[POLL] White Plains: Ideal Place for Young People, Sports Bars

If you’re looking for the sports bar of your dreams or the perfect balance of urban and suburban life—you need look no farther than White Plains. 

The city was singled out by young people as the ideal place to live in Westchester, where young professionals prefer to live over New York City—according to a study by The Business Council of Westchester.

“This study offers valuable insight into one of the vexing issues facing Westchester—how does the county attract and retain young people as residents,” said Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester.

Kraft Foods conducted the study for The Business Council of Westchester in February, which focuses on youth flight and was conducted among a series of focus groups of Westchester residents, employees and local college upperclassmen under the age of 35.

Click on the PDF details and recommendations from the study.

Young professionals and college students praised White Plains for its nightlife, restaurants, family activities, walkabilty, easy commute to Manhattan, restaurants, recreation, networking opportunities and more.

 “I think they [The Business Council of Westchester] found what most people recognize—that this is a great place to live,” said White Plains Mayor Tom Roach. “In particular, it’s an attractive place for young adults. Since becoming mayor less than a year ago I’ve put a lot of effort into raising the profile of the city. With that, groups are finding their way on their own.”

Click for a story on Roach’s presentation on youth flight to The Business Council of Westchester in January.

Roach says that youth flight is a county-wide issue and that corporations want to be near a place that is attractive to their employees when re-locating.

“Young people can live here at much more reasonable rents than Manhattan, yet also have access to the [New York] city,” said Roach. “We also have a lot of entertainment options right here at home. We feel like we’re in a great position.”

Kevin Nunn, executive director of the (BID), said there are several White Plains events that are currently in the planning stages—like a 5K road race, followed by a health fair with outdoor martial arts, zumba, tango and pilates demonstrations; a Jazz Fest; international food fair; and a BBQ and Beer Bash.

“There are a lot of communities that struggle to retain youth after they go to a university or college—a lot of the time they relocate because they can’t find a place that is either affordable for them or is interesting enough,” said Nunn. “They don’t typically want to be behind the picket fence their parents saw as desirable. They want a community that has things to do that are excited for them. Young people are the engine, which you can fuel and grow business. You need young people in your community.”

White Plains was also named as sports bar central in Westchester Magazine’s “Westchester Real Estate Guide: Best Place to Live in Westchester County.” The magazine named the city as the “Best Place for Sports Bars.”

“I think people feel it’s a safe place to come and a fun place to be,” said Roach. “People want to laugh about things like nightlife, but it’s a factor in how people view a community and it’s helped White Plains add a little bit of fun to its safe, clean reputation.”

Check out the article here, and vote for your favorite place to watch a game, and get a cold beer with friends in White Plains, and tell us what your favorite part about White Plains is in the comments.

“Here you got a city, you can sit by a window and watch the people go by—you can just feel the energy and I think that’s attractive to people,” said Roach.

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