Looking for a nice suburb area for family raising? (Hyde Park: condo, how much) - New York City - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

ciscoctober · 07-23-2015, 12:29 PM

Hello everyone. I am here to ask about raising a family in NYC, i currently live in NYC and i love NYC. The thing is, there certain wishes in my life that i want to have. Family related wishes. I want to raise my family in a nice suburb area. A home that it is detached, has a good lot size for barbecues, a dog, and gardening and part of a good neighborhood with good schools, safe, and some good venues to take the family out to eat. I also want this place to be accessible for commuting since My wife and I work in NYC.

I've been eyeing on Riverdale Bronx, the view is awesome and the neighborhood is beautiful. There are 2 problems though. The 1st one is the commuting. I work in Downtown Manhattan, and the only thing i know is the 1 train which takes forever. I would like to know if there are various routes that i can take from riverdale to manhattan.

The next problem might sound shallow, 'll admit it is shallow but i don't mean it in any offensive way. I am a filipino and I am not as comfortable in a low asian community, mainly because of the fact that i've been treated with allot of racism before in areas such as Nassau county. Riverdale was mostly white, which is fine and i don't mind that but I do want my children to also be around their culture, favorably filipino culture but not necessary .. and i do my entire family being treated with racism. I have no problem being the minority though, i have no problem being in a community in where i am the only asian amongst whites,african american or latino just as long as there is still a nice number of my people so that my kids don't just forget where there roots are and also to avoid the whole racism treatment.

85dumbo · 07-23-2015, 12:42 PM

Regarding the asian thing... don't get too hung up about it. I was in a similar situation. I just moved out of DUMBO for Nassau County (East Hills), and I'm a chinese dude. East Hills is overwhelmingly white and jewish, with a smattering of asians. No one really cares what color you are as long as a you are a good neighbor. You should base your decision of neighborhood based on quality of school, commute, property taxes, etc. The amount of asians in the hood should be on the bottom of your list.

So far I love the suburbs and I dont miss Brooklyn at all. I've gone full suburb.. barbeques, mowing my own lawn, finally have a Garage to work on my cars, dog loves our huge 0.4acre yard.

edubz · 07-23-2015, 12:48 PM

Have you looked into Staten Island at all? Many East Shore communities such as New Dorp, Oakwood and Richmondtown would fit your desires, and have become rather diverse in the last decade. My commute from New Dorp to downtown is 45 minutes to 1hr 10 minutes via the x15 or the SIR/ferry combo.

ciscoctober · 07-23-2015, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85dumbo

Regarding the asian thing... don't get too hung up about it. I was in a similar situation. I just moved out of DUMBO for Nassau County (East Hills), and I'm a chinese dude. East Hills is overwhelmingly white and jewish, with a smattering of asians. No one really cares what color you are as long as a you are a good neighbor. You should base your decision of neighborhood based on quality of school, commute, property taxes, etc. The amount of asians in the hood should be on the bottom of your list.

So far I love the suburbs and I dont miss Brooklyn at all. I've gone full suburb.. barbeques, mowing my own lawn, finally have a Garage to work on my cars, dog loves our huge 0.4acre yard.

I used to live in Nassau, and mostly i would run into racists on the long island railroad who would just be insulting me and other diversities for riding the train towards Great neck. I remember a guy giving a mean look towards every chinese person that past him and started complaining about chinese people are now taking over the nassau. I've dealt with racism in areas where i was the only asian in the neighborhood.. and i was a decent neighbor. Its not just fear though and i do agree that it should be at the bottom of my list, which it is but still part of the list. I want to be in a good mixed diversity, that;s why i love NYC so much.. i love being around people who root from different parts of the world, but at the same time make sure my kids have decent exposure to their own people as well. Thanks for the input.

ciscoctober · 07-23-2015, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edubz

Have you looked into Staten Island at all? Many East Shore communities such as New Dorp, Oakwood and Richmondtown would fit your desires, and have become rather diverse in the last decade. My commute from New Dorp to downtown is 45 minutes to 1hr 10 minutes via the x15 or the SIR/ferry combo.

Thanks. I will research this.. are there also good suburb neighborhoods in brooklyn? And how is forest hills in comparison to riverdale and the other good suburb neighborhoods?

DoomDan515 · 07-23-2015, 01:53 PM

Why not try Bayside or Douglaston in Queens?

babysladkaya · 07-23-2015, 02:04 PM

First, Riverdale is not a suburb, it's within the Bronx borough, so you will still be paying NYC tax, one of the advantages of moving to suburbs is that your high property taxes and cost of commute offset what you would be paying in NYC tax plus private schools/tutors to get your kids into good middle and high schools. Forest Hills, Bayside, Douglaston while all decent areas, are still part of NYC. In terms of racism in Nassau county, true, it could persist in some places, however, there are towns that are very diverse with strong schools system, good commute to Manhattan and good housing stock to choose from-New Hyde Park, East Williston come to mind, in fact, a Chinese co-worker of mine just moved to EW and she loves it, she said her son was being bullied in Forest Hills middle school and she is so happy now. In general, I am very surprised thinking that over the past 20 or so years, NYC has become even more diverse than ever, people should already learn tolerance for others.

ciscoctober · 07-23-2015, 02:12 PM

Douglaston sounds very good. Thanks.. but how is the commute there?

Also, is what i am looking really for incompatible with Riverdale?

Henna · 07-23-2015, 02:14 PM

It all depends on your budget. Single family homes are extremely expensive in most of the NYC metro area. How much can you spend on a house and monthly property taxes?

bmwguydc · 07-23-2015, 11:24 PM

You can take Metro-North to GCT and then the subway Downtown from Riverdale, either Spuyten Duyvil or Riverdale stations. During rush hours, there is an express bus, the BxM18 that runs from Riverdale to the Financial District. If you have parking, and can commute at off hours to avoid much of the traffic, you could also drive. One of my relatives drives from Riverdale to Midtown West, and it doesn't take her very long at all, most days, but I know that's not an option for everyone because you don't want to have to pay for Manhattan parking, since it would be more expensive than commuting via Metro-North and subway or express bus.

The upside to Riverdale and Douglaston is that for the price of a condo on the UES or UWS, you can get a single-family house with a yard, some even relatively large by city standards. Property taxes are a fraction of the suburban communities, but that comes at a price. Schools lag behind small suburban districts that are known for strong academic performance, but small villages may not be as diverse, depending upon where you want to look. Douglaston has good schools as District 26 is the highest performing in the city. Riverdale has decent schools within the neighborhood, but many do also use the private system, since the hill schools (Riverdale Country Day, Horace Mann, and Ethical Culture Fieldston) are among the best private schools in the city.