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I’ve been reading this forum frequently and find it to be very helpful.
We have been looking mainly along the New Haven line and Scarsdale. We eliminated Edgemont due to the extremely high property tax rate of ~3.7%.
We are a Chinese American family and don’t want our kids to be the only or one of the only Asian kids in school. We know that Scarsdale has a relatively large Asian, especially Chinese community (Scarsdale Chinese Association, etc).
We have not found the perfect house in Scarsdale yet given our budget but we have found a house that we like in The Rye Neck area of Rye. My wife likes that they teach Singaporean math in both Scarsdale & Rye Neck schools. We know that the schools are great but small. Given that it’s only about 5% Asian, we’re wondering how our kids would like it there. We are slightly worried about potential bullying due to ethnicity. I’m sure we are overreacting but any feedback from Rye Neck residents would be appreciated!
I wouldn't worry about it. The school is reasonably diverse, and the Asian students that I have asked (including my own) don't seem to think that they are are bullied for their ethnicity. It does matter, however, whether your children are proficient in conversational English, as non-English speakers tend to end up together with kids who are speaking the language they prefer to speak (e.g., French kids tend to cluster together, Japanese kids tend to cluster together). I will say that if it is really important to you (not your kids) that you be part of a large Asian community, then you should seriously reconsider Edgemont. The Asian families I know here, while active in the community, are not necessarily active in Asian-identified groups. It is not particularly important to us, and we don't participate in the activities because they are not nearby.
One other reason to keep Edgemont in the mix is that I am not particularly convinced that the tax rate is that much lower here in Rye Neck. It is possible that things really have changed, as I really liked Edgemont when we looked, and I suppose I didn't notice that quoted taxes were really that much higher overall.
I wouldn't worry about it. The school is reasonably diverse, and the Asian students that I have asked (including my own) don't seem to think that they are are bullied for their ethnicity. It does matter, however, whether your children are proficient in conversational English, as non-English speakers tend to end up together with kids who are speaking the language they prefer to speak (e.g., French kids tend to cluster together, Japanese kids tend to cluster together). I will say that if it is really important to you (not your kids) that you be part of a large Asian community, then you should seriously reconsider Edgemont. The Asian families I know here, while active in the community, are not necessarily active in Asian-identified groups. It is not particularly important to us, and we don't participate in the activities because they are not nearby.
One other reason to keep Edgemont in the mix is that I am not particularly convinced that the tax rate is that much lower here in Rye Neck. It is possible that things really have changed, as I really liked Edgemont when we looked, and I suppose I didn't notice that quoted taxes were really that much higher overall.
Thank you for the feedback! I figured that I was overreacting. We are going to try to visit the schools after Labor Day when schools are open again.
English is our first language so, our kids have no problem with speaking English. Note that they won't be in school for a few years.
I probably misquoted the 3.7% rate for Edgemont, but it seems like 3.2% - 3.5% is commonplace for most houses there. It also seems like the new tax laws have seriously hurt the Edgemonth housing market. I'm seeing nice houses sit on the market for a long time there. True house prices are lower than Scarsdale for an equivalent house but paying $32-37k in taxes on a million dollar house just seems like a lot to me. Edgemont seems really nice & the schools are amongst the top in Westchester, but our buyer's agent who specializes in Scarsdale/Edgemont, told me that Edgemont doesn't really have a lot of town amenities nor does it have it's own train station so you're on the back of the line when trying to get a Scarsdale or Hartsdale Station parking permit. These aren't deal breakers for Edgemont but definitely factors to consider.
At least for Rye houses that are zoned for Rye Neck schools, it seems like that tax rate is somewhere between 2.0-2.1% for those houses. (Rye City is 2.1% & Mamaroneck is 2.3-2.4%).
Edgemont is a little weird from a property tax standpoint; there appear to be some non-obvious factors that create some pretty peculiar results. I did check one of the houses we were looking at when we considered it, and it does appear that the rate is considerably higher than here in Rye Neck. (Consistent with your estimates.) Based on what I saw a few years ago, part of the problem for Edgemont seemed to be that they don't even have a small collection of high-end houses to take up the slack on paying for school, and they have to still find a way to pay for it all. Add to the fact that there isn't a real town or connection to one that makes people want to stay there, and you have a recipe for sizeable increases in taxes. At least in these other towns, you have a reasonable number of empty nesters who contribute to paying for schools.
I will say that the one thing that kept us out of Edgemont was peculiar housing stock. We couldn't find anything that really appealed to us. It was hard to find anything anywhere that year, so I imagine that it's quite different now.
You should consider Pelham. There seems to be a recent strong influx of Asian families choosing Pelham and Pelham Manor. Extremely short commute and excellent schools. If you are interested in being part of a diverse community, Pelham has been attracting many ethnically diverse households from the city, choosing it because it’s a bit more laid back among the suburbs with great schools, and also become there is some degree of diversity versus other locations. Good luck!
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