A bunch of questions about Dix Hills... (Huntington, Monroe: apartments, lawyers)

[KM04]

Hi! I'm thinking about putting an offer on a house in Dix Hills, but I'm not sure what the area is really like. If anyone can answer any of these questions, I'd appreciate it! How is the area just south of the expressway off straight path? What is the difference between the two middle and high schools? (My kids would go to Paumanok elem., West Hollow middle, then Hills East). Is Dix Hills still a desirable town and school district to live in? Is it changing in any way? Why does Dix Hills have the same zip code as Huntington Station? Thanks for any help-

[birdrgal]

I think I may know the area you're looking at (maybe the house as well). Is it just a block or so off Straight Path, on the north side of Straight Path? If so, that's technically Wheatley Heights, although it has a Dix Hills post office.

Depending on how concerned you are about resale, you may not want to buy a house that's geographically in Wheatley Heights which is generally considered an undesirable area (it is right smack next to Wyandanch).

Is the house you're looking at in a section that is accessed directly from Straight Path? Or if you turn north onto Burrs Lane from Straight Path, is the section accessed by either the first or second street on the left, or the first street on the right? If any of these, chances are the house is in Wheatley Heights.

Don't worry about the 'Huntington Station' zipcode. GPS systems also pick up Dix Hills addresses as being in 'Huntington Station' (which yes is considered undesirable but only for areas north of Jericho Turnpike). There are also parts of Dix Hills that are in the Elwood or East Northport school districts.

The only part of "Dix Hills" that should be of concern is the parts that are geographically Wheatley Heights. Make sure your realtor is being clear on this and not using the Dix Hills tag to make the area seem more desirable than it is.

p.s. - Once you go more than those couple of blocks north of Straight Path (going up Burrs Lane) anywhere in Dix Hills is fine. It's those few blocks that border Straight Path that you have to watch out for.

[nbres]

If this is important to you; the school district is about 73% White and declining, Blacks are about 11% and stable, and the rest, 16%, is Asian/Hispanic and increasing.

[clamboy]

Isnt that Wyandanch?

[tiff940]

Okay...Dix Hills is a very prestigious area with overly expensive houses. Many doctors, lawyers, and other well off people live there. This area is about 98% white. Typical Price: $800,000

If you are speaking about being close to straight path that may be Wheatley Heights...this is a buffer neighborhood between Dix Hills and Wyandanch. The kids from Whealtey Heights go to the Dix Hills school district which provides an advantage of being able to buy a house in the least expensive area and send their kids to the upper class- high rated schools. The only downfall is that the neighborhood is so close to Wynananch that it is not highly looked upon (even though its not a bad area). The houses look exactly the same as in Dix Hills but are $400,000 cheaper. This is primarily black area. Typical Price: $400,000

Wyandanch is what you would consider a "ghetto". Its run down and the school is no good. This is a 98% black area. Typical Price: $250-300,000.


Its sad but with these three areas (they are so close to each other) you see the racial and socioeconomic inequality in this country. Is it a coincidence that the black school is run down and failing and the white one 2 miles away is award winning? I don't think so.

[ClarkStreetKid]

A quarter mill for a house in a ghetto. Go figure.

Bit of danch trivia, Marilyn Monroe vacationed there a while back.

How is the Wyandanch beautification going? I used to have to drive through there at night when crack was big. Sad place.

[KM04]

The house is definitely in Dix Hills, not Wheatley Heights or Wyandanch. The neighborhood is off ryder ave. near the former Hollow Hills country club. The zip code is 11746.

[birdrgal]

Originally Posted by KM04

The house is definitely in Dix Hills, not Wheatley Heights or Wyandanch. The neighborhood is off ryder ave. near the former Hollow Hills country club. The zip code is 11746.

You're fine then. That's in Dix Hills "proper".

Sorry I can't give you any input about the schools (I don't know anyone who has schoolage kids anymore) but I know that the Half Hollow district has always been considered a very good one.

[nbres]

Hate to burst your bubble, but Dix Hills is NOT 98% white.

First of all DiX Hills is part of the Half Hollow School District which includes Wheatly Heights, parts of Deer Park, a part of Farmingdale, Melville and probably a part of Wyandanch. The school district is only 73% White. The rest is 11% black and 11% Asian and the rest 5% is Hispanic/other. Just like everywhere else the white percentage is shrinking and the nonwhite percentage is increasing. As a side note, I have been in Half Hollow West High School and saw black kids bouncing basketballs in the hallways.

Also, Dix Hills itself is expensive, but there are many professional African-Americans, Middle Easterners and Asians who have moved in. The area is very nice, but there are also many illegal apartments in many of the High Ranches. Thus, the area is very multicultural: Middle Eastern, Asian, White, African-American; multiracial; White, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern; and multireligious: Jewish, Muslim and Christian.

If this suits you then go for it. If not then try some place else.

[birdrgal]

I didn't know about the current Half Hollow Hills demographics. Some might disagree but IMO I don't separate Caucasian and Asian when thinking about school district makeup, so that in my mind the district would be 84% "okay" (meaning the way I think most people'd view it).

Guessing that the remaining 16% are drawn from the parts of the district including Wheatley Heights, Wyandanch and north Deer Park? I knew Wheatley Heights was in HHH but didn't know it also includes part of North DP and parts of Wyandanch (assuming not all of it?).

Even in Dix Hills "proper" there are sections that are considered more or less desirable. From what I hear, the area between the Expressway and Northern State Parkway contains the most desirable sections. I think the Caledonia area just south of NSP is very nice but it's really different in feel from some other areas of Dix Hills. All a matter of opinion

It's hard to generalize about population/neighborhoods in Dix Hills because the various parts of it can be so different in "ambiance".

I'm not too familiar with the Ryder Ave area but I think that is a Strathmore development maybe? There was a tragedy on Ryder very recently where a little girl died in a house fire.