Croton neighborhoods (Hastings, Hudson, Jay: houses, school district, live in)

[jay326]

We're considering moving into Croton and we're curious about the various neighborhoods within Croton. I've seen a few houses near Hastings Ave, Penifield Ave, Young Ave, and Wayne Street

these areas are pretty close to the train station and have appeal but I don't have a good feel for this area of Croton. Any insight would be appreciated on this areas or other areas within Croton

thanks

[dma1250]

The "village" of Croton has 3 (or more) distinct areas:

The Harmon area is the street grid centered on Benedict Blvd running from South Riverside over to Cleveland Drive. This has mostly modest homes, with a mix of houses from the 1920's and those from the 50's. (Much of Croton was rezoned in the 50's with smaller allowable lots, so you'll find streets with houses from the 50's sandwiched between ones from the 20's and 30's). Harmon is very easily walkable to the commercial strip on South Riverside (which has 2 restaurants and a deli), the train, the library, and schools.

The Sunset area is to the east of Cleveland Drive, running down the hill to the Croton River. This area has a mix of homes too, running from modest to larger houses. The area centers around the small Sunset Park playground. The streets along the hill over the river are really lovely. This area is all walkable to the Silver Lake beach on the Croton River. The Sunset area is also easily walkable to the commercial area in the Upper Village (which has a few small stores), the library, and schools.

North of Maple Avenue is the Upper Village, which has winding streets with cute little victorians and other older homes running down to North Riverside Drive. This area is easily walkable to the Upper Village commercial area, as well as to Senasqua Park and Croton Landing on the Hudson.

Outside of the "village" to the north is the Mount Airy Trails area, which is really sweet, and then north of that the larger Mt Airy section, which stretches all the way up to Furance Dock Road. To the south is the northern edge of the Teatown area. The Croton School District is larger than what I’ve described, and stretches to the north and east.

[jay326]

thanks DMA.

And what are your thoughts on the Harmon area? How would it be to raise a couple of young children there? Is it family oriented? Safe? Are there good parks nearby?

I couldn't get much of a feel when I drove down those streets recently

[dma1250]

Jay, I think all of Croton is safe and family-oriented, and the Harmon area certainly is. To make gross generalizations that aren't really true, I think historically Harmon has been more working class and conservative, as opposed to Sunset and the Upper Village which have a larger percentage of more recent arrivals from NYC who are financially better off and tend to be more liberal. That said, I personally know some creative professionals from Brooklyn who live in Harmon, and all of Croton has a real mix of old-timers and more recent arrivals (as does the enire area).