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Old 06-19-2011, 02:14 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,884 times
Reputation: 11

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We are moving from Cape Town, South Africa, to New York and have decided on Westchester county for its country feel and culture. We have not yet narrowed down where in Westchester we should be looking to live and would really appreciate advice from locals?

Our priorities (in order) are:
1) Very good schools for our children (1st Grade and 5th Grade)
2) Big enough home to accommodate a family of 5 and not feel too cooped up
3) 40-45min commute to NYC

We have heard that villages are a better option to towns as it is easier to meet people and feel welcome.

Thanks so much!
Col
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Old 06-19-2011, 06:55 PM
 
Location: Bellevue, WA
1,497 posts, read 4,449,225 times
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What is your budget? Anywhere with a more rural feel is going to put you up in Northern Westchester, FYI, so at a minimum you'll need to adjust your commuting expectation to 45+ minutes if you catch an express from Chappaqua or Croton.
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Old 06-19-2011, 08:46 PM
 
9,341 posts, read 29,620,563 times
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Default Understanding the geography of New York

Quote:
Originally Posted by ColF View Post
We have heard that villages are a better option to towns as it is easier to meet people and feel welcome.
In case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of New York.

You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet in New York by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".

You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.


When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP, or Census Designated Place, is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in New York State.)

And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.
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Old 06-20-2011, 06:42 AM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 7,007,886 times
Reputation: 3344
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColF View Post
Our priorities (in order) are:
1) Very good schools for our children (1st Grade and 5th Grade)
2) Big enough home to accommodate a family of 5 and not feel too cooped up
3) 40-45min commute to NYC
Searching this board will provide you with lots of information. More specifics would help the board help you. Anyway,

Regarding 2: Standards vary wildly on what is "big enough." And houses in the US tend to be substantially bigger than in other countries for a similar socioeconomic levels. So do notions of what cooped up feels like. Why don't you tell us what you think would be big enough - number of bedrooms, square ft or meters, etc?

Regarding 3: NYC is a big place. Where in NYC? Midtown? Wall Street?

Without some specifics you're going to either get a lot of stock answers on towns (Larchmont, Pelham, Scarsdale, blah blah blah) , or no answers at all because the questions are too vague - in which case you can find out more by browsing the board.
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Old 06-20-2011, 01:11 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,884 times
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Default Raising a family in Westchester

Hi All,
Thanks so much for your feedback. Here in SA we live on half and acre in a 4 bedroom house. We know we won't find the land but wanting to find a home with at least 4 bedrooms and some garden for two dogs.

We will rent when we arrive and then look to buy. Our budget all in (rental, food, fuel, electricity etc...) is USD 8,000 per month excluding car payments as we plan to buy a car for cash (we will start with one car and see how we go, if need be we will buy a second car and that will need to be financed). We currently live on USD 8,000 per month here in South Africa where we also have to pay school fees for three children (USD 1,500 of the USD 8,000) but there won't be school fees in the US due to the public school system.

Using our current expenses as a guide (as I believe the cost of living is quite similar), I would estimate that of the USD 8,000 we will have USD 3,300 to spend on rental each month

I would really like to get a feel for whether we could live on that amount in Westchester and if so, which areas would best suit our budget.

Regarding distance to NYC, I am looking for a commute not much longer than 40-45mins from home to Grand Central station.

We would love to find a home in a leafy suburb, near very good schools where the locals are down to earth and there is a local doctor, dentist etc.. and a general small town/village and community feel.

Thanks so much!
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Old 06-21-2011, 07:31 AM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 7,007,886 times
Reputation: 3344
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColF View Post

Regarding distance to NYC, I am looking for a commute not much longer than 40-45mins from home to Grand Central station.

We would love to find a home in a leafy suburb, near very good schools where the locals are down to earth and there is a local doctor, dentist etc.. and a general small town/village and community feel.

Thanks so much!
Virtually every town &/or village in southern Westchester meets these criteria. Search the forum for:
Larchmont
Scarsdale
River towns
Tarrytown
Hastings
Dobbs Ferry
Ardsley
Pelham
Bronxville
mamaroneck
Eastchester
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Old 06-21-2011, 12:56 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,884 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks Kletter1mann, that is wonderful to hear. Your short list is a huge help, thank you!
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Old 06-30-2015, 06:09 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,427 times
Reputation: 10
Hello CoIF

We are planning a similar move. How have things worked out for you? Was the move from CPT to WestChester all you hoped it would be?
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