So what's up with Pelham (Harrison, Vernon: house, neighborhoods, high school)

[VRV]

Originally Posted by Cambium

$700,000 home = rinky dinky land. Total insanity. I was doing work on this million dollar home in Pelham Manor and there was litterally 10 feet of backyard space. The house sat on less than a quarter acre. Such ashame.

Well when you're in such proximity to NYC and $700,000=studio apartment at best. 10 feet of backyard space and good schools start to look real good.

[VRV]

It sounds like Pelham is for city people who haven't fully committed to the suburbs yet- would that be accurate?

4 elementary schools?! which would be worth checking out?

[PresidentJoeMorgan]

The honest answer is that there is nothing wrong with Pelham itself. The school district is fine, and your child probably gets as good an education there as anywhere else. Clearly, there is inefficient bureaucracy with the town/2 village/4 elem. schools situation.

My apologies to people who'd rather I didn't point this out, but this is real estate we're talking about. Pelham lies between a massive predominantly black area (Mount Vernon and Williamsbridge) and a smaller black neighborhood in Southern New Rochelle. There's nothing more racial than real estate, and if you perceive that Pelham has a lower status than other areas, I would start there for your explanation.

[jjinla]

A quarter of an acre is actually pretty good for southern Westchester. Most homes under $1M in Larchmont and Scarsdale sit on a lot anywhere from 5K-7K sq. ft. People don't live that close to the city for space because if nothing else, you get nailed for taxes. A crappy house in Mamamroneck on a 33K lot that I saw recently had a tax bill of $32K+. You can't sell that house because anyone that can afford a tax bill that large would never buy it, and anyone that would want to buy it couldn't afford the tax bill.

But back to the topic at hand, Pelham is very small and has a very old and limited housing stock with relatively high taxes consering that they have limited recreational offerings. And besides the other bad areas that it straddles, you are right on top of the Bronx. The schools are great, though, an there is a ton of shopping nearby.

[nonny]

Pelham is great for raising kids. My kids' friends from other towns like coming here because, even though we don't have as much land or house, they can walk to town or walk to the pool, or to friends houses. The kids love the freedom of, for example, waking up in the morning and going to the MAD Cafe. The town is small. The police here are fantastic. Between the foot traffic and police, you don't need to worry about your kids so much, and they can walk everywhere. Once you go north, you have to worry about the kids driving... and parties with drinking and driving. Here, you don't, if they stay in town.

It's also nice that the town is low key. It downplays the value of material goods, which is important in Westchester, when you're raising kids. And the convenience, not only to NY, but to the airports, is fantastic.

But, the houses are not as big or modern, and the land generally is not as big either, as in the rest of the County. Most of the well priced houses need lots of work, and just are not going to be as convenient as the newer houses in the County. This is the oldest suburb...People spend a ton of money renovating these houses, and we don't get the money back because people generally don't want old houses.

[daombr]

What do you guys think about the area of New Rochelle that borders Pelham? Basically, off Lincoln Ave and then a stones throw (literally) to Pelham. I could shout at a neighbor in Pelham from the front door, yet I get a massive break in the price since it is in New Rochelle. I work in the city and have no kids and my wife teaches in the Mount Vernon district.

I think I would get all the benefits of Pelham without the school district.

[nonny]

By the little lake? That area looks better and better all the time.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by PresidentJoeMorgan

The honest answer is that there is nothing wrong with Pelham itself. The school district is fine, and your child probably gets as good an education there as anywhere else. Clearly, there is inefficient bureaucracy with the town/2 village/4 elem. schools situation.

My apologies to people who'd rather I didn't point this out, but this is real estate we're talking about. Pelham lies between a massive predominantly black area (Mount Vernon and Williamsbridge) and a smaller black neighborhood in Southern New Rochelle. There's nothing more racial than real estate, and if you perceive that Pelham has a lower status than other areas, I would start there for your explanation.

Same could be said of Bronxville, so I don't buy your argument.......

However, interestingly, until the 1980s Pelham (like Bronxville to this day) did have the reputation of "excluding" most non-WASPs, particularly Jews. In fact, when they built a Target and an adjoining small mall right over the Mt. Vernon border on Sandford Blvd. the village of Pelham tried to "block" it for a couple of years (and this was in the 2000s!), complaining about the traffic impact, etc. (though many people thought it was more of a snobbery thing, etc.). But Pelham is now the only municipality in Westchester under 20,000 population to have a black population over 10% (barely). But there is (in neighborhood look and feel, socioeconomics, etc.) no "ghetto" area of Pelham at all and the reason for increased diversity in Pelham is that many minorities of middle-to-upper income are deciding that Pelham is a "welcoming" place and choosing to go there over upscale neighborhoods of Yonkers, New Rochelle, and Mt. Vernon.

Maybe something about the "industrial" area bordering the Bronx and the southeasternmost part of Mt. Vernon in Pelham throws people off?

[nonny]

I'm surprised to hear that Pelham has the reputation of being WASPy until the 1980s. While it certainly does have a WASPy population, and always has, particularly in the heights, it's more diverse than that. For example, I had heard that Pelham has always had a very well off Italian-American population, primarily in Pelham Manor. And, furthermore, the population may have been involved in activities that were not legal... the setting for The Godfather was partly in Pelham Manor. In fact, I was told, that the reason that the Pelham schools lagged behind the other well-to-do towns was because it used to be that a large proportion of the kids went into family 'cash' business, and didn't need all that schools had to offer. I don't know whether this is a myth. But I've heard it from multiple sources. It certainly is remarkably safe here.

[PresidentJoeMorgan]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

Same could be said of Bronxville, so I don't buy your argument.......

The same thing can't be said about Bronxville. Huh? Lawrence Park West, Fleetwood, and upper New Rochelle are very white-and while Tuckahoe has a small black population, the majority is white also. So, I don't think the area surrounding Bronxville is anything like Pelham.

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

reason for increased diversity in Pelham is that many minorities of middle-to-upper income are deciding that Pelham is a "welcoming" place and choosing to go there over upscale neighborhoods of Yonkers, New Rochelle, and Mt. Vernon.

Well, its school district has a better rep than those places.