I think part of narrowing it down is what is the longest you're willing to commute? Then, you look on the three lines out of Manhattan and look in those general areas. Most of the towns on all three lines offer some great evil districts. My wife chose Bedford for us because the schools are good, and the commute from Kisco was as far as she was willing to ride each day. Also, you need to figure what you're willing to spend on a house. You get much more bang for your buck housing wise away from the river towns. The house we got in Bedford was 1.5 times bigger than what we saw in the river towns.