Reviews & Comments
Thornwood, NY
Too Clique-ish -
3/21/2007Thornwood is a great 10-minute commute on back roads to White Plains - the center of Westchester County and most jobs. However, White Plains is being overrun by Donald Trump lately (his name is plastered everywhere - gag me!). Also, parking in White Plains is impossible. What used to be a lovely little town (White Plains) is now a horrible city with all the disadvantages of NYC (like traffic, dirt, and homeless who the mayor publicly acknowledged that he refuses to help) and none of the advantages (like culture).
Infrastructure is good - several major highways with only one getting jammed - I-287 which goes to the Tappan Zee Bridge. If you can avoid that, commuting is easy compared to other NYC suburbs - it's not the nightmare of CT, or Long Island, or NJ). Great clean bus system and trains to NYC (the only way to go there - much cheaper than trying to park in the city).
Thornwood has no downtown - just strip malls. So it's not a pretty downtown at all. But it has a lot for children - a phenominal town pool (designed like a mini water park) and great summer camp for pre-teens (who are usually neglected by town recreation departments). The town even offers a babysitting night once a month. But stiff competition for the soccer fields - the football and baseball mentality is high here for some reason.
Schools are excellent but a lot of local idiots whine about them (and most of the whiners are transplants from the Bronx - in comparison to those crime-infested nightmares, Thornwood schools are Ivy League!). Great honors programs and school trips. If your kid works, they'll succeed here.
The town is "Bronx north" - very Italian-American, pretending to be Catholic but really Princesses-in-training (a lot of middle-class kids wearing Juicy Couture clothing toting Coach handbags), and a lot of real blue-collar neiighbors (fireworks in the backyard on July 4th crap, noisy snowmobiles on the streets in snow storms, lots of pickup trucks). And very Republican (very, very odd for lower New York! But surrounded by much more liberal towns, fortunately - Bill Clinton's house is just three miles up the road!). Not too diversified - mostly Caucasian.
Also - housing prices are obscene. I bought 20+ years ago but even I am planning to flee to Western New York in a few years when my kids are raised. Property and income taxes will kill you. And if you work in New York City (a reasonable commute - 35-min train ride; easier than getting into Manh