NY cycling

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by sonicCows

You should try Everesting in CP!

I have a buddy who Everested on Alpine (the last climb on River Road) last year, he'd probably jump at the chance to do it again if he had company!

[timnem70]

Originally Posted by dumbod

My two cents (assuming that you want to live in the city)

Find the subway stop that is closest to your office. Figure out what lines run through that stop and shop for real estate accordingly. For example, if your office is E 51 St., you might find parts Queens attractive (and much more affordable that either Manhattan or Brooklyn.

As for the riding, you don't move to NYC for the riding. If you like the UWS, great but don't do it for the riding. Yes, you're closer to the GWB and NJ but the ride up route 9 gets just as old as looping the park.

One neglected resource: the various commuter railroads. With the purchase of a $5 lifetime pass, you can take your bike on the train. This gives the chance to ride all sorts of places that you wouldn't expect. For example, once or twice a year, I take MetroNorth to Pine Plains, ride up to the CT/Mass border and then ride down Rt 7 to Long Island Sound. It's then an easy ride on the train home.

Good luck on the move.

That's what I was eluding to. Although it's just as expensive to live in Stamford/Greenwich as one of the Bouroughs. You can always and I did, leave the city and go 45 minutes west for beautiful rides. You're gonna have a blast no matter what.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[thegunner]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I have a buddy who Everested on Alpine (the last climb on River Road) last year, he'd probably jump at the chance to do it again if he had company!

wait... i knew someone who did that last year... there's nowhere in CP that works for this. HH is only 100 feet, but there's no good way to loop it without doing the 1.4 mile loop around the top end of the park. no way i could get enough repeats to get 28k. i've done the northend loop 36x before and that was mindblowingly boring.

[hnovack]

After living in the city for 20 years, then moving with kids to Westchester. Living in the city is exciting and fun. Difficult to deal with schools with kids. Good riding in Mid to Northern Westchester and Fairfield County. Bergen County ie Ft Lee, Englewood Cliffs has cheaper housing. Good Schools in Fort Lee, and a easy commute. Northern Bergen County is also an option, but longer commute to City. Ie Creskill and Closter. Remember the subway rides coming in from Brooklyn can take an hour or so depending on where.

[fuzzalow]

Originally Posted by flydhest

Fuzz, you hit the nail on the head about the objectives. My point to post here was essentially to know, when it comes to brass tacks, which way to lean.

Priorities are:
1) Family (so short commute, comfortable housing, Happy wife)

...

2) career
2.5) cycling

I will keep the forum posted and if we move, would love to go for a spin with locals and buy the first round afterward.

One last comment to play off of your comment above regarding "comfortable housing" was a whimsical quip in a NYTimes real estate article about NYers relocating back to NYC: Once and Always a New Yorker.

There are different expectations and notions for how people live based largely on where they live and what they have experienced. As quoted from this article:

The neighborhood, because of its proximity to Lincoln Center and its “European feeling,” was his first choice when he returned from California a year and a half ago. He had sold his Malibu house and bought an apartment on West 76th Street, off Central Park.

“My L.A. friends say, ‘How are you going to live in that?’ and my New York friends say, ‘How did you find that?’ ”

Like the line 'New York New York, a helluva town' from the B'way musical "On the Town" dating back from 1944. Yes it is, was and e'er shall be. One of the greatest cities in the world and given any opportunity to live here, you'd be crazy not to take a shot at living it.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by dumbod

My two cents ...
As for the riding, you don't move to NYC for the riding. If you like the UWS, great but don't do it for the riding. Yes, you're closer to the GWB and NJ but the ride up route 9 gets just as old as looping the park.

Yep. I agree. I live in Morningside Heights and find 9W pretty boring. I don't ride it as much as I used to. There are much better rides down on the Piermont Rd/County Rd side of the hill. Zip down Churchill or any one of the other routes, and take it from there.

[R3awak3n]

and you can take the train to cold spring and there are some fantastic ridding up there as well.

I agree, you don't move to NYC for cycling but its a hell of a city and good cycling is around, just not right outside your ny condo

[torquer]

I grew up in the suburbs, and have lived in Westchester for decades (commuting into Manhattan most of those years), so "city cycling" feels a bit exotic to me, even though I totally get the appeal of city life. (It was great when I was in my 20s, but I need my rest now.)
I would consider the Riverdale section of the Bronx if minimizing commuting time and maximizing access to good riding were my prime competing interests. Metro North commute is 30 minutes to Grand Central, and access to the Westside bike trail isn't too bad for that form of commuting. For serious miles, you'd be on the mainland with direct access to Westchester, either riding or driving (parking is still an issue, but much less so than other NYC neighborhoods discussed here.) Dunno about public schools, but no shortage of good private schools.
Sounds like you're thinking of apartment living, but the Fieldston section has some spectacular properties.

[velofinds]

If I may offer a counterpoint to the “NYC isn’t great for cycling" narrative, I might argue that it’s actually pretty great for time-crunched individuals (which I assume there's a good chance anyone with career and/or family obligations relocating from one metropolitan area to another has of being). If one only has one, maybe two hours tops to get in some high quality riding, it’s hard to argue with laps in either of the city’s large parks or the relative quiet and solitude of River Road (when one has the luxury of being able to spend an additional one or two more hours in the saddle). The population density (and thus, abundance of cyclists) I find creates a nice environment for riding, and chance encounters with other riders of similar fitness or ability aren’t uncommon on all the aforementioned well-worn paths. True, “epic” all-day rides will require traveling to further afield, but if weekdays are devoted to work and weekends to family (as in my case), then one probably wasn’t going to be doing very many of those to begin with.

[adampaiva]

since the OP seems to have gotten quite a lot of good info, I'll go ahead and ask my own question.

Am I crazy, as a currently non-married, non-childed, 33 year old for considering a move to the WC burbs? I would prefer a condo / apt. living situation to buying a home and happened to find this building in New Rochelle that is kind of my dream but attainable apartment. It has me really thinking about giving up life in Crown Heights Brooklyn. A whole lot of pluses and minuses I can think of for both situations, but any one have any feedback on New Rochelle in particular? I've looked around a bit and haven't found anything else really that appealed to me in any of the burbs so I'm really just thinking about this one building if/when the right unit comes up for sale. I sort of want the loft NY apartment life, ideally in a little walkable village, but outside of NYC itself. Oh and with my own parking space. I also have a little cabin upstate so prefer the idea of a condo to a home and the cabin can be my escape for space and nature and green and repairing water heaters and worrying about the roof. Moving north of the city would make that Friday night trip to the Catskills easier too. And weekend rides into WC / Dutchess / Putnam counties easier. Weekday riding, I rarely find the time as it is to ride much more than my commute during the week so I imagine that wouldn't change much because of a move to the burbs adding in a MNorth commute.

But I digresss...the main question is anyone have opinions on New Rochelle in particular? Or know of somewhere else I can find a reasonably priced "loft-like" condo and village for city-like living outside of the city with a relatively short train commute to Midtown?

[19wisconsin64]

...are good if you either have a super duper smart kid who tests well and you are super duper good at following up with the required paths to getting your kid into a "test into" top manhattan public school.

if this does not work you can try to live in the zoned areas for the top schools.

being a nyc cyclist, and having raised kids in the public schools here i can tell you that certain streets are much better zoned than other certain streets on the upper west side.

for cycling, shopping, commuting, and amazing public schools, the north side of 72nd street on the west side and going up......there are some sweet spots. it's easy access to everything. it's expensive, but if you are on a budget you can find something reasonable for nyc. reasonable is a relative term.

lots of wonderful students and teachers and schools here, and amazing amounts of cultural things to do in and around the city. i could lie and say that our favorite thing to do is to stroll to one of the dog parks to watch the dogs, but the truth is that this is only a stop on the way to shake shack.

good luck in your search if you do come to nyc!

[dumbod]

Originally Posted by adampaiva

But I digresss...the main question is anyone have opinions on New Rochelle in particular? Or know of somewhere else I can find a reasonably priced "loft-like" condo and village for city-like living outside of the city with a relatively short train commute to Midtown?

To buy or rent? Remember, if you want to buy, that property taxes are OUTRAGEOUS in Westchester County. Yeah, you save some on income and sales tax but not that much.

I haven't done a systematic look but in my quick searches, I haven't found anything that is vaguely loft-like along the Sound except the Knickerbocker Lofts in New Rochelle. (I have to say that I find nothing attractive about New Rochelle but to each his own.) You might have better luck going north on the Hudson.

I'm intrigued by Bronxville. Much more interesting village (IMO) than NR and some nice older co-ops. And a super-easy commute into the city.

[Climb01742]

Originally Posted by hnovack

Good Schools in Fort Lee, and a easy commute.

Unless Gov. Christie is in a bad mood.

[torquer]

New Rochelle, along with White Plains and Yonkers, are small(ish) cities, with some city-like amenities, but also city-like challenges. All have areas that feel totally suburban, but none of their "urban" cores compare to anything available in NYC. White Plains, at least, has lower residential property taxes than surrounding villages.

Peekskill has some interesting things going on, but that's at a still-smaller scale, and a 70 minute train ride.

Bronxville? Feh. Scarsdale is only a few train stops further north, and Beyoncé might be your neighbor.

[adampaiva]

Yes to buy. Not rent.

And yes, Knickerbocker lofts was the one building I liked. I've looked around for something comparable and haven't seen anything.

I didn't really even think about property taxes. That may throw a financial wrinkle.