They’d Like to Keep It That Way

They’d Like to Keep It That WaySusan Stava for The New York TimesAN outpost 30 miles from the city where children walk to school on sidewalks lined with trees; where lovingly refurbished Victorians have old-fashioned front porches; where shopkeepers greet longtime customers by name: The1.8-square-mile village of Pleasantville pretty much lives up to the qualities implied by its name.But the recession and budget realities have been unavoidable, even in this idyllic heart of the Town of Mount Pleasant, at the heart of Westchester County. Some elements of its storybook plot line are potentially under threat. Storefronts in the quaint business district stand empty — as they do in other downtowns, a testament to the troubled times —while chain stores like Dunkin’ Donuts have moved in, the economy notwithstanding, displacing smaller retailers and altering the ambience.Amenities that the 7,200 residents of this affluent and overwhelmingly white village take for granted, like twice-weekly backyard garbage pickups, may have to be scaled back, said Peter Scherer, the mayor. “The time has come to rethink the way some services are delivered,” he said recently. “It’s a matter we’re ve ry, very deeply focused on.”Residents might also need to reconsider their traditional resistance to new development in light of the pressing need to generate more revenue, Mr. Scherer said, citing the long-opposed idea of building a multilevel parking garage downtown. “We want to make sure the lack of parking doesn’t thwart business development,” he said. “We need the tax dollars.”Toward that end, the mayor added, villagers who pay some of the highest property taxes in the county might likewise rethink how best to use a vacant 115,000-square-foot commercial building near the business district. In 2001, a citizens committee derailed the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company’s plans to locate a superstore there.Most residents, like Scott and Caitlin Blasdell, want the village to continue to live up to its name. Mr. Blasdell, a portfolio manager, was a member of the citizens group that opposed the Super Stop & Shop, on the ground that such a large food market was out of character with the rest of the village.The Blasdells have four sons — 10, 7, 4 and 2 — and are living in their fourth house in the area. The first, which cost them about $450,000 in 1999, was afixer-upper with four bedrooms on a noisy street, Mrs. Blasdell, a literary agent, recalled. Eight years later they moved to another house in nearby Chappaqua that initially seemed just right. “But there was so much driving there,” Mrs. Blasdell said, “and we missed being able to walk to everything like we did in Pleasantville.”Back in a second house in Pleasantville seven months later, they at last found what Mrs. Blasdell described as “the house of our dreams”: a five-bedroom 1930s brick colonial on a picturesque, quiet side street, within walking distance of the schools and shops. It cost about $1 million.It is clear why some residents have fought to preserve the status quo. But others are now asking, at what price?WHAT YOU’LL FINDThe Saw Mill River Parkway cuts through a corner of the village; it meets the Taconic State Parkway a few miles south. Pace University has a campus on 200 acres just beyond the village’s western border. The downtown, about aneight-block area, is anchored by the Jacob Burns Film Center, a SpanishMission-style multiscreen complex built in the 1920s as the Rome Theater and refurbished about 10 years ago.Outside the business district, Victorians, colonials, T udors, and ’60s-era ranches and cottages line tidy streets. Some of the most desirable spots, along Romer and Sunnyside Avenues, are what agents like Fran Von Dietsch of Prudential Holmes & Kennedy Real Estate describe as “being in the grid,” meaning withi n easy walking distance of the schools, the business district and the trains. These houses are on quarter-acre lots or smaller. More expensive houses on larger lots can be found on Ashland Avenue, also within walking distance of most everything.In all, there are 1,458 single family-houses and 221 multifamily houses in Pleasantville, said James J. Timmings, the town assessor. There are 354 condominiums in four complexes, and 140 co-ops in three complexes. There are no large apartment buildings.Usonia, an enclave of low-slung cantilevered houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects, shares a ZIP code with Pleasantville, but is outside the village proper.What you’ll payDuring the first week of February, 38 single-family houses were on the market, ranging from $239,000, for a two-bedroom one-bath cottage, to $1.9 million for a four-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath colonial. In the middle range, a four-bedroom two-and-a-half-bath colonial was listed at $719,000.Also, there were 22 condos and co-ops on the market. At Foxwood Condo, a32-year-old Tudor-style complex, a one-bedroom one-and-a-half-bath unit was listed at $414,900; at the 50-year-old Ledgerock Gardens, a two-bedroomone-bath co-op was listed at $229,000.Prices in all categories have fallen. A two-bedroom condo at the Foxwood complex that could be had in 1996 for $175,000 would have fetched $470,000 two years ago; today it would be listed at $420,000, Ms. Von Dietsch said.Similarly, the median price for a single-family house in Pleasantville was $615,000 in 2009, down from $655,000 in 2008 and $650,000 in 2005. The median for the county last year was $580,000.Because Armonk, to the west, has I.B.M. contributing to its tax base, and Thornwood, to the south, is home to a number of companies, property taxes in those neighboring communities are lower. Taxes on a five-bedroom house with four full and two half baths listed at $1.699 million in Armonk are $32,116. Taxes on the $1.9 million Pleasantville house described above are $40,533.WHAT TO DOMillie and Dennis Turenchalk, both pharmacists, live in the four-bedroomtwo-and-a-half-bath high-ranch they bought for $220,000 17 years ago. On special occasions, they dine at the Iron Horse Grill, a white-cloth restaurant next to the train station that serves Continental cuisine. On other evenings out, Mr. and Mrs. Turenchalk, who have a 17-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, have several dining options after they take in a movie at the Burns. They include Bollywood Bistro, an Indian place, and Hanada Sushi.“We don’t go into the city,” said Mrs. Turenchalk, now a stay-at-home mother. “It’s too comfortable to stay local.”Anne L. Shaw, a marketing executive who has lived in Pleasantville since 1984 —first in a four-bedroom raised ranch and now in a two-bedroom condo with a den — does sometimes travel to Manhattan on weekends. “The village is centrally located,” she said, “so it’s e asy enough to get to the city to take in a museum and have lunch with friends.”The village has 50 acres in 4 parks and 10 acres of school district fields. The Dad’s Club of Pleasantville, a volunteer group, organizes athletic programs for youth, including football, field hockey, volleyball and cheerleading in the fall; wrestling, indoor lacrosse and basketball in the winter; and outdoor lacrosse, baseball and softball in the spring.THE SCHOOLSThe Pleasantville Union Free School District has about 1,840 students in the Bedford Road School (kindergarten through Grade 4), Pleasantville Middle School (Grades 5 through 8) and Pleasantville High School (Grades 9 through 12). The district encompasses most of the village, parts of Mount Pleasant and some houses in Chappaqua, said Julie Schwartz, a spokeswoman.Of fourth-graders last year, 100 percent met state standards on English and math tests, versus 77 and 87 percent statewide. SAT averages last year were 564 in reading, 580 in math and 552 in writing, Ms. Schwartz said. Statewide averages were 480, 500 and 470.A construction project under way at the 1929 high school includes the addition of two wings — one for a library and cafeteria, the other for offices and science classrooms. A $37 million bond passed by the voters in March 2007 is financing the project.THE COMMUTEMetro-North Railroad rush-hour express trains on the Harlem Line take about 50 minutes to get to Grand Central Terminal. Monthly tickets cost $238.14 via the Web; a round-trip Web ticket during peak hours costs $21.38. By car, the trip to Midtown Manhattan on the Saw Mill River Parkway to the Henry Hudson Parkway also takes about 50 minutes, depending on traffic.THE HISTORYAfter the Revolutionary War, Pleasantville — formerly among the holdings of Frederick Philipse, who held a patent from the British government on more than 92,000 acres in what is now known as Westchester— evolved into a prosperous farming community. In th e 1840s, according to Patrick Raftery of the county’s historical society, the New York Central Railroad established a stop in Pleasantville, which in turn spurred the growth of industry. Products transported by rail to New York City from the village included pickles, shoes and timber.。