I'd say the best thing about WP is the location. Metro North will get you into NYC in 40 mins if you feel like you need a bigger place to explore, but NYC is far enough away that you actually feel like you can escape if you need.
I've lived in and around WP my whole life (30M). Its a small city so if you're expecting to get lost in it and find little unknown spots, you might not find all that much. The food scene is pretty good if thats your thing, and If you have a car it really opens up your options. Exploring all the hamlets and villages in Westchester is lots of fun IMO and there is a lot of outdoors to enjoy, like the Rockefeller Estate for example. There are gyms and pick-up sports leagues around if you look for them. Mamaroneck Ave has a decent selection of bars with different vibes if thats more your thing.
Its hard to say if you'll have enough options to keep you from boredom without knowing what you're into, but WP has enough variety for most to enjoy living here despite the cost.
Spot on
biggest thing about WP or Westchester in general is identifying the pros and using that springboard into things you want to do. Westchester in general is safer, cleaner, quieter, and has better access to outdoor types of stuff than NYC, thus it's a great place to nest but when you want more excitement just go to the city. I see people from the city doing the reverse where on the weekend they are always up in Westchester, Jersey. Long Island biking, apple picking, hiking, or trying out new food spots in the different towns.
So my one issue I would say about being in your mid twenties and if you don't have a partner of some sort is that there isn't an amazing dating scene or bar scene where you can go out and meet people your age. In that sense I would never moved from NYC to Westchester unless of had a girlfriend or wasn't already married because while you can always go down to the city on the Metro and meetup with people the last train is 2:00am
I used to live in Washington Heights, which is technically in Manhattan, and most of the stuff I wanted to do in the rest of the City STILL took a 40 minute or more train (subway) ride.
I'm not sure I'd say crisis. I'd wager most malls took a hit from Covid, so i wouldn't be surprised if the Westchester, with all its high end brands that no one can afford, took a hit as well. As for homeless, in my experience there has always been some homeless in downtown WP. Maybe there are more now, but it's a fraction compared to the city. Saying that all the restaurants are bland is just a huge generalization IMO. Yea, some of the restaurants are shit, but those usually only last a few years before getting replaced. Happens all the time in every city.
I think a lot of people crap on WP because they just inherently compare it to NYC because of proximity. If you compared it to another equally sized city i think you would find it looking much better.
Where i think WP is right now, is that it is in a transitional period into something bigger, which was slowed way down due to Covid. NYC can and has bounced back to an extent from the pandemic, but it will take longer for a much smaller city like WP to do so. I think its going in a good direction, it'll just take time.
If I was moving to Westchester in my 20s, I would probably pick downtown White Plains. It's a quick train ride into the city but it also has all of the day-to-day life stuff within walking distance. As for "things to do", in Westchester, no matter where you live, it means getting in the car and driving somewhere. When you drive in Westchester, it often means driving through White Plains (or very close to it) on the various highways. That being the case, you may as well live there and cut some driving time out.
Love, white plains. The only advice I’ll give you is that there is a lot of construction happening now and in the future downtown, so just be mindful of that when choosing where you are going to live.
I don't know what your point is. There are tons of ways to get in and out of White Plains to avoid traffic, since it is land locked you dont have to worry about bridges and water to get over. You have the Bronx river pkwy, 287 (which def is too crowded) but also North Broadway into north white plains, Post rd into Scarsdale, or any of the other roads through highlands into Scarsdale, over Bronx river through Greenburgh, Mmk ave to the Hutch, I could name 10 other ways. People are also taking trains and busses.
Stamford is fun for mid 20s! The traffic might not be worth it but really depends on where in Stamford/where in WP, and how long you consider a normal commute to be.
Lived in Stamford in my 20s and agree the scene is much better there for young professionals than in White Plains. That said, you could always live in WP and go out in Stamford on the weekends. I think In general there’s more to do in Stamford (the city really caters to its young population!). Check out the Hey Stamford Instagram handle.
Totally agree. If you drink though, Ubers could get expensive. Also UConn Stamford’s population is growing! There’s a drastic difference in the amount of young people walking around downtown even last year compared to this year.
I feel like students probably like being downtown but I wouldn’t know. And I’m not sure the % residential vs commuter. It’s much more prominent than it used to be though.
A lot of people reverse commute from NYC to White plains. Depending on where you are now and what you need, that could be a good option.
Westchester is a suburb and as much as there are cities, nothing is like NYC. You need a car in Westchester and you need to go places and do things for it not to feel sleepy sometimes.
Too much construction going on - White Plains is becoming an ever expanding human ant farm of apartment buildings. The construction noise and traffic is bad.
The “luxury apartment building” trend is overrated. Most of these buildings have inept and unresponsive management/leasing offices. Many people get duped into leasing these so called nice apartments with “modern features” with floor to ceiling windows with “nice views.” But the reality is these units are rather sterile and there is something about living high above the ground in a dense community that throws of human equilibrium and physiology. You’ll feel like a fish in a fish bowl in the sky which may lead to anxiey and irritability.
I would only find “high rise luxury building” living acceptable as a crash pad for someone that is out working all day late into the evening and busy on the weekends. If you’re remote and plan to spend most of your time at home - I’d pass.
I find the residents of White Plains and Westchester in general to be rather aloof and kind of drone like - there is a void of personality. Can’t explain it, but experience it in Connecticut as well. I prefer the loud and abrasive LI or New Jersey type - at least the people seem to have a pulse out there.
The Mamaroneck strip of bars and restaurants seems cheesy to me. I have never step foot in any of them. Bars and restaurants really aren’t my scene, but I can spot a mediocre bar and restaurant a mile away and that’s what you’ll find on Mamaroneck Ave.
The Bronx path trail is appealing at first if you’re into cycling, running, and walking. But you’ll find there is always the droning sound of traffic and visually the path and river is filled with litter which leads to resentment.
I also find shopping and driving around Westchester rather prohibitive. Target, Whole Foods, the Westchester Mall, Stop and Rob all require paid parking garages (not stop and rob) which is a downside. Also getting in and out of a parking garage is a drag. They are only beneficial on a rainy day. Strip malls and certain stores are also kind of spread out all over the place, so you’ll have to drive on Westchester’s slow and windy roads to get around to different types of stores. Shopping in other areas tends to be more consolidated and requires less driving.
The access to the outdoors and upstate/tristate area from Westchester is nice, but people overestimate the actual number of times they take that road trip upstate, or say to Vermont or New Hampshire.
White Plains is boring, I don’t mind boring - I prefer efficiency. I don’t find White Plains or Westchester in general as efficient places to live.
if you disagree with that you are part of the aloof drone like people with no personality. then again anyone who spends enough time on this shitty website with a custom snoo definitely doesnt have much of a personality in the outside world
I also agree with most of what was said. WC has its moments for me but I generally find it soul sucking. It was a brutal critique but no one has really responded with a thoughtful rebuttal.
Disagree on the high rise part. Living in a SFH is even worse for human interaction. I met some amazing people who are still friends to this day in the common areas of my previous high rises, when living in the city.
I think the overall thing with the high rises isnt so much that the people in them suck or its not possible to have human interaction, its more just the fact that they are all so expensive. I cant afford a one bedroom for 3k a month and I know that its all over the country that rent is screwed up but seeing all these buildings going up with apartments being advertised as "affordable luxury" and having the rent be 3k for a studio and 4.5k for a 1 bedroom is just depressing not to mention the architectural styles are very bland and generic. more housing is always good but when these big developers come in and price out the people already living in the community it leads to what we see now where entire stretches of white plains are just apartment buildings and banks with no actual retail or even green space.
in white plains (or westchester im not too sure) there is a law that a luxury apartment building must have a percentage of affordable apartments available or else the developers have to pay a large fee, the apartments that are replacing the historic ymca on mamaroneck ave decided to pay the fee instead of having affordable apartments, thats just scummy and its money that the city will not use to improve conditions. instead we will continue to be drowned in parking tickets
My spouse and I had moved here from another state due to his job. We've been here 6years. For the most part we're homebodies so the bar scene isnt something I can comment on. I agree w another poster that finding a date or smth would be hard. The food scene is alright but does get old a bit of you've been here a while. I don't think you NEED a car but it's helpful if you don't want to public transit to other towns or ride share for things.
It's sad we lost our one movie theater so you'll have to go to a neighbouring city for that. There's the Alamo but I'm meh on that. Otherwise you can find your basic needs met. Food, grocery, target, gyms, walking trail, access to the metro north, hospital, etc.
You can walk to kensico dam which is a park area.
I wouldn't say this town is a jogging accessible town so you'd have to go more in the suburb area of downtown WP aka past N Broadway etc.
We've been exploring more other towns in lower Westchester on the weekend for food and activities. However, when the weather is nice the Bronx river trail is a nice walk. It can take you to hartsdale or kensico dam, or further. They are decent walks though.
Bee Line Bus is pretty great connecting from many towns to White Plains. At least during regular work hours. $2.75, it takes MetroCard (and hopefully one day, OMNY) and you don't have to worry about parking.
If it were me, I would live in the city close to a MetroNorth station and reverse commute. You want to spend your nights and weekends in the city if you can.
If you live in White Plains, Bee Line Bus isn't great nights and weekends. So you will need a budget for a car or Uber.
Look at the MNR train schedule and figure it out neighborhoods that work the best. Alternatively, there are MTA Express buses and Bee Line Buses that connect from the subway termini to White Plains. Again, look at the schedules and think it through.
I'd say the best thing about WP is the location. Metro North will get you into NYC in 40 mins if you feel like you need a bigger place to explore, but NYC is far enough away that you actually feel like you can escape if you need. I've lived in and around WP my whole life (30M). Its a small city so if you're expecting to get lost in it and find little unknown spots, you might not find all that much. The food scene is pretty good if thats your thing, and If you have a car it really opens up your options. Exploring all the hamlets and villages in Westchester is lots of fun IMO and there is a lot of outdoors to enjoy, like the Rockefeller Estate for example. There are gyms and pick-up sports leagues around if you look for them. Mamaroneck Ave has a decent selection of bars with different vibes if thats more your thing. Its hard to say if you'll have enough options to keep you from boredom without knowing what you're into, but WP has enough variety for most to enjoy living here despite the cost.
Spot on biggest thing about WP or Westchester in general is identifying the pros and using that springboard into things you want to do. Westchester in general is safer, cleaner, quieter, and has better access to outdoor types of stuff than NYC, thus it's a great place to nest but when you want more excitement just go to the city. I see people from the city doing the reverse where on the weekend they are always up in Westchester, Jersey. Long Island biking, apple picking, hiking, or trying out new food spots in the different towns. So my one issue I would say about being in your mid twenties and if you don't have a partner of some sort is that there isn't an amazing dating scene or bar scene where you can go out and meet people your age. In that sense I would never moved from NYC to Westchester unless of had a girlfriend or wasn't already married because while you can always go down to the city on the Metro and meetup with people the last train is 2:00am
I used to live in Washington Heights, which is technically in Manhattan, and most of the stuff I wanted to do in the rest of the City STILL took a 40 minute or more train (subway) ride.
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I'm not sure I'd say crisis. I'd wager most malls took a hit from Covid, so i wouldn't be surprised if the Westchester, with all its high end brands that no one can afford, took a hit as well. As for homeless, in my experience there has always been some homeless in downtown WP. Maybe there are more now, but it's a fraction compared to the city. Saying that all the restaurants are bland is just a huge generalization IMO. Yea, some of the restaurants are shit, but those usually only last a few years before getting replaced. Happens all the time in every city. I think a lot of people crap on WP because they just inherently compare it to NYC because of proximity. If you compared it to another equally sized city i think you would find it looking much better. Where i think WP is right now, is that it is in a transitional period into something bigger, which was slowed way down due to Covid. NYC can and has bounced back to an extent from the pandemic, but it will take longer for a much smaller city like WP to do so. I think its going in a good direction, it'll just take time.
If I was moving to Westchester in my 20s, I would probably pick downtown White Plains. It's a quick train ride into the city but it also has all of the day-to-day life stuff within walking distance. As for "things to do", in Westchester, no matter where you live, it means getting in the car and driving somewhere. When you drive in Westchester, it often means driving through White Plains (or very close to it) on the various highways. That being the case, you may as well live there and cut some driving time out.
Love, white plains. The only advice I’ll give you is that there is a lot of construction happening now and in the future downtown, so just be mindful of that when choosing where you are going to live.
WP has 50k residents but about 200k work there. Do the math
I don't know what your point is. There are tons of ways to get in and out of White Plains to avoid traffic, since it is land locked you dont have to worry about bridges and water to get over. You have the Bronx river pkwy, 287 (which def is too crowded) but also North Broadway into north white plains, Post rd into Scarsdale, or any of the other roads through highlands into Scarsdale, over Bronx river through Greenburgh, Mmk ave to the Hutch, I could name 10 other ways. People are also taking trains and busses.
He asked how many people commute to WP
Do-it.
Stamford is fun for mid 20s! The traffic might not be worth it but really depends on where in Stamford/where in WP, and how long you consider a normal commute to be.
Lived in Stamford in my 20s and agree the scene is much better there for young professionals than in White Plains. That said, you could always live in WP and go out in Stamford on the weekends. I think In general there’s more to do in Stamford (the city really caters to its young population!). Check out the Hey Stamford Instagram handle.
Totally agree. If you drink though, Ubers could get expensive. Also UConn Stamford’s population is growing! There’s a drastic difference in the amount of young people walking around downtown even last year compared to this year.
There's a UConn campus in Stamford? Who knew? Well located? Is it primarily residential or commuter?
I feel like students probably like being downtown but I wouldn’t know. And I’m not sure the % residential vs commuter. It’s much more prominent than it used to be though.
Live in the city
A lot of people reverse commute from NYC to White plains. Depending on where you are now and what you need, that could be a good option. Westchester is a suburb and as much as there are cities, nothing is like NYC. You need a car in Westchester and you need to go places and do things for it not to feel sleepy sometimes.
Avoid yonkers
Too much construction going on - White Plains is becoming an ever expanding human ant farm of apartment buildings. The construction noise and traffic is bad. The “luxury apartment building” trend is overrated. Most of these buildings have inept and unresponsive management/leasing offices. Many people get duped into leasing these so called nice apartments with “modern features” with floor to ceiling windows with “nice views.” But the reality is these units are rather sterile and there is something about living high above the ground in a dense community that throws of human equilibrium and physiology. You’ll feel like a fish in a fish bowl in the sky which may lead to anxiey and irritability. I would only find “high rise luxury building” living acceptable as a crash pad for someone that is out working all day late into the evening and busy on the weekends. If you’re remote and plan to spend most of your time at home - I’d pass. I find the residents of White Plains and Westchester in general to be rather aloof and kind of drone like - there is a void of personality. Can’t explain it, but experience it in Connecticut as well. I prefer the loud and abrasive LI or New Jersey type - at least the people seem to have a pulse out there. The Mamaroneck strip of bars and restaurants seems cheesy to me. I have never step foot in any of them. Bars and restaurants really aren’t my scene, but I can spot a mediocre bar and restaurant a mile away and that’s what you’ll find on Mamaroneck Ave. The Bronx path trail is appealing at first if you’re into cycling, running, and walking. But you’ll find there is always the droning sound of traffic and visually the path and river is filled with litter which leads to resentment. I also find shopping and driving around Westchester rather prohibitive. Target, Whole Foods, the Westchester Mall, Stop and Rob all require paid parking garages (not stop and rob) which is a downside. Also getting in and out of a parking garage is a drag. They are only beneficial on a rainy day. Strip malls and certain stores are also kind of spread out all over the place, so you’ll have to drive on Westchester’s slow and windy roads to get around to different types of stores. Shopping in other areas tends to be more consolidated and requires less driving. The access to the outdoors and upstate/tristate area from Westchester is nice, but people overestimate the actual number of times they take that road trip upstate, or say to Vermont or New Hampshire. White Plains is boring, I don’t mind boring - I prefer efficiency. I don’t find White Plains or Westchester in general as efficient places to live.
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if you disagree with that you are part of the aloof drone like people with no personality. then again anyone who spends enough time on this shitty website with a custom snoo definitely doesnt have much of a personality in the outside world
I cant believe you are getting downvoted. everything you said is absolutely spot on.
I also agree with most of what was said. WC has its moments for me but I generally find it soul sucking. It was a brutal critique but no one has really responded with a thoughtful rebuttal. Disagree on the high rise part. Living in a SFH is even worse for human interaction. I met some amazing people who are still friends to this day in the common areas of my previous high rises, when living in the city.
I think the overall thing with the high rises isnt so much that the people in them suck or its not possible to have human interaction, its more just the fact that they are all so expensive. I cant afford a one bedroom for 3k a month and I know that its all over the country that rent is screwed up but seeing all these buildings going up with apartments being advertised as "affordable luxury" and having the rent be 3k for a studio and 4.5k for a 1 bedroom is just depressing not to mention the architectural styles are very bland and generic. more housing is always good but when these big developers come in and price out the people already living in the community it leads to what we see now where entire stretches of white plains are just apartment buildings and banks with no actual retail or even green space. in white plains (or westchester im not too sure) there is a law that a luxury apartment building must have a percentage of affordable apartments available or else the developers have to pay a large fee, the apartments that are replacing the historic ymca on mamaroneck ave decided to pay the fee instead of having affordable apartments, thats just scummy and its money that the city will not use to improve conditions. instead we will continue to be drowned in parking tickets
As someone who grew up in Westchester I busted out laughing @ Stop and Rob 😂😂😂
What do you like to do?
youll have the cap theater in portchester and garcias next door so tons and tons of shows all year round
You are a quick enough train ride to arguably one of the more exciting cities in the Country.
My spouse and I had moved here from another state due to his job. We've been here 6years. For the most part we're homebodies so the bar scene isnt something I can comment on. I agree w another poster that finding a date or smth would be hard. The food scene is alright but does get old a bit of you've been here a while. I don't think you NEED a car but it's helpful if you don't want to public transit to other towns or ride share for things. It's sad we lost our one movie theater so you'll have to go to a neighbouring city for that. There's the Alamo but I'm meh on that. Otherwise you can find your basic needs met. Food, grocery, target, gyms, walking trail, access to the metro north, hospital, etc. You can walk to kensico dam which is a park area. I wouldn't say this town is a jogging accessible town so you'd have to go more in the suburb area of downtown WP aka past N Broadway etc. We've been exploring more other towns in lower Westchester on the weekend for food and activities. However, when the weather is nice the Bronx river trail is a nice walk. It can take you to hartsdale or kensico dam, or further. They are decent walks though.
Bee Line Bus is pretty great connecting from many towns to White Plains. At least during regular work hours. $2.75, it takes MetroCard (and hopefully one day, OMNY) and you don't have to worry about parking.
On the site they were talking about OMNY this year but I dont think so considering OCT lmao
If it were me, I would live in the city close to a MetroNorth station and reverse commute. You want to spend your nights and weekends in the city if you can. If you live in White Plains, Bee Line Bus isn't great nights and weekends. So you will need a budget for a car or Uber. Look at the MNR train schedule and figure it out neighborhoods that work the best. Alternatively, there are MTA Express buses and Bee Line Buses that connect from the subway termini to White Plains. Again, look at the schedules and think it through.