Fleetwood & Crestwood towns? (Yonkers, Mount Vernon: best town, real estate, houses)

[cali_to_nj]

I just moved to Pleasantville so please feel free to DM if you have any specific questions. The train commute is very manageable (46-52 min) and it has a quaint town center, nice recreation facilities, and solid schools. There are properties in your price range within walking distance to the train - they will tend to be older Victorian style homes (generally a love it or hate it proposition) on smaller lots, but the community is really terrific and we love it here so far.

[ExNooYawk]

Don't buy anything in Mt. Vernon or Yonkers. Parts of New Rochelle are okay but only if you plan to send your kids to private school.
Crestwood is a lovely section but again, you're looking at private school. You don't get a break on your property taxes for this. SOMEONE has to pay for the public schools and it ain't the people living in the projects. Sorry to be blunt but that's the fact.
Check out: Larchmont, Scarsdale, Edgemont, Eastchester, Pelham Manor, Bronxville, Rye (NOT Rye City; that's Portchester), Ardsley or Armonk. Hastings and Dobbs Ferry are a maybe. Avoid Hartsdale as those kids go to the Greenberg Schools.
Realtors are not allowed legally to be honest about all this. They'll give you information from which you may draw your own conclusions but there are a lot of smokescreens.
If you aren't a millionaire, you're going to be stretched tight no matter where you live.
Have you thought about CT? You're fine if you avoid Norwalk, Stamford and Bridgeport.

[ExNooYawk]

Originally Posted by cali_to_nj

I just moved to Pleasantville so please feel free to DM if you have any specific questions. The train commute is very manageable (46-52 min) and it has a quaint town center, nice recreation facilities, and solid schools. There are properties in your price range within walking distance to the train - they will tend to be older Victorian style homes (generally a love it or hate it proposition) on smaller lots, but the community is really terrific and we love it here so far.

I forgot to add P-ville to my list of good places. It's a nice town and the schools have a good rep. Briarcliff is a lovely town too. Ossining might be worth checking out although it's been a long time since I've been there.

[swb212]

People seem to really love Pleasantville but the name is a bridge too far for this house hunter, I'm afraid.

[bmwguydc]

A clarification about Rye: The City of Rye and the Town of Rye are two distinct entities with several school districts between them.

The City of Rye has nothing to do with Port Chester and is a sought-after school district with top-notch schools.
Blind Brook Union Free is a school district in the Town of Rye, serving the Village of Rye Brook, and is another district that many seek in this area.
Rye Neck Union Free is a school district in the Town of Rye, serving the portion of the Village of Mamaroneck that straddles the line between the Towns of Rye and Mamaroneck, and has a very good reputation.
Port Chester-Rye Union Free serves the Village of Port Chester in the Town of Rye, where the Rye in the district name refers to the town. Port Chester schools are not the best performers, especially compared with the other two districts in the Town of Rye.

[ExNooYawk]

Originally Posted by bmwguydc

A clarification about Rye: The City of Rye and the Town of Rye are two distinct entities with several school districts between them.

The City of Rye has nothing to do with Port Chester and is a sought-after school district with top-notch schools.
Blind Brook Union Free is a school district in the Town of Rye, serving the Village of Rye Brook, and is another district that many seek in this area.
Rye Neck Union Free is a school district in the Town of Rye, serving the portion of the Village of Mamaroneck that straddles the line between the Towns of Rye and Mamaroneck, and has a very good reputation.
Port Chester-Rye Union Free serves the Village of Port Chester in the Town of Rye, where the Rye in the district name refers to the town. Port Chester schools are not the best performers, especially compared with the other two districts in the Town of Rye.

bmw, thanks for the clarification. I grew up in the area and if even a native like me can be confused, you can imagine how a newbie might feel.

Rye, Mamaroneck and Pelham have good reputations. Portchester doesn't.

[bmwguydc]

Originally Posted by ExNooYawk

bmw, thanks for the clarification. I grew up in the area and if even a native like me can be confused, you can imagine how a newbie might feel.

Rye, Mamaroneck and Pelham have good reputations. Portchester doesn't.

No problem. It's a common issue when dealing with Rye, since there are so many nuances to the area and the schools. That's why I added it to this thread so that the districts are clarified for anyone who is considering the area, since it can be difficult to know which district is in which town, etc., which is especially challenging in learning the geography of Rye.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by ExNooYawk

Have you thought about CT? You're fine if you avoid Norwalk, Stamford and Bridgeport.

Except for lower property taxes, anywhere in CT in Fairfield County other than these 3 cities is going to be just as expensive as Westchester.

[ExNooYawk]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

Except for lower property taxes, anywhere in CT in Fairfield County other than these 3 cities is going to be just as expensive as Westchester.

That's true. But. Westchester has an extra layer of government on the county-level. So you pay local, state and county taxes (plus NYC if you work there). Taxes are higher in Westchester County than in, say, Fairfield County for this reason. In CT, your local taxes are spent in your town, period. There is no layer of bureaucracy to support on the county level.

[Viralmd]

And in Yonkers, there's an income tax.