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Any comment is welcome. One particular question, in LI even out east with over an hour commute to Manhattan, houses are still fairly expensive if it's in a good school district, are there any affordable areas in Westchester within an hour commute to the city, with good school district of course?
Huntington, Dix Hills, Babylon would all be considered an hour commute, and if you are talking about areas with good SD's, 500k is the minimum for a starter house, not to mention high tax. What would be the equivalent in Westchester?
There are towns in lower Westchester like Eastchester/Pelham/Tuckahoe which are pretty nice. You could probably find a starter home there for around $600k. You might also be able to find a 3br co-op in a place like Eastchester for $500k.
In Yonkers you can find a starter home for closer to $400k. The elementary schools are generally ok, but the High School is a big problem.
All of these towns are about 30-40 minutes from Grand Central by train.
Of course if you go way out into Rockland or Northern Westchester I'm sure that you'd be able to find a nicer school district for a cheaper ammount, however you pay for that with a much longer commuting time.
Well...I have a friend who lives in Monsey (Rockland County) and I'm not sure of the distance by train (NJ transit) but she is 28 miles from the city. There are places on Long Island that are much further from the city mile-wise than that...so when you talk of Long Island...you are talking about a much bigger area than Westchester. Generally, the further out on the island you go, the less expensive houses get. Of course the Hamptons will run you a pretty penny but then again they are overrated anyway and more of a tourist/vacation spot than anything else.
I live in the Bellmore/Merrick/Wantagh area...this is Nassau county and by train it takes me about 50 minutes...maybe 40 minutes on a express train.
Westchester and Long Island are probably comparable in terms of housing costs. I know nothing of the school districts in Westchester but on Long Island the school districts vary from one to another. It isn't like all districts are good or all are bad...even if we do have money here. Jericho is rpob the best district on the island and Roosevelt is probably the worst. Also, housing costs in jericho are astromical. I suppose you get what you pay for. Want a good school district and a nice house in a nice area? Be prepared to shell out the dough.
Maybe a better comparison would be Nassau county vs. Westchester.
Westchester seems to be alot better in my opinion. There's much more parkland, better commuter train and bus service, than Nassau county.
The towns seem to be better. Nassau has nothing like White Plains.
Both have their rich snobby areas and ghettos. But Nassau has more ghettos I think. In Westchester there's New Rochelle downtown (parts), Yonkers downtown, and Mount Vernon. Nassau has many blighted towns. Freeport being the worst, followed by Hempstead, Westbury (esp New Cassel section), Glen Cove, Roosevelt (where shootings occur almost everyday it seems), Elmont (which used to be good). Probably left a few out. There seem to be way more illegal immigrants here, I know because they turned many parts of my town (Westbury) into barrios. Folks up in the richer communities seem to keep them here by providing almost year round landscaping work.
Westchester is easily better than Nassau. There's more employment centers also. It's more appealing to young people (which are leaving Long Island in droves). Definately has alot more going for it.
The main part of Long Island that appeals to me, east-central Suffolk (in the Pine Barrens) is getting encroached by development. Even though a core area was preserved, it wasn't enough, and now that area is suffering with traffic and illegal immigrants (think Riverhead, Westhampton).
Ridge for the most part is still good, especially Lake Panamoka. westchester doesn't have pine barrens, so the island still has one thing going for it.
The difference between Nassau and Suffolk is interesting, Suffolk is generally considered cheaper cuz it's further out, a village such as Commack is what many would say a good buy, relatively inexpensive, safe/good SD, and of course with an hour+ commute to the city. What would be an equivalent area in Westchester?
I think Yorktown Heights would be the equivalent of Commack. The southern part of Yorktown is the nicest and most convenient to the city. Figure at least one hour to one hour and fifteen mintues to Grand Central.
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