Affordable Family-friendly neighborhoods outside NYC?

Question

Any way to spend under $500k in a good neighborhood for a 4BR/2+ba home outside NY and commute under a hour? Any hidden gems? Good schools? It just seems cost prohibitive to move up there.

Answer 1

despite what you may hear or read, there are plenty.  i live in a town 20 miles north of the city line.  I've seen plenty of decent houses sell for aound 500, and 600-650 will get you something really nice.  downside is that taxes are high: county + town + school district will easily set you back 7-10 grand annually on that $500,000 house.  public services are excellent, public transit is good, a combination of rail into NYC (30 minutes to GCT from me) and a bus system that's one of the 50 biggest in the country.   locally, jobs are plentiful, with big corps the core of the economy, and NYC is nearly next door.  e-mail me for more.