moving from london to nyc

[londontonyc]

Hello, we're moving the family (2 boys, 5 & 7) to NYC in the Spring. Currently living in a lovely, village-like area in North East London and looking at Harrison, Rye and Mamaroneck. Any advice re schools in these areas? I only have the great schools.co.uk website to go by. We're an active family and would like to continue swimming, tennis, soccer, cycling etc activities for kids - any recommendations? Also, which has the liveliest downtown area? Best family restaurants etc. Would be nice not to have to drive. Sorry, so many questions!! TIA for any help :)

[misssmilla1]

We live in the same area as you're looking at. The schools you'll be zoned for will depend loads on where you live and its worth looking at elementary through to high school as you will find variations - i.e. elementaries can be great, high school may be not (I appreciate its a long way off for your 2 but worth thinking about!) all those areas are in different school districts to each other so its difficult to do a 'proper' compare

We've been here for 18 months, and were looking for 9 months before that. Overall the area / belt up the coast to connecticut is relatively well off, due to the proximity and ease of commute to NYC, and this in turns drives house prices (which drives property which drives how much is paid into local school and amenities taxes...) and the local areas

Out of the three, Rye is probably the most 'well to do' Has a nice little town center with small boutiques, a huge YMCA with lots of programs for the kids, lots of cafes, restaurants etc. However its VERY expensive house price wise. I don't know a ton about the school district, however I do know it has two (I think) Rye Neck and Rye and the two are separate e

Harrison I didn't love lots of houses and residential but missing a town centre (if that makes sense) for what we were looking for. Prices a lot more reasonable as a result, but also the school district at middle and high school was variable according to what we heard

Mamaroneck (our nearest town so I know more about it) relatively small but busy town centre with small independent shops and cafes and restaurants but not as 'naice' as Rye. Very Italian in parts which means awesome bakeries! They have a great town recreation department, a really nice cheap and accessible beach with huge playground by there, playing fields so lots of sports for the kids. School district is great - its a foundation with 4 elementary schools, 1 middle and 1 high school to serve the district, and its sought after. There's a massive swimming pool and ice rink at the local middle school that students can use and locals after hours. If I was buying again I would buy in Mamaroneck as it ticks all the boxes for us (we get getting gazumped as the market was insane so we didn't move thee)

Really all of the areas are nice, and all offer what you're looking for. When you say you dont want to drive, do you mean to activities or just generally or that you just want one car? I ask as every family I know here has at least 1 car - you have to drive to get to the supermarkets (no tesco express or similar here) school (if they don't provide buses - worth checking) Drs, after school activities etc and round here as its more spread out its a common theme that 'everywhere is a 15 min drive away' You will pay a lot more to rent or buy a house within walking distance to the station etc

Happy to answer any questions if you need more info

[londontonyc]

Thanks so much Missmilla, that's really helpful! We spent a few days looking at schools and areas last summer and you've confirmed my views - Rye does look lovely but expensive, Harrison not so lively but nice schools, Mamaroneck did strike me as a great option, I got a really good gut feeling about the town but we didn't get round to seeing schools there. We'll be renting for some time so can move areas if need be. We will have a car but we'd like to have restaurant options we can walk to. I drive kids to activities after school currently so am happy with that arrangement. My husband doesn't drive so we'd need to be able to walk to the station but that's easy to specify when we look for a property. I get the impression that schools are good across all 3 districts, but it's nice to get some feedback from someone who knows instead of just online reports! I'd be grateful for any other tips you've got xx

[misssmilla1]

Its pretty easy to get a place within 15-20 minutes walk of the station if you are ok to pay slightly more to live there. We found that an easy walk (we had 1 car when we moved here) but lots of locals were "how far??" The other benefit of walking to the station is you don't have to deal with the insane process to get a parking permit.

My main feedback is on Mamaroneck as it's what I know / use the most.
The station in mamaroneck is at the end of the strip of the main restaurants and bars so, if you can walk to the station, then the rest is also walkable. Houses round there (that we saw anyway) tend not to have a ton of garden space as you pay for location - however you're that close to the park, and recreation spaces its probably not a big issue

For finding a house, you'll need an agent - Sotheby's do lots of international and expat moves so are used to dealing with tenants who don't have any or limited US credit history (this is key - lots of info on other threads on this board if you need more info on this) The area you're looking in, be aware that the closer you are to the water, the more likely it can be to flood. So if you look at a map, the side of boston post road to the water is technically a flood zone. Doesn't happen often but I'm flagging as you will need to factor that in to how proactive a landlord you have, if there are issues.

Schools - I have a toddler so no direct experience. However, the most desirable (altho they're all good) elementaries from what I can tell is Central and Chatsworth (and confusingly they are closer to Larchmont) Mamaroneck Avenue has a great reputation for lots of different arts, language and music programs. You may find there is a subtle racism at play in this being less sought after- the north end of Mamaroneck is cheaper and often you find a big mix of people (Including minorities) living there. There is NOTHING wrong with this, but its quite different from the southern end by the water and towards larchmont where the area can be quite predominantly well off and white.

Flagging too that the school year ends early - about the 6th / 8th June. Lots of people go away so the area can be quiet, and everyone else usually sends their kids to some sort of summer camp in the area (they're day camps so its like an extended school year but based on sports etc) worth noting in case you want to look in advance for your kids so you can get them in something and meeting peopler