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I am moving to NYC for law school and have to find a place close to Columbia within a reasonable distance to the trains into the city. I have a family with a 6th grader and an infant and also need an excellent school district or names of private schools that are either affordable or offer financial aid.
I am looking for a 3-4 house with a yard, preferably new construction for rent for around $3500-$5000, is this possible?
Also I would like info on homes to purchase around 750k-1M. Thanks
Columbia is going to be difficult to get to from just about anywhere in Westchester. The MetroNorth trains run along the east side of Manhattan and Columbia is on the west side. You could certainly do it by taking Metro North down to Grand Central and then switching over on the shuttle and taking the 1 up to Columbia, however this commute is not going to be fun.
Alternatively there's Riverdale whcih is right up north of Columbia. Perhaps you should look into this. You would take the bus to the 1 subway and then take that down to Columbia. The 1 can be pretty ghetto though, but you'll have to take it no matter what direction you're coming from. However the public schools in riverdale are only good up until the 5th grade, so I don't know what good that does you with a 6th grade student. There is a cluster of very upscale private schools in Riverdale, but they all cost $30k a year, and you won't be getting any financial aid if you can afford your budget for renting/purchasing a home. Alternatively there are some pretty good parochial schools in Riverdale, which I would assume only cost around $3,000-$5,000 a year.
Have you considered renting in Manhattan and sending your kids to private school at all. If you can afford $3,500-$5,000 in rent you could certainly find a 2 br on the Upper West Side and have a fairly short commute up to Columbia. You would definitely have to give up any ideas of having a lawn, but it might make the commute a lot easier.
Also who is going to watch your kids while you are in law school? The 1st year at law school is one of the most stress inducing things imaginable in life. You're not going to have any free time, as all of that will be spent prepping for class, and most likely you'll be pretty high strung for the better part of your first year. Enjoy it though. With a JD from Columbia you should be pretty much set for life. You'll be able to get a biglaw job with a really good salary, however the hours are pretty horific.
Look in New Rochelle. Great public schools from AP classes to fabulous Special Education to a first class early childhood center and a 20 minute ride to Columbia. I do it on a weekly basis.
It might be a 20 minute DRIVE to Columbia from New Rochelle, but when you get there, there's no place to park.
Riverdale sounds like your best bet. I think it'd be hard to find a 2BR apartment in Manhattan with decent schools (and with a sixth grader that's MIDDLE school, which are really not good in NYC) for anywhere near $3000. MAYBE $5000/month, but with two kids it'll be a very tight squeeze.
I'd look into Riverdale. Or Fort Lee, NJ, from which you can take a bus to the West Side of Manhattan.
My Mom lives in Riverdale and the public commute is easy to the upper west side and it is filled with good private schools which will add to the cost of living.
I would say Ardsley. Great schools, within your price range aqnd on the West side which makes for an easier commute. Speaking from personal experience, the commute isn't horrible if you're in the 160's or 120's (not sure which campus) but terrible if you have to go into midtown. In the morning its really not bad (they are doing construction on the Henry Hudson bridge right now so its been worse than usual) but it would be a 20-25 minute drive with traffic, probable less without. Parking is another matter. I'm sure there is a garage near the campus that is reasonable. Where I park, the Fordham law students pay $14/day.
The law school is at the 110th Street campus. Parking will still be an issue due to availability and expense. But you might still want to consider New Jersey.
I used to teach at 125th street. I would commute from Pelham. There are gypsy cabs parked at 125th street, always, which makes it easy to get anywhere from 125th street. There also is a bus that crosses town at the 125th street station. It would take under 45 minutes to commute from Pelham to Columbia. I usually drove. There is parking there. The only people who had easier commutes were from the neighborhood. Some people who worked at Columbia drove to Riverdale, and then commuted from there. Schools are good in Pelham. There are nice houses in the 1 million dollar range. There are many people in Pelham associated with Columbia.
The other good option for commuting to Columbia is NJ.
If you can give us a little more info on what size home ( bedrooms, baths ,backyard,walking distance...etc..) , and what type of Schools .If you go to Riverdale, you might have an issue with your School choices. So if you can give us a little more info. we will be able to help you a little better. I also sent you a (private Message)........So the more info the better we can suggest some perfect Community's............Good Luck....Welcome to New York..............
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commuting to Columbia
