Moving to NY - can anyone advise about areas?

[CookieTramp]

It is looking likely that we will be moving to NY in a few months' time, with children aged 1 and 6.

DH will be working in Manhattan, so we can live in Brooklyn, in New Jersey or 'upstate' NY places like Scarsdale and Westchester.

My question is this, in the first instance. We like Brooklyn as it feels friendly and has lots going on, but at the same time I am not keen on living in an apartment. The upstate places worry me as I don't want to be in an enclave of doctors and lawyers.

What I want is a place where there is a local community, lots of things going on, you can walk to things if you want to (i.e. not use the car for everything you do), where there is a good mix of people, not just wealthy people, and we can get a good-sized house and garden.

Can anyone who has lived in NY point me in the right direction for some places to research? We will be going there in October half term to look around and start making choices about where/how we want to live, but in the first instance we need some suitable candidates to look at.

Any advice gratefully received.

I haven't lived in NY but have lived elsewhere in the US.

First thing you need to do is find a decent school.

Where you live will depend really on what you can afford and perhaps to some extent on what sort of commute your family wants to put up with.

Fwiw, I have heard good things about Hoboken, NJ, but you are lookign at apartments there. Apartments can be lovely however, and Hoboken definitely has a good mix of people, a strong expat community, lots for children.

I was just going to say take a look at Hoboken. The previous poster had the same idea. It has a community type vibe. It is apartment living though.
You could also look at Connecticut. Greenwich.

I love Manhattan through

Westchester is very expensive. You could get an apartment with a garden in Brooklyn perhaps? Or maybe Queens? Queens is full of families and not fake like many parts of Brooklyn and there are some excellent restaurants.

Where is your DHs office? A commute from westchester or suburban nj is going to be longer than an hour. Is something you are ok with?

I'm in hoboken and love it here. Good mix of people on average. Yes some are very stuck up but you get that in Brooklyn too. A lot of apartment have community areas which is great. Friends in a building have an indoor playroom. It's a godsend in the bitterly cold winter months.

If his work place is downtown and towards the east side I would strongly consider brooklyn.