Yorktown Heights? Mahopac? Where else? (Yonkers, Ossining: transplants, lawyers, houses)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are looking to purchase our very first home in Westchester, We fell in love with Yorktown Heights, and Mahopac (but Yorktown was our fav) is there another town close by we are missing? we do not know much about Westchester besides those two towns, we have 2 small children and one on the way, so towns with Best Rated Schools are top priority- any advice? we don't want to be more than 45 mins away from Yonkers because that's where hub works, thanks SO much!!
You are missing almost all the towns. Mahopac is in Putnam but on the Westchester border. These towns would be considered less affluent areas of Westchester relative to many other areas in Mid-Northern Westchester. This keeps the snob factor down. Many folks are Yonkers/Bronx transplants. Your "better" school districts in Northern Westchester are Fox Lane (Bedford), Chappaqua, Armonk (Bryam Hills), Briarcliff Manor, Katonah Lewisboro, North Salem, and probably Somers as well. Again, we are dealing with Westchester standards -- both districts would be tops in many other NY Counties.
You are missing almost all the towns. Mahopac is in Putnam but on the Westchester border. These towns would be considered less affluent areas of Westchester relative to many other areas in Mid-Northern westchester. This keeps the snob factor down. Many folks are Yonkers/Bronx transplants. Your "better" school districts in Northern Westchester are Fox Lane (Bedford), Chappaqua, Armonk (Bryam Hills), Briarcliff Manor, Katonah Lewisboro, North Salem, and probably Somers as well. Again, we are dealing with Westchester standards -- both districts would be tops in many other NY Counties.
Having lived in Yorktown Heights for 12 years I can say that your comments are totally inaccurate. The schools are higher rated on Greatschools.com (middle school gets a 10 and the high school gets a 9) than many of the districts you mentioned (Chappaqua's middle and high rate the same as YCSD, but Katonah-Lewisboro rates a 9 and 8, as does Bedford), and the middle school is one of the few Blue Ribbon Schools in the county. As for your characterization of the population, that may have been true 30 years ago but certainly isn't today. I know a few people who moved up from the Bronx, but I know a lot more who moved up from brownstone Brooklyn (like myself) and the Upper West Side. Yorktown Heights is a large and very socio-economically diverse area with more than 4 distinct hamlets, each with its own feel and vibe. You can find everything from ranch houses on small lots to antique farmhouses on 30 acre properties. It also has more parkland and protected nature preserves than than almost any other town in the county.
Having lived in Yorktown Heights for 12 years I can say that your comments are totally inaccurate. The schools are higher rated on Greatschools.com (middle school gets a 10 and the high school gets a 9) than many of the districts you mentioned (Chappaqua's middle and high rate the same as YCSD, but Katonah-Lewisboro rates a 9 and 8, as does Bedford), and the middle school is one of the few Blue Ribbon Schools in the county. As for your characterization of the population, that may have been true 30 years ago but certainly isn't today. I know a few people who moved up from the Bronx, but I know a lot more who moved up from brownstone Brooklyn (like myself) and the Upper West Side. Yorktown Heights is a large and very socio-economically diverse area with more than 4 distinct hamlets, each with its own feel and vibe. You can find everything from ranch houses on small lots to antique farmhouses on 30 acre properties. It also has more parkland and protected nature preserves than than almost any other town in the county.
You are biased having lived in Yorktown for so long. Its a nice area relative to most of NYS, but not an upscale part of westchester. There is no debate about that. Take a poll and see who would send their kids to Yorktown schools over, Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Katonah, Armonk, Bedford...Now if you want to compare it to Ossining, Valhalla, Portchester, Elmsford, Peekskill etc, then Yorktown is the cat's meow.
You are biased having lived in Yorktown for so long. Its a nice area relative to most of NYS, but not an upscale part of westchester. There is no debate about that. Take a poll and see who would send their kids to Yorktown schools over, Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Katonah, Armonk, Bedford...Now if you want to compare it to Ossining, Valhalla, Portchester, Elmsford, Peekskill etc, then Yorktown is the cat's meow.
Actually, having lived here makes me informed and knowledgable about the town.
RE school choice, I know lots of people who made that very choice. Myself included. The majority of people I know who've moved here in the last 5-10 years looked in all of the towns you mentioned and selected YH, in large part for YCSD.
RE "upscale" I suppose that depends on your definition of the term. It is certainly more diverse socio-economically than Katonah, Bedford, Chappaqua, and has a lot more creative professionals than those towns (which tend to attract lawyers and their ilk), but a number of the hamlets that make up YH are predominantly upper middle class.
I can't speak to Mahopac, but I've lived in Yorktown Heights fir 12 years and am active in the town and school and know loads of people, and I can tell you that that statement is absurdly incorrect. Of all the people I've met through the school, kids sports teams, and local organizations, barely a handful have had blue collar jobs. I gather that one of the hamlets that makes up Yorktown Heights was predominantly blue collar workers 20-30 years ago, but that's no longer true (and even then it represented a slice of the population). YH is geographically large and very diverse socio-economically.
Are you suggesting that a poll of people's bias about local districts is a better judge of school quality than greatschool.com ratings or Blue Ribbon status? I doubt any of those are really good indicators, but the poll is by far the least worthwhile.
I agree that Yorktown is more diverse. Personally, more Yorktown is more my style...not hyper competitive and the schools are good. That said, I have some friends that grew up in YOrktown and live here in Armonk. They did not consider raising their children in Yorktown, despite it having, according to some website, the best schools in the world. I have NEVER EVER heard anyone say anthing spectacular about Yorktown Schools....wonder why??
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
