Easing into the suburbs from nyc (New Rochelle, White Plains: houses, neighborhood, theater)

[cc5500]

Hi All,

My boyfriend and I (I'm a guy) own and live in Chelsea and are looking to make the leap to a house for more space, change of scenery after living in Manhattan for 15 some years. We are laid back, professional late 30's, no kids.

We are looking for a Westchester town that is close to the city and that won't give us full "suburbia shock" - a good town to ease us into the realm of owning a house and living in the suburbs while being able to coax our friends to come visit.

My bf works right near Penn Station and I work in midtown but can work from home whenever so commuting is an issue for him. Tarrytown sounded interesting but just wanted input on other towns as well.

Budget is b/t 500-700k.

thanks!

[sdcity]

All towns will be a shock. The city feel of Tarrytown is really small (main street is only 2 or 3 blocks long). I would suggest white plains, it has shopping, theaters, and bars on a much grander scale than a town.

[tommya]

You're probably going to find that the vast majority of Westchester is too suburban for what you are looking for. The only towns that come to mind in terms of having nice single family homes near a somewhat vibrant business district are Mount Kisco and White Plains.

I'm not an expert on Mt. Kisco, but when we were looking for a place we went to a few open houses off of W. Main St (between the railroad tracks and the Saw Mill Parkway) and it seemed like a nice area where you could easily walk to town and the MetroNorth Station.

I live in White Plains myself and can't say enough good things about the Highlands neighborhood (roughly speaking, the area between Prospect St on the North, Soundview Ave on the West, Old Mamaroneck Rd on the East, and Hartsdale Ave on the South). Lots of tudors and colonials. Great neighborhood if you have a dog. It shouldn't be a problem finding a home in your price range, and the smaller size (~1800 sq ft) and lots (~.15 acres) should make the maintenance aspect of your transition a little easier to handle. The homes aren't in disrepair or anything, but many of them need new kitchens and baths. If this ends up being the case, the house should be towards the bottom of your price range leaving you with $100k or so to put towards the renovations. Plus, we all know how you gays love to decorate (jk).

It's about a 5 minute drive to downtown WP, which is nothing compared to NYC but is probably the closest that you'll get in Westchester. It's about a 20 minute drive to Stamford CT too, which will give you a bunch more options for dining, etc.

The train station is about 1.5 miles away, so realistically you'll be driving. Parking is available in the lots by the County Center for $5/day. Not the best situation, but it's 35 minutes to Grand Central and trains run frequently enough where you the don't have to stress about the schedule during rush hours (just show up and you won't be waiting for more than 5 or 10 minutes). This is a rarity in Westchester, as most stations will only have a few trains an hour. There are cabs waiting at the train station too for visitors, which also isn't the norm at many of the smaller stations.

[havoc315]

Sounds like schools are not an issue, which gives you more flexibility.
White Plains is the most urban -- But might be a bit too urban for you. If the point is to escape the city and get into the suburbs..

Tarrytown and the other river towns could be good starting points. Likewise, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck and Larchmont could all be good, suburban areas, but very close to the city and close to White Plains. Larchmont especially, has a certain degree of upscale hipness.

[nonny]

I suggest Irvington.

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by cc5500

Hi All,

My boyfriend and I (I'm a guy) own and live in Chelsea and are looking to make the leap to a house for more space, change of scenery after living in Manhattan for 15 some years. We are laid back, professional late 30's, no kids.

We are looking for a Westchester town that is close to the city and that won't give us full "suburbia shock" - a good town to ease us into the realm of owning a house and living in the suburbs while being able to coax our friends to come visit.

My bf works right near Penn Station and I work in midtown but can work from home whenever so commuting is an issue for him. Tarrytown sounded interesting but just wanted input on other towns as well.

Budget is b/t 500-700k.

thanks!

Maybe you can give us a little more insight into what you're looking for. I'm not clear on whether you're looking for non-shocking urban oasis in the midst of suburbia OR a suburban oasis from the city. What would give you suburban shock? Lack of bars, chinese delivery, being surrounded by soccer moms?

[ravioli78]

Hey, my partner and I (30s-40s, commute to the city for work) just did the exact thing you're doing...! We moved out of the city (FiDi, and Hellsea and Chelsea before that), and completed a move to Scarsdale last month. We've been very happy with our new neighborhood. The neighbors are friendly, we have much more space, the outdoors and foliage are so relaxing compared to Manhattan auto and pedestrian traffic, and the shopping options along Central Ave and White Plains are better than Manhattan.

We had looked at houses in the river towns (Dobbs Ferry, Hastings), towns along the Sound (Larchmont, Mamaroneck), as well as Tuckahoe, Eastchester, and White Plains. We chose Scarsdale over the others because we got a good deal on our house (we think, hard to know these days!), the Harlem line commute was best, and also we have a pipe dream of raising kids of someday. But we're "stay-at-home TV" and "weekend sports" gays, definitely not theater-goers or club-goers (more for singles anyway). Lower Westchester is so drivable that any of the above towns probably could have worked for us.

There is no gay club scene in Westchester... also you won't see gay couples out in public, I think I've seen one over the last month, in White Plains (WP has a gay community center, btw). But as long as you're not looking for that, you can probably be happy in a lot of places.

[Natalpaz]

You might also like Pleasantville. It has a nice walkable village, easy train ride to NYC, friendly people, and Jacob Burns Film/Media Center to see the independent and foreign films!

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Maybe you can give us a little more insight into what you're looking for. I'm not clear on whether you're looking for non-shocking urban oasis in the midst of suburbia OR a suburban oasis from the city. What would give you suburban shock? Lack of bars, chinese delivery, being surrounded by soccer moms?

Exactly. "Suburban" is a very subjective concept, as is what will be easier for a city person to adjust to. Ravioli78 happily moved from NYC to Scarsdale, but Scarsdale would have given me a deadly case of Suburban Shock when I moved out of the city. And, actually, it still would now that I've lived in Westchester for 8 years.

As a born and bred Brooklyn boy who had never lived anywhere but NYC, I wanted to avoid anything that felt "suburban"--which meant any densely developed towns in areas that sprawled from town to town without countryside in between. To be sure, my wife and I looked all over--Maplewood/Montclair, southern Westchester, northern Westchester, Nyack/Piermont, Cold Spring/Garrison. In the end we realized that what felt most comfortable and "real" to us was the semi-rural feel of the central/western side of northern Westchester. So, my only advise is to take your time and explore all over--you might be surprised by what feels right.