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Bronxville started as a
self-contained community, partly due to its geography. Its borders are a
combination of natural and man-made demarcations - the Bronx River
Parkway, the Bronx River, the White Plains Post Road, the Cross County
Parkway, the railroad and its pre-set municipal boundaries. When New York
City’s population spilled north of Manhattan during the 19th century,
one of the country hamlets in its path was Bronxville, which offered a few
scattered structures near the Bronx River, a stop on the New York and
Harlem Railroad.
Only
one square mile in area, Bronxville Village embodies characteristics that
city planners now recognize as crucial to the successful community:
pedestrian scale, house and street placement guided by topography, a mix
of housing from studio apartment to mansion, a cohesive shopping area, and
public transportation. Almost fully developed in the early decades of the
20th century, Bronxville benefited from a sustained standard of
architectural design and quality.
The
result is a community of graceful homes and streets, virtually all within
walking distance of a train station 28 minutes from the heart of
Manhattan. Throughout its century of official existence, Bronxville’s
residents have maintained a vibrant community dedicated to the generous
support of its public school, churches, hospital, library, college and
municipal government.
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