Is Monroe, NY right for our family? (Yonkers, Ramapo: home, movie theater)

[mel4VA]

Myself, my husband, his mother and our 3 children are looking for a larger home. We currently live in a 1000sq ft $360 k home in Nassau, LI paying 12k in taxes. I commute 1.5-2 hrs 3 days a week by car to the Yonkers for work and have been for 10 years. I am ok with my commute. Husband mostly works from home but takes the train 70 minutes occasionally into Manhattan for work engagements. We have about $ addition to our current equity to put towards another home. We are not looking for a cheaper cost of living necessarily but a larger home on the same budget we have now. We have limited family on LI who we see yearly so no real reason to stay.

What we are looking for:

Good schools
Similar cost of living but at least 2000sq ft living space.
Outdoor activities: hiking, parks, gardens, ect.
Kids activities: soccer, softball, basketball, swim class ect.
Less traffic, less stress
Access to NYC few days per week with commute 90-120 minutes.
Access to basic food/convenience stores.
Slower place to raise a family
We don't need fancy restaurants or venues, just looking for a family restaurant, community activities, library, and maybe a movie theater

Concerns:
Commute to NYC longer than 2hrs on more than a few occassions.
Activities for kids?
Taxes on a 2000 sq ft home. Are they higher than LI or similar?
Environmental. Are their flooding, weather issues we aren't aware of?
We will no longer be super close to a beach. Where is the nearest lake/swimming area?

I know recommendations to live on the east side of the Hudson for the nyc commute. The closest we could afford would be as north as Cortlandt and seems to be similar in cost than if we just move further east on LI. We are still open to anything.

Any thoughts are welcome.

[sithlord72]

Ok, I'm gonna give you the best piece of advice you'll ever get. Do NOT move to the Monroe Woodbury SD. Within a few years, once the corrupt Hasidim in Kiryas Joel get their 500 acres from their illegal & unconstitutional land grab, the Monroe Woodbury CSD will be dead, like East Ramapo, which deteriorating home values and a large decrease in quality of living. May I recommend Warwick, NY. The town of warwick bought up a lot of the land in warwick. At least they had a semblance of vision to see what is coming down the road for all of Orange County.

[diydesign]

Move to Dutchess County. We are former LI'ers with 5 young kids....who moved to northern Hopewell Junction (Arlington schools) just off the Taconic....and could not be happier with our decision. The schools are great and the whole area...Lagrangeville, Poughquag, etc is really nice, great bang for the buck and super family-friendly. Feel free to PM me.