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In this New York Times profile titled, "A Walkable Village With Striking Manhattan Views," Irvington is described as a small town with a progressive attitude.
"Irvington offers residents a sense of community and history — as well as proximity to the Hudson River," The New York Times wrote.
Although Irvington is dotted with multimillion-dollar mansions, its roughly 6,500 residents are socioeconomically diverse.
According to The Times, Irvington Mayor Brian Smith attributed this to the village’s housing mix -- which include condominiums and cooperative apartments.
A two-bedroom co-op for $230,000 is still prohibitively expensive for a lot of people, but it does allow some young families to move here and some seniors to stay, Smith said.
Smith described his village as “throwback small-town America with a progressive flair,” citing performances at the Irvington Town Hall Theater and an inclusive viewpoint that embraces diversity.
“With all the national debates going on,” said Lawrence S. Schopfer, the village administrator, “our board of trustees has been on the forefront in terms of us being a welcoming community.”
As reported here by Daily Voice, Irvington was among the first communities in New York state to announce a policy for dealing with immigrants.
The Irvington Village Board voted unanimously in March 2017 to uphold a resolution that prevents village police from enforcing federal immigration laws. At the time, Smith said a similar policy had been in effect for more than 40 years in the police department.
Comparing Irvington with other high-scale Westchester communities, like Scarsdale and Rye, Irvington's mayor told The Times that attitudes in his village are more laid-back: “We’re a Type A community with a Type B personality.”
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