[jax12479]

With your budget and commute to the Bronx, Greenwich is a great option. All of the elementary schools in eastern Greenwich have an afters program run through OGRCC, with a bus coming to pick the kids up. I believe the hours are 3-6pm for that. Not sure about schools in central and western Greenwich, but I'd imagine that afters program is across the board. If I were you, I'd focus on homes in the North Mianus or ISD (International School at Dundee). They're among the top schools in CT, and you get more for your money in those districts vs Riverside or Old Greenwich.

[yiplong]

Hi all,

Thanks for the very helpful comments. I'm leaning toward Gwich at this point because taxes in Wchester are just insane. I'm willing to pay more for a home because I get the money back when I sell, but tax is a liability as long as I own the house. Tax reform doesn't help of course!

I have a question about the public schools in Gwich. Looks like the eastern part of town has much better schools than the western and middle parts of town (Since the town shares a single high school, I'm going by the middle schools here). What accounts for the huge difference? We are talking about 9/10 vs 6/10, in the same town this is a bit perplexing. Is the disparity due purely to the relative social-economic status of the parents?

We think with a budget of let say $1.5m we can get a decent small house in Riverside/Old Gwich near I-95. This may be ideal for us. For the commute to Downtown NYC, would it be better to drive to Stamford and take the express there? Do they have parking in Stamford for out of towners?

I've read many negative press articles on Connecticut. Looks like the state has really gone down hill in the 2 decades since I moved away, or perhaps nothing has changed. The rich still enjoys his country club and mansion while the poor festers in disgusting cities?

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by yiplong

Hi all,

Thanks for the very helpful comments. I'm leaning toward Gwich at this point because taxes in Wchester are just insane. I'm willing to pay more for a home because I get the money back when I sell, but tax is a liability as long as I own the house. Tax reform doesn't help of course!

I have a question about the public schools in Gwich. Looks like the eastern part of town has much better schools than the western and middle parts of town (Since the town shares a single high school, I'm going by the middle schools here). What accounts for the huge difference? We are talking about 9/10 vs 6/10, in the same town this is a bit perplexing. Is the disparity due purely to the relative social-economic status of the parents?

We think with a budget of let say $1.5m we can get a decent small house in Riverside/Old Gwich near I-95. This may be ideal for us. For the commute to Downtown NYC, would it be better to drive to Stamford and take the express there? Do they have parking in Stamford for out of towners?

I've read many negative press articles on Connecticut. Looks like the state has really gone down hill in the 2 decades since I moved away, or perhaps nothing has changed. The rich still enjoys his country club and mansion while the poor festers in disgusting cities?

Yes, Westchester County is nice, offer good schools, low crime suburbs, good school system, edge on NYC commute but tax wise it is much more expensive than Greenwich. Greenwich have some of lowest tax rate in Connecticut.

Byram and Glenville southwest side of Greenwich is cheapest borders Port Chester, NY with modest homes on small lots. Price range in that area is 650,000-800,000 it would be consider poor section of Greenwich. Cos Cob is pricer than Bryam homes are $870,000 to 2 million ish, Old Greenwich is 1 million-4 million ish. The most expensive area in Greenwich mostly concentrated along the shoreline of Greenwich, and north of Route 1 we are talking rich people powerful people with 5 to 30 million homes they mostly work in Wall Street etc.

Best schools are central and eastern Greenwich because it less social economic than western Greenwich which borders Port Chester. Western Greenwich is more diverse with sizable amount of Hispanic and Italian population.

[BPt111]

There some express trains in morning that do all Greenwich stops then Harlem 125th street then Grand Central. Yes CT have decline little bit but not major it still desirable state to live in if you have money. Stamford train station have long waiting list for parking, there some parking garages Downtown Stamford that charge around $100 per month for parking not quite sure.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by yiplong

Hi all,

Thanks for the very helpful comments. I'm leaning toward Gwich at this point because taxes in Wchester are just insane. I'm willing to pay more for a home because I get the money back when I sell, but tax is a liability as long as I own the house. Tax reform doesn't help of course!

I have a question about the public schools in Gwich. Looks like the eastern part of town has much better schools than the western and middle parts of town (Since the town shares a single high school, I'm going by the middle schools here). What accounts for the huge difference? We are talking about 9/10 vs 6/10, in the same town this is a bit perplexing. Is the disparity due purely to the relative social-economic status of the parents?

We think with a budget of let say $1.5m we can get a decent small house in Riverside/Old Gwich near I-95. This may be ideal for us. For the commute to Downtown NYC, would it be better to drive to Stamford and take the express there? Do they have parking in Stamford for out of towners?

I've read many negative press articles on Connecticut. Looks like the state has really gone down hill in the 2 decades since I moved away, or perhaps nothing has changed. The rich still enjoys his country club and mansion while the poor festers in disgusting cities?

Let me guess, you went to Greatschools.com for school ratings. As has been discussed here MANY times, their ratings are questionable at best. I have seen them rate very good schools lower than some schools that are known to have issues.

All of the schools in Greenwich are very good. People are not going to pay $1 million for a modest home if the town had bad schools. The town has very high standards and strict curriculum so the differences between schools is likely more due to the students socio-economic background. All of Greenwich schools perform above the state averages on standardized tests. Check the website below for more information on the schools in Greenwich. Jay

http://edsight.ct.gov/SASPortal/main.do

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Let me guess, you went to Greatschools.com for school ratings. As has been discussed here MANY times, their ratings are questionable at best. I have seen them rate very good schools lower than some schools that are known to have issues.

All of the schools in Greenwich are very good. People are not going to pay $1 million for a modest home if the town had bad schools. The town has very high standards and strict curriculum so the differences between schools is likely more due to the students socio-economic background. All of Greenwich schools perform above the state averages on standardized tests. Check the website below for more information on the schools in Greenwich. Jay

http://edsight.ct.gov/SASPortal/main.do

Central and Eastern Greenwich schools perform better

Etc...


Western Greenwich is around 80%

Eastern and Central Greenwich around 90%

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by jax12479

With your budget and commute to the Bronx, Greenwich is a great option. All of the elementary schools in eastern Greenwich have an afters program run through OGRCC, with a bus coming to pick the kids up. I believe the hours are 3-6pm for that. Not sure about schools in central and western Greenwich, but I'd imagine that afters program is across the board. If I were you, I'd focus on homes in the North Mianus or ISD (International School at Dundee). They're among the top schools in CT, and you get more for your money in those districts vs Riverside or Old Greenwich.

Look into Riverside and Old Greenwich section of Greenwich

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Central and Eastern Greenwich schools perform better

Etc...


Western Greenwich is around 80%

Eastern and Central Greenwich around 90%

Where are you getting these figures and what do they mean?

As I said, all of Greenwich's public schools perform above the state averages on the state's standardized tests. Of course some do better than others. That is kind of logical. The schools that serve the more affluent neighborhoods do better than those with less affluent or students coming from homes where English is a second language. Again, kind of logical.

Greenwich, like most Connecticut school systems, has a pretty strict curriculum program which pretty much assures its students get a very good education. It is up to the OP to decide if they feel attending only a very top performing school in Greenwich is important or not.

As a parent who faced a similar choice in the past, I can truly say I am very thankful I sent my kids to the lowest performing school in our affluent town, Glastonbury. My kids got to meet a wide range of students and learned at an early age that not everyone lives like we do. They made friends with children from Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, the Mideast and Central America. They experienced a lot from that as well. Had we listened to one of our family friends who questioned us buying in our neighborhood because of its school, our kids would have likely been a lot different and not necessarily for the better. Jay

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Where are you getting these figures and what do they mean?

As I said, all of Greenwich's public schools perform above the state averages on the state's standardized tests. Of course some do better than others. That is kind of logical. The schools that serve the more affluent neighborhoods do better than those with less affluent or students coming from homes where English is a second language. Again, kind of logical.

Greenwich, like most Connecticut school systems, has a pretty strict curriculum program which pretty much assures its students get a very good education. It is up to the OP to decide if they feel attending only a very top performing school in Greenwich is important or not.

As a parent who faced a similar choice in the past, I can truly say I am very thankful I sent my kids to the lowest performing school in our affluent town, Glastonbury. My kids got to meet a wide range of students and learned at an early age that not everyone lives like we do. They made friends with children from Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, the Mideast and Central America. They experienced a lot from that as well. Had we listened to one of our family friends who questioned us buying in our neighborhood because of its school, our kids would have likely been a lot different and not necessarily for the better. Jay

Schools generally in central and eastern Greenwich have higher state test scores

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Schools generally in central and eastern Greenwich have higher state test scores

They do??/ Jay