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Take a look just north of Ossining in Croton-on-Hudson and Cortlandt Manor. There are houses in your price range, the schools are pretty good and the Croton-Harmon train station has express service that can get to Penn Station in a little over 40 minutes.
^^ Like all Metronorth trains, those from Croton go to grand central, not Penn. You can take Amtrak from Croton to Penn, but it's too expensive to do on a regular basis.
Low 400k in Croton will be tough. Looking at the listings there are currently 4 houses in your range and they are all tiny and in need of work. So it depends on what you're after and willing to accept.
I did a search at Houlihan Lawrence for houses under $400,000 in either Croton-on-Hudson or Cortlandt Manor and I got 53 results. That said, most of those houses are in Cortlandt Manor, the south end of which lies just north or Croton while the other portions of Cortlandt wrap around the east and north sides of Peekskill. The commute would vary a lot depending on which portion of Cortlandt Manor you were in and which train station you went to. The Peekskill train is about an additional 10 minutes compared to the Croton-Harmon station.
^^ As I said, I was looking in Croton, where there are just 4 houses in this price range. Cortland Manor is a different school district, and northern Cortland is yet another school district.
I don't have any kids yet... but am heading in that direction within the next couple of years. For that reason, schools do matter and co-ops/condos aren't ideal.
I haven't looked too seriously into ossining because I've heard the same (some nice, some not so nice). You're right that its past white plains, I guess that's as far as i'm willing to go. I just happened to mention it because someone I work with lives there and the commute isn't too bad.
LI, sorry, I have not been on the forum much lately. I really do suggest you take a look at Ossining. For a low $400k budget if you both commute to NYC and do not want a co-op/condo, I think it is the best option by some distance.
IMO, Ossining is on the whole a lovely area and a good place to live. I've mentioned that some parts are not so nice, meaning lots of multi-unit houses, but I do not find even these parts to be dangerous or rundown as is the reputation of other cities mentioned for your price range (I say reputation since I have admittedly not spent time in Mt Vernon and Yonkers - aside from Costco - so I won't rule out that they are much nicer than their rep). Honestly, I am happy to have the diversity.
I live in Ossining in a great neighborhood and that is really not affected by the presence of "not nice" areas in the same town, so if that is your concern I think you should come check out the areas where the $400k+ homes are located and see how they feel. That is certainly not the top of the range here, but I as I mentioned it is enough to put you solidly in a good neighborhood. Your coworker could probably confirm this as well.
Where you will see the difference between Ossining and wealthier towns is in the schools which do of course draw from all areas of the town. Whether you mind this diversity or not (many like it), the schools do stack up well against other towns in the price range. With some research you'll find the district has been praised both for the way it handles diversity (mentoring programs, dual-language program) and for the achievements of the top students (science research awards, college acceptances). I'm not claiming that it's Scarsdale, but I think if you research you will find a lot to like.
LI, sorry, I have not been on the forum much lately. I really do suggest you take a look at Ossining. For a low $400k budget if you both commute to NYC and do not want a co-op/condo, I think it is the best option by some distance.
IMO, Ossining is on the whole a lovely area and a good place to live. I've mentioned that some parts are not so nice, meaning lots of multi-unit houses, but I do not find even these parts to be dangerous or rundown as is the reputation of other cities mentioned for your price range (I say reputation since I have admittedly not spent time in Mt Vernon and Yonkers - aside from Costco - so I won't rule out that they are much nicer than their rep). Honestly, I am happy to have the diversity.
I live in Ossining in a great neighborhood and that is really not affected by the presence of "not nice" areas in the same town, so if that is your concern I think you should come check out the areas where the $400k+ homes are located and see how they feel. That is certainly not the top of the range here, but I as I mentioned it is enough to put you solidly in a good neighborhood. Your coworker could probably confirm this as well.
Where you will see the difference between Ossining and wealthier towns is in the schools which do of course draw from all areas of the town. Whether you mind this diversity or not (many like it), the schools do stack up well against other towns in the price range. With some research you'll find the district has been praised both for the way it handles diversity (mentoring programs, dual-language program) and for the achievements of the top students (science research awards, college acceptances). I'm not claiming that it's Scarsdale, but I think if you research you will find a lot to like.
does anyone know if the train is crowded at the Pelham station?
It's very difficult to get a seat when boarding from the Pelham station, going into NYC during the weekday morning rush. (I lived in Pelham from 2005 through 2012, and did it nearly every day.)
Think of how many other stations the train has already passed by the time it reaches Pelham, and the number of passengers that are already on board.
You're sure to have a quick ride into the city (32 minutes, the shortest ride into NYC from any Westchester suburb, excluding the major cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon), but the inconvenience of having to stand nearly every morning may not make the short ride so appealing after all.
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