Croton on Hudson/Dobbs Ferry/Hastings on Hudson- do these towns have... (Riverhead: real estate)

[Mr.Momof3]

Can someone please advise whether these towns have what we are looking for?

We are looking for that semi rural area where there's a walkable downtown. An area where we can find libraries, churches and activities for little children like Karate or Dance, maybe even a YMCA of sorts relatively closeby within walking distance from eachother (not miles apart :-) )

It'd be nice if the houses were not TOO far away from eachother but certainly not on top of eachother like NYC.

As a side question, does LI have it's own version of Croton on Hudson (for lack of a better comparison) as far as ruralness, acreage and cost goes?

thanks so much for helping us

[havoc315]

Croton on Hudson is probably the best fit within that description. Parts of Katonah also fit pretty well.

Croton doesn't have the most impressive commercial downtown, but if you live within the village, the homes are typically on .15-.35 acre lots, very walkable to each other, as well as to many parks and some commercial amenities. Drive 5 minutes outside of the village, it gets pretty rural.

Katonah has a very "cute" downtown area, very New England-like. It's not walkable from all parts of Katonah, which is a very large geographic area, but there are some neighborhoods near the downtown.

You can add Pleasantville to your list. Has a walkable-small town feel. Has a pretty nice commercial center, with restaurants, Arts Movie House, etc. Yes, it has all the family friendly activities as well. It's just not as "rural" as Katonah and Croton. But certainly will feel rural compared to NYC.

I'm not familiar with Hastings having much of a walkable downtown, but maybe I'm missing something. Dobbs Ferry has would have what you're looking for. But like Pleasantville, it's not particularly rural. (When I think rural, I think of some farms, huge acreage of undeveloped land, etc).

[7 Wishes]

The only one of those I'd really call "semi-rural" is Croton on Hudson, and then mainly on the 'outskirts' of town.

Are you from the NY metro area? Because of our enormous population, we are kind of like L.A. in that you really have to go quite far to get something "semi-rural". In fact, Long Island sprawls so much that a true equivalent to Croton on Hudson I think would be almost uncommutable (i.e. it's well over 50 miles from Manhattan, if not 60 or 70, like maybe out near Riverhead). Closer in in Long Island, you may find some very expensive towns that "look" rural in terms of having mansions with land, but no farms or forest nearby and essentially surrounded by strip malls in all directions.

The nearest "semi rural" areas to Manhattan in my view are northeastern Westchester (i.e. Katonah and towns on the 684 corridor) and adjacent parts of CT (i.e. Ridgefield and anything north of the Merritt Parkway). Even then you are talking at least 35 or 40 miles plus to Manhattan and in some cases having to drive to the train. Because of this "closeness" vs. demand for this kind of scenery and environment, this region has some of the most expensive/unaffordable real estate in the country, the average house price for these areas tops $1 million, even now!