Recommendations for places to live in Westchester

Friends live in Pelham - walk to the train, 2 young children- like the area.

Have a cousin who lived in Hartsdale within walking distance of the traIn. Scarsdale schools but a bit cheaper to live

I don't sell Westchester but, on the face of it, sounds impossible. Check out the towns that the other posters on this thread are recommending, but many suburban towns are not that walkable, and the ones that are, and have short commutes to the city, tend to be so expensive that I think of those communities as competitive rather than friendly. If you don't mind looking West instead of north, I'd also check out Forest Hills Gardens in Queens -- that neighborhood checks all your boxes, I think. A detached house there would run you at least $1.5 million, but property taxes will probably be lower, apples to apples, than in Westchester.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

There is a variety of housing stock in Rye, from townhome communities to mansions, and a significant ex pat population, as well as good schools. A place that is both walkable to the train and school might be difficult, but walkable to one or the other likely doable. The 35 minutes is probably the minimum train ride from anywhere in Westchester. Rye is probably 45-50 minutes.

Check out Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, and Tarrytown

I lived in Larchmont for about six years, and that would be a good fit for your requirements. I was about the only mother who worked outside the home though, so if you're female or your wife also plans to work in the city, it's something to keep in mind. I think Larchmont was pretty typical of Westchester towns in that regard too.

The drawback of Pelham, if you buy a place, is that the real estate taxes are extremely high. I have friends who live there and are paying 30K + in real estate taxes each year!

Sadly, $30K is not "extremely high" for property taxes on single family homes in desirable Westchester towns

30K is cheaper than private school tuition for 2 kids.

I lived in Westchester for several years. One thing to consider, Westchester is highly dependent on needing a car. While there are a few towns that come close to meeting what you seek, the prices as well as taxes will reflect that. I lived in Harrison, where there was a direct connection to Metro-North trains. The town center isn't much (again owing to the car culture of the suburbs), but the schools are excellent. The taxes in Harrison are far lower than neighboring towns such as Rye because most of the Platinum Mile (Corporate Headquarters or major offices for companies like Pepsi, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, etc) are in Purchase- which is part of Harrison, and the corporate taxes lower the cost of the residential taxes. Budget dependent, in general the nicer towns with shorter commutes to the city are south of I-287 (Scarsdale, Larchmont, Rye, Pelham, etc). If you want to be north of I-287, you might want to try driving into White Plains train station, and parking there because of the express trains out of White Plains.

I personally hated living in Westchester- but then again, I was single with no kids and hated needing a car for just about everything.

larchmont's great

I would suggest Larchont or Mamaroneck