Difference between N. Westchester and S. Westchester? (Buffalo, Yonkers: movie theaters, construction)
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After posting my previous thread (//www.city-data.com/forum/westc...ng-island.html), some of the replies are implying that the upper part of the county is different than the lower part. But what exactly is different? I've heard that upper has more small town areas and that lower is more LI like. What makes the two parts different?
The major difference I've seen is that, as you get north of 287, you frequently have one option for for routine things -- movie theaters, restaurants, shopping -- in a radius that would include 3-4 options in So Westchester. That probably affects how people socialize to some extent, but the differences there depend more on individual personalities, making them harder to characterize and less likely to carry over from one person's experience to the next. Also, it's colder and the power goes out more.
After posting my previous thread (//www.city-data.com/forum/westc...ng-island.html), some of the replies are implying that the upper part of the county is different than the lower part. But what exactly is different? I've heard that upper has more small town areas and that lower is more LI like. What makes the two parts different?
Basically, the southern part tends to be more compact. You have more cities in the southern part (White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, and Rye in in southern Westchester, whereas the northern part just has Peekskill).
The southern part generally has more walkable villages outside the cities. In the northern part, the only real walkable areas are Mount Kisco, Ossissing, and Croton-on-Hudson, whereas the southern part has a greater number of urban villages.
Plus, as the above poster mentioned, you have more options as far as entertainment, shopping, etc go in southern Westchester, as the distances between villages aren't as large.
Southern Westchester feels like the suburbs and can be comparable to Nassau County in many ways. It's very convenient with a ton of restaurants and amenities, a short drive to NYC, etc. This is also a lot more traffic. Drive up Rt 100 from Yonkers to Hartsdale for a sample- it sums up the good and the bad pretty well.
Northern Westchester feels like the country- it's not as convenient with having to drive a farther distance to get to things, but the towns are much more quaint and more of a community. You'll see stars in the sky, deer, etc. And personally, I don't mind the longer drives because they can be nice- a lot of windy roads where you pass a lake or two. This is an article from the Bedford/Katonah patch that sums it up pretty well- Why I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Country Living - Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch
One of the biggest differences is the amount of snow. Once you cross 287 (the "snow line"), be prepared for MUCH more snow. Since northern Westchester is at a higher altitude, there can be next to nothing in the south and a few inches (or more!) in the north.
If coming to the area to explore isn't possible, use Google Street view, and compare the towns in Northern and Southern Westchester by "driving" around. The differences are very apparent.
Last edited by YanksRule; 11-08-2011 at 10:29 PM..
If only we didn't see deer in So. Westchester - at least in my well-munched vegetable garden!
Its really suburbs (older, established suburbs - not your modern day mid-west built-around-the-car McMansion suburb) versus countryside (but not too wild, civilization being conveniently close at hand and commutable).
OK, nobody mentioned the social or quality of life differences so I'll bite. Here's a little story.
A couple weeks ago I was driving back to NY on I-91 in southern Vermont. Near Brattleboro the highway merges to 1 lane each way cause a bridge is out. The 2 lanes of traffic politely merged into a single lane per the construction signs. Traffic is a maybe half VT plates. The rest were a mix of Mass, NY, CT and occasionally NJ. Line is about a mile long, moving slowly but moving, not stop and go.
In my rearview mirror I notice one of those a__holes blasting down the breakdown lane to get to the head of the line. NY plates. A couple minutes later another car does the same. NY plates again. Then another. NY plates. So, ALL THREE LINE CUTTERS HAD NY PLATES.
Now, I can't say where these guys were from exactly, except NY. But anybody driving around in southern Westchester sees this continually. Ditto Long Island, ditto NJ. Go north and this stuff is much, much less pervasive. Are you a lane cutter? Or are you OK living among the lane cutters? If so, then southern Westchester (or LI or NJ) is for you. Other wise head north.
OK, nobody mentioned the social or quality of life differences so I'll bite. Here's a little story.
A couple weeks ago I was driving back to NY on I-91 in southern Vermont. Near Brattleboro the highway merges to 1 lane each way cause a bridge is out. The 2 lanes of traffic politely merged into a single lane per the construction signs. Traffic is a maybe half VT plates. The rest were a mix of Mass, NY, CT and occasionally NJ. Line is about a mile long, moving slowly but moving, not stop and go.
In my rearview mirror I notice one of those a__holes blasting down the breakdown lane to get to the head of the line. NY plates. A couple minutes later another car does the same. NY plates again. Then another. NY plates. So, ALL THREE LINE CUTTERS HAD NY PLATES.
Now, I can't say where these guys were from exactly, except NY. But anybody driving around in southern Westchester sees this continually. Ditto Long Island, ditto NJ. Go north and this stuff is much, much less pervasive. Are you a lane cutter? Or are you OK living among the lane cutters? If so, then southern Westchester (or LI or NJ) is for you. Other wise head north.
Wow, talk about making big, sweeping assumptions and generalizations! They had NY plates! So what? Maybe they were from Buffalo!
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