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Hi there, I am currently living in boston, and am considering a job opportunity in White Plains. If I decide to take it, I will definitely want to live in the city rather than in Westchester.
I'd like to keep my car and make the commute as painless as possible. A few neighborhoods I was considering are - Greenpoint, Astoria, and LIC. I'd also be very open to other suggestions, of course!! I'm wondering - is keeping a car and hoping for street parking even feasible in these areas? Would the commute, even going out of the city, be a total nightmare?
If I don't keep a car, I'd probably try to live somewhere near Grand Central and hop the Metro North, but don't know that area well...any non-exorbitant areas within walking distance or very easy subway ride that you could recommend?
I had friends who lived in Greenpoint and kept their cars. Probably had to search a little for parking but it wasn't too bad. They didn't use it for work, though. It might be easier to commute by public transit instead by living in LIC, taking the 7 train to Grand Central and then Metro North and keep your car for non-work trips.
I do the commute from Astoria to White Plains everyday. Not terrible by train or by car. Train, figure about 1.5 hours each way(20-25 min to grand central, 45 min to white plains). By car, its roughly 40 minutes each way. Traffic is rarely a problem. My suggestion assuming you aren't tied to living in NYC, would be to check out Yonkers/Bronxville or living directly in White Plains. Its an easy commute to midtown on the train from those towns and you avoid paying the toll on the triborough each way. I don't know the Bronx very well, but I would suggest checking out areas close to Yonkers/Mt. Vernon in the borough as well.
Up by Astoria Park north of Ditmars it isn't bad, I very rarely have a problem finding a spot on my block. The downside is it's a 10 minute walk to the subway and you aren't in the fun part of Astoria. near 30th Ave and near Steinway its close to impossible to find a spot, I would pay for parking if I lived near there or just deal with the train. The only real traffic I deal with is occasionally the Major Deegan backs up with cars heading towards the GWB. My hours are flexible so I head into the office around 7am to miss any traffic. Once you get past that, its smooth sailing.
Hi there, I am currently living in boston, and am considering a job opportunity in White Plains. If I decide to take it, I will definitely want to live in the city rather than in Westchester.
I'd like to keep my car and make the commute as painless as possible. A few neighborhoods I was considering are - Greenpoint, Astoria, and LIC. I'd also be very open to other suggestions, of course!! I'm wondering - is keeping a car and hoping for street parking even feasible in these areas? Would the commute, even going out of the city, be a total nightmare?
If I don't keep a car, I'd probably try to live somewhere near Grand Central and hop the Metro North, but don't know that area well...any non-exorbitant areas within walking distance or very easy subway ride that you could recommend?
Thanks so much!
Isn't Greenpoint Brooklyn? You definitely do not want to commute to White Plains from there. It's too far and with morning traffic it would be a killer. Same for the other areas. They are not even nice areas. My opinion is, if you can't afford to live in Manhattan, then why not just live in White Plains? You will not have a problem finding a place to keep your car since most aparments either have their own parking lot or are near a municipal lot. White Plains is extremely safe, has a vibrant downtown and is an 33 minute express train into Grand Central. White Plains is a major stop so there are abunatant trains to and from NYC at all hours of the day. Good luck to you.
The other thing to consider is that you have to pay city resident income tax within the five boroughs, whereas you would not have to do so in Lower Westchester. The car can be a problem in certain neighborhoods, so you may end up needing a garage, especially if it's a newer car since street parking does not preserve a car, either through dings, scratches, random acts of vandalism, being bumped by inconsiderate drivers, etc. Your car insurance will be higher in the city (astronomical in Brooklyn), especially without a garage.
If I were to look to the city, I would look at Northern Queens (close to the bridges) and The Bronx, as they offer the easiest commute to White Plains via car. Astoria is not a bad commute to White Plains, nor is Bayside, but Bayside would negate convenience to going out in Manhattan as you could get to Midtown just as fast from parts of Westchester.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Thanks everyone - these comments have been really helpful and brought up things about keeping a car in nyc I hadn't considered - such as higher car insurance, and both way bridge tolls - in addition to the parking problems I did anticipate. I think living in Manhattan or somewhere within a quick subway trip to Grand Central, ditching the car & dealing with the train might be the best option. I wouldn't be happy living in a suburb, even though I agree white plains is not terrible as far as they go. Thanks again for the great comments
Thanks everyone - these comments have been really helpful and brought up things about keeping a car in nyc I hadn't considered - such as higher car insurance, and both way bridge tolls - in addition to the parking problems I did anticipate. I think living in Manhattan or somewhere within a quick subway trip to Grand Central, ditching the car & dealing with the train might be the best option. I wouldn't be happy living in a suburb, even though I agree white plains is not terrible as far as they go. Thanks again for the great comments
Remember to calculate the daily cab rides to & from your office from the White Plains train station! (unless you can talk a kind co-worker into picking you up & dropping you off).
If you want to sign up for a 3+ hour daily commute by train, suit yourself, but it seems easier to live there durin the week and come into the city on weekends. Do you really go out to bars & restaurants 5-7 nights a week? If it's more like 2-3 nights, seems like White Plains would be easier and cheaper.
When looking at schedules, remember you can always get on the train at 125th Street, as opposed to exclusively at Grand Central. This would open up areas of the UES, where you may have to walk west to get a 4,5,6 train to 125th, but the subway ride would be about 10-15 minutes. You would then have a short walk to Park where the MNRR train stops from 125th & Lexington. The key would be not to be too far east on the UES, so that you would not have a long walk to Lexington.
From Astoria, you could take the M60 bus to 125th Street Station, but that would take about 30 minutes, though the trip to White Plains is not too long, especially on the express trains. It would take about the same amount of time to get to GCT from Astoria via subway.
Do you know if your office is in the downtown area of White Plains, or is it a campus on the outskirts of the city? Does your employer offer a shuttle service to/from the train? If not, the train does go to the tranist center where there are buses on the Bee Line routes that do go to various parts of the area.
If you were to keep the car, and live in a good part of The Bronx, your drive would not be too bad to White Plains. And, depending upon the mode of transportation, you could be in Midtown in under 30 minutes. You would avoid bridge tolls in The Bronx, and would not have the garage expenses that you would encounter in parts of Manhattan. Riverdale, in particular, is an easy car commute to WP because the Henry Hudson Parkway traverses the neighborhood, so your time on surface streets is limited. You could take the HH to the Saw Mill (turns into the Saw Mill at the Westchester line) to the Cross County Parkway to the Bronx River, Hutchinson, or Sprain Brook Parkway (depending upon part of WP) to White Plains. You could even take the Thruway to 119, though there is a toll on the Thruway. I would avoid 287 if at all possible because it can be problematic during rush hour. On a snowy day, if you did not want to drive, you could always take MNRR from Riverdale to 125th to the train to White Plains.
I can understand not wanting to live in White Plains as it's as close as Westchester comes to a city, but the nightlife and such is geared more toward suburban families than singles. Riverdale is quiet, too, but offers MNRR and express buses that make it more convenient to go out in Manhattan; and, it's easier to keep a car in Riverdale than many other neighborhoods.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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