Your social life will likely be in Westchester. You’ll end up in NYC a few times a year, I suspect, but not every week. I could be wrong but I don’t think there’s anything night life going on in Rockland.
Depends on the person. I live within walking distance of the greenwich train station and rarely go to the city. Maybe a few times a year at most. Too much of an ordeal really, especially since if you miss the 2am train you are screwed until 5am.
It's a shitty commute but I'd stay in Westchester if my job took me to Rockland. I have family on both sides of the river and know both sides well. I'll only ever live on this side, it's just much more of what I look for in a community.
You will pay for that in additional housing costs, taxes, tolls and traffic. But the comparison is not as stark as it was. COL has increased rapidly in most desirable parts of Rockland, and less quickly here (tho still jarring) resulting in a smaller price gap.
You get more square footage in both land and living space in Rockland in theory, for your money. But your going to spend more time there with less locally to explore. That said, if you are more an outdoors activity person than you like going "into town" or look for nightlife, Rockland is like half parkland with great hiking, camping and rock climbing.
Any specific questions?
Thanks. I do like hiking, but realistically speaking I am sure I'd end up only going hiking once a month at most so it isn't a top priority for me. I'm not a huge drinker, but I do like being able to just go out for a walk and try out new restaurants or whatever.
Question wise, is White Plains probably my best option insofar as proximity to the Tappan Zee bridge & ability to meet other people in my age range? Are there any areas (whether in White Plains or in the county in general) I need to be aware of/should avoid?
I mean, Tarrytown is the obvious choice for a full time bridge commuter. It's a very lively river town. It may not have the urban feel of white plains, but it remains the amenities. It places you as close to the bridge as you can possibly be, and within a quick drive of the other river towns, each having their own offerings and appeal.
TTs biggest downside is that, at the moment, it's desirable enough a location to be both expensive at, at times can feel busy/congested. This is mostly summer weekends when folks are enjoying the weather, shopping and river front sections. The most desirable properties go for well above their already lofty market values.
White Plains... in my opinion and others will feel differently, is very expensive for what you get these days. I live a short drive down the Bronx river from WP, and work half the week in WP, but at current price wouldn't be inclined to move there.
I like the Scarsdale village area, especially because the eastchester size is oddly affordable.
The main reason to focus on WP is if you worked in WP. It's not overly pedestrian friendly, the downtown bars and restaurants are very college oriented, and the desirable spots command a premium.
Meeting people will require some work in Westchester, even in white plains once above college age. It can absolutely be done, but you will probably need to travel around more than settle into the nightlife of any single location.
The capital theater in Port Chester and related Garcia's bar are the only social locations I frequent in Westchester, usually doing two weekends in the city and two traveling.
The Eastchester side is affordable because of the school districts. Scarsdale is a much more desirable school district, and Eastchester isn’t seen as being as high quality, so it’s much less expensive.
This is true, and a fair response. It seems to impact the one bedroom marker more than you might expect - but that's also a factor of availability, there are basically no units in Scarsdale. I went to Edgemont, long enough ago, but the general reputations haven't changed.
For a couple without children, like me and my partner, Garth road is a steal. We get the benefits of Scarsdale village and the eastchester price.
We looked at a spot near the train station, in absolutely rough shape at double the price and monthly maintenance to a much nicer unit on Garth.
Yeah absolutely. It doesn’t help that Scarsdale is and has been illegally refusing to build any form of more affordable housing near the train station (or at all). So there’s basically no apartment stock in town. It’s all single family houses.
Where would they build it tho? They have been trying to get that public lot on the Scarsdale side of Garth developed into residential but it probably hurts folks for years before it helps anyone. (I semi-support this, I feel like it'll ultimately result in 2k/month 1 bedrooms deemed "affordable" while a working class/lower middle class community on Garth loses parking for half a decade).
The older complex near the train is "affordable" for Scarsdale (the Chateau or something like that) but in rough condition. The other two are wildly expensive, and beyond that there isn't a ton of developable land unless there is something I'm forgetting.
The issue with having places like Scarsdale build affordable housing is, basically there floor for what is legally considered affordable based on their medium income is too high, plus the costs associated with ownership in Scarsdale rapidly make even the most affordable units very upper middle class.
I'm a social worker in white plains, my boss runs a good percent of our supported housing units locally, so I speak with a decently well rounded perspective. What needs to happen is that those towns that want to opt out of building more capacity (often for semi legitimate reasons, sometimes for not so nice reasons too) can opt out by paying into a fund that would subsidise the construction of units in those towns and cities that are open to it.
These happen to (often) be the same places where people who require "affordable" units actually want to live due to lower overall cost of living. Admittedly, the problem of "where do I send my kids to school" is another one, thankfully even most of our worst schools are pretty solid compared to elsewhere.
Rather than apartments, scarsdale would probably see benefit from being forced to allow some multi family housing. These would be more affordable for those trying to get there kids into a great district without the funding for any of the local houses (which are insane ofc). Edgemont would absolutely benefit from some multifamily units assuming the school tax was still paid in full (no star).
White Plains (a rising school district already pretty good), Ardsley (great district), Yonkers (depends) and a few other local communities are happy for the additional housing. And frankly, despite the stigma attached to some (Yonkers) there recent affordable housing projects have proven quite desirable (I have many clients living in them).
Sorry, got into a bit of a rant. Between growing up here and working throughout the county in social work for a decade, I have many thoughts on this topic. And obviously as a social worker, I'm not on the high income side of lower Westchester, even with duel income, no kids, I'm definitely very sensitive to the realities of the market.
On the other side, my mother has remained in her Edgemont home (bought years ago at a very different price), and my brother is on the higher end of income spectrum, but with a newborn and figuring out the red hot premium housing market locally..
The proposals they had for the freightway site were really nice and while it's been a long time since I looked at them, I think they had planned to stage it so that people could still park there. It's a shame that they weren't able to get that going.
Yep, there would have been parking but the 5+ years of construction for a project like that would have been painful. I did/do support the project overall, it's just not the cure all folks tend to discuss it as.
At least the most recent plan had them doing a full remodel of the site that would have ended with underground parking - but I don't imagine there was any chance they could have allowed parking during that intensive construction phase.
They had a proposed deal with eastchester for Scarsdale permit holders to share some of the greyrock spots which is where they got some resistance from Garth.
Also I meant oddly affordable even compared to like spots on east hartsdale, in Dobbs ferry and other towns I would personally think of as substantially less desirable in a real estate sense.
I think you should consider Tarrytown. It's much prettier than White Plains, closer to the bridge, and skews younger than most places in Westchester. Living in WP also means that you have to sit on Rt 287 every day for you commute, which can be very unpleasant and stressful. And with Tarrytown you get the real Northeast autumn experience, it's lovely.
If you’re working in Rockland, and could see yourself living in Tarrytown, then I suggest looking at Nyack. It’s a short drive to the Tarrytown if you need to get a train to Manhattan.
What hobbies do you want access to?
Tarrytown isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but seemed to have some # of rooms for rent and I could walk to the Metro North Station. Nyack and Pearl River were the places in Rockland I looked at, but Pearl River had pretty limited housing stock and Nyack would still require me to drive to access NYC and I have no idea how I'd meet other people in my age range without, again, needing to get in my car and go somewhere else.
The main hobby I was looking at is ice hockey. Seemed to be way more rinks in Westchester than Rockland that had adult leagues.
On the west of the Hudson side, have you considered Suffern or other stations along the Port Jarvis Line?
Pascack Valley Line doesn’t seem to have many trains to Hoboken during PM hours.
However, I like living in Nyack and going across the bridge to Irvington for trips by train to NY.
I looked at Suffern a bit, but heard there isn't a ton going on there + there wasn't very much housing available. Outside of Nyack, lack of housing seemed to be a common trend in Rockland County, and the Facebook page I saw for housing/rent in the area looked to be like 90%+ unrelated business shilling and obvious scams.
If you know you’ll be in westchester for ice hockey, definitely live here.
Irvington, Tarrytown, White Plains, basically find a stop along Metro-North and see if you vibe with the town.
Hey I commute to time square for work and live in Nyack. You may think you need a car but you actually have two decent options.
The option i took was boarding the Hudson link bus in Nyack to Tarrytown. It's a local bus that drops you off straight to the train station in Tarrytown. It's $2 each way which is much cheaper than the toll and the bus lane skips all the traffic
Option two is the bus stop on Broadway in Nyack that drops you off at the port authority station
That all said live in white plains
I own a condo in Nyack, I'm 29, lived in Yonkers around McLean till about 25.
"Nyack would still require me to drive to access NYC" There are buses that drive back and forth across the bridge from Nyack to the train and are convenient. I don't really give a shit about NYC and barely ever go there but if you plan to go frequently living in Westchester would be a little easier.
"The main hobby I was looking at is ice hockey." There is a rink in the Palisades Mall that has mens league. There's one across the bridge in Elmsford and then North Jersey I think there's some rinks.
I like living here because I do a ton of running and cycling and it's very safe to do it on the streets here. Night life is okay, there's a couple bars I frequent but I'm at the stage in my life where I don't really care about that anymore and drinking makes it difficult for me to run the next morning. If I do go for drinks I go to breweries or wineries which there are like an infinite amount of nowadays drivable.
Do they have Men's Leagues? [Their website](https://palisadescentericerink.com/) has 0 mention of them, just clinics, kid's leagues, and stick time/pickup.
I live in Westchester and work in Rockland. The reverse commute isn’t bad at all over the bridge. Traffic is decent because of it. Plus you can get commuter rate on the bridge toll which definitely saves quite a bit.
My friend, as a guy who grew up in the 914, and moved to rockland because of desperate circumstances…..DONT DO IT! Stay in westchester! DO NOT CROSS THE BRIDGE unless you’re going to work. BELIEVE ME. When my kids are done with high school, Im moving back to westchester.
As someone that grew up in westchester and now has a family, westchester has a much better vibe. I feel like rock land is better if you’re already established to the area. If not, westchester especially TT and WP offers waaaaay more than rockland. If one is coming from out of state, westchester offers much more socially.
Rockland is pretty sleepy. There are some denser town such as Nyack, Haverstraw, Spring Valley, and others. Besides Westchester, you have Bergen County NJ to the south, also worth considering.
As another commenter above stated - If my job moved to rockland I would absolutely continue to live in Westchester. The bridge traffic isn’t nearly as bad as it once was. The metro north train will allow you to easily go into the city when you feel like it. Depending on what line you live on, you could also easily go into Stamford which is an excellent place to meet people (in addition to white plains). I lived in white plains, rye brook, port Chester and Dobbs ferry throughout my 20’s and early 30’s. In my opinion your best bets are White Plains, Port Chester, and Tarrytown. I commuted from port Chester to the Tarrytown area (near the bridge)for several years and always felt I was generally going against the heavy traffic.
White Plains is a great value for how much city you get, and getting bigger/denser. Metro North is right there but you might trek down less than you think.
Nyack is very walkable and cuts down your daily commute. Not sure how young the actual community is.
Also don't forget about the North Jersey area, especially around the NJ transit stations. Worth looking into.
Nyack, or Piermont are the only Rockland choices. Tarrytown, across the river. Traffic in and out of White Plains ain't worth it. Don't underestimate the traffic crossing the bridge and on 287.
I would probably prefer to live in Nyack without a bridge commute and the potential for getting stuck in traffic from time to time. Nyack has a pretty nice walkable downtown and I don't see how it's worse for a single person than the river towns across the river, other than not having direct MetroNorth to the city. And you'll be going to work every day
Depending on where you live in Westchester, you may be able to save money by not paying for a car. Downtown Tarrytown and White Plains have high WalkScores with most destinations within walking, bus or Uber/Lyft.
Your most likely going to get to NYC from Tarrytown or White Plains by train, not by driving. Driving to, and parking in, many neighborhoods of NYC is grueling and expensive. Also, drinking and driving is strictly enforced here besides being immoral. Not sure where you are coming from, but MetroNorth is one of the top regional rail systems in the USA. Very reliable and decent service even on nights and weekends. (It's not Switzerland or the Netherlands awesome train systems, but it is pretty great for USA). You can use Google Maps transit directions, or the MTA TrainTime app and website for schedule and fare information: [https://new.mta.info/agency/metro-north-railroad](https://new.mta.info/agency/metro-north-railroad)
Also, I agree with others here that there is some social life in Westchester, although depends what you consider 'social life' I guess. Westchester's Bee Line Bus isn't horrible (I use it a lot on weekdays) but expect to take Uber/Lyft on late nights and Sundays if you don't want to drive.
Commute: Check out HudsonLink Bus service that runs from Tarrytown and White Plains across the Tappan Zee (aka Cuomo) Bridge to Rockland County destinations, depending upon where your job is located. The buses are plush (for buses) and they get to skip the traffic on the bridge because they have an exclusive bus lane. (Unfortunately, the bus lane doesn't continue onto the rest of I-287, which would get a lot more people to ride the bus imho). [https://ridehudsonlink.com/](https://ridehudsonlink.com/)
Commuting by transit, especially if you take the same time train car or bus most days, may spawn relationships as well. I have a few longstanding friends who I met on MetroNorth commuting between NYC and Westchester, and I'm in a hobby club because a group of people sitting on a train near me were organizing it and invited me along. The same is probably true on HudsonLink.
Good luck!
I live in manhattan now and driving to Rockland county for work. I’m moving to white plains in a couple months.
White plains is the move if you’re looking for a balance between a decent commute and social scene. The reverse commute over the bridge is not bad at all, and the train into manhattan is not bad either. Neither are a total breeze, but each are manageable with some patience.
There’s another commenter that said you’d end up in the city only a few times a year, and I heavily disagree with that. If you want to go into the city frequently from white plains, you can, especially if you live close to the train station. That said, you will be pretty limited to manhattan. You can’t really expect to take the train in, go to the Brooklyn Mirage, and then take the subway back to the train to take it back at like 1am - that probably isn’t happening often.
White plains social scene itself is good, but of course nothing like NYC. Solid access to nature as well as long as you have a car.
Tarrytown is alright, but much quieter than White Plains with less to do. Slightly better commute to Rockland. Train takes longer to NYC since it doesn’t run express like it does in White Plains.
Your instincts and research are right - White Plains or Tarrytown is much better for a young professional than Rockland.
I have and plan to check out some apartments there next week, but not being able to walk to or from the train station/somewhat sporadic bus service + the area generally having a pretty small 20's/30's population makes me wonder if it's worth it as someone new to the region and whose only friends in the whole metro area live on Long Island (not that I expect I'd see them super often, but if I do struggle to make friends close to me it'd be nice to be able to get to Manhattan or wherever else to meet them more conveniently)
Speaking as a single late 20s woman in Nyack, there are a lot young, single 20s/early 30s in town. Do you have a car? Driving to Tarrytown to catch the train is very easy and I do it regularly.
Downtown Tarrytown is nice, with several good bars and music venues. There's more than one bus to Rockland and an express bus to NYC. You get a discount going over the bridge as a local resident if you drive.
Nyack is also a cool city with a nice downtown.
I prefer Tarrytown over White Plains, although I do also love White Plains (WP has more of a city feel/night scene however TT not far behind!). Tarrytown being on the Hudson River is really nice. I live in Dobbs Ferry next to TT. I’ve been really happy here and wouldn’t want to move anywhere else!
Check out Piermont which is under the radar and you can get to NYC/White Plains/Stamford easily. Last thing you need is to live in westchester and then commute over the bridge with a toll… good luck!
If I was single I would try and find an apartment near or on the Main Street in Irvington. Lots of great places to walk to and the train station is just at the bottom of the hill.
Your social life will likely be in Westchester. You’ll end up in NYC a few times a year, I suspect, but not every week. I could be wrong but I don’t think there’s anything night life going on in Rockland.
Pearl River is a lot of fun around the train station. Especially if you like beer
No way… in your late twenties?… you’ll be in the city the majority of weekends of the year… 20-30x at least
Depends on the person. I live within walking distance of the greenwich train station and rarely go to the city. Maybe a few times a year at most. Too much of an ordeal really, especially since if you miss the 2am train you are screwed until 5am.
It's a shitty commute but I'd stay in Westchester if my job took me to Rockland. I have family on both sides of the river and know both sides well. I'll only ever live on this side, it's just much more of what I look for in a community. You will pay for that in additional housing costs, taxes, tolls and traffic. But the comparison is not as stark as it was. COL has increased rapidly in most desirable parts of Rockland, and less quickly here (tho still jarring) resulting in a smaller price gap. You get more square footage in both land and living space in Rockland in theory, for your money. But your going to spend more time there with less locally to explore. That said, if you are more an outdoors activity person than you like going "into town" or look for nightlife, Rockland is like half parkland with great hiking, camping and rock climbing. Any specific questions?
Thanks. I do like hiking, but realistically speaking I am sure I'd end up only going hiking once a month at most so it isn't a top priority for me. I'm not a huge drinker, but I do like being able to just go out for a walk and try out new restaurants or whatever. Question wise, is White Plains probably my best option insofar as proximity to the Tappan Zee bridge & ability to meet other people in my age range? Are there any areas (whether in White Plains or in the county in general) I need to be aware of/should avoid?
No. Traffic on 287 sucks. Stay in Tarrytown. Give strong consideration to Nyack. Good access to parks, restaurants, etc and avoids 287 and the bridge.
I mean, Tarrytown is the obvious choice for a full time bridge commuter. It's a very lively river town. It may not have the urban feel of white plains, but it remains the amenities. It places you as close to the bridge as you can possibly be, and within a quick drive of the other river towns, each having their own offerings and appeal. TTs biggest downside is that, at the moment, it's desirable enough a location to be both expensive at, at times can feel busy/congested. This is mostly summer weekends when folks are enjoying the weather, shopping and river front sections. The most desirable properties go for well above their already lofty market values. White Plains... in my opinion and others will feel differently, is very expensive for what you get these days. I live a short drive down the Bronx river from WP, and work half the week in WP, but at current price wouldn't be inclined to move there. I like the Scarsdale village area, especially because the eastchester size is oddly affordable. The main reason to focus on WP is if you worked in WP. It's not overly pedestrian friendly, the downtown bars and restaurants are very college oriented, and the desirable spots command a premium. Meeting people will require some work in Westchester, even in white plains once above college age. It can absolutely be done, but you will probably need to travel around more than settle into the nightlife of any single location. The capital theater in Port Chester and related Garcia's bar are the only social locations I frequent in Westchester, usually doing two weekends in the city and two traveling.
The Eastchester side is affordable because of the school districts. Scarsdale is a much more desirable school district, and Eastchester isn’t seen as being as high quality, so it’s much less expensive.
This is true, and a fair response. It seems to impact the one bedroom marker more than you might expect - but that's also a factor of availability, there are basically no units in Scarsdale. I went to Edgemont, long enough ago, but the general reputations haven't changed. For a couple without children, like me and my partner, Garth road is a steal. We get the benefits of Scarsdale village and the eastchester price. We looked at a spot near the train station, in absolutely rough shape at double the price and monthly maintenance to a much nicer unit on Garth.
Yeah absolutely. It doesn’t help that Scarsdale is and has been illegally refusing to build any form of more affordable housing near the train station (or at all). So there’s basically no apartment stock in town. It’s all single family houses.
Where would they build it tho? They have been trying to get that public lot on the Scarsdale side of Garth developed into residential but it probably hurts folks for years before it helps anyone. (I semi-support this, I feel like it'll ultimately result in 2k/month 1 bedrooms deemed "affordable" while a working class/lower middle class community on Garth loses parking for half a decade). The older complex near the train is "affordable" for Scarsdale (the Chateau or something like that) but in rough condition. The other two are wildly expensive, and beyond that there isn't a ton of developable land unless there is something I'm forgetting. The issue with having places like Scarsdale build affordable housing is, basically there floor for what is legally considered affordable based on their medium income is too high, plus the costs associated with ownership in Scarsdale rapidly make even the most affordable units very upper middle class. I'm a social worker in white plains, my boss runs a good percent of our supported housing units locally, so I speak with a decently well rounded perspective. What needs to happen is that those towns that want to opt out of building more capacity (often for semi legitimate reasons, sometimes for not so nice reasons too) can opt out by paying into a fund that would subsidise the construction of units in those towns and cities that are open to it. These happen to (often) be the same places where people who require "affordable" units actually want to live due to lower overall cost of living. Admittedly, the problem of "where do I send my kids to school" is another one, thankfully even most of our worst schools are pretty solid compared to elsewhere. Rather than apartments, scarsdale would probably see benefit from being forced to allow some multi family housing. These would be more affordable for those trying to get there kids into a great district without the funding for any of the local houses (which are insane ofc). Edgemont would absolutely benefit from some multifamily units assuming the school tax was still paid in full (no star). White Plains (a rising school district already pretty good), Ardsley (great district), Yonkers (depends) and a few other local communities are happy for the additional housing. And frankly, despite the stigma attached to some (Yonkers) there recent affordable housing projects have proven quite desirable (I have many clients living in them). Sorry, got into a bit of a rant. Between growing up here and working throughout the county in social work for a decade, I have many thoughts on this topic. And obviously as a social worker, I'm not on the high income side of lower Westchester, even with duel income, no kids, I'm definitely very sensitive to the realities of the market. On the other side, my mother has remained in her Edgemont home (bought years ago at a very different price), and my brother is on the higher end of income spectrum, but with a newborn and figuring out the red hot premium housing market locally..
The proposals they had for the freightway site were really nice and while it's been a long time since I looked at them, I think they had planned to stage it so that people could still park there. It's a shame that they weren't able to get that going.
Yep, there would have been parking but the 5+ years of construction for a project like that would have been painful. I did/do support the project overall, it's just not the cure all folks tend to discuss it as. At least the most recent plan had them doing a full remodel of the site that would have ended with underground parking - but I don't imagine there was any chance they could have allowed parking during that intensive construction phase. They had a proposed deal with eastchester for Scarsdale permit holders to share some of the greyrock spots which is where they got some resistance from Garth.
Also I meant oddly affordable even compared to like spots on east hartsdale, in Dobbs ferry and other towns I would personally think of as substantially less desirable in a real estate sense.
I think you should consider Tarrytown. It's much prettier than White Plains, closer to the bridge, and skews younger than most places in Westchester. Living in WP also means that you have to sit on Rt 287 every day for you commute, which can be very unpleasant and stressful. And with Tarrytown you get the real Northeast autumn experience, it's lovely.
If you’re working in Rockland, and could see yourself living in Tarrytown, then I suggest looking at Nyack. It’s a short drive to the Tarrytown if you need to get a train to Manhattan. What hobbies do you want access to?
Tarrytown isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but seemed to have some # of rooms for rent and I could walk to the Metro North Station. Nyack and Pearl River were the places in Rockland I looked at, but Pearl River had pretty limited housing stock and Nyack would still require me to drive to access NYC and I have no idea how I'd meet other people in my age range without, again, needing to get in my car and go somewhere else. The main hobby I was looking at is ice hockey. Seemed to be way more rinks in Westchester than Rockland that had adult leagues.
On the west of the Hudson side, have you considered Suffern or other stations along the Port Jarvis Line? Pascack Valley Line doesn’t seem to have many trains to Hoboken during PM hours. However, I like living in Nyack and going across the bridge to Irvington for trips by train to NY.
I looked at Suffern a bit, but heard there isn't a ton going on there + there wasn't very much housing available. Outside of Nyack, lack of housing seemed to be a common trend in Rockland County, and the Facebook page I saw for housing/rent in the area looked to be like 90%+ unrelated business shilling and obvious scams.
If you know you’ll be in westchester for ice hockey, definitely live here. Irvington, Tarrytown, White Plains, basically find a stop along Metro-North and see if you vibe with the town.
Not only is there not a lot going on in Suffern, but that train ride is long
Hey I commute to time square for work and live in Nyack. You may think you need a car but you actually have two decent options. The option i took was boarding the Hudson link bus in Nyack to Tarrytown. It's a local bus that drops you off straight to the train station in Tarrytown. It's $2 each way which is much cheaper than the toll and the bus lane skips all the traffic Option two is the bus stop on Broadway in Nyack that drops you off at the port authority station That all said live in white plains
Bus is great for the daily commute, not so much as a connection after a late night of socializing in the city. Does it even run after midnight?
Ahh my age is showing lol
Great to know.
You could drive to Tarrytown from nyack for train
I own a condo in Nyack, I'm 29, lived in Yonkers around McLean till about 25. "Nyack would still require me to drive to access NYC" There are buses that drive back and forth across the bridge from Nyack to the train and are convenient. I don't really give a shit about NYC and barely ever go there but if you plan to go frequently living in Westchester would be a little easier. "The main hobby I was looking at is ice hockey." There is a rink in the Palisades Mall that has mens league. There's one across the bridge in Elmsford and then North Jersey I think there's some rinks. I like living here because I do a ton of running and cycling and it's very safe to do it on the streets here. Night life is okay, there's a couple bars I frequent but I'm at the stage in my life where I don't really care about that anymore and drinking makes it difficult for me to run the next morning. If I do go for drinks I go to breweries or wineries which there are like an infinite amount of nowadays drivable.
Do they have Men's Leagues? [Their website](https://palisadescentericerink.com/) has 0 mention of them, just clinics, kid's leagues, and stick time/pickup.
I live in Westchester and work in Rockland. The reverse commute isn’t bad at all over the bridge. Traffic is decent because of it. Plus you can get commuter rate on the bridge toll which definitely saves quite a bit.
Same for me. Unless there is an accident on the roads, the commute is easy. I have worked in Rockland for 15 years, but wouldn't want to live there.
This.
My friend, as a guy who grew up in the 914, and moved to rockland because of desperate circumstances…..DONT DO IT! Stay in westchester! DO NOT CROSS THE BRIDGE unless you’re going to work. BELIEVE ME. When my kids are done with high school, Im moving back to westchester.
As someone that grew up in westchester and now has a family, westchester has a much better vibe. I feel like rock land is better if you’re already established to the area. If not, westchester especially TT and WP offers waaaaay more than rockland. If one is coming from out of state, westchester offers much more socially.
Rockland is pretty sleepy. There are some denser town such as Nyack, Haverstraw, Spring Valley, and others. Besides Westchester, you have Bergen County NJ to the south, also worth considering.
what does sleepy mean?
Where in rockland?
As another commenter above stated - If my job moved to rockland I would absolutely continue to live in Westchester. The bridge traffic isn’t nearly as bad as it once was. The metro north train will allow you to easily go into the city when you feel like it. Depending on what line you live on, you could also easily go into Stamford which is an excellent place to meet people (in addition to white plains). I lived in white plains, rye brook, port Chester and Dobbs ferry throughout my 20’s and early 30’s. In my opinion your best bets are White Plains, Port Chester, and Tarrytown. I commuted from port Chester to the Tarrytown area (near the bridge)for several years and always felt I was generally going against the heavy traffic.
White Plains is a great value for how much city you get, and getting bigger/denser. Metro North is right there but you might trek down less than you think. Nyack is very walkable and cuts down your daily commute. Not sure how young the actual community is. Also don't forget about the North Jersey area, especially around the NJ transit stations. Worth looking into.
Nyack, or Piermont are the only Rockland choices. Tarrytown, across the river. Traffic in and out of White Plains ain't worth it. Don't underestimate the traffic crossing the bridge and on 287.
I would probably prefer to live in Nyack without a bridge commute and the potential for getting stuck in traffic from time to time. Nyack has a pretty nice walkable downtown and I don't see how it's worse for a single person than the river towns across the river, other than not having direct MetroNorth to the city. And you'll be going to work every day
Depending on where you live in Westchester, you may be able to save money by not paying for a car. Downtown Tarrytown and White Plains have high WalkScores with most destinations within walking, bus or Uber/Lyft. Your most likely going to get to NYC from Tarrytown or White Plains by train, not by driving. Driving to, and parking in, many neighborhoods of NYC is grueling and expensive. Also, drinking and driving is strictly enforced here besides being immoral. Not sure where you are coming from, but MetroNorth is one of the top regional rail systems in the USA. Very reliable and decent service even on nights and weekends. (It's not Switzerland or the Netherlands awesome train systems, but it is pretty great for USA). You can use Google Maps transit directions, or the MTA TrainTime app and website for schedule and fare information: [https://new.mta.info/agency/metro-north-railroad](https://new.mta.info/agency/metro-north-railroad) Also, I agree with others here that there is some social life in Westchester, although depends what you consider 'social life' I guess. Westchester's Bee Line Bus isn't horrible (I use it a lot on weekdays) but expect to take Uber/Lyft on late nights and Sundays if you don't want to drive. Commute: Check out HudsonLink Bus service that runs from Tarrytown and White Plains across the Tappan Zee (aka Cuomo) Bridge to Rockland County destinations, depending upon where your job is located. The buses are plush (for buses) and they get to skip the traffic on the bridge because they have an exclusive bus lane. (Unfortunately, the bus lane doesn't continue onto the rest of I-287, which would get a lot more people to ride the bus imho). [https://ridehudsonlink.com/](https://ridehudsonlink.com/) Commuting by transit, especially if you take the same time train car or bus most days, may spawn relationships as well. I have a few longstanding friends who I met on MetroNorth commuting between NYC and Westchester, and I'm in a hobby club because a group of people sitting on a train near me were organizing it and invited me along. The same is probably true on HudsonLink. Good luck!
I live in manhattan now and driving to Rockland county for work. I’m moving to white plains in a couple months. White plains is the move if you’re looking for a balance between a decent commute and social scene. The reverse commute over the bridge is not bad at all, and the train into manhattan is not bad either. Neither are a total breeze, but each are manageable with some patience. There’s another commenter that said you’d end up in the city only a few times a year, and I heavily disagree with that. If you want to go into the city frequently from white plains, you can, especially if you live close to the train station. That said, you will be pretty limited to manhattan. You can’t really expect to take the train in, go to the Brooklyn Mirage, and then take the subway back to the train to take it back at like 1am - that probably isn’t happening often. White plains social scene itself is good, but of course nothing like NYC. Solid access to nature as well as long as you have a car. Tarrytown is alright, but much quieter than White Plains with less to do. Slightly better commute to Rockland. Train takes longer to NYC since it doesn’t run express like it does in White Plains. Your instincts and research are right - White Plains or Tarrytown is much better for a young professional than Rockland.
Have you looked into Nyack as a place to live? Checks most if not all of your boxes
I have and plan to check out some apartments there next week, but not being able to walk to or from the train station/somewhat sporadic bus service + the area generally having a pretty small 20's/30's population makes me wonder if it's worth it as someone new to the region and whose only friends in the whole metro area live on Long Island (not that I expect I'd see them super often, but if I do struggle to make friends close to me it'd be nice to be able to get to Manhattan or wherever else to meet them more conveniently)
Speaking as a single late 20s woman in Nyack, there are a lot young, single 20s/early 30s in town. Do you have a car? Driving to Tarrytown to catch the train is very easy and I do it regularly.
I live in Yonkers & work in nyack. I have a commuter pass for my EZPass it comes out to $70 a month. I think it’s worth it. My social life is in NYC
Nyack is very cute too
Yes tarrytown !
Downtown Tarrytown is nice, with several good bars and music venues. There's more than one bus to Rockland and an express bus to NYC. You get a discount going over the bridge as a local resident if you drive. Nyack is also a cool city with a nice downtown.
I prefer Tarrytown over White Plains, although I do also love White Plains (WP has more of a city feel/night scene however TT not far behind!). Tarrytown being on the Hudson River is really nice. I live in Dobbs Ferry next to TT. I’ve been really happy here and wouldn’t want to move anywhere else!
White plains would be great. There’s a lot of things to do close by and all the bars and restaurants are there.
Check out Piermont which is under the radar and you can get to NYC/White Plains/Stamford easily. Last thing you need is to live in westchester and then commute over the bridge with a toll… good luck!
If I was single I would try and find an apartment near or on the Main Street in Irvington. Lots of great places to walk to and the train station is just at the bottom of the hill.
Any nightlife ? Any other single young people ?
Do you consider yourself (or aspire to be) white trash or white collar. Sorry to put it that way, but I’m just being honest.
Fuck Rockland county