Tell me about living in the NYC burbs? NJ or Westchester?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband is seriously debating whether to accept a job in NYC. I want him to take it because it comes with a huge raise. It would substantially raise our standard of living (high six figures, low seven depending on bonus).

I am willing to try living in Manhattan but he says no way on that and that is our biggest hang up on whether he wants to take this job: where would we live and what would the commute be like for him? We have 3 kids, he strongly prefers suburban living (the extra space, he loves mowing the lawn and grilling out, that whole deal), we want to do public school, but we also want him to be able to spend time with our kids on weekday nights. We're worried about the length of the commute.

We're open to anything, NJ burbs or Westchester burbs. From my preliminary research, it seems like NJ burbs are closer with shorter commute but Westchester is considered nicer for some reason? Any opinions on that?

Budget around 1.5.

Where would you choose to live where the commute is doable? He might be able to negotiate some WFH days to cut down on the commute.

Like if it's a 90 min commute, that is tough but if he's only doing it 4 days a week maybe not so bad? Plus if you're commuting by train, I feel like that is less exhausting than driving?

I mostly SAH with a hobby job I do on the side at home so I am portable, lol.

I grew up in Scarsdale. The commute from Scarsdale Station to Grand Central is 36 minutes. Bronxville is 20 minutes to Grand Central. Both areas are lovely. What makes Westchester special are the towns and villages. Scarsdale Village is very quaint. Bronxville is as well. Another area to consider is Edgemont. It has wonderful schools as well, but it’s smaller. Edgemont has a Scarsdale post office address. The Northern part of New Rochelle has a Scarsdale PO, as well. New Rochelle is very diverse and quite large. The schools are good but not as highly rated as Scarsdale. From the northern part New Rochelle you would commute from Scarsdale train station. White Plains is also quite large and diverse and is on the same train line. The areas I would recommend on the that line are Bronxville, Scarsdale, Edgemont. As others have mentioned, Larchmont is a good option, also. It’s on a different train line similar commute time into Grand Central. If your husband wants a commute 60 minutes or less, I would recommend Scarsdale, Edgemont and Bronxville. Depending on which part of Scarsdale you live in you can also commute from Hartsdale train station. I don’t believe Hartsdale schools are as highly ranked as Scarsdale and Bronxville.
I concur that Metro North is more reliable than New Jersey transit. I’ve commuted using both. Best of luck!

As a post script not sure if you posted about the Zillow listing for the large home on Morris Lane in Scarsdale or if someone else did, but that home is actually on the northern side of New Rochelle with a Scarsdale post office. The schools for that area are Davis, Albert Leonard, and New Rochelle HS.

[Anonymous]

Let me throw a few other towns out there. There are several nice towns in Westchester along the Hudson River that can also be reached from Grand Central on the Hudson Line: Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Croton - May be a bit less expensive and schools (I think) are okay. Anything further than Croton will have an ugly commute

Riverdale in the Bronx is also very nice and very close to Manhattan. Frankly if my family went back to NYC we’d look here - also close to several very good private schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me throw a few other towns out there. There are several nice towns in Westchester along the Hudson River that can also be reached from Grand Central on the Hudson Line: Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Croton - May be a bit less expensive and schools (I think) are okay. Anything further than Croton will have an ugly commute

Riverdale in the Bronx is also very nice and very close to Manhattan. Frankly if my family went back to NYC we’d look here - also close to several very good private schools

My sister has lived in Briarcliff Manor along the Hudson line for 20 years and loves it. They moved out of Tarrytown because of the schools, but the schools for her town (Briarcliff, not Ossining) and all of those other towns PP listed are great. Much more down to earth than a lot of other areas listed here. If it was me, though, I would do Chatham/Madison/Millburn in NJ, though.

Another area that hasn’t been mentioned at all is over toward the shore in NJ - Rumson and Fairhaven. There are high-speed ferries in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands that go to midtown. Beautiful towns and worth checking out if you are beach/boat people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me throw a few other towns out there. There are several nice towns in Westchester along the Hudson River that can also be reached from Grand Central on the Hudson Line: Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Croton - May be a bit less expensive and schools (I think) are okay. Anything further than Croton will have an ugly commute

Riverdale in the Bronx is also very nice and very close to Manhattan. Frankly if my family went back to NYC we’d look here - also close to several very good private schools

All of this you posted I agree with. I also like Riverdale, I am not sure about public school situation there though past elementary or MS, I haven't looked into it. I tend to compare nicer parts of Bronx to NWDC in terms of schools and residential feel, but still being a part of NYC like NWDC is a part of DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me throw a few other towns out there. There are several nice towns in Westchester along the Hudson River that can also be reached from Grand Central on the Hudson Line: Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Croton - May be a bit less expensive and schools (I think) are okay. Anything further than Croton will have an ugly commute

Riverdale in the Bronx is also very nice and very close to Manhattan. Frankly if my family went back to NYC we’d look here - also close to several very good private schools

All of this you posted I agree with. I also like Riverdale, I am not sure about public school situation there though past elementary or MS, I haven't looked into it. I tend to compare nicer parts of Bronx to NWDC in terms of schools and residential feel, but still being a part of NYC like NWDC is a part of DC.

If you get lucky and pass the test you go to Bronx Science.

[Anonymous]

NYC is so much more expensive than DC, and the commutes - even from "close in" suburbs - are so much worse. Think twice about whether the increased salary is worth it OP, for you, and your husband and family.

[Anonymous]

Why is your budget so low? Seriously. With high-six figures bump up your budget. We bought in Hoboken, NJ for around 3MM with a similar income. 30 min door-to-door to Midtown. Terrible schools but private is around 22k/kid, less than Manhattan. But taxes here are around 26k/year vs Westchester were it's double that for a comparable house. So it evens out for a small family.

Westchester and NJ suburbs are 1hr+ door-to-door. And trains break down often. Long Island is a nightmare commute and way too Republican for us. (This is an anonymous board, right? )

Good luck. We love it here!

[Anonymous]

PP, also in Hoboken 2MM gets you a 2-floor 3,000 sq ft duplex. 2.5 and up you can get a brownstone w/four floors 3,000 sq ft plus an a yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me throw a few other towns out there. There are several nice towns in Westchester along the Hudson River that can also be reached from Grand Central on the Hudson Line: Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Croton - May be a bit less expensive and schools (I think) are okay. Anything further than Croton will have an ugly commute

Riverdale in the Bronx is also very nice and very close to Manhattan. Frankly if my family went back to NYC we’d look here - also close to several very good private schools

My sister has lived in Briarcliff Manor along the Hudson line for 20 years and loves it. They moved out of Tarrytown because of the schools, but the schools for her town (Briarcliff, not Ossining) and all of those other towns PP listed are great. Much more down to earth than a lot of other areas listed here. If it was me, though, I would do Chatham/Madison/Millburn in NJ, though.

Another area that hasn’t been mentioned at all is over toward the shore in NJ - Rumson and Fairhaven. There are high-speed ferries in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands that go to midtown. Beautiful towns and worth checking out if you are beach/boat people.

Check out the real estate in Rumson and Fairhaven. All stereotypes have a kernel of truth. And I don't think most DC ppl would be so happy with the double-foyer, grand staircase type McMansion people that inhabit Rumson. Also, it's got some serious flooding issues. (Thank Boomers!) Ground Zero for global warming. The river towns have a 1-hour commute and are super, super tiny. Lots of ex-Brooklyn types. Good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband is seriously debating whether to accept a job in NYC. I want him to take it because it comes with a huge raise. It would substantially raise our standard of living (high six figures, low seven depending on bonus).

I am willing to try living in Manhattan but he says no way on that and that is our biggest hang up on whether he wants to take this job: where would we live and what would the commute be like for him? We have 3 kids, he strongly prefers suburban living (the extra space, he loves mowing the lawn and grilling out, that whole deal), we want to do public school, but we also want him to be able to spend time with our kids on weekday nights. We're worried about the length of the commute.

We're open to anything, NJ burbs or Westchester burbs. From my preliminary research, it seems like NJ burbs are closer with shorter commute but Westchester is considered nicer for some reason? Any opinions on that?

Budget around 1.5.

Where would you choose to live where the commute is doable? He might be able to negotiate some WFH days to cut down on the commute.

Like if it's a 90 min commute, that is tough but if he's only doing it 4 days a week maybe not so bad? Plus if you're commuting by train, I feel like that is less exhausting than driving?

I mostly SAH with a hobby job I do on the side at home so I am portable, lol.

I grew up in Scarsdale. The commute from Scarsdale Station to Grand Central is 36 minutes. Bronxville is 20 minutes to Grand Central. Both areas are lovely. What makes Westchester special are the towns and villages. Scarsdale Village is very quaint. Bronxville is as well. Another area to consider is Edgemont. It has wonderful schools as well, but it’s smaller. Edgemont has a Scarsdale post office address. The Northern part of New Rochelle has a Scarsdale PO, as well. New Rochelle is very diverse and quite large. The schools are good but not as highly rated as Scarsdale. From the northern part New Rochelle you would commute from Scarsdale train station. White Plains is also quite large and diverse and is on the same train line. The areas I would recommend on the that line are Bronxville, Scarsdale, Edgemont. As others have mentioned, Larchmont is a good option, also. It’s on a different train line similar commute time into Grand Central. If your husband wants a commute 60 minutes or less, I would recommend Scarsdale, Edgemont and Bronxville. Depending on which part of Scarsdale you live in you can also commute from Hartsdale train station. I don’t believe Hartsdale schools are as highly ranked as Scarsdale and Bronxville.
I concur that Metro North is more reliable than New Jersey transit. I’ve commuted using both. Best of luck!

As a post script not sure if you posted about the Zillow listing for the large home on Morris Lane in Scarsdale or if someone else did, but that home is actually on the northern side of New Rochelle with a Scarsdale post office. The schools for that area are Davis, Albert Leonard, and New Rochelle HS.

Looked at Scarsdale. What bugged me is that there's zero street life on the weekdays. If you dig an urban vibe, that might be a deal breaker.

[Anonymous]

For those complaining about the taxes, you’re saving it on not paying private school tuition. I grew up on Long Island on the LIRR Port Washington line. It didn’t share a tunnel or tracks with other LIRR trains so it had far far fewer problems, and it didn’t go very far out. Look at Great Neck, Manhasset, and Port Washington.

[Anonymous]

I second this. I grew up in Great Neck, great schools, and a walkable downtown area and a short (30 minutes or less on express) train ride into the city. Plus, in the summer, you are a short ride to the south shore beaches, and the north shore boating. If I were moving back to NY I would definitely look at Port Washington.

[Anonymous]

Surprised this option has not come up more...why not rent for a year?

Your husband is taking a new job, a lot of uncertainty already, plus we have an election and a late-cycle housing and stock market. Are you sure you want to go "all in" and buy something when circumstances might change?

I would say rent an apartment upper east or west side for one year. Or rent a house and choose one of LI, Westchester or NJ (I lean Westchester personally).

This is a big change and might be worth easing into it.

[Anonymous]

P.S. I agree with renting a beach house for the summer too as a nice getaway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those complaining about the taxes, you’re saving it on not paying private school tuition. I grew up on Long Island on the LIRR Port Washington line. It didn’t share a tunnel or tracks with other LIRR trains so it had far far fewer problems, and it didn’t go very far out. Look at Great Neck, Manhasset, and Port Washington.

Yep, the best LIRR options are towns along the PW line (Great Neck mostly Jewish, Manhasset mostly Catholic, Port Washington a bit of a mix) and Garden City (since you have multiple lines and stations).