Her family had a lifelong Scarsdale connection, but moving there changed everything.
Suburban Jungle Local Janice never planned to move to Scarsdale — but all signs pointed to the family landing in this popular Westchester suburb.
“My husband was very familiar with Scarsdale,” Janice says. “He grew up in London, but his aunt lived in Scarsdale. He actually learned to swim in the Scarsdale pool.”
After he relocated to New York full time, many holidays and long weekends were spent in Westchester, exploring Scarsdale and neighboring communities. Soon, Janice joined along.
“We would take the train up to Scarsdale from Manhattan. It felt like an adventure. And it was really my first foray into Westchester,” she explains.
From the city to…another city
Though the couple loved the appeal of suburbia, they continued navigating urban living. After years in New York, the couple moved to London where they spent five years and welcomed two kids.
“We loved London and loved the life we had there, but we both knew it was time to come back to New York,” Janice says. “We connected with Suburban Jungle and our Strategist Patti Natiss. I still remember that very first call with her, in our kitchen in London.”
While the family planned their permanent move, Janice, her husband, and their two young kids headed back to the U.S. and into their old Manhattan apartment. While it was meant to be a short-term solution, being in the space only accelerated their desire to get out and into suburbia.
“We gave ourselves a timeline that we wanted to be in a Scarsdale home when our older son started kindergarten,” she says. “We had Scarsdale high on the list, but we wanted to make sure we weren’t making the wrong choice. We wanted to make sure we explored our options and chose the right community for our family. Patti and Suburban Jungle were our therapy during those months!”
Exploring Scarsdale — and more
During their suburban exploration, Janice and her family toured a number of towns in Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey. With every visit, though, they kept coming back to Scarsdale. The community, she explained, checked every box — and, beyond that, it just felt right. A year later they found the perfect house and made a move.
“We ended up buying a house that we saw in our first phase of looking,” Janice says. “I had actually talked myself out of it back then — but, at the same time, it was the one house I kept coming back to. At one point it came off the market. When it came back on, our real estate agent reached out and we made an offer.”
Supporting city families in their suburban search
Now, five years into Scarsdale life, Janice is helping other city families explore the community as a Suburban Jungle Local.
“When we moved to Scarsdale, I didn’t really understand the implications of the immediate neighborhood you live in,” she says. “That’s something that I’ve spoken to a lot of people about. From kindergarten through fifth grade your kids go to school with the kids living next door and around the corner — the kids in your very immediate neighborhood.”
She also loves sharing her unique perspective on the community — a town that’s been exceptionally welcoming and that continues to surprise and delight her family.
“Scarsdale has a great reputation for education excellence,” she says. “That’s just the beginning, though. I’m blown away year after year at the caliber of our educators, especially in COVID when they were navigating remote learning. Even through a screen, they were able to elicit love and affection, and care. I would tear up sometimes listening to my kids’ classes, just thinking, ‘How lucky are we?’”
Weekends, she adds, are another perk of living in Scarsdale. Kids ride bikes, families meet up at parks for playdates or hit local hiking trails, often with their dogs in tow. Then, many families hit up local restaurants and cafes to grab a bite — and there are tons of dining options, Janice adds.
“We feel very, very fortunate to be able to live here and to be raising our children here,” she says. “We love Scarsdale and I love sharing our experiences with families considering making a move.”
Ready to find your family’s “home” in the NYC suburbs? Get in touch now to schedule your FREE Suburbs Strategy session.