REAL ESTATE

Pearl River is No. 1 place for millennials in N.Y.

Karen Roberts
kroberts@lohud.com

PEARL RIVER – When you think about where millennials might want to live in New York state, you probably figure Brooklyn. Long Island City. Hudson.

But Pearl River? In Rockland County?

Joe Fiore, 20, a Pearl River native talks about growing up and living in Pearl River at Muddy Brook Cafe on June 3, 2015.

Pearl River is the number one place in the state — including the five boroughs of New York City — for millennials in terms of population growth, according to a new study by Nerd Wallet, a consumer finance website. The study tracked population growth in 153 communities with more than 10,000 residents across New York and found that Pearl River topped the chart with a 30 percent growth rate of millennials — those born between 1981 and 1997.

Tricia Carle-Sutton said that she and her husband lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn before moving to Pearl River five years ago. "We couldn't afford a place big enough in New York and wanted to be close to town."

Carle Sutton cited Pearl River's walkable downtown and affordable housing as key factors for the move. "We like the community feel, and everybody knows you."

Jonathan Todd, an analyst, said the study's findings were "interesting and surprising."

Todd said Nerd Wallet arrived at its conclusions using 2013 U.S. Census Bureau data from the Community Survey portion of the national count. Between 2010-13, there was a 30.2 percent growth rate of 20- to 30-somethings in Pearl River, which is in the Town of Orangetown along the New Jersey border.

Millennials make up 15.4 per cent of the Pearl River population, and a walk around town Wednesday showed a healthy number of this age group. The main drags — Central Avenue and Middletown Road — are home to lots of cozy Irish pubs, Thai and Japanese restaurants and Rockland's only local brewery, as well as shops that cater to residents, such as optical shops, dentists, stationery stores, salons and The Toy Box, an independent toy store.

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Joe Fiore, 20, who was having lunch at the Muddy Brook Cafe on Main Street that day, said that as a lifelong resident of the hamlet, he was not surprised by the findings. "I grew up here and it's definitely a nice place to live," Fiore said.

Fiore, a college senior, added that the close-knit community can be appealing to families. "I walk down the street today and I've seen three people I know."

The population growth rate of millennials in Pearl River was six times higher than in New York City, which had only a 4.3 percent millennial population growth.

According to the survey, millennials like the strong local economic base, affordability and access to the city.

Another big factor: There are enough millennials in the community.

"For most millennials, they want to be around other millennials like me," Todd, who is 31, said.

But better than New York City?

Recent U.S. Labor Department statistics show Rockland County with one of the lowest unemployment rates in New York state at only 4.4 percent. Another plus for local millennials, Todd said.

The study also rated the top 10 places for job seekers in New York state and the Rockland community was — you guessed it: number one. Other Lower Hudson Valley towns making the top 10 list include Rye and Cortlandt, numbers six and seven, respectively.

But for Carle-Sutton, Pearl River's friendly charm was the selling point. "We did a six-month house search," she said. "And this is where we wanted to live."

@krhudsonvalley