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I have posted here before, but am hoping I can get more helpful information via a new post. My husband and I are considering relocating to Westchester (from Fairfield County, CT), but are overwhelmed as to where to start looking. I know that the taxes in Westchester are much higher than here in CT, but we would still like to look around just in case we happen to find something we absolutely love there. We are not too familiar with the different towns and would like to narrow down a list of towns to investigate. Here's our ask list for a town:
- good schools
- walkable town (something not woodsy, preferably with an active town center, where people walk)
- we'd like to purchase a 3-4 bedroom, at least 2,000 sq foot home for no more than $800K
We do not commute to NYC, so proximity to an NYC train is not a must have. We've looked at Larchmont and I loved it when we drove through, but I'm not sure about the schools there and it seems to be above our price range, so I'm open to other considerations. Thank you in advance for all suggestions. Also, if anybody has a recommendation about a realtor in the area who could help educate us, that would be great too.
On the Larchmont side of the county you've also got Mamaroneck and Harrison; both of which have pretty decent schools. There's also Rye Brook, which may be a little out of budget? I'm not really sure what's available for houses there now. My sister and her husband purchased their home in the $800k range in Rye Brook about four years ago. They seem to be pretty happy with their housing decision and are so far happy with the schools my niece/nephews attend. I've been told Bronxville also has some good schools, but I'm not sure what the price of homes would be like now; I remember my sister saying they were fairly expensive and you didn't get a lot of land, but this issue may have been related to the homes she was looking at. Pelham may also be another option for you--good schools, but it can also be pricey.
You may find some more affordable homes in one of the rivertowns (Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, Ardsley, Hastings). Irvington schools seem to be highly rated by people. You may want to expand your search to that side of the county as well. You said you're not worried about proximity to the city, so perhaps going into Northern Westchester would be a good option? I'm not all too familiar with the school/towns as you go further north.
On the Larchmont side of the county you've also got Mamaroneck and Harrison; both of which have pretty decent schools.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that I'd heard that Mamaroneck's schools weren't that great, and nor was the overall safety of the town? I know it has a great, walking-friendly town center, but didn't realize it also hit the mark on our other requirements. Hmm....
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that I'd heard that Mamaroneck's schools weren't that great, and nor was the overall safety of the town? I know it has a great, walking-friendly town center, but didn't realize it also hit the mark on our other requirements. Hmm....
You may want to poke around some of the online review sites for in-depth school reviews, test scores, overall performance, etc. I have a few close friends who attended Mamaroneck schools and they are doing fairly well now. I've never really heard complaints about their Mamaroneck school experiences. I've never considered Mamaroneck to be unsafe, am I missing something? Spotcrime.com may be a good resource in regards to safety.
EDIT: After looking at test scores and doing a little more digging, it appears that Mamaroneck schools may not be as highly rated as I thought. They've also fallen a few ranks in recent years.
Pleasantville has some good schools; I'm unsure of house prices in the area, though. Byram Hills also has good schools, but housing may be a bit out of your budget.
This interactive chart may prove helpful in your search.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that I'd heard that Mamaroneck's schools weren't that great, and nor was the overall safety of the town? I know it has a great, walking-friendly town center, but didn't realize it also hit the mark on our other requirements. Hmm....
Where did you hear that? Mamaroneck schools would rank in the "tier" just below Scarsdale, Chappaqua, and Bronxville, seeing as Mamaroneck has some diversity and those 3 do not. It would still be considered an excellent school system and if you look at the colleges attended by the graduates you will see that the list is equal to the other great school districts in Westchester. The Larchmont elementary schools in particular draw from a uniformly affluent neighborhood and are excellent. Many families prefer the Mamaroneck school district because of the (relative) diversity and less pressure-packed atmosphere and choose to move here because of it.
The safety of the town??? Now I'm truly puzzled as to where or from whom you got your information. Very safe, no less safe than anywhere else around here...
That said...it will be difficult to find something in your price range, but maybe not impossible. Have you looked at the listings to see what is available?
If you don't need to commute to NYC I wouldn't pay the premium for southern Westchester. You will get a much better house for your price range further north. If northern Westchester is too rural for you and you like the more suburban feel of southern Westchester, then keep an eye on the listings as things will start to go on the market in a flurry real soon.
Where did you hear that? Mamaroneck schools would rank in the "tier" just below Scarsdale, Chappaqua, and Bronxville, seeing as Mamaroneck has some diversity and those 3 do not. It would still be considered an excellent school system and if you look at the colleges attended by the graduates you will see that the list is equal to the other great school districts in Westchester. The Larchmont elementary schools in particular draw from a uniformly affluent neighborhood and are excellent. Many families prefer the Mamaroneck school district because of the (relative) diversity and less pressure-packed atmosphere and choose to move here because of it.
The safety of the town??? Now I'm truly puzzled as to where or from whom you got your information. Very safe, no less safe than anywhere else around here...
That said...it will be difficult to find something in your price range, but maybe not impossible. Have you looked at the listings to see what is available?
If you don't need to commute to NYC I wouldn't pay the premium for southern Westchester. You will get a much better house for your price range further north. If northern Westchester is too rural for you and you like the more suburban feel of southern Westchester, then keep an eye on the listings as things will start to go on the market in a flurry real soon.
This is a good point. I have friends who graduated from Mamaroneck HS in the 2003-2006 range. They've since all graduated from great four year colleges, some have gone on to graduate school and received their JDs, MAs or PHDs and are now gainfully employed in fields they enjoy.
Going up to northern Westchester is a great option. Northern Westchester still has some really great schools and you do get more for your money. Despite being further north, you can still hop on a MNR train and be in the city in about an hour, depending on where you move to.
Going up to northern Westchester is a great option. Northern Westchester still has some really great schools and you do get more for your money. Despite being further north, you can still hop on a MNR train and be in the city in about an hour, depending on where you move to.
Which specific towns in Northern Westchester are you referring to? Which towns there have good schools, walkability, not rural surroundings, town center, etc? My husband will be commuting to Stamford and/or White Plains, so we need something that's not too long of a commute for him. We are also still looking in Fairfield County, but not really having much luck...
Which specific towns in Northern Westchester are you referring to? Which towns there have good schools, walkability, not rural surroundings, town center, etc? My husband will be commuting to Stamford and/or White Plains, so we need something that's not too long of a commute for him. We are also still looking in Fairfield County, but not really having much luck...
I'm really more familiar with southern Westchester, having grown up in Scarsdale, now living in Dobbs Ferry and working in Pelham.
Byram Hills schools are supposed to be quite good (the town you'd be looking at is Armonk). Armonk's town is walkable, but it's pretty small. There's also not a good selection of food in Armonk, if that's a concern for you. Armonk can get expensive, too.
Pleasantville schools are also supposed to be good. From what I've seen of the town it's walkable. I've stopped at Pony Express for food a few times, that's the extent of the time I've spent in Pleasantville.
Briarcliff has good schools, but I don't know much about the town. Again, it can be expensive.
Most of the Westchester towns with good school systems are pretty expensive.
As previously posted, this link should help you get a feel for the schools in Westchester and how the students perform.
As previously mentioned, Blind Brook (Rye Brook) schools are quite good. My sister has been happy with her decision to move to Rye Brook and send her kids to the public schools there. Technically Rye Brook is part of Port Chester, but they have their own school system (Blind Brook) so be aware of this as you hunt. You wouldn't want to send your kids through Port Chester's school system.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that I'd heard that Mamaroneck's schools weren't that great, and nor was the overall safety of the town? I know it has a great, walking-friendly town center, but didn't realize it also hit the mark on our other requirements. Hmm....
?? You're so far off the map on this you're out in the ocean.
As for the schools, they are fine. They're at about 25% diversity in the HS - so if you compare them to other schools you'll need a reasonable comparison on that. Chappaqua and Scarsdale are stellar when it comes to SAT scores so to compare a school's scores to them and then conclude the school isn't that that great is odd. That means you have a binary system which just "not great" and "great" as your only categories.
You may want to poke around some of the online review sites for in-depth school reviews, test scores, overall performance, etc. I have a few close friends who attended Mamaroneck schools and they are doing fairly well now. I've never really heard complaints about their Mamaroneck school experiences. I've never considered Mamaroneck to be unsafe, am I missing something? Spotcrime.com may be a good resource in regards to safety.
EDIT: After looking at test scores and doing a little more digging, it appears that Mamaroneck schools may not be as highly rated as I thought. They've also fallen a few ranks in recent years.
Pleasantville has some good schools; I'm unsure of house prices in the area, though. Byram Hills also has good schools, but housing may be a bit out of your budget.
This interactive chart may prove helpful in your search.
The interactive chart is useful. You've got 46 high schools in Westchester listed. You can see the differences in a number of parameters. MHS comes in at no. 11 based on SAT combined, which would be "first tier" if using 4 tier system (a la US News & World report). If you split it up into an 8 tier system, MHS is second tier out of 8. Depends what you mean by not great I suppose.
The thing is, in Mamaroneck and Larchmont you are paying for walkable towns with lots of other facilities AND quick railroad access. If you're not commuting to the city, then why pay that price premium?
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