Advice on neighborhoods for family with school aged kids (Eastchester: renter, broker)

[babysladkaya]

Commute from Long Island to Midtown East is actually not a piece of cake unless OP transfers at Jamaica to the E train which stops on Lexington and 53rd street. There are many areas where for your rental budget, you can get a nice place to fit you all, however, the additional requirement are good schools and here is where you pretty much hit the wall with most of NYC because the amount of good school dwindles as you go up the ladder-practically all good neighborhoods have good elementary schools, however, these same neighborhoods are often zoned for mediocre or poor middle schools and don't even get me started on high schools. Your best bet in terms of commute and schools would be Westchester. Top family towns on everyone's list are Larchmont and Scarsdale, followed by the River Towns-Croton on Hudson, Hastings on Hudson, Irvington on Hudson. Another choice is CT-Greenwich, Westport have good commute to Grand Central, basically, from Grand Central, you will have 10 minute walk to the office.

[acousticbiker]

Thanks to all for the suggestions! If we are looking for a single family home with a yard, are there other neighborhoods with commute and schools comparable to (or better than) Forest Hills?

[Coney]

It really sounds like you would do better looking in the suburbs of either Westchester (better commute to Midtown East) or Long Island. With your budget, you won't have problems finding a rental. Nassau County schools and many in Westchester are by far superior to most schools in the NYC system. Your fifth grader would be entering middle school and most aren't that great. Maybe, you would be ok with your 11 year old riding their bike by themself in a congested, concrete city park, but the big problem is how they would get to that park on their own. Crossing big streets with heavy traffic, with the bike on their own would not be acceptable to me, as a parent, especially with children who are not NYC savy. For the money, you could rent a very nice house or a 3 bedroom apartment in one of the newer Avalon type apartment complexes. People do raise children in Manhattan, but your description of your wish list, sounded more like a lifestyle of suburbia. Also be aware that some commutes from a suburb to Midtown are faster than a commute from one section of the city to another.

I see your last post. If you really prefer now a single family home with a yard, I would definitely rent in Nassau or Westchester.

[bumblebyz]

Originally Posted by acousticbiker

Thanks to all for the suggestions! If we are looking for a single family home with a yard, are there other neighborhoods with commute and schools comparable to (or better than) Forest Hills?

Perhaps something like the below in Bayside:

3822 216th St # HOME, Bayside, NY 11361 is For Rent | Zillow

These are the things that you're looking for:
- Five minute walk to LIRR,
- 25min to Penn station on the most timely line in the entire LIRR system
- 3 block walk to Crocheron Park
- 6/7 min walk or 2/3 min bike ride to the little neck bay area where you can jog/bike, rent a boat
- Tons of decent restaurants nearby. Many restaurants in the greater area are opened 24/7, can't find that even in 95% of Manhattan (Yelp Restaurant List within 3-5 min walk)
- Top 10 performing zoned elementary school in the entire New York State beats more than 99% of all elementary schools, excellent Junior High School rating of 9/10 on GreatSchools.org. Also no wait list for pre-k here. In Forest Hills 1 out of 6 kids have to travel outside of their zoned schools due to overcrowding.
- Day camp within walking distance (http://www.worldofdiscovery.org/)

Also if you drive it's an additional plus. You can make a short drive to Fairway SuperMarket in Douglaston, Target in College Point, WholeFoods in Manhasset. It's also a short drive to beaches/malls in LI compared to other areas in NYC. In addition there's a local driving range, golf course if you're into that stuff. Two other huge parks Cunningham (has awesome mountain bike trails for kids) and Alley pond are also within the area if you drive or bike.

[acousticbiker]

Thanks, bumblebyz. Looks great, but my office is closer to Grand Central than to Penn - so commute from Bayside turns out to be over an hour (~35 min from Forest Hills).

[lauraleaf]

I would go for somewhere on the Upper West Side. You can probably find a small 3-bedroom in a good school zone on your budget, and it's fairly easy to go crosstown to get to work. You'll be near great parks (Central and Riverside) and close to the heart of the city, yet still in an area full of families. The UWS is very urban, however, so if you want something that feels a little more purely residential, consider Forest Hills (as someone else advised) or parts of Brooklyn. Do you plan to commute by public transit or by car?

[acousticbiker]

Originally Posted by lauraleaf

I would go for somewhere on the Upper West Side. You can probably find a small 3-bedroom in a good school zone on your budget, and it's fairly easy to go crosstown to get to work. You'll be near great parks (Central and Riverside) and close to the heart of the city, yet still in an area full of families. The UWS is very urban, however, so if you want something that feels a little more purely residential, consider Forest Hills (as someone else advised) or parts of Brooklyn. Do you plan to commute by public transit or by car?

Thanks! I would be commuting by car to work and my wife would probably more car-oriented with the kids

[citylove101]

Originally Posted by acousticbiker

Thanks! I would be commuting by car to work and my wife would probably more car-oriented with the kids

DO NOT DO THIS!

Unless having a car is an absolute necessity for your job, commuting by car every day to the Grand Central area will be time-consuming, expensive and it will wreck your last nerve. Count on using mass transit to arrive at this part of Manhattan no matter where you decide to settle. Trust me on this.

[acousticbiker]

Originally Posted by citylove101

DO NOT DO THIS!

Unless having a car is an absolute necessity for your job, commuting by car every day to the Grand Central area will be time-consuming, expensive and it will wreck your last nerve. Count on using mass transit to arrive at this part of Manhattan no matter where you decide to settle. Trust me on this.

Thanks - I mistyped, I will be train-oriented for sure! Edited my post to prevent further piling on on this point!

[CollegiateSchoolNY]

I would suggest the Upper West Side and Forest Hills.