moving2021

Hi!

After a 10 month wait for our visas, we suddenly received them and made the tough decision to leave the UK within 3 days with our sons (age 9 & 10) and find our new home in the USA. With all the changing rules regarding getting in and out of the countries, we didn't want to waste any time finding a new home for our family - and most importantly schools for our boys.

So, we had an exhaustive list of places to visit, which we have done in the last 10 days. We 'think' we've got it down to Larchmont & Mamaroneck, but with it being such a rush don't have the luxury of time we hoped to find a home and do lots of research.

So any honest advice would be hugely appreciated. We are feeling a little daunted about all the options!!

My husband will work in the City, the boys will go to the public school, the boys are really sporty - but we are most concerned about how they will integrate with a new community and school.

We would just love some advice from anyone who can help.

Thanks so much in advance,

robin1234

Is he planning on taking the Metro-North train in to New York? And are you going to rent a home, at least at first?

tht

I am further up in Fairfield CT, a 2h door to desk commute...

Good luck buying or renting right now, market in the burbs has been crazy for both with CV19.

Unless you find a home close enough to walk to train station you need to budget for a second car(or drop off and pick up your husband every day, I have seen others do it with kids in PJ’s in the car).

The one upside to CV19 may be that there is no wait list for a station parking permit, some towns had ones years long before, so you may get lucky there.

Never been to either town, buy have friends in New Rochell, their neighbourhood is very nice, the houses are amazing, but the property tax is VERY high, they mostly map to good school districts.

moving2021

Hi!

Sorry for my slow reply, I'm new to this and didn't see the replies!

Yes, working in NYC and renting as we need to move quickly!!! Do you live in Larchmont?

Thanks for taking the time.

moving2021

Hi!

Again, sorry for my slow reply, I'm new to this and didn't see the replies!

Yes, the rentals are crazy high - and the stock is crazy low!! It's not a good time to do it, unfortunately.

You're right, having 2 cars is another consideration. Also the tax you pay is a good point! Nice to know you have friends near there that are happy with the area.

I wish we could live further out, but as my husband will be in the city 3/4 days a week, we are going to need to be closer.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!!

robin1234

No, I’m afraid I have no personal insights. I know Westchester County well, my wife is from Ossining & the Bronx, we visit the cemeteries in Valhalla quite often! I know and appreciate MetroNorth services. In general, it’s a lovely part of the country. But, I’m not super familiar with Larchmont and Mamaroneck.

tht

I would not take them being "near" as any indicator. Even within the same town there can be a hugh variance, if you are planing to send your children to public (state/tax payer funded) school, even 1 street difference (in the same town) in terms of location can make a big difference!

Nutmegger

Anywhere on the Metro North New Haven line as far as Fairfield and the Harlem line as far as Katonah is considered commuting distance. I would consider Larchmont/Mamaroneck a more suburban-type area -- there are much more attractive towns a little further out on each line.

tht

yes, but it sucks. I am sure it’s longer now with less and slower trains but from Fairfield to a mid town office 2 blocks from the back of GC my commute each way was close to 2 hours door to desk… the realtors will tell you it’s 1h drive to the city, which is true with little to no traffic… in the real world it’s not, and they tell you the express train is 1h11min, which that 1 train is if it runs on time, but you have to get to the station, park, walk to the platform and then at the other end line up to go out of a door single file and then onward… I did it for about 4 years and I preferred my weekly commute EWR-LHR-EWR over that.

my guess is if you are 30 mins on MN, it’s still 1H+ door to desk, and if you have to connect to a subway… anywhere up to 1h30mim or more…

to be at my desk for 8am I was starting my day at 5:20am, and in the winter 1h earlier if I needs to snow blow to get my car out…

Nutmegger

But I was never as caught up on my reading as when I used to do it! And happily I didn't have to be at my desk until 10 am.

tht

never read a book… Bose noise cancelling headphones… sleep on the way in… watching movies on the way back out… sounds like you did not work in “finance”

Nutmegger

Absolutely not!!!

Rete

I took MN for over 30 years. While I was on the Harlem line most of those years (Hudson on the other years), loved taking the train into the city. Like Nutmegger, reading was my pleasurable past time but then my commute was only 30 minutes via train and a 15 minute walk most days to the office. I found the New Haven line to be the most undependable of the three train lines on MN. I caught the 7:30 train in the morning and was seated at my desk by 8:15. And that included a stop for coffee and a roll.

To the poster on Larchmont and Mamaroneck, I lived for 68 years in Westchester County but on the west side of the county (near the Hudson River) and not the Long Island Sound area. While the towns are lovely, might I suggest that you explore towns inland from the Sound. Pay particular attention to school districts and ratings. Look at Purchase, Byram Hills, Rye Brook, Rye, etc.

Nutmegger

When I lived in the Bronx, it took from 3/4 of an hour to a full hour to get to midtown on the subway (again, lots of reading time!), so there are long commutes not just from suburbia, but also from within the city.

Rete

On the rare occasion that MN was not operating due to rail damage, flooding, snow storm, I would take the subway at Jerome Avenue. Took about an hour then.