Contemplating NYC Move - Neighborhood Suggestion (White Plains, Scarsdale: condos, buying a home, neighborhoods)

[Stockholmaren]

Hello! My wife and I recently moved to Boston (I'm in grad school) from the Midwest, which was a great upgrade, but since we have more family and friends in NYC, we're considering moving there (my wife went to undergrad there a few years ago) so I was wondering if you have any suggestions for neighborhoods to start looking in that fit some of the criteria we have:

- Relatively safe
- We don't have any kids yet, but schools may be a concern in a few years
- Within an hour's train commute from Manhattan (Penn Station)
- Would like opportunities for outdoors activities (tennis, biking, walking, etc.)
- Budget: Difficult to say, but would like to buy condo relatively soon without extending ourselves ($150-200k income)

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[SeventhFloor]

maybe you should look into white plains in westchester county....i think there was a previous thread on white plains if you search.

[Viralmd]

White Plains won't get you to Penn Station, but New Jersey will. If you live in White Plains the train will get you into Grand Central Station, but where you work/need to go (either east or west) will tell you whether Westchester (Grand Central Station - East side) or NJ/LI (Penn Station - West side) would be more convenient. Personally, I'm not fond of Long Island....

[jjbradleynyc]

Are you wanting to live within NYC's city limits? Or are you open to the suburbs?
Of course, with me buying a home in Stamford, CT, I am a huge "pusher" of Stamford! The city has just over 120,000 people, is consistently ranked in the top 10 "safest" cities in the US, has lovely parks, beaches on the sound, a gorgeous outdoor nature arboretum in the northern part of the city, and prices on homes/condos have dropped over the past 6 months. The downtown has a fast growing and dynamic corporate downtown--with RBS, UBS, Phillips, GE, Purdue Pharma, and many other major corporations centered here. There's also tons of new highrises coming in: Trump Parc tower, Ritz-Carlton, etc. Great city for kids!!
On the other hand, if you want a 'hood here within the NYC city limits, you may want to consider these: Park Slope in Brooklyn and Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Prices are about the same--with Williamsburg just starting to reach above Park Slope's prices--especially on Williamsburg's "northside" part of the 'hood. I can give you any other info you need on a private message. Good luck!

[Stockholmaren]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

Are you wanting to live within NYC's city limits? Or are you open to the suburbs?
Of course, with me buying a home in Stamford, CT, I am a huge "pusher" of Stamford! The city has just over 120,000 people, is consistently ranked in the top 10 "safest" cities in the US, has lovely parks, beaches on the sound, a gorgeous outdoor nature arboretum in the northern part of the city, and prices on homes/condos have dropped over the past 6 months. The downtown has a fast growing and dynamic corporate downtown--with RBS, UBS, Phillips, GE, Purdue Pharma, and many other major corporations centered here. There's also tons of new highrises coming in: Trump Parc tower, Ritz-Carlton, etc. Great city for kids!!
On the other hand, if you want a 'hood here within the NYC city limits, you may want to consider these: Park Slope in Brooklyn and Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Prices are about the same--with Williamsburg just starting to reach above Park Slope's prices--especially on Williamsburg's "northside" part of the 'hood. I can give you any other info you need on a private message. Good luck!

I think we're open to both, especially later with kids and stuff, but I'm not a fan of a long commute. Stamford does sound pretty nice, I've just been through it a couple of times, but I noticed all of those big corporations, so maybe I should start a job search there, we'll have to see :-)

[SaintLaurent]

I personally would go with Scarsdale. It's a nice place.