Page 22 - Westchester Relocation Guide 2021

WESTCHESTER: BEST PLACES TO LIVE
REAL ESTATE REPORT: THE BURBS ARE IT!
Westchester is hot! Driven by the impacts of the coronavirus, the county is seeing an incredible influx of buyers from Manhattan and Brooklyn seeking shelter in the suburbs.
Brooklynites Kelley Sullivan and
Mikol Stambaugh have their sights set on a home in the Rivertowns.
Mikol Stambaugh and his wife, Kelley Sullivan, are diehard New York City devotees. The couple have lived in Brooklyn for the past 10 years and tout the expected reasons they love it: restaurants, museums, nightlife, culture, diversity, walkability — the general cache that is big-city living. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of moving to Westchester was the furthest thing from their minds. “We had actually been searching for a country home or an investment property outside of the city for a few years, but as second home, not a primary residence,” Stambaugh notes. “As my wife, who is from Houston, always said, ‘I didn’t move to New York to live in the suburbs!’”
But living in the suburbs is now exactly what the couple are planning to do. They have been searching throughout Westchester for a home to purchase — Tarrytown, Ossining, Croton, and Pleasantville are on their shortlist. Stambaugh and Sullivan left their Brooklyn condo shortly after the coronavirus hit, renting spots upstate in order to ride out the pandemic. But the virus’s impact has changed their outlook. Though they returned to Brooklyn during the summer, they are now committed to leaving the city. “Living upstate for those five months really changed our perspective,” Stambaugh says. “Having a home as opposed to an apartment and having the space to focus on ourselves, that’s
20
LIVING IN WESTCHESTER AND THE HUDSON VALLEY | RELOCATION & MOVING GUIDE
© PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKOL STAMBAUGH AND KELLEY SULLIVAN