Special offer

The City of White Plains NY – Where in Westchester Series

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams NY Realty - 120 Bloomingdale Road #101, White Plains NY 10605

Tibbets Park - White Plains NYWhen searching for Westchester NY homes for sale, it can be difficult to sort out the individual municipalities, their characteristics and even their location within the county.  For many buyers they seem to meld into one large mass of confusion.  This series of posts are designed to  alleviate some of this confusing for the Westchester NY homebuyer.

Getting from here to there – White Plains NY is centrally located:

White Plains NY is one of the most centrally located municipalities in Westchester NY.  As such, it is land-locked  with no direct access to either the Hudson River or Long Island Sound.  However, its central location means that you are never far from anything when you are in White Plains.   The map below shows just how central that location is.

White Plains borders Scarsdale to the south west, Harrison to the east and Mamaroneck to the south.  Hartsdale borders to the west and Valhalla to the north.

White Plains NY Map

I-287 – hugs the eastern side of White Plains and cuts right through the city just north of the center of the downtown.  From 287 you have access to towns along that corridor as well as

  • I-87 to New York, New Jersey & Upstate NY
  • The Hutchinson River Parkway to Connecticut or Bronx and to Queens, the airports and Manhattan
  • I-95 to Connecticut or all south to NYC.

I-684 originates in White Plains and gives access to points towns up county such as Mt. Kisco, Katonah, and Armonk as well as parts of Connecticut such as Danbury.

The Hutchison River Parkway (HRP) can be accessed off of Mamaroneck Ave. at the south end of town (in addition to the I-287 access point) as well as along North Street on the border of Harrison.

An entry to I-95 is also available just over the southern tip White Plains in Harrison.

The Bronx River Parkway (BRP) can be accessed from the western portion of White Plains.  the BRP runs north to south and flows into the Taconic State Parkway northbound.

The City of White Plains  -  Neighborhoods and character:

The city itself is somewhat bipolar in nature.  Most people from outside of Westchester County think of White Plains NY as a large city – but don’t understand that the city has a large and thriving suburban community much of which is located at the south end of town.

As can be seen from the map – the northern portion of the city is more densely populated.  The area of North White Plains is above the city center, but for the most part, the downtown is actually in the northern portion of the city.   This is where you get the famous White Plains nightlife and shopping experience including the Westchester Mall.   Level 42 of the Ritz Carlton and the famous BLT .

However, on the south side of town – the feel is completely different.  Single family homes dominate the landscape some areas such as the famous Gedney Farms neighborhood boast low density housing with old-world charm with no more than three homes per acre.  Other neighborhoods like the Highlands are very walkable.  the homes are mostly pre-war and they on lots ranging from .15 -.3 acres.  These areas have  a great deal of community feel and have active neighborhood associations.

To see the many faces of White Plains – please refer to my flickr page on White Plains.  The page is a work in progress and growing all the time…

White Plains NY Schools:

I generally stay clear of too many issues regarding school. Steering laws prevent real estate professionals from commenting on schools with too much detail.

White Plains does have school choice so that there are no specific neighborhoods for the elementary or middle schools.  Parents get to choose the school and with very few exceptions, get their first or second choice.

It is important to note that Virginia Rd Elementary School has a White Plains P.O. but is part of the Valhalla  school district.  Further the Richard Bailey School and the Lee F. Jackson School  also have a White Plains P.O., but are part of the Greenburgh Central  School District. Go to GreatSchools.com to learn more about the schools in the area.


Some private schools located in White Plains are worth noting:

Windward Schol – Grades 1-9
New York School for the Deaf
Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel  – Grades 9-12
Archbishop Stepinac High School – Grades 9-12
Our Lady of Sorrows School – Grades 1-8
German School New York – Grades K-12

The School widget below can be used to help with your research.  It links to “Great Schools” which is a wonderful resource for your search.


Further Reading:

Trump Tower – White Plains

Jefferson Place – White Plains

The Broadlawn

The Highlands – White Plains NY

Gedney Farms – White Plains NY

White Plains NY Housing Market Statistics – Q4 – 2010

© 2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.

Comments (2)

Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Great post, Ruthmarie.  White Plains is very centrally located and has a lot to offer.  All roads lead to White Plains (and all trains, too).

Feb 16, 2011 07:36 PM
Mario Costanz
Happy Tax - New Rochelle, NY

This is a great detailed post about the many great things about White Plains. Great shopping, great food, great nightlife and most of all great real estate!

 

Mario Costanz

Broker / Owner

RE/MAX Results

Bronx NY homes for sale

May 21, 2011 07:20 AM