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Old 09-25-2009, 11:24 AM
 
28 posts, read 142,588 times
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My husband and I have been looking in Cold Spring, Katonah, and parts of nj in the Maplewood area. We're looking for a place that is in a good school system, lots of green space, walkable to Metro into NYC, and with the conveniences of the big box stores near by. We love COld Spring, but find it a bit too far a commute at over an hour. Katonah is a good mixture of features we're looking for, but inventory is low right now. Maplewood, South Mountain area in NJ, is plentiful in housing, but the commute to Penn station may be the killer in kicking this one off our list. Coming from Park Slope, Brooklyn, we're ready for more green space.

What are people's impressions of Mount Kisco? I know it's town center is not as nice as other towns. We drove through there and found it very busy, and not as attractive as Katonah's. Are the schools comparable to Katonah? Will the hustle and bustle of the area feel too busy, for a family looking for alittle more quiet, but not ready to go an hour plus northward?

Thank you for any feedback.
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Old 09-25-2009, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Yorktown Heights NY
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Mount Kisco is the shopping and restaurant capital of upper Westchester. It has a great range of restaurants--and has added about 4 new ones in the last 3 months--and a decent variety of interesting stores, as well as big box ones. While it does have one of the biggest "strips" of big box stores and strip malls around (on Rt 117 just north of the town center), it also has one of the most vibrant downtowns around. It is the only town that has big box stores in the walkable downtown, which is great. No matter where you live in the area, you'll end up going to Mt Kisco on a regular bass for the restaurants and other amenities. The town just built a new library, and the main park (Leonard park) is very nice and has a new pool complex.

Socio-economically, the town is more diverse than most in the area. There are a number of lovely middle/upper-middle class neighborhoods in town, and lots of upper-class estates all around it. The town also has a large latino population, which runs the range from low-income to upper-middle class.

As for the "hustle and bustle" that depends on what you want. We moved from Park Slope 8 years ago and looked in Maplewood, Cold Spring, Croton, Katonah, Mt Kisco and a number of towns in southern and central Westchester. Some felt too dense and suburban, some felt too rural and isolated. We ended up in southern Yorktown, which we love for the rural beauty and the proximity to towns and amenities (and trains to NYC, where we work). My only advice on specific towns is to explore everywhere and see what feels right. And remember that the towns are all nearby and easy to get to--if you live in Katonah, you'll still go to Mt Kisco all the time, and vice versa.
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Old 09-29-2009, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC & New York
10,915 posts, read 31,246,602 times
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In terms of schools, Mount Kisco is part of Bedford Central School District, which covers the Town of Bedford, Pound Ridge, and Mount Kisco. It's a tad more diverse, overall, than Katonah-Lewisboro. As such, scores tend to be slightly higher in Katonah-Lewisboro, but in Bedford Central, one does need to pay attention to the elementary school since Bedford Village ES and West Patent are better performing environments, overall, than others in the district.
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Old 09-29-2009, 10:33 PM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 6,983,542 times
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To amplify on BMW's post, Mt Kisco elem is locally regarded as one to avoid. In the Bedford Central district Pound Ridge ES and Bedford Village are at the top of the heap.

Something to be aware of in the Bedford Central district is that town lines mean little and school boundaries mean everything. Everyone in the area ends up in Mt Kisco or the strip malls on Rt 117 on a regular basis whether they live actually live within town limits or not. And much of the 117 strip is in Bedford Hills.

As for Mt Kisco itself, it's a great little town. It's not artsy-fartsy, it's real and it's healthy. Stores stay in business. There are lots of restaurants and bars to suit all tastes. There's a hospital. The beauty of it is that you can be on a quiet 2 acre that's just a minutes of 2 away. Ditto Katonah, by the way, all these towns are just a couple minutes apart. Realize that the "nicest" parts of mt Kisco & Katonah are not walkable to metro north.
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