Need opinions about Scarsdale, please!! (Rye, Harrison: fit in, city hall, lawyers)

[mookie09]

My husband and I are looking to move to Southern Westchester from Manhattan and have pretty much decided on Rye. But we just found this great house within walking distance to town/train station in Scarsdale, but we're just not sure about the town and if it's the right place for us. We know it's a very "Jewish" town and although I grew up in a town that was very Jewish and I myself am half, my husband is not sure he'd feel totally comfortable being the Gentile that he is. Can anyone living in Scarsdale shed some light on whether not being Jewish will make it harder for us to fit into the community? For example, during Christmas time, is the town decorated for both Hanukkah and Christmas?

Any information you might be able to share would be very helpful. We have to decide by tomorrow if we're going to make an offer on the house. If someone else out there was also considering Rye but ended up living in Scarsdale, I would love to hear what you think about your decision and if you feel comfortable there. Thank you!!

[Viralmd]

Scarsdale is fine. One of my VERY Roman Catholic colleagues lives there with her attorney husband and is very happy. The common denominator is financial in Scarsdale. Not religious.

[kletter1mann]

Volumes have been written and posted on this forum about Scarsdale and Scardale's "culture" and prevailing values. That's what you should be looking at. Search around and read this stuff if you haven't already. Detractors will say that it's vapid, ultracompetitive to no particular end apart from conspicuous consumption, overconcerned with appearance and keeping up appearances. Kids are repeatedly attending (or subjected to?) lavish, over the top Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Nobody will talk to you if you're not driving a new X5. Etc etc etc. Schools are viewed as so wonderful that it's worth putting up with all that - or is it just the $$thousands that parents invest in SAT prep and tutors? And on it goes.

Is that because it's "jewish?" Are those values "jewish?" Well, obviously they are in some respect, or at least the values of those jews that decided to live in Scarsdale. BUT, they're shared by plenty of nonjews too. Who knows.

At the end of the day the town culture obviously IS a function of who lives there and people clustering because of shared values. But there are lots of gentiles there too, so the story is more nuanced. I personally can't imagine a nonjew feeling on the outs in Scarsdale unless they had other issues abut $$ or something else. It's a well educated, sophisticated community. But, you had better be comfortable being around a lot of jewish people with a lot of money.

Given the choice I'd stick with Rye, but that's just me. The Rye mindset tends to be more outdoorsy, less county cluby.

[7 Wishes]

There are a lot of Asians in Scarsdale too nowadays, I don't think they feel out of place either.

And there are plenty of Jews that (can't think of a better word to describe what "Kletterman" is talking about so my apologies) do not epitomize the "Princess" culture (and I know plenty of Irish and Italian families in those areas that DO epitomize it as well), even to some extent in Scarsdale. That said, I think you'll be happier in Rye as well, there is some of that "snob factor" there, but not as much.

Though I'm not sure what having both Chanukah and Christmas decorations together in a town square have to do with any of this, almost every town in the NY area is like that. Even Mt. Vernon does that near city hall, and it's not very Jewish compared to say Scarsdale anymore.......

[bmwguydc]

There is no religious divide in Scarsdale at all, despite lawsuits traded back and forth in the early 1980s regarding the display of a crèche at Christmas. I would not ascribe the culture to being the result of any one religious group or ethnicity, because there are other areas in Westchester that are similar that have a historically different demographic make-up.

[hsw]

Really more about socio-economics and aspirational affluence stuff than one's religion/ethnic origin

Scarsdale is more a land of lawyers, low-caliber IBers, mgmt consultants, doctors, small business guys

More/?most of the <40yo financial crowd (esp hedgies, PE guys and top-paid IBers) opt for Greenwich if leaving Manhattan...to avoid NY's onerous income tax rates and property taxes

Scarsdale (and Chappaqua) have excellent public schools (arguably far superior to any public schools in CT) but any half-decent financier can quickly calc that respected private schools (and donations to colleges of kids' choice) cost far less than NY inc/prop txs for anyone w/signif career earnings and cap gains prospects

[havoc315]

Scarsdale may be the most "Jewish" town in Westchester, but even then, I doubt more than half the population is Jewish. I know Asians, Catholics, Muslims and Christians from Scarsdale.

Being Christian in Scarsdale, is certainly not a lone minority. If you prefer a town that is overwhelmingly Christian, like most towns in America, then you may not like Scarsdale.

[streetsmart]

We recently bought a house in Scarsdale and the other town we seriously considered was Rye. In the end, we found a wonderful house within a 5 minute walk to the Hartsdale station and we couldn't pass up the fabulous location. I cannot say enough about being close to Central Park Ave for every shop you could ever need, and walking distance to the village of Hartsdale is great. Walking distance to a train station is also extremely undervalued in my opinion.

That was the trouble with Rye - there are only a small amount of houses within walking distance to the Rye station or the main shopping street in the village. We looked at some houses in the Hix Park area that are actually closer to the Harrison station, but not walking distance, and since you can't get a permit there and the waiting list in Rye is 6 years long (give or take...) it becomes a serious logistical problem. And as for the Jewish thing, I am not Jewish and maybe it's because I just don't care what religion others practice or don't, but I don't see it as an issue. On our street there are some Jewish families, but we also have some Christian and Asian neighbors as well.

And I have to disagree with the idea that Rye is LESS country-clubby than Scarsdale...

In any case, both towns are great and if we had found a better-located house in Rye that we liked we may have ended up there. There is something to be said for being near the water...

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by streetsmart

And I have to disagree with the idea that Rye is LESS country-clubby than Scarsdale...
There is something to be said for being near the water...

Sure it is, you said it yourself in so many words. Scarsdale is landlocked. Rye is has LI Sound, along with American YC, Shenorock, Coveleigh.... A little like comparing Bronxville with Larchmont. Still, Rye does have the WCC. You can have it all if you want. Even Playland!

But here's the real social demarcation, and one I've never seen discussed here. The Barclay classes, historically the ultimate uberWASP social training institution, are hosted in Bronxville, Pelham and Rye (also Greenwich, Princeton and other similar communitites). "Barclays" was historically the WASP, Ivy-league-only Westchester social feeder into the whole cotillion/debutante scene. If you were from the right kind of family you got the tap on the shoulder. Jewish or catholic? Forget it. Cultural vestiges of this still exist. Barclay's always had cotillions at Shenorock, I don't know it they still do. All this goes hand-in-glove with the observations here about Bronxville being antisemitic. Pelham was no better (I can't personally speak to Rye). This stuff is the cultural DNA of these communities. Readers can make of this what they will.

[znycgirl]

You will not feel out-of-place in Scarsdale no matter the ethnicity or even sexual orientation. There are plenty of different houses of worship. Don't believe everything you hear.

And yes: you will see all kinds of holiday decorations coming out.

I agree with the poster that estimated 50% Jewish.