thinking about moving to baldwin,ny (Long Beach, Oceanside: condo, houses, best schools)

[gems]

I'm unfamiliar with Long Island. I've heard a lot about Baldwin, rockville center, and mineola. Is anyone familiar with these areas. thanks in advance

[New_Yorker]

Nice areas. Expensive too.

[fallgirl]

Gems,
I was raised in Baldwin and lived in other towns on Long Island. I moved out of Baldwin in 1998. I currently live in Florida. I just returned from Baldwin (visiting my parents). I don't know what you are looking for in a community but I would think long and hard about Baldwin. It was a beautiful place thirty years ago. My heart breaks whenever I go there. It barely resembles the beautiful town where I grew up. I really don't want to get into bashing it because Long Island will always be home to me no matter where I live and I don't want to insult people who live there. I think the only reason to live there is if you want a short commute to Manhattan. Rockville Centre on the other hand is a really nice town with some very affluent areas.

Good luck with your search,
Fallgirl

[wardlwag]

Rockville Centre has some areas with extremely beautiful and expensive old homes, however, there is no village or town, it has Sunrise Highway running through it which is a very busy road...Also, Rockville Centre has alot of great restaurants and it is a great community with fantastic schools...if you can afford it i say move there!!!!

[Long Island Mermaid]

In that order of preference (for me) and as far as I know schools and home prices. I sold a 2BR condo in Rockville Ctr (2yrs ago) for $300k and that was a higher price (market has softened since then). Starter houses more like $500k and up. There are some distressed fixer uppers there (and everywhere).
In Baldwin, I sold a nice sized house w/an appartment for 419,000 (2yrs ago)but there are better parts (higher).
Mineola is in between.
I would definitely choose RC if it fits into the budget.

[NY2CT]

Originally Posted by wardlwag

Rockville Centre has some areas with extremely beautiful and expensive old homes, however, there is no village or town, it has Sunrise Highway running through it which is a very busy road...Also, Rockville Centre has alot of great restaurants and it is a great community with fantastic schools...if you can afford it i say move there!!!!

Most of the homes in Rockville Centre are far away from Sunrise Highway. I'm not sure what you mean about there being no village or town. There's a large walkable area near Sunrise Highway with a lot of bars, stores and restaurants.

Of those three towns, Rockville Centre has the best schools and is the most expensive.

[SamTheCatRocks]

I would definitely vote for Rockville Centre. I grew up in Oceanside (one town away) - you might want to consider that town in the mix, as well. Rockville Centre is an incorporated village so the utilities are less expensive than surrounding towns and the quality of service is good.

[deevee]

Baldwin has really deteriorated. It has lots of problems in the high school. I know people who move out of Baldwin into Oceanside so they dont have to send their kids to Baldwin HS. (Oceanside borders Baldwin) Or they pay thru the nose for private school.
RVC is very nice. Check out Oceanside too.
All 3 places are VERY expensive and plan to spend a small fortune every year on property taxes.
Good Luck

[Joe L]

Many of the Mafioso the lived in Baldwin have moved on, its has since gone diverse and WAY downhill. The high school is nicknamed Attica.
Most Baldwins old school Italians moved to East Rockaway, Long Beach and especially Island Park

[fallgirl]

Originally Posted by Joe L

Many of the Mafioso the lived in Baldwin have moved on, its has since gone diverse and WAY downhill. The high school is nicknamed Attica.
Most Baldwins old school Italians moved to East Rockaway, Long Beach and especially Island Park

I was raised in Baldwin moved away for a short while and left for good in 1998. Have you ever lived there? Believe me there was no "Mafioso" there. I Baldwin doesn't even resemble the place where I grew up. Judging from what the town looks like today it is no surprise to me that they call the high school Attica! It is very very sad what happened to a once very nice town.

Fallgirl