hey guys (New York, Tappan, Rockland: middle-class, house, school district)

[northeastmike]

Hi everyone,

I have browsed this site for a while, and now finally set up a profile. Anyways, I have been in Rockland county NY for about 8 years, work in NYC. Hopefully I can shed some light (the good and the bad) about this place to folks looking to come here.

[sleepsheep]

Hello -

We are looking to move upstate. I've been mostly considering Orange County, as I know nothing of Rockland. Any suggestions about towns that I could check out - we are looking for good schools, nice upper-middle-class neighbors, and a (relatively) easy commute to Midtown.

Thank in advance!

[northeastmike]

If you are looking for a shorter commute, try the harriman/woodbury area. They have put alot of new ammenities and services in the recent years. Prices there are about the same as rockland, but as you go farther out up rte 17 the prices go down.

[sleepsheep]

What are some of the nicest towns in Rockland that are still close to the NYC bound trains/busses?

[northeastmike]

Most of Rockland is nice, I would say look into nanuet, west nyack, pearl river, and towns in that area. There are NJ transit stops that go to (I think) Penn station. Also, you can go across the Tappan Zee and park at the metro north station in tarry town, the train goes right to Grand central.

Most of rockland is nice, with a few exceptions of parts of spring valley, and haverstraw near the river and a few other pockets.

The county is small, so you could drive around most of it and check out the area in a day

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by sleepsheep

Any suggestions about towns that I could check out ...

sleepsheep, in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Noo Yawk".


You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet in New York by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".

You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.


When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP or Census Designated Place is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in "Noo Yawk".)

And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.