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The trip to Manhattan from Pelham is pleasant on the weekends but it is $7 each adult each way. There is a lot, lot to see and do in NY on the weekends. Central Park, restaurants (much better and cheaper than Westchester) Greenwich Village, Macy's, Museum of Nat. Hist.. MOMA, Gugenheim. 33 Minutes to Grand Central, then you walk everywhere else -- the only way to experience Manhattan.
When you want to drive to Manhattan, you can generally find discounted parking on the weekend, unless there is a special event in place. You may need a coupon or reservation to do so, but can easily find them on sites like nyc.bestparking.com and iconparkingsystems.com. It's far easier to drive to Chelsea, for example, and get parking for $16 than it is to take the train to the bus or subway. Prime garages will not have parking discounts, so getting a garage near the Met or Museum of Natural History will not result in a $10-$20 special for 12-24 hours of parking.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Could say White Plains be a good middle ground community in terms of being pretty urban itself, with relatively quick access to the city or to outdoor activities?
Hi there, I live in Scarsdale, and commute into the city everyday...express trains are under 30 minutes which is great....but the weekend trains are much longer. I am mother of 16 month old twins and my husband and I love the city (we used to live there) so we take advantage of weekend trips to the park, our own personal food tours, museum visits, etc., etc...but we drive and find parking to be quite easy...best parking nyc has great coupons (just google it)....we usually print one, and then half the time end up landing a parking spot on the street. enjoy!
Thank you all so much for tips on parking. Enjoying Manhattan is really important, so if it's brain damage to do so, we may not even make the move to NY. This is all really helpful. So no, express trains on weekends at all? And can you buy a pass for a family (annual or monthly?) Riding a train sounds much more peaceful than driving and looking for a spot, but if the trains are too slow, I need to come to grips with the idea of driving there every weekend.
Thank you all so much for tips on parking. Enjoying Manhattan is really important, so if it's brain damage to do so, we may not even make the move to NY. This is all really helpful. So no, express trains on weekends at all? And can you buy a pass for a family (annual or monthly?) Riding a train sounds much more peaceful than driving and looking for a spot, but if the trains are too slow, I need to come to grips with the idea of driving there every weekend.
EVERY weekend? Really? I'm not even sure what you'd do EVERY weekend in the city...
Okay, yes, it IS New York, but I think you will find that you can do plenty in Westchester too. And with kids you'll have sports on the weekends, birthday parties, there are festivals, fairs, tons of outdoorsy things to do... You have to realize, you aren't in the boondocks out here. This area is VERY populated and there really are a ton of things to do. Are you under the impression that these are sleepy suburbs with nothing going on, and you have to go into the city to DO anything???
I didn't communicate clearly. Don't mean we'd go into city every weekend. I meant, every weekend we went, sounds like best option would be driving. I understand the aforementioned burbs are not sleepy. Guess we just want to take advantage of city b/c we aren't native to area, so there would be plenty to explore for awhile at least. And, as I said in my original post, I personally thrive on the city. Living in Manhattan not an option due to kids. I'd do it, but this is the compromise. I know I"m not the first person to seek the best of both worlds so to speak.
I honestly think that places like Park Slope are more conducive to the best of both worlds in a way - maybe even parts of the other boroughs. I just don't get the sense that anyone moves here en masse to be close to the city for any other reason besides having a quick commute. It's actually pretty easy to forget you are even anywhere near NYC living out here - think CT and New England.
And as others had mentioned, the kids are going to want to do stuff here with their friends a lot, so it's unlikely that you really will go to the city as much as you envision. And, you'll always feel like a tourist...living in Manhattan and being a tourist are completely incomparable. Most of my friends here previously lived in the city and have lots of friends and memories in the city and STILL barely go to the city except for work. It really does get old quickly for most.
We just moved to Larchmont a month ago and have already taken the kids on several outings to NYC. We generally drive in early on a Saturday or Sunday morning and rarely encounter traffic at that time. Our toddler especially loved hanging out in Central Park. This weekend we are planning on taking the kids to the Brooklyn Book Festival.
I definitely think the city is very accessible if you want it to be a regular part of your family routine. What I love about living in Westchester though is that some weekends I can just relax in suburbia, visit friends, go to the park, etc. and other times we can go exploring in the city. I have a feeling that venturing as a family into the city on a regular basis will become more difficult for us as a family when the kids are a little older and the weekends are filled with their school and sports activities.
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