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In terms of taxes, there aren't any Westchester towns outside of Rye and Scarsdale that have "low" rates. Pelham is marginally higher than Larchmont and on par with Dobbs Ferry/Ardsley.
I wouldn’t call Scarsdale low as it’a ~2.3-2.5% of the assessed value.
Rye is almost half at ~1.6% of assessed value so most people would consider that low by Westchester standards.
Larchmont is ~2.3-2.4% so it’s up to the individual to see if that’s only marginally lower than Pelham’s 3+%.
Perhaps, but I would imagine people are less inclined to spend 1M on a home and 30+M in taxes to deal with petty theft in the outskirts of their town.
To each their own. Some care, others don’t. People drop a ton of money on apartments in Manhattan/Brooklyn in areas where you’re more apt to get something stolen.
The trade off with Pelham is larger homes and lower $/sq ft. You’re paying an incremental ~50bps in tax over some place like Larchmont, however you’re better insulated (from a pure asset perspective) in terms of interest rate risk.
In response to these prior comments regarding taxes, it's pretty negligible. I view the taxes as being simply a premium on living in the closest suburb with great schools to the city. And the property values are less, primarily because of the taxes. Yes, it's only a few more minutes to Bronxville or Scarsdale, but every single train to and from Pelham is around 30 minutes. There are ten trains leaving Pelham before 9:00 on weekdays, all of which are between about 31 -33 minutes. In contrast, there are only 8 trains leaving before 9:00 from either Scarsdale or Bronxville where the travel time is comparable - other trains from these locations have more stops and take 45 minutes or longer. Pelham has better tain service and is more convenient overall. But yes, if you take one of the trains that takes 35 minutes from Bronxville or Scarsdale, the service is comparable.
Regarding the cuteness factor: Yes, Pelham is not as cute as Larchmont or Bronxville. But have a look at Fifth Avenue between the high school and the Pelham Art Center and you'll see that it's actually pretty cute. If you haven't been to Pelham recently, you may be recalling what it might have looked like ten years ago or so. The building stock downtown is quite nice, and the businesses are relatively attractive. The thai restaurant is fantastic and has nice atmospheric outdoor seating. It's not off the charts on the cute scale, but by no means is it unattractive. See my prior comments about the new development coming in - there are several new apartment developments that ought to fill in some of the holes along Wolfs Lane and Fifth Avenue, and several hundred affluent households living downtown - this will likely result in not only architectural solutions to some of the deficiencies in the streetscape downtown, but also the actual bodies living there ought to create significantly greater demand for high quality restaurants and retail. I'm optimistic. The rents that are being forecast for all of these projects are only affordable for households earning between roughly $100k to $250k. It is likely that the incomes among these tenants will be much higher on average, as the basic target markets for the apartments are households in transition from the city who have not yet bought a house, and empty-nesters or widowers who no longer want to maintain a house locally but want to maintain a foothold in the community. They may own one or three houses elsewhere, but are choosing to rent. The average incomes and net worth in Pelham are among the highest in Westchester, so I'm confident that the quality of the apartments and the nature of the people living there will be additive to the overall atmosphere downtown. Certainly new development on some of the vacant lots on Fifth Avenue and Wolfs Lane will improve the appearance of the corridor, and probably mostly address the "cuteness" factor. Also, in the last year, there was a major effort to rebuild all of the park areas lining Wolfs Lane from the train station to the high school - it's been renamed Wolf's Lane Park, and there is a new playground, new sidewalks, new landscaping, teak benches, a pergola, bocce ball court and other activities. The Pelham Art Center curates public outdoor sculptural art in Wolfs Lane Park, with rotating installations that are really pretty great. I encourage all readers here to actually go to Fifth Avenue/Wolfs Lane today and see for yourself - it's pretty good as it is, but will get better.
Regarding crime, almost ALL of the petty activity is concentrated around the shopping centers that are located south of the Hutch, but in Pelham Manor - BJs wholesale, Fairway, Home Goods, Panera, etc. If you read the weekly paper, you see the nature of the crime - someone attempted to use a stolen credit card in one of these stores, there was some shoplifting, there was minor theft from a parked car. None of it is violent, and I can assure readers that it doesn't creep into the residential areas of Pelham beyond the rates that are experienced in other high-end communities in Southern Westchester. The shopping centers and commercial development mitigate the real estate taxes in Pelham Manor, and there is some more development planned, which will hopefully ensure that the taxes are kept at existing levels or made lower overall. Thus, I really don't mind the idea that the commercial activity brings with it some enhanced degree of petty theft in that area of town because it keeps a hold on my taxes. Sadly, the statistics get rolled into the overall stats for Pelham, but on a practical basis, there is really no higher rate of activity in the residential areas of Pelham. I live in Pelham Manor, in the most expensive part of Pelham Manor, and we have never had any incident in our neighborhood -which would normally be a target of any undesirables. Every few years you might hear of someone's bike getting stolen, or someone's car getting ransacked in your neighborhood, but it's really not anything beyond what you would find in other Westchester communities.
The other thing to consider is that Pelham has direct access to the Long Island Sound - Pelham Manor's Shore Park allows for really beautiful views, and the NY Athletic Club's facilities are awesome. Pelham Bay Park is literally miles of shoreline, and the recreational opportunities are really unsurpassed. There is nowhere in Bronxville or Scarsdale where you can go fishing, kayaking, or have a picnic with your family overlooking the sound. Larchmont for sure, and it's gorgeous in Larchmont's Manor Shore Park, but the waterfront in Pelham Manor and Pelham Bay Park is a major community asset. Bartow-Pell Mansion and Museum is also a great place to explore.
I wouldn’t call Scarsdale low as it’a ~2.3-2.5% of the assessed value.
Rye is almost half at ~1.6% of assessed value so most people would consider that low by Westchester standards.
Larchmont is ~2.3-2.4% so it’s up to the individual to see if that’s only marginally lower than Pelham’s 3+%.
You can't make town vs. town tax comparisons using assessed value as a baseline unless you first show that assessed values are equal in each town. Some towns have updated assessments. Some don't. Towns that use older assessments (i.e. lower ones) will have high relative property taxes as a percentage of assessed value, even if their actual taxes are relatively lower as a percentage of market value.
You can't make town vs. town tax comparisons using assessed value as a baseline unless you first show that assessed values are equal in each town. Some towns have updated assessments. Some don't. Towns that use older assessments (i.e. lower ones) will have high relative property taxes as a percentage of assessed value, even if their actual taxes are relatively lower as a percentage of market value.
Fair enough but this does apply to new construction and if you recently purchased a house and want to grieve your taxes down, you’ll likely grieve it down to your purchase price.
You can't make town vs. town tax comparisons using assessed value as a baseline unless you first show that assessed values are equal in each town. Some towns have updated assessments. Some don't. Towns that use older assessments (i.e. lower ones) will have high relative property taxes as a percentage of assessed value, even if their actual taxes are relatively lower as a percentage of market value.
Most towns will update assessments based on purchase price. I would caution anyone from making a financial decision on the basis that a lower assessment will remain in place. There was a massive revaluation in the rivertowns last year that significantly impacted homeowners (https://thehudsonindependent.com/riv...uncertainties/)
The percentages offered by Dabaomb are generally accurate, although I have seen some Larchmont properties in the 2.6-2.7% area.
The crime rate is overstated. Much of it is petty theft near the shopping center at the outskirts of town. Hardly anything bleeds over to Pelham Manor/Heights.
That said, it certainly is more urban than other suburbs.
In terms of taxes, there aren't any Westchester towns outside of Rye and Scarsdale that have "low" rates. Pelham is marginally higher than Larchmont and on par with Dobbs Ferry/Ardsley.
There is a big difference Dobbs Ferry bordering town are Hasting on the Hudson, Ardsley, Irvington On Hudson and the Hudson River.
Ardsley border with Dobbs Ferry, scarsdale, hartsdale, Hasting On The Hudson.
All of those towns are some of the premier town in the entire state, on the other hand
Pelham is bordering by New Rochelle, Mount Vernon and the Bronx.
My post was in regard to tax rates by town, not geography.
I was trying to make a point about Pelham crime rate that cannot be overstated as you stated when you look at Pelham bordering town. Pelham all around is encircle by town with high crime rate.
I was trying to make a point about Pelham crime rate that cannot be overstated as you stated when you look at Pelham bordering town. Pelham all around is encircle by town with high crime rate.
I'm not arguing that Mount Vernon is a nice area. However the notion that violent crime spills over into Pelham just isn't true. You can check the police blotter, it is public record.
This is like saying that the Upper East Side of Manhattan is undesirable simply because it borders East Harlem.
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