What's life like in: Ossining?

[Emptynesterny]

Ossining has a strong sense of community. I've lived here for over 30 years and have raised a family here and sent kids through the public schools and onto excellent colleges and careers. First of all, she you look at moving to Ossining you need to distinguish the housing -- which includes beautiful homes, often on lots of property, at many price points, from condos to mansions -- from the village center, which is historic and has great views but is not really much of a commercial center except for the very popular farmer's market. People on these boards talk about the prison but it really doesn't enter into daily life. It's at the southern end of the village down on the riverfront and you can't see it at all from just about anywhere else. Academics, journalists, teachers, graphic artists and other very interesting people abound in Ossining. They are attracted by the reasonable prices for high-quality housing and the opportunity to raise kids in a real community rather than a dull "bedroom town" where everybody looks the same.

[catnip8056]

Originally Posted by Pivot Point

What's considered "rough" or "ghetto" in the southern part of Ossining would be just a regular middle to lower-middle-class area anywhere else. It's the comparison to the rest of the town, which is very lovely and well maintained, that makes those areas look bad. However, there's nothing dangerous about those areas. Like others have said, you get the best views of the Hudson there.

Totally agree with this. I lived in Ossining for 2 years and loved it. My apartment I rented was not huge or anything, but beautiful and more reasonably priced than anything I would have found in Tarrytown or other areas of Westchester. I lived right on the square and it was quiet and very safe. Residents were nice and kept to themselves. It has the most stunning views of the river that I now really miss living in Texas. And as the above person said, even the so-called "ghetto" areas weren't anything to be afraid of. Sing_Sing may be here, but the criminals live inside, not outside the prison, lol. It was much cheaper, more diverse and less snobby than the rest of Westchester, in my opinion.

[Stefi112]

Hello!

I'm thinking about moving to Ossining (lifetime NYer, currently living in Brooklyn, looking to get out of the city but still commute to work). I saw several people on this thread who were moving to Ossining a few years ago- I'm curious if it held up to expectations. Ma Kettle, Mariwestchester?

It seems that Ossining offers the Westchester life without the snobbiness of some of the other towns. Any thoughts from locals about life in Ossining, how its changed with the recent spike in popularity of the Hudson Valley, and where it might continue to go in the next 5-10 years?