[katskill]

I ruled out Westchester when I was looking just for the taxes - its insane, no matter no how great anything else maybe. I have to agree with Greenwich and Darien, and possibly New Canaan as good choices. Unless you have someone to drop you off, parking is a factor too. Darien may be friendly in that regard. Greenwich is impossible.

[Moving3!]

"Why Rye and Darien?" We had a limited visit and could only fit in a few towns. During our trip we saw Rye, Harrison, Greenwich and Darien. I researched Armonk, Scarsdale, Chappaqua, Bronxville, and Larchmont online (very tough to do), and landed on Rye and Darien. Our kids are in a Catholic school right now and may want to continue in one (which Rye has). Our thoughts were based on the amenities Rye offers residents, the school systems in both and cute downtowns. It seemed you got a bit more house for your $ in Darien over Greenwich, plus slightly better schools. It seemed the majority went to private school in Greenwich. I was considering Larchmont too, but thought the taxes would be just as bad as Rye and I didn't know much about the town. Overall the houses in Westchester seem priced high with high taxes... guess you pay for the shorter commute. I'm just worried we'll regret going for more house when the grind of the commute sets in.

[Stylo]

The majority don't go to private schools in Greenwich, but you do get a lot of super rich - and that's just what they do. It's not because the schools are bad, it's more of a culture thing. The Greenwich schools are absolutely solid and "great" schools.

You don't get that much more in Darien over Greenwich, and Greenwich taxes are slightly lower. It's really worth a look, as the commute is shorter, the downtown is excellent (much nicer than Darien IMO - it never impressed me and always seemed congested with traffic) and it's a great community with lots of things to do.

New Canaan is worth a look too, with the epitome of a "cute" downtown and excellent schools. Commute will be a little longer, though.

[gilfman]

I grew up around both towns; Wilton, CT & Harrison, NY. Everyone I know that knows both Rye & Darien find them to be siblings: hubris, Neaveau and plastic.

Rye does have a municipal golf course however it looks like Tokyo. Most Japanese relos go there for that. It is way over crowed. Maple Moor & Saxon Woods the County courses are usually less crowded. Remember Playland?????????? Darien is Stepford.

[mikelizard860]

Originally Posted by Stylo

According to Zillow, 2 homes recently sold for $2,000,000 in Greenwich and Rye:

Greenwich taxes: $14,552
Rye taxes: $28,857

If you can afford a 2 million dollar home, 15k a year difference is peanuts. Your mortage payment alone would be nearly that per month asumming you had 400k cash to put down.