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Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 22 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,095,590 times
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It's interesting reading "why did ______ go bad", look at the island as two counties and realize there are dozens of town/s & villages within each one. Everywhere else there are good and bad areas but because people look at the area as a whole such as a county they don't stand out so much. LI has villages that are a mile or two in size so the lifestyles get classified at a very granular level just like the schools. Is this really a fair assessment or is it the belief that LI should be exempt from the regular problems of society?
Why do you find it "funny"? My wife and I can and will post when ever and where ever we like. Watching our posts? Keeping track? That says a lot about you and your life.
We do feel special. Sorry that you do not.
Long Island does interest us. We spent over 40 years of our life there. We will be back on this forum - when ever.
If you do not want to read our posts, employ the ignore feature. If you can't figure out how to use it, ask a moderator or send a DM to me and I'll explain how to use it
1. Gordon Heights was essentially one of a few places where African American G.I.s could by a house following WWII. Levittown was "off limits" as most of us know, to non-whites. Because it was far out on the Island, it was less desirable than Levittown. It wasn't a self contained community, with playgrounds and elementary schools, and home construction was notoriously shoddy.
Not near the city - or even Nassau, not near an ocean beach, the houses began to deteriorate and not appreciate. Levittown may not appreciate as fast as some parts of Nassau, but everyone I know of in my family tree who was practically given a Levitt house, stayed their not more than 4 or 5 years and moved to Garden City and Huntington.
2. Roosevelt, Uniondale and Central Islip, were never that great to begin with. Working class whites with civil service jobs. Or jobs in NYC. Not being nasty, but the lower you go on the socioeconomic scale, the more you have to lose, because your mortgaged home is your net worth, and consequently, the more fearful one in of "outsiders" who are perceived as dangerous. When the first black families moved in to Roosevelt, I know for a fact that real estate corporations engaged in scare tactics and block busting, which hastened white flight.
3. Mastic Shirley and Mastic Beach were also "way out on the Island". Originally, i the 1920s, small plots were sold to subscribers of a local paper that served lower middle and working class families advertising summer vacation lots. The bungalows that were built were of varying quality. It was a rural area at the time, and zoning laws were not strict. Many were built without indoor plumbing. and even in the 80s, there were a few cottages with out houses and wells.
In the late 1950s, a builder Walter Shirley, created a community of modest homes aimed at first time homeowners. Because Mastic and Mastic Beach (Shirley was not yet a place) were rural, the builder utilized USDA "Farmers Home Mortgages", which I believe were "no money down" mortgages were attractive to lower income individuals.
When these first residents who were given easy home loans experienced financial problems through job loss or health problems, or extensive home repairs, many resumed a "renter's mentality" and abandoned their homes. No money down, and a lack of financial literacy, made it easier to jusy leave. The massive forecloses that took place in the 60s and 70s, gave the area a worse name than it already had.
People who were actually doing fine, and had built nicer homes, sold, because of the stigma attached to Shirley and the Mastics.
I think the towns on LI that remain impervious to negative change have certain commonalities
1 A sense of history and a golden past that instills pride. A stock of older, pre WWII homes, and the presence of an elite society.
2. An actual town or village, with older buildings, places of worship and community centers, as opposed to strip malls.
3. A healthy mixture of ethnicity and race, that were use to living together. In most of the older areas, a family of another race does not instill panic.
4. Location. Being on the North Shore has protected a number of communities from ill repute. Being on the South Shore, would be the next desirable factor. Being planned as opposed to spot built.
Just my observations.
And you answered them very well! Interesting and historically accurate.
I'd never thought of why some towns on LI do not "go south", but the social, architectural, and geographical commonalities that you point to, appear to be on target.
I am thinking of a place such as Glen Cove. It's quite diverse, and never totally lost their appeal. In fact, last time I visited relatives, it looked better than ever.
I will add to that list, the presence of museums, music venues and fine dining.
And you answered them very well! Interesting and historically accurate.
I'd never thought of why some towns on LI do not "go south", but the social, architectural, and geographical commonalities that you point to, appear to be on target.
I am thinking of a place such as Glen Cove. It's quite diverse, and never totally lost their appeal. In fact, last time I visited relatives, it looked better than ever.
I will add to that list, the presence of museums, music venues and fine dining.
Maybe being its own actual self-directing City helps? Idk...
What are you talking about. I've never faked anything. It's common knowledge I lived in Elmont after my family moved from the city. After graduating college I moved to the North Shore. Why are you so interested in where I lived and live? You really bore me, now I'll set you to ignore.
Maybe being its own actual self-directing City helps? Idk...
That's an interesting thought! However, I am not sure if that's it. Long Beach is another self-directed city - and has had some real ups and downs over the years, but seems to have stabilized. Similarities - both are racially and economically diverse. However, my grandmother discontinued summering there in the late 60s. She rented out her bungalows through the early 70s, then divested herself of her properties on the west end, after some issues with rougher tenants.
I don't think Glen Cove ever took the "nose dive" that Long Beach did.
I tend to think it's a combination of the "North Shore Factor", Glen Cove's historic past. an older down town area, links to an elite past and the presence of a "social elite"- and being sandwiched between Locust Valley, and Sea Cliff can't hurt, either.
Additionally, Glen Cove was a residential suburb before the "Post WWII" influx. As with all of the towns that dot LI's North Shore, Black people lived their before the influx of post war suburbanites, and were part of the community and not feared. In my home town of Oyster Bay, African Americans were well liked and respected members of the community.
One of the African American churches was built by another white church as a gift. As far back as the 60s, there was at least one black owned business. My Girl Scout troop had a good number of African American members. I know that would be difficult to find in Levittown or Massapequa in 2016, much less 1968.
Places that seem to fall apart are ones that either were "Born Bad", or planned to be White. Built for people who left "the city" who wanted a White community, because their neighborhood back in Brooklyn(for eg.) was beginning to become integrated. They wanted to live in racially, ethnically and religiously homogeneous areas, so the minute someone different (usually Black) moved in, the flight cycle repeated itself.
I was thinking that perhaps people who wanted history, diversity, and a real down town were attracted to the North Shore. I know my family, and the families of many of my friends, specifically avoided the towns that cropped up in the middle of the Island, that lacked an older downtown, and were all white.
Had a Black family moved into my parent's cul de sac, I can't think of one family who would have left, and several who would have welcomed that. Perhaps all. But certainly, no one would have said "there goes the neighborhood".
What are you talking about. I've never faked anything. It's common knowledge I lived in Elmont after my family moved from the city. After graduating college I moved to the North Shore. Why are you so interested in where I lived and live? You really bore me, now I'll set you to ignore.
Unfortunately you and your wife stick out like sore thumbs around these parts. I am interested in where you live because you come on here and bash areas left and right and then ride your father in laws coat tails acting like you earned the right. You lived in less than desirable areas most of your life but, that short stint you spent in Stony Brook makes you a North Shore guy. FoH.
Sorry, no we can't all agree on which are the bad areas of Long Island. That is the opinion and personal belief of the eye of the beholder.
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