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Oh boy here we go again. What you will see on this board is a consenus that most "diverse" neighborhoods are usually considered "bad" neighborhoods. Case in point - 'East Massapequa', where I grew up (the area in the Amityville school district is largely a middle class minority neighborhood) is almost likened to Compton by SOME people from 'Massapequa' (ok that may be a stretch but you get my drift). One of the problems is Long Island is an extremely segregated suburb as a whole. There really isn't much of a racial balance and considering some of the posts in this thread most on here will argue that is a good thing. As some of the other posters have stated - places like East Massapequa, Deer Park, Farmingdale, Babylon, Copiague, Baldwin, Bayshore etc (or at least certain area in these places) are fine and have diversity. Otherwise I think you can judge for yourself from some of these posts how it may be moving into some of the "less diverse" areas. Just my two cents.
We, a white couple who were both raised in a white town ourselves, raised our children right on the other side of County Line Road from the above poster, Fred, in Amityville SD during the 70s and 80s. Our house had Black and white (kids and adults) in it all the time. All color kids called me "Mom". Our church there was integrated, as was everything and every place else (local parades my kids participated in, parties, sports teams, etc.) our lives were involved with. I loved every day of those twenty years spent in Amityville, often wish we still lived there, and wouldn't change having lived a long time in a "diverse" neighborhood for all the money in the world. My friends from there are still a treasured part of my life and the insights into humans it gave all of us was invaluable, so much of which you could not have gotten in a non-diverse neighborhood--whether it was Black or white.
Was it perfect? No. Any problems any of us had during those years with other people (a comment or small unkind deed) could not be pinned on race, however. They were dramatically few and far between in the first place, and the few not perfect things that took place were due to the fact that there are always a few rotten apples in any basket. Meaning, we learned about both Black racism AND white racism, but mostly we learned how similar both races are when they are living the same kind of lifestyle (family life in this case).
Different strokes for different folks in choosing a neighborhood to live in, of course. But, that being said, for us, the countless beautiful things that happened, the memories made and the lessons learned during the years we "white folk" lived in Amityville were plentiful and far too precious to have ever missed out on. It was a life changing, but more importantly, a life enriching experience.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but personally I wish ALL races lived side by side so that everyone could see just how many ways and how easily we can all relate to each other and how many things all races of "moms", "dads", "families", "teachers", "class mothers" and on and on have in common. In other words, the color of one's skin or shape of one's nose or eyes or whatever just don't matter much at all when you realize you're all flesh and blood with dreams, problems, challenges and joys. Racism makes me SAD and what a waste of time and effort it is!
I understand that there are about 3 black people in LI (alright, I'm exaggerating) -- but in any case the percentages are very low so I'm assuming the demographics of this board match the demographics of the island. I'm a well-educated black professional and considering moving to LI for a job. Previously, I've lived in mostly white suburban environments and have never really encountered significant racism from neighbors or colleagues. Do you all think I'd be treated normally in LI or encounter issues? Are more affluent neighborhoods more or less tolerant? If you had a black friend who could afford to live in LI, would you tell them to move there or to avoid it (or certain areas)?
You won't have any problems anywhere on Long Island. Be a kind and considerate neighbor and if anyone behaves any differently, they're miserable human beings who you wouldn't want to know anyway...let them be in their own misery.
As for neighborhoods, Long Island is so diverse, that you'd really have to be more specific as to what you're looking for: nightlife, proximity to railroad, beach or parks, good schools, etc. Forget the race issue. If I were you, I'd pick the WHITEST town and move my butt in! LOL...Good luck!
The island was set up to be segregated. Just ask Robert Moses why no buses are allowed on the parkways. "Good luck getting out to the Hampton's colored folks"(sic)
As someone who grew up in another country, it has been my observation that Long Island is still way behind in accepting true diversity.
Some areas are more accepting than others and over time, I'm confident it'll improve. But we're not there yet...
I experience it often in my business:
don't show me houses near ... or,
don't bring me buyers who are..., I don't want to do that to my neighbors!
Of course Fair Housing Laws forbid such discrimination, but it still exists.
Yes, I looked for a lilly white area. I lived in Diversity..I got quickly tired of it. I lived in areas that became a white flight zone. I saw neighborhoods that were destroyed when black people moved in...black professionals..NO..black gang bangers and black welfare recipients. So I decided to not take that chance again. and there is something wrong with that?
Most Long Islanders have no idea what can happen when minorities move into a neighborhood. I saw my uncle who moved into a nice home in Freeport in 1946..he lived their into the 1980s...it was a hellhole..why, because the blacks that took over that area were not professionals, didnt keep their homes nice and didnt care if their kids were out robbing the whitey family
If your opinion on this is wholly shaped by the NY Metro 1950s-70s "white flight" era then I dunno what to tell you, really....but I think you're wrong. Although, I do think that's at least part of the reason why LI is so segregated and subtly racist....since most residents are Brooklyn & Queens ex-pats or their descendants.
Think about what "white flight" really is. Freeport is a perfect example. How did all these welfare recipient, gang-banger blacks end up living there if it was such a great place to live back then (and it certainly was)? If Freeport was this nice middle-upper middle class place in 1946 it wasn't like blacks were buying homes that would be $600,000 in a nice neighborhood today with food stamps in 1960. I'm a believer in levels of crime increasing relative to the levels of poverty, but in this case, poor (black) people only ended up living here because the original white residents completely BAILED on their community once one or three or ten blacks moved in......and the first blacks in the neighborhood certainly couldn't have been poor, since they couldn't have afforded to buy homes there if that were the case. The door was only ever opened for poverty to enter once every white family in town started sticking "FOR SALE" signs on their front lawn, trying to cash out on their investment before word got around that they lived in an undesirable black area. It all happened virtually overnight, hell - maybe there weren't even any black families moving in....maybe that was just what people thought would happen after developers in Roosevelt broke the "code" of not selling to anyone but whites (yes, there really were written and unwritten "codes" back then); but once the exodus began, property values SUNK. In the late 50s, several apartment and co-op buildings were built near the LIRR tracks in Freeport. When they first went up they were very upscale and expensive, and there was a waiting list years long to get in.....but within a decade there was so little demand and prices had fallen so low that landlords were thrilled to accept public assistance/Section-8 vouchers to fill up the vacancies. Home prices nosedived, poverty spread, a lower economic class of residents meant businesses relocated, closed or were replaced by fried chicken and check cashing establishments. The Village of Freeport took to bulldozing decaying, vacant storefronts and homes that had gone into foreclosure and couldn't attract new owners....poverty became so widespread in the course of 10 years or so that they even tried "getting the indigent off the streets" through the misguided 60s logic of using federal grants to build public housing projects - the only Long Island municipality to do so. And of course, crime increased! And of course, it was also blacks committing the crimes and being poor/on welfare - but blacks were the primary lower-income-bracket minority group relocating to Long Island in the 1960s. Now, it's Hispanics.....20 years it'll be Kazhakstanians or Serbians or who knows what else.
Anyway...
My point wasn't about a long-winded history lesson, I just thought it'd make more sense if it went full circle. What I'm trying to say is that white flight can't exist unless whites allow it to happen.....and I don't believe it ever will happen again. If everyone truly believes that backhanded qualifier "I don't care what color you are so long as you take care of your property and blahlblahlbah" than there is no reason it ever would. If you live in a nice community, (in other words, not some place where you can buy a house for $90,000 or have some guy willing to rent out his half-bathroom to a 27 member landscaping crew who are all cousins) any minorities moving in will be the same economic class as you and share the same morals and standards of decency as you. Blacks (or whoever) are not inherently predisposed to crime. There are more blacks below the poverty line (percentage-wise) than any other race in America, and thus more black criminals* amongst them, but that doesn't carry over to other economic classes. Whites/Latinos/Asians/etc. below the poverty line commit crimes at roughly the same rate as blacks in that bracket, yet the percentage of them is smaller**. You're looking at it like the chicken came before the egg, that if 3 black families who each make $300,000/yr moved onto your block their kids still might "rob the whitey family" just because.
Does that make any sense? I'm saying this because I believe it's true, and that it's just common sense.....not because of some bleeding heart "can't we all just get along" hippie fantasy. I don't think it benefits anybody to have a repeat of what went on across the country in the "white flight era", but I hear things from people and read comments on here about areas on LI that are NICE places yet have minority populations, and they scare the crap out of me. According to city-data, driving a car through West Hempstead or Hicksville is like driving a rotting corpse through the Battle of Berlin mixed with an episode of The Wire.
*= OTOH, blacks - unlike all other minority groups who have come to this country - have yet, as a whole, to rise out of that lower income bracket. Of course, blacks didn't "come to" this country per se, and I'm sure that and other negative stigmas are at least partially to blame, but I'm sure there is at least a little bit of truth to the other side of that argument as well. Different topic for a different forum, but I had a feeling someone would mention it in a response.
**= The "DUH" reason behind the often quoted liberal talking point about how "there are 3x more white people in prison than blacks!!!" or whatever number/variation it is...
It's funny how easily you can make out people who really don't know much about LI... They talk about "in" LI when we all know that people live on LI.
I don't think I've even heard a native LIer use "in" - ever.
I hate to say it but if I saw a growing black population in Wading River I would move. I don't want to be the last part of the white flight that will eventually happen and end up selling a house that is worthless. Just look at Baldwin today or read the threads on Baldwin. Unlike New Rochelle or Montclair, NJ having a significant black population in a LI town is a stigma to the town and brings down property values.
My Wife lived in Western Valley Stream all her life. In 1998 a nice blavk proffensional woman moved across the street with her 19 year old son. She left for work in a Lincol Town car at 6am and came home in the same car at 7pm. Always dressed to the "nines" and very nice. Her son Stole cars for a living. Hima nd his crew were members of the bloods and would chop cars in the driveway and give me (I'm a cop in the city) a look as if to say "What are you going to do?". One night they had a shootout in front of the house and abullet went through the baement window of my inlaws house no hitting anyone thank God. PS thank god I wasnt there or I would have been involved in a Off Duty Shooting and all that bull**** that goes with it. Needless to say the house went up for sale the next day. What were they supposed to do? Stay? Stay and sacrafice their well being for the sake of diversity? **** that! Savagery is savagery.
My Wife lived in Western Valley Stream all her life. In 1998 a nice blavk proffensional woman moved across the street with her 19 year old son. She left for work in a Lincol Town car at 6am and came home in the same car at 7pm. Always dressed to the "nines" and very nice. Her son Stole cars for a living. Hima nd his crew were members of the bloods and would chop cars in the driveway and give me (I'm a cop in the city) a look as if to say "What are you going to do?". One night they had a shootout in front of the house and abullet went through the baement window of my inlaws house no hitting anyone thank God. PS thank god I wasnt there or I would have been involved in a Off Duty Shooting and all that bull**** that goes with it. Needless to say the house went up for sale the next day. What were they supposed to do? Stay? Stay and sacrafice their well being for the sake of diversity? **** that! Savagery is savagery.
What is the difference between that and the time my neighbors son in my Upstate NY suburb was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and ran into a house literally a few minutes before my 2 kids and I stopped at the stop sign on that same corner. To make it worse, his mother has admitted to me that he has had drug problems and the kid is 26 and still lives with her with no job. He's White and this is in the Northern suburbs of Syracuse. So, it's not as simple. Communities all have their crime issues to deal with, whether they realize it or not. It might be shootings at times for some or it could be drunk or even distracted drivers in the suburbs, considering that suburbs tend to be more car dependant. So, it really comes down to doing your research.
BTW- Freeport has always had a good sized Black community. So, it's not like their presence was new or a recent phenomenon.
People, not all blacks are criminals, wake up and smell the coffee. Look at Westchester, you dont have this type of situation in most part of westchester.
Times are changing minorities are growing faster than the majority, there will be no where to run, and you will have no choice but to friend your neighbor.
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