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So Queens I see plenty but what about closer to Manhattan? Like a TriBeCa townhouse but not but somewhere that doesn’t cost $20M+. NOHO seemed pretty cool. I like the village sort of vibe. Reminds me of Georgetown where every building is connected but individually owned with a tiny yard. Probably dreaming on budget though.
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Originally Posted by SeventhFloor
There are plenty of areas with 3+ bedrooms and a small yard in the outer boroughs for under $5M. You just have to pick an outer borough and narrow your search from there.
Yes, definitely are a lot of options but your best bet of balance would probably be in NW Brooklyn(Brooklyn Heights/Park Slope area) for the community feel, large park, family centered living with a 10 min commute to the City and even walking/biking distance over Brooklyn Bridge. As an NYC resident, your children are eligible to take the specialized test for Stuy/Brooklyn Tech/Bronx Science if they are freshman -> sophmore or as middle school 8th graders. You can probably even add a beach house in the Rockaways with your budget for the weekends that is 30 min away on the A train.
Having went to Tech in the 90s, it is a school with 4k student body that is competitive and diverse. We were at 40/40/20 back then - asian/black/Caucasian. More importantly, it represented students from all walks of life, from all boroughs to congregate and socialize - a different perspective.
While this is true, getting admittance into Brooklyn Tech or the other very good high schools of NYC can be quite competitive, so you really have to have faith in your kid's abilities. By US News rankings, which is probably the most commonly referenced one for US high schools, NYC has the best high schools in the state and Tri-State area with top NJ high schools coming after that, then Westchester, then Long Island with the top 100 and especially the top 10 dominated by NYC proper. However, the NYC schools are generally ones that your kid has to do well to get into whereas many of the good suburban schools don't depend so much on that as it does on having the money to buy property in those districts. If you've got the money and your kid isn't academically too notable, then it does make the suburbs a more compelling option.
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Originally Posted by Conrad4402
So Queens I see plenty but what about closer to Manhattan? Like a TriBeCa townhouse but not but somewhere that doesn’t cost $20M+. NOHO seemed pretty cool. I like the village sort of vibe. Reminds me of Georgetown where every building is connected but individually owned with a tiny yard. Probably dreaming on budget though.
Parts of Queens and Brooklyn are *very* close to Manhattan with multiple ways to get to Midtown / Downtown. Queens and Brooklyn are both quite large. For a home with your own private yard and not counting maybe balcony / rooftop yards in a condo or co-op, you're unlikely to find anything in NOHO or TriBeCa with your budget--these also aren't particularly diverse neighborhoods to be honest. You could try going on Zillow or StreetEasy and put in your criteria. Without the need for 2+ acres and a more modest private yard being acceptable, then there's quite a bit in NYC that could work for you.
If you're thinking of taking the northwest Brooklyn suggestion, Park Slope is generally more diverse than Brooklyn Heights and has notably good schools. However, since you're talking about teens, it's a lot more about how well they can do in getting to a good public high school (unless you opt to pay for private). Park Slope is a close commute to Brooklyn Tech for them and a potentially fairly easy walk or bike and decent transit options for other notable high schools like Stuyvesant, High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies, Millennium High School, Millennium Brooklyn (this one's actually in Park Slope), but there is no guarantee that your kids will be able to get in. I know at least one family that first found where their kid got tested into and *then* moved to be closer to the school. What that also means is that it might open up more neighborhoods to consider because public high school enrollment aren't tightly coupled to the neighborhood you live in. With that, you can also consider city neighborhoods like Fort Greene and Clinton Hill south of Willoughby Avenue or Prospect Heights.
Anyhow, you were already considering occasional less than 2 hour trips to Manhattan as within reason and pretty much no part of NYC is more than 2 hours from midtown or downtown by transit save for a scant handful of Staten Island neighborhoods around its southern reaches, so there are maybe a couple dozen NYC neighborhoods that fit your criteria once you let go of the 2+ acres bit.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 09-18-2020 at 10:13 AM..
So Queens I see plenty but what about closer to Manhattan? Like a TriBeCa townhouse but not but somewhere that doesn’t cost $20M+. NOHO seemed pretty cool. I like the village sort of vibe. Reminds me of Georgetown where every building is connected but individually owned with a tiny yard. Probably dreaming on budget though.
You probably would have better luck in Brooklyn.
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OP Look at Nyack up in Rockland County, River Front, artsy, eclectic the acreage may be a bit challenging but go online and look you never know. Plenty of older properties that don't follow the Levittown handbook for property layout. You might want to look at "LGBTQIA" magazines/ publications that discuss living and community they should have the best insight what has been found as suitable.
I was just about to ask about Windsor Terrace, Prospect Park area or Forrest Hills. Seems like a little bump in budget can actually get a good sized lot. Even saw one with a backyard & pool..
Forest Hills is a really nice place with larger lot sizes, good Main st and community centered. It is also close to Townsend Harris but your kids might not be eligible since you apply in 8th grade but based off 7th grade scores.
Any houses North of Queens Blvd should be excluded, predominately Bhukarian Jews that generally stick to their own. On the south side, you have all the coops, rentals and houses that make pretty diverse. It is also where many people from other ares congregate towards. The gardens are even better because of the suburb feel - 60+X100 lot sizes vs the normal 20/30/40X100 lots.
Forest Hills Gardens (as opposed to Forest Hills) is very unique. You also have the LIRR station there, the stadium, and a really nice park. I'd live there if I could afford it.
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