districts.

It is true that people in wealthier districts send their kids to high-end tutoring to up the SAT scores by a few points. The school district is not the only factor here.

But coming back to the point, I would advise you to think long-term. 15-20 years. Would you like to live in a apartment complex for that long? I still think its better to get a modest house for 750k in a 1200 avg SAT score than an apartment for 500k in 1250 SAT score district. You can always expand-update your house as your needs/interests grow. And you can always send your kids to private tutoring for SAT whereever you are.

All the best.

Originally Posted by hitmantb

I still prefer the good old SAT score for unbiased quick overview of school strength:

SAT Scores

When the score is say 1150 vs 1200 we can make a case about it is not all about the test scores, but none of the Yonker scores are above 1000 . . . that is pretty awful. And Scarsdale is the best in county.

Yonkers may be better than Scarsdale on a "$ for $" basis, taking poverty level into consideration. But that is just special Olympic rules. I look at what matters. The hypocrite editors won't ever send their own children into such a "vibrant and diversified" school.

[aliay]

They are almost always more interested in money, status, and appearance than other areas of Westchester,

Having lived/spent significant amounts of time in "other areas of Westchester," I really don't think one could say that about Scarsdale in particular and not apply it to ten other towns equally, and also apply it to every other affluent suburb of a city. The residents of New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Yonkers, and Tuckahoe, for example, seemed to be just as materialistic and snobby to me when I worked in retail. (I knew where they lived because I'd take down their zip codes). These towns also have a good deal of well-off residents, as you can spend about as much money on a home there as you can in Scarsdale, but the primary difference is that almost all of the towns have more economic diversity than Scarsdale, so Scarsdale carries more of a stigma.

So I don't think there's anything "special" in the water in Scarsdale. Sure, I think there are people who take things a little too far-- but whatever. That's easy enough to ignore. Believe me. If I ever felt distanced from the overall Scarsdale culture, it had nothing to do with money.

Most of the people I know (myself included) are extremely shy about associating ourselves with the town for exactly this reason that outsiders tend to put on us-- they assume we're materialistic, showy, crass, and really rich, much more so than anybody else anywhere else. Most of the people I'm friendly with in Scarsdale are highly academic/intellectual professionals who live in the town primarily for the school district and have zippo interest in materialism. I also had many more friends in Scarsdale than I did in the other town I lived in.

And there are enough of us here that growing up/going to school here is not a problem for those who can't afford the luxuries.

I blame "Real Housewives," for the distortions, lol.

And with regards to the Chateau complex, I think it's an extremely comfortable place to live long-term. One of my good friends in high school lived there.

[PEmom]

How would dual working family handle the busing issue at Scarsdale/Edgemont school? We both are working parents and fear to have to deal with nannies. Even with the greatest luck in the world you find an affordable house within walking distance to one of the schools, how do you deal with others (elementary and high school are at different location). Will there be a big problem to drop and pick up kids during rush hour while rushing back to go to work?

[sp8ci]

[quote=hitmantb;9857552]Do you mind sharing you experience with these apartments? I am sure you looked at a lot other apartments/neighborhoods before. How is the noise from train tracks (if any)? Do you consider maintenance reasonable (what does it include)? Are the apartments well maintained (some of the older coop buildings use carpets and the hallways look/smell very depressing).

I haven't heard any train noises the times that I've visited the Chateaux apartments. Maintenance seems reasonable compared to Manhattan where I currently live though that may not be the best comparison. The coop seems really clean and well maintained and the board members have been nothing but nice. I also looked in Bronxville but Scarsdale seems slightly more diverse and the schools are big enough that my son won't be the only asian in his class and there are several chinese language schools available close by.

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by aliay

Having lived/spent significant amounts of time in "other areas of Westchester," I really don't think one could say that about Scarsdale in particular and not apply it to ten other towns equally, and also apply it to every other affluent suburb of a city. The residents of New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Yonkers, and Tuckahoe, for example, seemed to be just as materialistic and snobby to me when I worked in retail. (I knew where they lived because I'd take down their zip codes).

Sorry, I have to agree with BMWguy. My business provides highly staffed services to customer groups from all the soundshore towns (including Greenwich/lower Fairfield), as well as Scarsdale, Eastchester, Bronxville, Pelham. My employees actually like to play a little game about guessing where the customer groups come from based on dress, attitude, accent, service expectations, social interactions, etc. Head staffers will also actually prep staff to tune our service style based on behavioral generalizations from where the group is from.

They manage to pick it right about 95% of the time! Scarsdale groups are consistently the most "entitled," flashiest, and actively inclined to make people hustle around simply for the sake of being in charge. They arrive late and expect to be able to run late, like showing up late at a movie and expecting the theater to delay for you). Despite the affluence they don't tip particularly well. Staffers may sometimes pick a Pelham group as being from Larchmont or switch Greenwich and Rye. But the only place Scarsdale ever gets mistaken for is New Rochelle (Wykagyl). Never Bronxville, never Rye, never Larchmont. Most entertaining for all are the loud, Bronx accents. Not all our groups from Eastchester have the accent, but all groups with the accent come from Eastchester. Eastchester also tips well.

I could write books on how parenting style correlates with the town. Make of all this what you will.

[quelinda]

Well do tell kletter1man! I find these sort of observations fascinating. Although sure these are stereotypes and generalizations, you can really get a feel for the areas that way. What's the difference in the parenting styles?!