Valhalla

Valhalla is a lovely residential community located within the heart of the greater town of Mount Pleasant, NY. It's home to New York Medical College, one of the state's largest colleges, and is named after the mythical paradise in Norse culture, home to many slain warriors.

Driving along Rt. 9A, you will pass the expansive Gates of Heaven Cemetery. Valhalla is known for its beautiful cemeteries such as the Kensico Cemetery, named after the enormous Kensico Dam (fireworks are shot off here during the Fourth of July). After September 11th, a memorial was put up at the Dam to honor those who were fallen on that terrible day in American history. The Kensico Dam is a beautiful place and is a wonderful site to take your family for a picnic outing or just to walk around and enjoy the scenery.

Valhalla is a college town, noted for its Westchester Community Campus, which is a two-year college and is partly supported by SUNY (State University of NY) while the other half is supported by Westchester County. Valhalla's Union Free School District has earned as solid 7 out of 10, with the middle school being the highest (9 out of 10) on the charts; Valhall High School gets an 8 out of 10, and the Kensico School gets a 7.

You're not far away from the Galleria at White Plains or neighboring Peekskill and Croton for excellent shopping. There is a Walmart on Main Street for all your basic shopping needs. The town has its own train station which is excellent for commuters! (Manhattan is only 30 minutes away.) NY Medical Center is also in Valhalla, offering plenty of top-quality care.

Mount Pleasant has a wonderful community center for a variety of indoor activities, including the town's pool. For those going to either the medical college or community college, you can drop your kids off with confidence at All Aboard Child Education Center on Columbus Ave., or the Little House Day Care respectively. Valhalla Crossing is the place to take the family out for eating and has excellent burgers; plus, the kids can watch the train go by right from the window seat! The Cliffs at Valhalla offer excellent rock walls for climbing that people of all ages can enjoy, and the Cliffs offers classes and birthday party opportunities (ranking Best of Westchester 2012 for Best Kids Birthday Parties). There's also a cardio workout area. NY Sports Clubs and Planet Fitness are not too far away in White Plains as well. With a crime rate of 96 out of 100, Valhalla is one of the safest places to raise your family.

Valhalla, a hamlet in the town of Mount Pleasant, packs a great deal into its 2.7 square miles. The town has a unique shape, hugging the western side of the Kensico Reservoir, and is notable as the location of Kensico Cemetery, the final resting place of many celebrities of yesteryear. Westchester Medical Center is located here, as is the newly renovated Blythedale Hospital and Westchester Community College.

The hamlet’s proximity to Manhattan enhances its appeal. Travel time to Grand Central averages about 40 minutes from the Valhalla station. However, Valhalla’s small size means housing inventory is somewhat limited, but there is great diversity in price ranges and a nice selection of charming, older homes.
The Valhalla UFSD educates 1,500 students. There are two elementary schools, Virginia Road and Kensico, a middle school and a high school. The schools perform very well overall; scores on state exams are consistently above the median, with very small percentages of students failing to meet standards. Though the district is small, the students have access to a large assortment of athletic programs.

Residents are eligible to participate in programs through the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department. The only public pool in Mount Pleasant is located in Valhalla. Kensico Dam Plaza is a unique, county-operated park which is home to movie showings, cultural festivals, and craft shows. The park is also a great place for walking and biking.

There is a small downtown area with some shops and restaurants, located near the train station. For shoppers seeking a bigger selection of merchandise, White Plains is just south of Valhalla, offering malls, department stores and specialty shops, in addition to numerous restaurant choices.

Valhalla is a good affordable option for those seeking strong schools within a short train commute to Manhattan.

“Valhalla” is said to be the Viking name for heaven or the “paradise of slain warriors.” So, how did this small town in Westchester get a name from Norse mythology? It is said that in the 19th century, when flooding affected the old U.S. Post Office of Kensico, the new name was suggested by a fan of Robert Wagner and his musical opera. The name seems particularly appropriate also because some of the notable landmarks of Valhalla are the Kensico Cemetery and Gate of Heaven, where many famous people are buried.

The Kensico Reservoir and the Kensico Dam Plaza are other noteworthy destinations here. The Plaza is the site of many community events from summer-evening movie screenings to the much bigger fairs and music festivals. It is an open space that invites large gatherings and small picnics.

Valhalla children either go to schools in the Valhalla School District or the Mount Pleasant School District, as Valhalla is officially a part of the larger Mount Pleasant. Both have a good reputation.

This town is also the address for the Westchester Medical Center and the Westchester Community College. Both institutions have earned good reputations in their respective fields! Westchester Medical is one of the bigger hospitals serving the whole county. Valhalla has a train station and is close to Taconic State, Bronx Rivers and Sprain Brook Parkways. This makes it a well-connected town and popular with commuters.

The dam and the cemeteries have earned Valhalla the reputation of being a suburb with some exciting views.
While there’s only a small stretch of Valhalla that can be called downtown, it does have great access to shopping and dining through many of the neighboring towns.

Valhalla is a small but verdant hamlet in Mount Pleasant located in southern Westchester County. It has made it onto the national radar as the burial place of some very well known folks including Tommy Dorsey, Ayn Rand, Lou Gehrig and Danny Kaye, who rest in the stunning 600-acre park like setting of Kensico cemetery. Equally majestic and maybe less spooky to some, is the handsome Kensico Dam Plaza with it's mighty reservoir. In the center of the plaza is a large grassy field where they hold Pops in the Park and sometimes even movies on warm and breezy summer nights. Families spread out picnic blankets and bring lawn chairs and it is a wonderful, communal and festive atmosphere. During the day, it is not uncommon to see many an in-line skater whizzing around the park and showing off their moves. The plaza is also the more recent recepient of a September 11th memorial.

For foodies, Valhalla has a great local bbq joint with outstanding chicken wings, a terrific pizza place with a tuna salad pizza slice that tastes far better than it might sound as well as a great deli and a Dunkin Donuts/ Basksin Robbins combo. A more eclectic spot is Valhalla Crossing, a restaurant located in the historic Valhalla train station. They have al fresco dining, a tiki bar and even a Victorian dining room, trackside dining room and an old red caboose dining room. Their bar was voted as one of the best in Westchester.

Valhalla is well situated for day trips and communting. It is just a short ten minute drive to the bustle of more metropolitan White Plains and with the aformentioned train station located in town, it is about a 40 minute train excursion into Grand Central. There are also many converging highways and byways in the area including the Bronk River Parkway and the Taconic Parkway.

For medical students or those seeking high quality medical care, Valhalla is home to Westchester Medical Center. For an associates degree or to parktake in some high caliber adult ed. or continuing ed. classes, one need not go far to Westchester Community College, long considered one of the better community colleges around. It has an incredible amount of interesting offerings by stellar instructors on a pretty campus that offers an easy commute.

Valhalla is predominantly white, with caucasians making up almost three-quarters of its population. Blacks and asians make up most of the rest of the population though in small degrees. The school system is very good and it is reported that 99% of its high school graduates do go on to college.

Valhalla has a safe feel and the crime rate is very low. Median home cost is around $781,00 and one bedroom apartment rental rates tend to average anywhere between $1,200 and $1,500. Median household income is about $ 96,940. The population of Valhalla is approximately 5,000 people with the median age being 42 years old.

Located north of White Plains in Westchester County, Valhalla is a small and lovely hamlet that is part of the town of Mount Pleasant. Valhalla is a very special place with a lot of unique features and distinctive vistas. The county's two biggest cemeteries are found in Valhalla, which isn't actually as spooky as it may sound. They are beautiful park-like places that add to the town's character. The town also contains the Kensico Reservoir and the huge Kensico Dam park. Valhalla is a very quiet town, with lovely houses on tree-lined dead-end streets. Many of the homes have beautiful views of the cemeteries, the reservoir, or the countryside. The houses also cover a wide range of prices, with very affordable homes for young buyers as well as upscale homes in the Stonegate area. The town also boasts a very convenient location; residents have easy access to major roads that lead in different directions, so you can get to just about anywhere from Valhalla. The commercial aspect of Valhalla has grown; there are hotels, restaurants, and cute shops. The Valhalla school district is excellent, but residents also have the option to send their kids to the Mount Pleasant schools. Valhalla is also home to Westchester Community College and the county hospital.