Relocating from England to Westchester (New York, Hicksville: house, buy, school)

[J&Em]

As someone who travels the Taconic and 84 and 684 I know that the trip south in rush hour is not at all as quick and easy as mom2gurls makes it out to be. Many a day it can take a half hour to go through one town let alone travel through a county on the Taconic or 684. The Taconic does not go close enough to My Kisco to make it worthwhile either. Most of the Taconic has been widened south of the Westchester/Putnam border but the pavement north of there is awful with pot holes and is narrower. No fun for commuting!

Anything across the Hudson will also spell rush hour grief so I don't think Rockland and Orange are good ideas. The only crossing is via the Bear Mountain Bridge and then traverse across Peekskill, Cortland and Yorktown on rte 202 which by itself will take at least 1/2 hour in the morning. The Tappan Zee bridge is a nightmare more mornings than not with all the city bound traffic, so it is an even worse choice.

Many of the commutable towns in Connecticut will be on the expensive side but Danbury might be in range. Parts of Danbury are not as good as others.


I second the recommendations for Yorktown ( Yorktown and Yorktown Heights are one and the same place, neither is "better" and they are used interchangeably) and possibly Mahopac as good starting points. The easiest commute would be from Yorktown, especially mid Yorktown and southern Yorktown (15 -25 minutes to most parts of Mt Kisco on back roads... no highway traffic). From Mahopac it is also fairly easy to get to Mt. Kisco. Prices are all over the map for Yorktown ( a decent sized house will probably be around $500,000 and 600,000 but can go over a million and as low as the upper $300,000), crime is fairly non existent and the schools are quite good. Yorktown has 2 school districts, Yorktown (mid and southern Yorktown) and Lakeland (northern part of the town). Mahopac is growing rapidly and the schools are getting better reps. You could also try Putnam Valley and Cortland, but the commute will be longer.

Route 6 has the box stores all in Cortland and more in Baldwin Place near Somers... and the weekend traffic can be brutal between the 2 and the Jefferson Valley Mall. Weekdays rush hour traffic , school traffic and mid day traffic also can become very gridlocked.

[ankersm]

can someone explain the term "box store" - it's not used in the UK?

[Viralmd]

Box store: big store selling things like major appliances at discount. Draws TONS of people. J&Em has it right.

[ankersm]

Hi Mom2gurls..

Don't worry about roads with corners, we don't have any straight roads in the UK!..

Myself & my wife are coming out for a visit early July, we'll have a long weekend to look around and get a feel for area

We're planning on not selling our property in the UK, just to lease it out as the market is climbing so quickly in the UK, once you're off the ladder, you can't get back on - (the plan is to live out in NY state for 5-6-7-8 years, then follow my role back to the UK)

Down side is we won't have as much capital behind us, hence the limit to approx. $500k, but depending on the relocation package vs. the cost of moving out, and depending how much of my salary I get to keep (tax) we may be able to afford up to $950k, which i guess whould make things a whole lot easier.

Take a look at www.maps.live.com, type in BH237JJ UK, switch to aerial map mode - that's my village, I've a small 4-bed house, with a tiny amount of garden, it's now worth $900k, in 1999 we paid $225k...!

[ankersm]

Hey ViralMD... box store as in WalMart, Target, Home Depot?

Ha ha, question from my wife -Do you guys get IKEAs out there?

[Viralmd]

Box store: Big Buy, Costco, yes, you're on the right track.

We have SOME Ikeas here. Not as many as you do in the UK. Actually, the last Ikea I was in was in France (it was nearer to Sandwich than the nearest branch in the UK was!). But the bonus was that I had lunch in France.

[J&Em]

Yes, the box stores are a common reference to the stand alone big stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy and of course the biggest box of all... WalMart.

IKEA has several stores in driving distance but not close...if you check the store locator on the website for Ikea in the USA you'll see 3, each about 1 hour (or slightly more) drive from the northern Westchester area. Haven't been to the CT one but the Paramus, NJ off of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Long Island one is located just a few miles from the Northern State or Long Island Expressway in Hicksville.

The Taconic takes some getting used to for some, but really is not a bad drive. The section through Putnam is not around one mountain but does go through Fahnstock Park and winds around some beautiful scenery. Farther "upstate" it becomes a nice drive through parklands and less developed areas and ends near Albany. In the fall it can be just as nice as Vermont for colorful vistas.


Since you may have a little more than $500,000 to spend on a home you may want to check out Bedford, Katonah, Goldens Bridge, Pound Ridge and Somers for homes as well. Bedford and Katonah have a village feel with a real downtown in Katonah. Both have slightly more "upscale" reputation but you will find a variety of homes and properties. Parts of Mt. Kisco are nice (multi million dollar homes) and parts are not, on the whole it is not a place I would put high on my recommendation list for the average person.

The market has slowed from 2 years ago, where the prices in Northern Westchester were spiraling upwards at incredible rates, but from what local realtors have told me and how fast my neighbor sold (1 week and above asking price) it isn't exactly a buyers market either. The prices have stabilized but not gone down. Homes on or near lakes or that have views are still selling at premiums.

[Natalpaz]

Mom - I signed off yesterday and didn't see your question. Thanks to the poster above for answering it for me! Yorktown covers a very big area and Yorktown Heights is one of its hamlets, this is where community center, theatre, museum, shops and restaurants are. Yorktown Heights has its own zip code, but I can't really say that it is more upscale comparing to the rest of Yorktown. Some houses are much bigger and more expensive, while the other ones are older and smaller.
From the big box stores - relative newcomer to Route 6 is Best Buy, located in Cortland Town Center. As to the IKEA - I go to the one in Paramus NJ, it is about 1 hr drive.
Ankersm - I second J&E's suggestions on other places to check out. Katonah is beautiful, and you will significantly cut down on your commute. If you want to be in the woods - you will like Pound Ridge. Parts of it are VERY rural, and you won't see your neighbors. Somers provides nice tax breaks becuase of IBM and Pepsi presence, it is a little bit more developed than neighboring North Salem where you will find gorgeous country roads and horse farms.

[Natalpaz]

Ankersm, you might find this useful: The Journal News (Westchester equivalent to the New York Times) puts together annual "Living Here" guides. There are guides to Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, and provide town snapshots as well as other info such as places to go, activities for kids, where to find what, school info, shopping, restaurants etc. I personally find them extremely helpful! You can access them online: http://www.thejournalnews.com/livinghere (these are from 2005), the more recent ones are not online but the info seems mostly accurate.
Another source of information is "Getting to Know" magazines. They also provide info on different towns in Northern Westchester and Putnam. See featured articles at http://www.gtkmagazines.com/features.
Natasha

[mom2gurls]

Katonah is awesome....personally I like armonk...but its super super expensive from what I understand..I mean..I dont know if it is worth it to spend alot of money. Goldens bridge actually is a great choice!!! Right off the 684, and I think it forks to the saw mill parkway(again, its a bit curvy) to mount kisco. I cant remember if the fork occurs before or after Goldens bridge..but its right around in that area...Plus, if you did have a teeny bit urge to go in the city...the train is there.

I personally would stay on the 684 side..I just like wide straight freeways..but that is just me personally..and you take it straight south in to white plains...cant compare it all to NYC..but it does have few tall building to give you that feeling of a city. The taconic is just something you have to get used to.

IKEA...Love ikea...hmnnnn where is the closest one? Paramus I think..there is rumor that they are building one near us..but I dont see any signs yet.. :-(

I dont know what town is off Hartscrabble road off the 684...but that seems nice...I just like a restaurant up there called Mona Lisas.

Personally, I would go nuts and use the equity in your house, because you plan on going back anyway..just enjoy the time while you are here!