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Hi all. Looking to settle within commuting distance to NYC. We’re a late 30’s couple with 3 children. We homeschool, so schools aren’t important to us, aside from property value. Looking for a place with a sense of community, but not elitist and exclusive. From past threads and online articles, Hastings on Hudson seems like it would fit my family well. Yoga studios, coffee shops, Artsy folk, independent bookstores and farmers markets are appealing. (So original-I know!) I also like that it has a local pool as well as library. We’re looking for a 3bd/2bth under 700k. Preferably lower. Nothing fancy. Would love insight into this town as well as any other place that may be a better fit based on what I’m looking for. Thanks!
Hi all. Looking to settle within commuting distance to NYC. We’re a late 30’s couple with 3 children. We homeschool, so schools aren’t important to us, aside from property value. Looking for a place with a sense of community, but not elitist and exclusive. From past threads and online articles, Hastings on Hudson seems like it would fit my family well. Yoga studios, coffee shops, Artsy folk, independent bookstores and farmers markets are appealing. (So original-I know!) I also like that it has a local pool as well as library. We’re looking for a 3bd/2bth under 700k. Preferably lower. Nothing fancy. Would love insight into this town as well as any other place that may be a better fit based on what I’m looking for. Thanks!
I live next door to Hastings in Dobbs Ferry. Hastings has a reputation for being the favored location of Brooklyn transplants per some recent news articles on the subject. That said, given the choice - and without regard to schools - I would actually pick Tarrytown over Hastings. Hastings and Dobbs both have a distinct 'bedroom community' feel and have a long way to go before they have a truly bustling main street vibe. The main activities in both villages tend to center around school-related activities and relationships, which can feel isolating if you're not involved in that community. Outside of that, very quiet on weekdays as most people commute to/from NYC. The main street shops lean heavily towards practical offerings (think barber shop/insurance agency/laundromat/pharmacy) and are relatively light on other offerings (shopping/dining/coffee shops). In a head-to-head comparison, Hastings has slightly more offerings in that regard than Dobbs.
Tarrytown (in my opinion) achieves the lively, more inclusive village feel much better, has more shopping/dining/activity offerings, a great waterfront park area, a brand new recreation center and pool. They have a couple of great coffee shops on Main Street. The shared farmer's market between Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow (TASH) is much more well developed and vibrant. In the Fall, Sleepy Hollow is a big tourist destination for many, and NYC folks tend visit Tarrytown on weekends giving it a more lively feel on weekends (not so much for the Rivertowns to the south). The reason most people choose to pass on a Tarrytown home purchase is the lower school rankings relative to some of the other vilages.
Again, this is all personal preference on my side having lived 5 years in this area, but I would definitely recommend visiting both towns to get a feel for the community offerings in each. Hastings may get the vote from reporters, but in my opinion the day to day reality is quite different.
Thank you for all of your insight-very helpful! I agree, and had forgot to mention, that being that we don’t use the public school system, could we feel alienated? So thank you for giving your opinion. As you stated, reading articles online can be very deceiving as far as knowing what actual life in the towns is like.
You may also want to check out Montclair and Maplewood in New Jersey which have good local vibes and community feel, and are settled by Brooklyn transplants. The downside (as with southern Westchester towns) are the high taxes which pay for the school districts. If you're not using the schools, it might not be a practical choice financially. If I were to homeschool my own kids, I would probably choose place with low taxes in the absolute sense (ie, one-half the taxes in other neighborhoods) although those places tend to be more spread out with no downtowns like Northern Westchester or Monmouth County in NJ. Ask in the Connecticut forums as well - I like the town of Redding.
Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 04-28-2020 at 06:20 AM..
Hastings-on-Hudson is loaded with people who love diversity. Yet it is probably the least diverse community in Westchester County. It's filled with white progressives, white progressives and white progressives. It's even hard to find an Asian.
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!) I also like that it has a local pool as well as library. We’re looking for a 3bd/2bth under 700k. Preferably lower. Nothing fancy. Would love insight into this town as well as any other place that may be a better fit based on what I’m looking for. Thanks!
