Croton, Thornwood, Pleasantville, or Yorktown? (Somers, Chappaqua: house, neighborhood, to buy)
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Ruby Greta you simply have an axe to grind with people who are better off than you and were able to make their way north of the cross county parkway. Your opinions are irrelevant.
Comment is beyond stupid and not worthy of discussion.
I was defending Yorktown, not bashing it. However,
- Vast majority of homes are pre 1950's - WRONG. Yorktown was an undeveloped farming community prior to 1950.
- 2 to 4 acre zoning - WRONG. Geographically maybe, but most houses have much smaller lots. One-half acre is more typical (not that there is anything wrong with one-half acre).
- Commute to Manhattan not bad? Depends on how you define not bad. But it's not good. A 15 minute drive to Mt. Kisco, parking, and waiting for a train to come that takes one hour, is not good.
Actually, I'm right. My comments are about the part of Yorktown that is in the YCSD, which this discussion has been about.
1. The vast majority of homes in Huntersville, Kitchawan, Teatown, and Crow Hill are pre-1920s. Croton Heights is probably 50/50. The hamlet of Crompond is mostly post 50's and was indeed farmland until the 60s and 70s. That is a tiny minority of the geographic area and a minority of the housing stock.
2. Huntersville, Kitchawan, Teatown, Crow Hill, and Croton Heights are 2-4 acre zoning. Again, that is the majority of the area we're talking about. North of 202 the zoning is mostly .5 acre. I was on the zoning committee, so trust me on this.
3. A 10-15 minute drive to the train in Mt Kisco is a better commute than many of the neighboring towns in northeastern Westchester, and a 10-15 minute commute to Croton-Harmon is a much better one. So when comparing YH to its neighboring towns, which we were, the commute is equal or better than many.
Actually, I'm right. My comments are about the part of Yorktown that is in the YCSD, which this discussion has been about.
1. The vast majority of homes in Huntersville, Kitchawan, Teatown, and Crow Hill are pre-1920s. Croton Heights is probably 50/50. The hamlet of Crompond is mostly post 50's and was indeed farmland until the 60s and 70s. That is a tiny minority of the geographic area and a minority of the housing stock.
Wait...what about the hamlet of Yorktown Heights?? Isn't that a large portion of YCSD??
you don't want a school that bases it's instructional plan on teaching the test, as opposed to focussing on really mastering the standards, so you want to be wary of the top performers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dma1250
-YSCD rates extremely well on all scales and boasts one of the few Blue Ribbon schools in the county. This year, when many local districts's test scores plummeted, YCSD got a state award for continued excellence in test performance.
In one post you say be wary of the top performers and then you talk about how YCSD got a state award for continued excellence in test performance. Sounds like a "top performer" I should be wary about!
I wanted to see if there was any other discussion about blue ribbon schools on here, and from a quick search it looked like most of the comments were from you dma. Clicking on one of them brought me to this comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by dma1250
As I said above, those blue ribbon schools that aren't 40% disadvantaged are simply schools with high test scores, which is not an indication of "excellence in science and academics."
So you should be wary of the top performing school districts on tests, but YSCD is different because it's secretly the best school district and received the amazing Blue Ribbon award, but we shouldn't pay attention to the Blue Ribbon award because according to you it's "not an indication of excellence in science and academics."
Wait...what about the hamlet of Yorktown Heights?? Isn't that a large portion of YCSD??
Actually the hamlet of YH is quite small, and it's largely the original village with homes dating from the pre 1920s. There is post 50s housing on the edges, but it's the minority.
You don't know anything about the Yorktown School District. Nor do I.
Let me tell you some other reasons whey Yorktown real estate is cheap:
- Terrible commute to Manhattan.
- Houses were mostly built after 1950, including many small ranches, raised ranches, splits and capes. Obviously, they will go for less money. And many of them are being sold by long-term owners who have done very little updating. Think of a 1968 raised ranch with a 1968 kitchen, 1968 bathrooms, and 1968 wallpaper.
- Town center is an urban renewal job that has no charm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubygreta
I was defending Yorktown, not bashing it.
Ruby, I have to agree with John. You did a pretty terrible job of defending Yorktown in that post. Sounds like a dream!
In one post you say be wary of the top performers and then you talk about how YCSD got a state award for continued excellence in test performance. Sounds like a "top performer" I should be wary about!
I wanted to see if there was any other discussion about blue ribbon schools on here, and from a quick search it looked like most of the comments were from you dma. Clicking on one of them brought me to this comment:
So you should be wary of the top performing school districts on tests, but YSCD is different because it's secretly the best school district and received the amazing Blue Ribbon award, but we shouldn't pay attention to the Blue Ribbon award because according to you it's "not an indication of excellence in science and academics."
Glad we cleared all of that up.
Test scores are certainly a double-edge sword and I would indeed be wary of YCSD if I were judging by its test scores. I happen to know the schools well so I know that it doesn't teach to the test, but an outsider would need to do research to find that out.
Blue Ribbon awards are based on test scores and as such I don't put much weight in them. But it's the kind of thing most people seem to care about, so worth noting.
Actually the hamlet of YH is quite small, and it's largely the original village with homes dating from the pre 1920s. There is post 50s housing on the edges, but it's the minority.
Fair enough dma, but not 2-4 acre zoning. My fault for not including point #2 in the quote.
Ruby...congrats for seeing both pros and cons! I get it, you were defending the schools.
I believe Ruby was defending the schools by opening up the possibility that Yorktown is cheaper for other reasons. Ruby specifically lists "great parks and rec", "convenient shopping", "a school district where smart motivated kids get into great colleges" as pros.
Point being you cannot pay Yorktown prices and expect to have it all. Downtown charm and distance from NYC are obvious detractors. But, if you are not commuting to Manhattan then maybe you can get good value there.
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