Currently renting in the city but recently married and thinking about a potential move to the suburbs once we decide to start a family. Where should I look into if we are looking to buy in the $1-1.5M range? I didn’t grow up in the northeast so know nothing about what the best areas are around upstate NY, CT and NJ. I know a bunch of the senior people at my firm live in Greenwich but I’m guessing that’s the most expensive place to go.
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Tons of towns in Westchester in that range, with decent commutes, and solid schools. Would recommend starting there, I think metro north is the best out of the three train lines.
Cannot be overstated how superior Metro North is to LIRR & NJ transit.
Will comment mostly on NJ. There are a number of towns (Montclair, Summit, Millburn, Short Hills) that are somewhat popular for NYC commuters; nice homes in these towns can easily be $2mm+, and $1 - $1.5mm would be a modest "Goldilocks" home that is probably somewhat old but well-maintained, 3 - 4 bds. Other popular commuter towns for families include Glen Ridge, Westfield, Chatham, Madison. BTW these commuter towns are served by NJ Transit; there are other commuter towns served by bus, but those are generally a tier or half a tier below the ones I mentioned above (nothing against them, just my observation; depending on how flexible your schedule is, you may be able to make a bus commute work, but you would know best).
Commute
Your commute will probably be 50 min - 70 min+ from your front door to Penn Station (all the towns mentioned above with the exception of Westfield have direct train service to NYP); if Penn Station isn't a good connection to wherever your office is, I would probably say NJ is out of the question. Additionally, NJ Transit is not always the most reliable, with somewhat frequent minor delays (5 - 10 min) and occasional massive meltdowns (a train gets stuck in the Hudson Tunnel > 2 hour delay for everyone). Those meltdowns were pretty bad this past summer due to the heat messing with the old infrastructure and things have improved a bit now that temperatures have fallen slightly, but it will be summer again in a year, so worth knowing I suppose.
Schools
NJ has some of the best schools in the nation; in these commuter towns, property values are high > high property taxes > well-funded school districts > your children will have access to good teachers, a competitive / hypercompetitive atmosphere, extracurriculars, recreational drugs, etc.
Misc
- Metro North is the best commute option by far in terms of reliability and frequency
- Westchester probably has the highest property values on average
- NJ probably has the highest property tax burden (relative to property values)
- The distribution of my coworkers who live in the suburbs is probably 40% Westchester, 40% CT, 10% NJ, 10% LI
Feel free to message me if you'd like.
Great post, but that sucks so much. 10 hours of your week just gone. Three full weeks every year of your life sitting on a train.
We're 90% Jersey, but we are downtown around the block from Goldman. Many people will drive to Harrison, and the rest will swap in Newark
Watch out for taxes if you work in NYC, you'll get hit with income taxes coming and property taxes going. NJ hits hard on property taxes.
I alluded to it before, but the PATH is a great option if you're downtown. 22 minutes from Newark Penn to WTC. It runs every 4-5 minutes during rush hour, but there's no redundancy so if it gets bad you're SOL. It's also every 20 minutes off peak and on weekends, so don't expect the city life unless you like trapsing around JC. (it's actually better than you'd expect)
Friend moved to Riverdale stop. Loves it. 25 mins on metro north. Much more enjoyable experience than his huff to the Q train. The area has its fair share of 2-5mm houses but large condos are pretty affordable when u comp it to Manhattan. Public schools are tbd, sounds like it’s solid until high school then they reassess
The easy choice is a shitty house in Scarsdale if you can find one
Or Short Hills, or Upper Saddle River. Gladstone isn't bad either but it's a hike into the city.
"Shitty house in Scarsdale."
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/27-Pheasant-Run-Scarsdale-NY-10583/3…
I'd buy this if I were in OPs shoes.
In the USD 1.25-1.5mm range, you start to find some gems in Westchester (which paying that amount of money gets you the best bang for your buck in terms of school districts, nice place to live and general "prestige."
For example, if you go just USD 50k higher on that top end, we have...
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Hillside-Rd-Bronxville-NY-10708/33…
that house needs a lot of work. no pics of the bathrooms (I assume they are hideous). also while in bronxville, its not in the bronxville school district so you are paying 1.5mm for a house that needs major work and is in tuckahoe schools.
Great Neck on Long Island
Seconded. Long Island has some great areas.
You should check out Monmouth County in NJ if you don't mind the slightly longer commute.
Towns like Rumson, Fair Haven, Navesink, etc, are all beautiful places to live and offer good ferry access (much nicer than the train).
My experiences in Westchester County and Bergen/Essex County (NJ) is that they are fairly similar - but Metro North is 100% the best train system compared to NJ Transit and LIRR
Manhasset is a great place as well on LI
under 1.5mm in manhasset doesnt get you much. no more than 3 bedrooms, and probably sub 2k sq ft (and likely no master bath upstairs, just a shared hall bath), trust me i have house hunted there.
Figure it out like everyone else in life without an anonymous forum
Understated but also a great kept "secret" is north eastern Queens. Whitestone / Bayside / Little Neck are all well connected to the LIRR or have the express buses running going into Manhattan, very suburban feel (especially if you go along Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Bell Blvd etc.). Fantastic local schools + still in the NYC school system if you decide you want your kids to try for Stuyvesant / BxSci which is very common in those neighborhoods. Great property taxes as well.
Yes lot of wealth in whitestone / beechhurst in general. Lol if you are into it, it was/is a big spot for the mafia. Generally speaking, just a lot of business owners/doctors etc.
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