Anonymous wrote:I'd say if you choose the tippy TOP suburbs, especially north of the city, which is seen as more desirable, then there will be more transplants. I.e. Scarsdale, Darien, Rye, Bronxville, etc. Lots of people are from elsewhere and they're there entirely for the schools+decent commute. OTOH, those suburbs are VERY wealthy and pretty snobby. These are finance/biglaw people transplanting there.
If you go a couple levels down, like Eastchester, New Rochelle, Yonkers, White Plains, the families there are more lifers and descendants of residents.
Maybe a good middle ground would be Tarrytown? Some of the river towns are reputed to be lower-key.
I confess I don't know the scene in NJ or LI. Isn't there some real estate lady who's the suburb whisperer and will tell you exactly where to move based on considerations like yours? She comes up in the Times every now and then.
Yes, I grew up in Westchester and this assessment of that county at least is totally accurate