Westchester Help

[bmwguydc]

When discussing Mamaroneck, it's important to remember the distinctions, not unlike Rye, but with fewer school districts. The Town of Mamaroneck includes the unincorporated areas of Mamaroneck, and the Villages of Larchmont and Mamaroneck (though only half the village is in the Town of Mamaroneck, the other half is in the Town of Rye).

Since the Village of Mamaroneck was named, that's Rye Neck school district, not Mamaroneck; thus, I believe that you are speaking of Rye Neck school district, not Mamaroneck school district. The working-class areas of Mamaroneck are not in the village, and Rye Neck is a comparatively small district. Class sizes are smaller than larger districts in the immediate vicinity. Rye Neck is equal to Pleasantville in terms of reputation, and is on par with Rye Brook and City of Rye schools.

[LightningMcQueen]

Honestly, all these technical disctinction between town, village, unincorporated, incorporated, and blah blah is really confusing. I think the best way for a newcomer to Westchester to find a combination of a school district and a home they feel comfortable would be

(1) Get a list of the school districts in Westchester, not towns. Here is one site I found, Public Schools and School Districts - Westchester

(2) Map out where these districts are to make sure it's not too far from your job or whatever.

(3) Research the schools for reputation and quality of education based on your standards. There are sites like schoolmatters.com and others like it that will help.

(4) Use a real estate site that lets you search by districts (not just by towns) and see what addresses come up based on your price range.

(5) Drive around to these addresses and you'll start to see what towns/villages belong to what school districts and how sometimes different parts of the same town can have different districts.

May be I stated the obvious here, but I remember when I started my research into Westchester, I used to get very confused when people started to talk about the technical differences between all the towns/villages and all the municipal mumbo jumbo. Just stick with the school district distinctions at first (if you are shooping for schools) and the rest will fall into place dictated by your price range.

[cina1mont]

Lightning - thanks for the information and we will definitely use the guide while conducting our search. We are still looking for a site that searches by school district but it certainly has put us in the right direction.

[bmwguydc]

You can use the Westchester MLS public search to find areas by school district, but remember that they are sorted by town. This comes into play if you are looking for Bronxville, for example, as it will be listed under Eastchester, just as Larchmont will be under Mamaroneck, or Irvington under Greenburgh. So, while you can search by district, you need to know the town in which the district is located.

WPMLS Search

[cina1mont]

Thanks alot, BMW. I'll try the MLS site.

[Syngar99]

Originally Posted by cina1mont

My wife and I are looking for a home (700,000 or so) in either Mamoraneck or White Plains (we are interracial so we need diversity). What are the best areas in White Plains since the school district ratings scare us? Additionally, any advice on a good place other than Mamoraneck or White Plains? We are both professionals and would like to find an area that can provide a nice downtown (or nearby), good schools (even if private), diversity and family friendly. All help is appreciated!

don;t worry most of westchester is diverse these days.
try larchmont or ardsley, also nice areas

[OIF VET]

New Rochelle has an excellent school district and great diversity, with a nice city feel too

[josmyth]

I don't think anyone here has mentioned Tuckahoe. It has a good school district, diversity, cute town, and people are pretty down to earth (not easy to find in WC). Also diversity is a relative term. Many here will tell you a town is diverse if there is an asian or hispanic population. Not sure if that is what you are looking for. I know there is a place here on city data that you can look up the ethnic makeup of a town, just don't remember where it is.
I have friends in WP in the highlands section. It is really nice. Their kids go to Church Street Elementary and they love it. However, they will be sending them to private MS.
Best of Luck in your search.

ETA: go to //www.city-data.com/
type the city or town you are looking for in the search box you can get all kinds of demographic info.