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As a reader and poster for 2 years and finally approaching a move date in August (once I find a house) I thought I would share my experience with those going through the same thing.
When I started out, our relocation person and the realtors all encouraged me to pick a town and then to pick a house. So I tried to do that. I spent countless hours researching the towns the schools the shopping etc etc. I poured over school reports I went to urban-dictionary I read post after post. One post would make you say oh I am going to move there, the next one was the complete opposite and you got discouraged again. Some towns are more Italian some are more Jewish some are by water some are walkable blah blah blah. I came out for town tours they were all lovely each realtor loved their town, still no one town stood out to me. I made spreadsheets I compared average salaries, home prices median age, greatschools ratings, commute times (anything under 50 minutes on train that was my one requirements). Still nothing jumped out. I visited the Starbucks the stores (are the people in the stores really the people that live in the town? Probably not!) I eliminated NJ only because my husband will work by Grand Central. I was discouraged by Ny Real estate taxes and thought I should move to CT but home prices seem slightly lower in Westchester the commute is faster and the schools tend to be rated higher so in the big scheme of things it all seemed to even out. (Still considering Greenwich and Darien but am very drawn to the lower commute time and lower mileage to the city in Westchester.)
At the present time I still have not narrowed down the town. I have decided to stop stressing myself out and look at all the houses I find interesting on- line and let the house/street/neighborhood pick me. I guess the point of my post is if you are like me and are overly stressed with picking the "best" town but you have nothing any particular to draw you to one (family, friends) besides a handful of them they are all good choices! Every person on this board is going to have an opinion, every realtor will have an opinion. I say go with your gut and then embrace your choice! Are there snobs in all towns yes! Are there nice people in all towns yes!
I'm sure I will continue to read the posts on here, it is fun and I am thankful for all the opinions and great links I have discovered. I will let you know were I land once it happens. Good luck to all who are searching!
Ha! You sound like us. We just moved from IL last fall and have been renting and trying to find the perfect town for us as well. We just decided to narrow down to a couple (pretty different) places and then let the house choose us! All in all, Westchester is full of many great town and communities all with pretty amazing schools!
Each neighborhood has it's own character, benefits & negatives. is one the "best" overall?: no. "Best" for YOU?: probably.
While I'm sure one can really live anywhere... I think if you are jumping in to buying a place (a big investment), small things can make a big difference: i.e. flooding, bus service if you have kids, ect.
Good suggestion, but I would also hate to rent get the kids settled in school and then have to move them again. I agreed to move with husbands job now rather than in 5 years because the kids are more adaptable at their young age. I feel like if you buy your more committed to making it work. Renting is kind of like living together before your married, to easy to leave! (that's a joke) but you may have a point....
go for the school system, if you're doing public school ----- best are scarsdale, bronxville and rye - all home in these areas typically are pricier, but you can find a home to suit you in any town --- especially now that it's a buyers' market. condos and coops are also an option.
if you're a mom, you'll find friends...
bronxville has the shortest commute to GCS, rye has the longest (50mins)
good luck!
I feel like I could have written this myself. We also have to move by this summer (I have 3 kids). I have suddenly decided that many of my 'pre-conceived' notions about many towns, for different reasons, were a result of my anxiety about moving out if the city.
I, too, was looking driving myself crazy....schools, houses, neighborhoods, nice "down to earth" people, location etc. Someone said I had "analysis paralysis".
Anyway, I'd love to talk...
I love that "analysis paralysis" definitely in that boat! PM me if you want.
Here are some of my pre-conceived notions that I have gotten over:
The town is 90% jewish (and I'm not) No jewish people by me now, that sounded scary to me. Well guess what no towns are 90% anything. If a town is 20-30% jewish who cares! Some of the nicest people I have met on my adventure are jewish and they are awesome I love that I will experience something different, I'll invite you to my 1st communion party and sweet sixteen and you invite me to your bar-mitzvah I hear there really fun!
Its the snobbiest town on the planet. I live in a nice lily-white suburb of Cleveland right now. The median salary here is $77 median house price is $217. Do I know a single person that fits into those categories no! Are there snobs? Yes lot's of them, but it's all relative, here they make $150 and live in a $450k house NY that equates to a salary of $500 and a 2mill house (or more) some are really down to earth some are not. I bet if we try we could find something good in everyone, thats my goal.
Urban Dictionary. Geez who writes these things! Is there a small amount of truth to these, probably but I think the generalizations are so broad and exaggerated you are probably better off not reading them. My town which is a perfectly lovely family-oriented town with 40k people and a large range of income levels has pretty much the same description as 1/2 the towns in Westchester. Abercrombie wearing stuck-up slu@%'s drive nicer car's than teachers, drugs blah blah. Are there some kids like this sure but I would say not the majority. Take it all with a grain of salt!
Schools. Oh my gosh, SAT's AP's Ivy's. You guys do not know how good you have it. The majority of the schools in Westchester are at one time or another on the top 100 schools in the country list most schools are rated an 8, 9 or 10 on Great Schools your spending per pupil is sick, your teachers are the highest paid in the country. Are there are 3-4 towns to avoid if using public sure. Do some town have slightly higher resale because of the schools? yes. Perspective people, for the majority of us coming from other parts of the country we are drooling over an SAT score of 1400 (I think thats the lowest avg I have seen in all the towns excluding Yonkers and Mt Vernon) my town is suppose to have great schools and our avg SAT score is 1100. Hey and we even send a few kids a year to an Ivy!
Again this is all heresay I have not actually moved there yet but I have decided to just stop being stressed with information overload and try to be happy with whatever works out. Pick something important to you (I think I am going to focus on commute time, I think family dinners may actually make my kids into better people than wether they get a 1550 or 1775 on there SAT, Pelham may be calling my name!) Again good luck to all that are looking have fun!!
You took the words right out of my mouth! You'll be surprised to know my husband and I actually grew up around here and we're still perplexed about the what each town brings to the table- things have changed so much in the past 20-30 years.
That said, there is some truth to the 'stereotypes', but like you said, you weigh it out. Since we're both on a time crunch I'd love to chat if you would like to- I have much info too and have been out looking for almost a year.
This is my second posting here so I don't know what PM is or how to contact you personally.
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