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Port Chester is probably one of the more affordable places to buy property - Though the Real Estate Taxes are high (maybe not as high as other places, but high).
I do not know the quality of the elementary schools, but much depends on what a student and active parents get out of education in a school....
There are plenty of houses on the market in Port Chester...It's a buyers market...
And there are some really nice areas there, within walking distance of downtown...
It is true that much of the town in hispanic - But, I have to say that the shop owners and restaurant owners (many being Latin and South Americans) keep a nice down town - Not as ritzy (and snobby) as Rye and Greenwich (which it borders), but more like a well kept international flavor of NYC...
I've got to add an after-thought - Someone did mention that the hispanic population is high in Port Chester. It is...But, so what?.. They are really nice people there...I lived there for years, and there was a high hispanic population there for at least the last 10 - 15 years, and they were always nice, polite people. The only gripe that people have is the fact that many of the single family homes are occupied with multiple, young hispanic families, and this has driven up the school taxes...And that is a political issue that is significant...
It's a nice place...I lived there for a few years, and I would move back there...Even the location and proximity for commuting makes it an attractive place...Easy commute to NYC, Stamford (with a bit of rush hour traffic if you are driving)....
Last edited by migee; 10-12-2007 at 11:01 AM..
Reason: mis-spelling
I think you're getting a lot of good advice, except for the suggestions of White Plains and Port Chester. Both places have much to recommend them, but if you want to put your children in public school, I'd skip both of them. I think there's one good elementary school in Port Chester, but that's relative to the other PC schools. I don't know how they compare to the best elementary schools in other towns. Even if it's good, you won't want to be there for middle school and high school. As for White Plains, we considered that briefly recently. I'm friendly with a woman whose son was in kindergarten last year at what is supposed to be WP's best public elementary school. She told me that pretty much everyone she knew at that school was either putting their kid in private school or moving. They just bought in Rye. In both cases (PC and WP) you have districts with significant numbers of poor families for whom English is a second language. Although from what I can tell, these districts do a commendable job with this population, these are not districts full of the children of college and graduate school educated parents who expect the same for their kids.
If it matters, I'm pretty sure Larchmont has a good sized French community.
Don't move to Queens. The commute to Stamford will be brutal.
I'm sure that no one else will back me up on this, but I would take a look at Elmsford. I grew up there and still visit quite often. The schools are under-rated; there is a terrific town park with low cost swimming pool in the summer; more ethnic diversity than most other westchester towns and low housing costs (relative to the rest of westchester). Check out the Orchard Hill neighborhood, which is full of nice people, great to walk and bike into the center of town, a short bus ride to white plains or Tarrytown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nadira
We are considering a move from Paris, France, to Westchester (or maybe Queens). The husband's job will be in Stamford, Conn., whereas I will have to commute to NYC.
Could people here recommend towns that meet the following criteria:
- short (30-35 minutes) train commute to NYC
- walkable community, with a mix of urban feel, public transport and yet some green space. I'd like to bike or walk to the train station and the main street.
- some ethnic diversity and cosmopolitan feel
- relatively good elementary school (don't worry too much about this one, we can do our own research once we know which towns meet the above criteria!)
If you want "ethnically diverse" (what the hell does that mean?), move to Ghetto, I mean Getty, Square in South Yonkers or the South Side of Mt. Vermin, I mean Vernon.
I'm just wondering if there is something wrong w/living in a white area or does everything today really need to be PC? I ask this bc I find people such as yourself to be so full of it. You want to live w/non-whites but I guarantee when you see what you get, you will be freaking out.
One of my Indian friends kids spent one hour in the shower as he was scrubbing his skin to look white. Kids had made mean comments to him. Parents just want their kids to fit in. That's why people want to live in a diverse area so that when they go and get a bagel the whole shop does not stop and stare at them like they are freaks from a different planet...
Maybe when you are more mature you might realize this.
Grow up BXgirl!
If you give us a little more info. on how much you a looking to spend, and how big of a house you are looking for as well as an other pertinent info we will be able to help you further..........Cheers Pete.........p.s. the reason their are a lot of French speaking people in Larchmont is they have a private French School in Larchmont........
What about Tarrytown? Walkable downtown area - lots of antique shops and restaurants, short train ride to NYC, ethnic diversity. There are some very nice houses in Tarrytown,not sure about the schools though. Good Luck.
Honestly, as a white guy living in the Bronx, the staring happens to me a lot of times when I leave my white neighborhood. The stares are always unnerving, and sometimes threatening but I'm used to it at this point.
So I definitely think I know where BXgirl is coming from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosser
One of my Indian friends kids spent one hour in the shower as he was scrubbing his skin to look white. Kids had made mean comments to him. Parents just want their kids to fit in. That's why people want to live in a diverse area so that when they go and get a bagel the whole shop does not stop and stare at them like they are freaks from a different planet...
Maybe when you are more mature you might realize this.
Grow up BXgirl!
I honestly didn't know that there was a French school in Larchmont.
I know that there are both a Japanese and a German school in the White Plains area and that's why you can find a lot of both Germans and Japanese in that area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by westchester
If you give us a little more info. on how much you a looking to spend, and how big of a house you are looking for as well as an other pertinent info we will be able to help you further..........Cheers Pete.........p.s. the reason their are a lot of French speaking people in Larchmont is they have a private French School in Larchmont........
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try elmsford
