I agree this thread has some really insane posts! I find it so odd when people who have never lived in Manhattan or the other boroughs claim it's not possible. There is a pretty good selection of public schools available for a 500K budget. You can live in a doorman building on the UES, settle into a public and live a pretty normal life, with normal friends (not high rollers talking about their safaris). You'll have a small apartment, not a house with a yard, but that's what NYC is.

Hoboken is nice and probably would be fine. I don't know about the schools though. Op, on your budget I would choose Yorkville/UES or northern UWS instead of NJ. There are a good number of good publics there. Post on urbanbaby for school advice.

If you're going to live on the other side of the river from the city, may as well make it for a house with a yard IMO. The big exception to that is Brooklyn.

What kind of lifestyle do you want?

Westchester, for example, has a broad range of towns. It's not all rich preppies living in big white colonials. Some towns have a laid back, low key small town vibe such as Pleasantville oriented around its lovely village center, others have many progressive liberals, others are decidedly suburban, others are very rich. It's still a heavily democratic county with a large Jewish, Asian and Italian American populations. There are actually preciously few private schools in Westchester, unlike in NYC proper. Don't write off the whole county. Likewise, New Jersey has a whole range of towns with different personalities, ranging from diverse Orange and Montclair to Alpine on the other end of the spectrum.

Or do you want something more urban? A brownstone in Brooklyn?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone!

Does anyone know about Hoboken? It looks like we could get a townhome there and still afford private. Commute via PATH looks easy.

HOWEVER, being able to afford a townhome makes me think twice. There must be a reason it's more affordable there than Brooklyn or Manhattan.

How is the noise in a townhome? I dislike a) being bothered by noise and b) bothering others with my noise. My kids are LOUD.

By the way, PPs, I checked out Westchester. Gorgeous. Thanks for the tip. I think it's a bit too preppy for us.

And you sound like a typical New Yorker for whom the suburbs are nothing but cultural wastelands

Anonymous wrote:
You sound like the typical bronxville aspirant, who has never toured or spent any time with new York's school system.

NYC has a problematic school district. This is nothing new. There are a handful of stellar magnet schools and a selection of popular zoned elementary schools, but outside that it's very much hit or miss territory with many more misses than hits.

Like most urban areas, New York is a place where if you put in the effort, game the system, subject yourself to the whims of the lotteries, carefully plan your life / where you live, you can find a great education in the NYC public schools. But many people just find it a lot easier and simpler to just move to a good school system in the suburbs, whether it's NJ or Westchester or LI or CT. And this isn't just white people but people of all racial origins.

Anonymous wrote:Cough, cough.

Schools.

Anonymous wrote:These people are all insane, op. Move into NYC proper with that income. Pay almost nothing in property taxes. Buy in fieldston or forest hill, or Brooklyn. Easy life, nicer people, low property taxes... Done. Quality of life there vs Arlington? Not even a contest. One thing about NYC? Its metro does not catch on fire every day.

The reason people pay 30, 40 grand in property taxes in Westchester is because it's a lot cheaper than putting 2-3 kids through NYC private schools. And outside a select handful of elite magnets your public school options are limited.

As it is, I would take NYC suburbs on 500K over Arlington at 400K because I like the area better that I'm willing to put up with the inconveniences and higher taxes.

You don't know much about NYC schools. So many more options than the burbs. The reason people pay 30k for Westchester is because they don't want brown. Ironically, Westchester is become a lot more diverse, but you will notice if you spend time there that there only a "handful" of schools "good enough" there too.

And the subway, or even having the option of walking to work (depending on where you live/work) vs grand Central or Penn station and then taking a subway? Hah. Just ride the thing in from Brooklyn. So much easier. Metro North, njtransit and lirr all get crowded too.

You sound like the typical bronxville aspirant, who has never toured or spent any time with new York's school system.

Anonymous wrote:Hoboken is where people live right out of college when they can't afford the city.

+1