Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Looking to move from Brooklyn to Dobbs Ferry.
We are a family of 4, older kid will start middle school and the younger 2nd grade.
Would love to know what you like and dislike about the town and school.
Dobbs Ferry is a small school district with a small high school. Maybe about 100+ in each grade. This brings with it both plusses and minuses. Also, standard advice to people coming out of NYC to the suburbs. Post Office addresses and municipal boundaries are different than school district boundaries. Therefore, just because a property has a Dobbs Ferry address and/or is in the Village of Dobbs Ferry does not necessarily mean that it is within the Dobbs Ferry School District.
I lived in Dobbs Ferry for a couple of years back in the 90's while I attended college at Mercy College. Some nice restaurants & bars in Dobbs Ferry. Metro North station to take you into the City with a great view of the Hudson River & buses into White Plains to go to the malls. I really liked living there & would move back if the rents weren't so expensive. If you can afford it, I would highly recommend living there.
I’ve lived in Dobbs Ferry since 2015 and, at this point would not recommend it over nearby villages (Hastings, Irvington, Ardsley). Why?
- Terrible decision making at local government level. I can’t list everything, but offhand: introduction of new “sewer tax” not in other villages, seems like a money grab. Huge number of non-taxpaying entities in town means there’s always an attempt to squeeze the taxpayers more.
- More than 50% of the walkway lights in the waterfront park are burned out for the past few years. People litter everywhere. Don’t go at night.
- New pool endures yearly mudslides due to poor location planning. Now the fence around the pool is broken and sidewalk closed. Oh and you have to pay $500 for the privilege of swimming in it as a resident even once.
- Only 1/2 the streets are paved properly as local government did not stand up to ConEd subcontractor and allowed them to only pave 50% of roads after gas main project. The other 50% are riddled with potholes.
- Village refuses to bury power lines on Main Street and opted to chop down all the trees instead. It looks like a war zone, don’t refer to photos online, take a drive.
- Massive tax break handed to large condo complex after protracted litigation; taxes will be redistributed to everyone else, expect a 1-2k hike per annum approximately.
- Insane levels of nepotism and petty corruption at local levels: be prepared to get nothing done with local businesses or politicians unless you “know somebody who knows somebody”
Whew. Is that enough? Keep in mind you’ll be paying on average 20 grand+ in taxes for all these benefits, hence I give 0 out of 10 stars for Dobbs, do not recommend.
I’ve lived in Dobbs Ferry since 2015 and, at this point would not recommend it over nearby villages (Hastings, Irvington, Ardsley). Why?
- Terrible decision making at local government level. I can’t list everything, but offhand: introduction of new “sewer tax” not in other villages, seems like a money grab. Huge number of non-taxpaying entities in town means there’s always an attempt to squeeze the taxpayers more.
- More than 50% of the walkway lights in the waterfront park are burned out for the past few years. People litter everywhere. Don’t go at night.
- New pool endures yearly mudslides due to poor location planning. Now the fence around the pool is broken and sidewalk closed. Oh and you have to pay $500 for the privilege of swimming in it as a resident even once.
- Only 1/2 the streets are paved properly as local government did not stand up to ConEd subcontractor and allowed them to only pave 50% of roads after gas main project. The other 50% are riddled with potholes.
- Village refuses to bury power lines on Main Street and opted to chop down all the trees instead. It looks like a war zone, don’t refer to photos online, take a drive.
- Massive tax break handed to large condo complex after protracted litigation; taxes will be redistributed to everyone else, expect a 1-2k hike per annum approximately.
- Insane levels of nepotism and petty corruption at local levels: be prepared to get nothing done with local businesses or politicians unless you “know somebody who knows somebody”
Whew. Is that enough? Keep in mind you’ll be paying on average 20 grand+ in taxes for all these benefits, hence I give 0 out of 10 stars for Dobbs, do not recommend.
Wow. This makes me a little sad. The job I'm considering is easiest to get to along the Hudson Line and Dobbs was a consideration. Guess I'll look at Hastings and Irvington now.
Wow. This makes me a little sad. The job I'm considering is easiest to get to along the Hudson Line and Dobbs was a consideration. Guess I'll look at Hastings and Irvington now.
I think if you’re planning on renting many of my complaints are moot, but I’d definitely look twice before considering a purchase in Dobbs, given the neighboring villages seem more competent (but I’ll defer to someone who actually lives there as that’s just my impression).
In more recent news, Dobbs screwed up painting a Pride flag on the street for Pride month and then had to paint over and repaint it again. I’m just a regular person but I feel like if they can’t event get a flag painted on the road what hope is there for any real infrastructure improvements?
Wow. This makes me a little sad. The job I'm considering is easiest to get to along the Hudson Line and Dobbs was a consideration. Guess I'll look at Hastings and Irvington now.
I would take Vladlensky's posts with a grain of salt. Sorry Vladensky. I live in Tarrytown and have been happy living here and raising kids here for the past 34 years. But if I listened to him, I would never move to such a dangerous ghetto.
I would take Vladlensky's posts with a grain of salt. Sorry Vladensky. I live in Tarrytown and have been happy living here and raising kids here for the past 34 years. But if I listened to him, I would never move to such a dangerous ghetto.
Tarrytown is great. My post is strictly a critique of Dobbs Ferry, as a resident.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
