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Will be relocating for new employment at West Point next summer. I am late single male, late 20's, and prefer to live in one of metropolitan areas closer to NYC. Want to avoid rural areas around the Hudson. Do you think that living in Yonkers, White Plains, Tarrytown, or Ossining areas would be reasonable commute. Is there a train that goes from one of these areas to town near west point? Do you know of any other areas with 45-50 minute commute to West Point-Hudson area? Thanks for input.
Personally, if I was going to work at West Point, I would not want to live any further south or east than Tarrytown. I would forget about White Plains and Yonkers. I can understand that someone in his late 20s would want to be as close to NYC as possible, but think of all the miles you'll be putting on your car commuting to West Point 5 days/week and the money you'll be spending on gasoline (which is just over $3/gallon at most places now for regular unleaded). Your car insurance will definitely be higher in Yonkers than Tarrytown too.
In case you're not familiar with the area, all of the places you mentioned are on the eastern side of the Hudson River, while West Point is on the western side of the Hudson. When you commute to West Point, you'll have to use either the Tappan Zee or Bear Mountain bridge every day, both of which are toll bridges (the Bear Mtn is a lot cheaper than the TZ).
I would focus your search on the river towns between Peekskill and Tarrytown. All of the towns there have easy access to the Metro North train for when you feel like going into NYC.
There is no train station near West Point or Highland Falls. Metro North train does run through Yonkers, Ossining and Tarrytown north toward Peekskill and up to Poughkeepsie, but the train line is on the other side of the Hudson River from West Point, and does not cross over to the West Point side anywhere.
Last edited by manyroads; 10-26-2010 at 08:59 AM..
Great advice. Thanks. My biggest worry is being stuck in one of the rural towns with nothing to do. I plan to use the metro train to visit NYC a couple weekends per month. I hear that Nyack is a nice area. Going to also look into Tarrytown.
Yes, Nyack is a nice area; I like it a lot. A popular route for road bikers runs through the town and it's got some nice apartments close to the Hudson River. The drawback to living there is that (to my knowledge) there is no train line on that side of the river that you can take into NYC, so you'll either have to take your car into NYC, or drive across the river and pick up the train in Tarrytown.
Google maps says 48 minutes between White Plains and West Point. White Plains has a nice singles scene. Same with Stamford CT which is 23 minutes from White Plains but too far from West Point.
These are by far the best places in their respective counties for nightlife.
I'd move to White Plains and take the longer commute. Stay in a hotel in White Plains and try it.
Otherwise, try Tarrytown and you can be in White Plains in 15 minutes anyway.
I agree with what you have to say about nightlife in White Plains and Stamford, stibgo, but I don't put a lot of stock in Google's estimates of how long it takes to get from place to place. I don't think they take into account varying speed limits along the route. For example, traveling along Route 9A in Briarcliff, the speed limit is 45, then it drops to 40 for a good portion of Ossining. I can tell you from experience that both Briarcliff and Ossining police take their speed limits very seriously (and so can many others who I saw in Ossining village court recently paying $80 speeding tickets with an $85 state surcharge tacked on).
The same can be said of Fort Montgomery, which you have to drive through to get to West Point. I also frequently see Croton police set up to catch speeders on Route 9, as well as the NY State Police on the same road (most notably on the Senasqua Rd on-ramp heading north).
It really doesn't pay to try to make time on a commute between West Point and White Plains.
I think White Plains or Tarrytown would be a good fit.
Unfortunately the metro north doesn't run up that far to West Point, you really need a car to travel around that area. There are some issues with rush hour traffic that you should factor into your commute, as well as when it rains or snows.
White Plains has some decent nightlife, while Tarrytown is bit more family centric. You can still hop on the metro north and head to the city if you desire a little more in nightlife. In the long run, if you have to choose a rural town it's not like you'd be stranded without a car and at the mercy of the bee line.
Many Roads is right though, your car insurance will be much cheaper in Tarrytown than Yonkers.
Thank you all for replying to thread. Very helpful information.
I am going to take Yonkers out of my list of options and stick with
Peekskill, Nyack, Ossining, Tarrytown, and White Plains. Going to go upstate in a couple of months, get a hotel for a day, and check each area out. Thanks again!!!
I lived in Pelham and drove to West Point...worked at Keller..It was a solid hour...and bear in mind that in the winter the drive over the mountain is difficult....
You should consider Nyack a little more strongly (though Metro North does not go there). Your issues going to West Point being east of the Hudson is toll bridges and related traffic. You could consider Peekskill which is the closest city of any kind east of the Hudson, or if you really want to save on housing costs Newburgh or Beacon and commute south instead of north (Beacon will still have Metro North and the bridge across the Hudson is pretty cheap).
While from Tarrytown you could take the Tappan Zee Bridge and you'd be going in the reverse of the traffic, you'd have that cost of taking it every day (about $5 one way, they only charge coming into Westchester). The Bear Mountain Bridge is much cheaper ($1 or it may even still be 75c), but from Westchester you have to take a very slow winding road to it and there is often traffic on it (though again, you'd be "reverse commuting").
I commuted for 15 years from the Mt. Vernon/Bronxville border to Peekskill (which is about 20 minutes (with no traffic) south of West Point) and that took me about 45 minutes each way (I had all the issues with traffic lights and speed traps someone mentioned earlier) so you could use that as a time guide for Yonkers (subtract about 20 minutes if going from Tarrytown or White Plains and about 30 from Ossining).
I hope that helps, good luck!
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Where to live
