Trying to decide if I should move to Northern NJ or Westchester county. School district is a top priority and it's great in both these areas. Commute time is largely irrelevant (will be WFH full time) but would like to be within a 60-90min commute of NYC. Property taxes in both places are really high (low 2% for northern Nj and high 2% for WC), but I feel like it's not significant enough to influence my decision. Current TC < 500k, but will likely be hopping into finance within 1-2 years where TC will be > 500k, in which case, state taxes will end up higher in NJ. All my income above 500k will be taxed at about 9%, whereas the 6.85% tax bracket for NY is from 215k to 1mil+. This is more significant than the property taxes. What do you guys think of these two places? And would you let state income taxes infleunce your decision?
I grew up in Westchester and have no complaints outside from a lack of diversity. If you want to be a quick ride away from Flushing (or the city as a whole) Bronxville is definitely a good choice
What's your ethnicity if you don't mind me asking? If you're a POC, did you experience any racism in WC? I had a parent tell me that Bronxville and Millburn are racist I really like Bronxville though. It felt different from the other places I visited. It was a lot more compact and affluent. Seemed like it was the more expensive place out of the 3 places I visited in WC.
I’m white and can definitely see that being the case. I can’t personally speak to any of it. However, I grew up in Northern Westchester, and even there I only graduated with one Black student (and they were biracial). Most diversity comes from Asian and Southeast Asian students, as well as some Western Europeans.
500k is more than enough to live in any town in NJ. If you are Asian, north Jersey might be a better option than Westchester. Also search for Short Hills or Millburn as well. Those towns have the best school system in NJ. Commute is easier than north jersey.
I'm Asian, but I don't associate much with Asians (or really anyone for that matter) and my kiddo is mixed. Btw, what is "North jersey?" Are you referring exclusively to Bergen county or Essex county as well? We visited several areas a few weeks ago in WC, Northern NJ and Long island. In WC, we looked at Bronxville, Pelham, and Rye. In Northern NJ, we visited Tenafly, Millburn, and Maplewood. I don't think it's likely we'll end up in Long Island (most peopel seem to tell me to choose WC over LI), though I wanted to be closer to Flushing so I can have access to good Chinese :) All of these areas seem very similar to me -- very white, great school districts, and walkable. In terms of NJ, I think Millburn has a direct route to Penn by train, and Tenafly is pretty convoluted in terms of commuting, but a shorter drive distance
When I say North Jersey I usually think of Bergen country. Essex is also considered as North Jersey. I live on the i78 line, I always mistakingly think essex is central jersey (but it's definitely north) Bergen county especially has a very big Asian community. Millburn might be very different from Bergen Country in general. It's one of the richest towns in NJ. During the peak time NJ transit operates express line from millburn/shorthills nypenn which is a lot easier to commute by bus which routes to PABT. i believe FB offices are close to penn.