Bellmore vs Bethpage vs Mineola vs Lynbrook vs Floral Park (New York: apartments, rental)

[Bravo Delta]

I'm planning on buying a home on Long island and started doing research with the help of these forums and I'm trying to narrow down an area I'd like to be in. My budget is under 500k and I'm looking for an area with a good commute to Manhattan, good schools and a nice walkable town with nice shops and restaurants. Can anyone advise me of the town I should go with that I listed in the title or even one I haven't mentioned? I've lived in the boroughs all my life and just starting to learn about Long Island so any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Walter Greenspan]

In case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

NYS Geographic Glossary and Excellent Long Island Geographic Resource may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland".

On LI, You Ain't Where You Think You Are, rev. 2 may help you understand the great geographic confusions caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones.


You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet on Long Island by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".

You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.


When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP, or Census Designated Place, is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)

And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.

[twingles]

Bethpage is cute and you are near Bethpage State Park. I don't love Mineola, the whole area around it is too busy, although it's certainly VERY convenient for commuting.

Floral Park, also nice and a good "downtown" scene.

Not sure about the others as far as commuting and shopping.

[prodigaLI]

We looked at Floral Park, Mineola, and Lynbrook, wanting similar qualities. Personally, I think Floral Park, along Tulip Ave., had the best walk home from the train in terms of village environments. We liked the downtown side of Mineola, loved the train schedule there, but never saw anything that fit our needs in regards to property that still kept us within walking distance to the features of the town we enjoyed. In the end, we liked the village aspect of Lynbrook, and really liked the transportation options it afforded us, so that's where we moved.

[LIgirl74]

I can't tell you much about most of the towns you listed but I can tell you about Bethpae since I lived there for 27 years of my life until 9 years ago. The train commute to Manhattan is approximately 45 minutes. It has a very small town feel. The schools have gotten much better over the years and I would highly recommend the town in general and the schools. The town walkability is very good and while they don't have lavish stores and shops, it does have a King Kullen shopping center, bank, pizzeria, Carvel and many other small restaurants. Wow, as I am writing this I just had a flashback to when I was 12 and my teenage years where we would always "go to town". LOL.. As I said the "town" where your local stores are is small...mainly only 2 streets, Stewart Avenue and Broadway. The train station is located right in these areas. I would just watch out with the numbered streets in Bethpage which are located North of the train tracks. Years ago Grumman was located in Bethpage and they dumped a bunch of different chemicals into the grounds and now some people in that area have gases in their basements and the navy is supposedly helping these people clean up their houses. If I were going to buy in Bethpage, I would stay more North...Border Bethpage/Plainview. I heard the water plume North of the tracks (where the number streets are) is where most of the Grumman issues are related. I lived south of the tracks (not too far from Central Avenue) and at that time all of this was not known. While nothing South of the tracks is considered a problem, it is said that in the future years to come, if the water plume which is contaminated may run south of the tracks...this is why I didn't tell you to look in that area. However that being said, if you live in Bethpage/Plainview border, it may be difficult to walk to and from the train station. The most desirable part of Bethpage is by the high school or junior high off of Broadway. Charles Campagne Elementary is rated the best and Kramer Lane is rated well too. Central Boulevard is south of the train tracks and while that school is a very good elementary school too it gets a not so great rating on greatschools website, it is a wonderful elementary school too. The reason why it gets rated bad is b/c the kids with health issues and learning disabilities in the district are sent to taht elementary school. My mom works for the district and this is how I know these things. She tells me all the time Central Boulevard is just as good as the rest. I wanted to buy in Bethpage but the area I could afford (numbered streets), I didn't want.

FYI, not sure if you are looking for diversity or not (some people on here are and aren't), Bethpage is not considered a diverse district. I know some people look for this sometimes. I'm not trying to insinuate anything.

As for Mineola, I'm not crazy about the area...too much congestion and traffic.

Good luck with wherever you decide to buy. I hope I gave you good enough information about Bethpage.

[Glad2BHere]

Floral Park is the closest and easiest commute, great homes, great community, restaurants, shops all close. That's my main suggestions, but ONLY in the incorporated village of FP.

The other area I would say ok to is Lynbrook...but I don't care for the more Southern location of it.

Bethpage, too far and Mineola, I would not personally purchase a home there based on overall factors.

What else do you want to know?

HTH

[prodigaLI]

Originally Posted by Glad2BHere

The other area I would say ok to is Lynbrook...but I don't care for the more Southern location of it.

Agreed on not caring as much for southern Lynbrook (south of Sunrise Highway). My understanding was that south of Merrick was the flood zone, so we stayed north regardless. We don't have any personal experiences with the school system yet, but our research suggested trying to keep in Lynbrook SD #20.

[Bravo Delta]

Thanks to all for the quick and VERY informative responses!

ProdigaLI: What part of Lynbrook do you recommend I look? Are any areas walking distance to the train nice or should I stay further north? Any parts of Lynbrook border any undesirable areas?

Glad2Bhere: How do I tell if a home is in the incorporated village of Floral Park? Is there street boundaries I can go by? Also what school district would it belong to and is it regarded as good? Why would you not recommend Mineola? Is it the school district? Problem with too many illegal rental apartments?

LIgirl74: Great info! what do you think about the "Ladies Lane" section of Bethpage just east of Broadway east of the train station? Would I have to worry about the Grumman contamination in that area?

Thanks to all again for the great info!

[Bravo Delta]

If there is an area that I didn't mention that fits my criteria feel free to throw it out there... I'm still learning about Long Island!

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by Bravo Delta

How do I tell if a home is in the incorporated (sic) village of Floral Park? Is there street boundaries I can go by?

A map of the Village of Floral Park in the Town of North Hempstead and the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/Floral-park-ny-map.gif (broken link)

Floral Park is one of those villages and hamlets on Long Island where many of the places with the community name as part of their mailing address are not in the village: places with a "Floral Park, NY 11001" mailing address that are not in the Village of Floral Park are in the Village of South Floral Park, the Village of Bellerose, the Hamlet of Bellerose Terrace, the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park and the Hamlet of Elmont.