White Plains is the county seat of Westchester and its main business hub. The county courts and government offices sit downtown, near the Metro-North station on the Harlem Line, among office buildings, shops and restaurants on Main Street, Mamaroneck Avenue and Martine Avenue. White Plains Hospital is close by.
East of downtown, Westchester Avenue runs beside I-287 toward Harrison and Rye Brook. That stretch of corporate offices is known locally as the Platinum Mile. The Bronx River Parkway runs along the west side of the city, and the Hutchinson River Parkway, which is what the Merritt turns into at the state line, is a few minutes east.
The neighborhoods are mostly houses. Gedney Farms and Fisher Hill have larger older homes on winding streets, while Battle Hill, Rosedale and Ridgeway mix capes, colonials and some multi-family. Downtown has added a lot of apartment and condo towers, so White Plains has more rental turnover than the villages around it.