By ELSA BRENNERJULY 2, 2014  Two decades ago, Dobbs Ferry, then a working-class village in southern Westchester along the Hudson River, was considered by many the poor stepsister of its immediate neighbors — artsy Hastings-on-Hudson on its southern border and upscale Irvington to the north.  While Hastings and Irvington attracted well-heeled buyers from Manhattan and the tonier sections of Brooklyn, Dobbs Ferry, about 20 miles north of New York City, was often overlooked. Its housing stock was limited, and its school system lower-performing than those of its neighbors.  The village’s image has since changed. The turning point came in 1998, when the Dobbs Ferry Union Free School District became the first in Westchester to join the International Baccalaureate organization, based in Geneva — prompting home buyers to take a fresh look at the virtues of the 2.4-square-mile village of 11,000 residents. The Baccalaureate group offers junior and senior high school students a two-year, preuniversity course of study.  “The change in the high school program was what drove the engine,” said Linda Jo Platt, who moved from Manhattan to Dobbs Ferry with her husband, Bruce Platt, in the 1970s. “A lot has happened for the better in Dobbs Ferry,” said Ms. Platt, the director of the Community Nursery School, which is owned by South Presbyterian Church in the village. Mr. Platt is a systems analyst for a data firm in Manhattan.  At first the couple rented an apartment in Dobbs Ferry to see if the little village would be a good fit for them. Then, in 1978, convinced that it was indeed the perfect place to raise their son and daughter, they bought a three-bedroom one-bath ranch on a dead-end street for $64,000. Their children are grown now, the house has been renovated and the mortgage is paid off. The couple has no plans to move elsewhere, Ms. Platt said.  About the same time that the high school introduced the enriched curriculum, new residential construction began in the village, attracting a fresh group of buyers. In the late 1970s, when the Platts bought their home, Ms. Platt said, there was not only a dearth of inventory but also high interest rates for mortgages of about 8.5 percent.  One of the first major construction projects of new residential units was the Landing, which tapped into the pent-up demand for housing by offering 103 luxury townhouses next to the river. In ensuing years, as interest rates dropped, construction of homes and rental units continued.  In the last few years, Gia Young, a sales agent for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said she has been seeing more buyers from Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, attracted by Dobbs Ferry’s diversity.  “Even though the number of working-class residents has dropped, Dobbs Ferry is still quite diverse for a Westchester community,” she said. According to 2010 United States Census data, non-Hispanic whites were 72.5 percent of village residents, Hispanics 10.5 percent, Asians 8.6 percent and African-Americans 7.2 percent.  “Increasingly,” Ms. Young observed, “buyers want that diversity.”  Or, as Ms. Platt put it, “It’s more like living in the real world.”  The area bordering the river is a hive of activity, what Hartley S. Connett, the mayor, considers his “pride and joy.” The village is in the second phase of upgrading the waterfront, a $7 million project that began around a year ago. The first phase involved stabilizing the shoreline.  The current phase includes building a new fishing pier, boat dock and a playground, installing benches and lights and connecting new walkways to the county’s trailway system.  “We want to bring the river more into the life of the village,” said Mr. Connett, who said he hoped the project would be completed within a year.  Restaurants and shops are found along Cedar and Main Streets, which form a “V” shape in the section of the village west of Broadway, closer to the river. Many side streets in that area are lined with tidy, wood-frame homes on small lots. East of Broadway, the neighborhoods consist of larger Victorians, colonials and occasionally a midcentury modern.  As of June 30, there were 56 residential properties for sale in Dobbs Ferry, from a two-bedroom co-op listed at $184,999 to a four-bedroom house for $2.5 million.  The median sale price for a single family home in Dobbs Ferry for the 12-month period ending June 26 was $620,500, up from $601,000 for the same period five years earlier.  The median sale price for a co-op for the year ending June 26 was $190,000, versus $242,000 for the equivalent 12-month period five years earlier. The median condominium price was $440,000 for the year ending June 26, compared with $510,000 for the same period five years earlier, multiple listing figures show.  Residents can swim and play ball at the eight-acre Gould Park, where there is also a children’s playground. The three-acre Memorial Park also has playing fields and a children’s playground.  Sandra Rosas and her husband, Jonathan Doherty, and their sons — a 9-year-old and twins, 6 — find there is more than enough to entertain them in the village. Ms. Rosas, a part-time Spanish teacher, and Mr. Doherty, an accountant in Manhattan, bought a four-bedroom two-and-a-half bath colonial seven years ago for about $1 million. The three boys participate in town soccer leagues geared to their ages. The three children also attend a summer camp at the private Masters School.  The Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, which is used by walkers, joggers and bikers, runs through Dobbs Ferry. Also, by next summer, work on the village’s waterfront recreation area should be complete.  Cedar and Main Streets offer a wide range of dining, from white-cloth restaurants to pizza parlors.  Multiplex movie theaters are in White Plains and Yonkers, each about a 15- to 20-minute drive. The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, about the same distance, offers independent films.  About 1,475 students are enrolled in Dobbs Ferry’s three schools: Springhurst Elementary School, Dobbs Ferry Middle School and Dobbs Ferry High School.  On the state-administered English language arts tests, 63 percent of Springhurst’s fourth-graders scored at competency level or above, compared with an average of 30 percent statewide. On the math tests, 64 percent of the school’s fourth-graders scored at that level or above, compared with 36 percent statewide.  The most recent SAT averages at the high school were 544 for critical reading, 558 for math and 558 for writing; statewide they were 485, 501 and 477. Of the 116 students who graduated last month, 88 are off to four-year colleges or universities and 22 to two-year colleges.  The private Masters School, a day and boarding school for Grades 5 to 12, has about 650 students.  The train ride from Metro-North Railroad’s Dobbs Ferry station to Grand Central Terminal on the Hudson Line takes about 35 to 50 minutes. A round-trip ticket during rush hour is $22.50. A monthly ticket is $249. Parking passes that allow residents to park at the station cost $375 annually. Long-term meters are also available. For those driving to Midtown, the ride south on the Saw Mill River Parkway, to the Henry Hudson Parkway and then the West Side Highway takes about 40 minutes, depending on traffic.  The village played a key role in the Revolutionary War, with the Continental Army troops, under the leadership of General George Washington, encamped in the village and in neighboring areas during the summer of 1781.  From this encampment, Washington began the 400-mile march to Virginia, which led to a “turnaround in the military fortunes of the United States at the Battle of Yorktown,” according to Dr. Richard Borkow, the village historian.
Good schools, new development and diversity attract buyers and renters to this southern Westchester village along the Hudson.