Rivertown Differences - Irvington/Ardsley/Dobbs Ferry/Hastings (Rye, Pelham: houses, school district)
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What are the differences in the Rivertowns Irvington/Ardsley/Dobbs Ferry/Hastings. Here is what I gathered so far:
-schools in Irvington are slightly better
- Irvington has a walkable downtown, more of a community feel, more activities for children
- Dobbs Ferry and Hastings each have a town pool
Are taxes roughly the same?
They all have a train station, but is parking easier to get at any particular station?
Would I get more house for my money in any particular place?
Ardsley does not have a train station or a nice town center but the Ardsley school district is amazing. They all share the Greenburgh town pool which is a really nice pool. I think Irvington is the nicest of the towns you mentioned.
Ardsley does have a great district and if you live in Ardsley proper you can go to the Greenburg pool but you can't if you live in Dobbs Ferry, Irvington or Hastings. It has to do with Greenburg boundaries. However, if your kid has an IEP you can get family passes as the Greenburg pool has an amazing splash kiddie pool thing that is therapeutic for kids with special needs. The Dobbs Ferry pool is just a giant rectangle and doesn't have much to offer. The Hastings pool is awesome. Hastings has more of an artsy feel if that's appealing to you. Dobbs Ferry does have a walkable downtown but it's hard to find a house with a nice sized yard that is really walkable to the train, same issue for Hastings. Irvington has a better housing stock that is really walkable to downtown/train but also has loads (and you'll get more for your $) of houses farther out. Irvington has a great farmer's market. I think Hastings does too. Dobbs Ferry is still sorta developing its farmer's market. Hastings also has a great monthly community night where the downtown turns into a street fair which is a great way to meet your neighbors etc.
But really all are great towns and you probably just need to wander around each to get a better feel for which is best for you- and where you can find the right house. Won't really go wrong wherever you end up.
I would check re: train parking. Ardsley has no station at all and I've been told that Dobbs Ferry and also perhaps Irvington have a wait list. Always call the town in advance to check, as realtors are notoriously unreliable or not forthcoming with this information (seriously, what agent in Rye or Pelham is going to tell you that you may not get a space until almost 2020?)
I would check re: train parking. Ardsley has no station at all and I've been told that Dobbs Ferry and also perhaps Irvington have a wait list. Always call the town in advance to check, as realtors are notoriously unreliable or not forthcoming with this information (seriously, what agent in Rye or Pelham is going to tell you that you may not get a space until almost 2020?)
In Hastings you need a permit to park at metered spots. The permit was always cheap when I was there ($5 for the life of the car) and there was no wait. The meters are around a buck a day.
Even so, there's usually street parking within a block or two of the train.
I would love more information and opinion on this thread. We're also thinking of moving to the Rivertowns. And while Hastings has been our focus, I'd love to hear what people think in balance with Irvington and Dobbs Ferry. Our daughter's going into 1st grade, so we'd love to find a school we're happy to stick with for the next 5 years or so without moving again.
Also, moving from Brooklyn! Seems like it's catching.
I had it narrowed it down to Hastings and Dobbs myself. They're both very nice communities with their pluses and minuses. Ultimately we went with Dobbs based on the school pluses - Singapore Math, the IB program, excellent leadership, teacher assistants, and lots of extras. Some pluses of Hastings are fabulous community pool and programs, better downtown and they have a great farmer's market. I like the layout and housing stock of Hastings a little more. The people I've met in both Dobbs and Hastings are the nicest people I've ever met in my life. But again, it ultimately boiled down to the schools which I felt were a better fit for us in Dobbs. Feel free to PM me.
I would be interested to hear any replies to this. We visited Dobbs and Hastings grade schools and found the student work at Dobbs to several notches higher than Hastings. In addition, the principal and literacy coach at Dobbs knew their stuff - at Hastings they gave very vague answers to our questions (my wife is very involved in education). We decided to move to Dobbs
the stats, sat scores and the like, are consistently higher in hastings.
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and you probably just need to wander around each to get a better feel for which is best for you- and where you can find the right house. Won't really go wrong wherever you end up.
