Best Towns in Long Island (Islip, Babylon: crime, house, safe area)

[beachgirl558]

Hi...I know this question has been asked before but most of the other people had a lot more $$$$ to spend. My husband and I are in our 30s and are looking to buy our first home. We really want to stay around $400K and are hoping that we just might bump into something that will work. Our problem is that our figure is low for what we want. We are looking for a nice clean, quiet and safe area. Many places we thought would work ended up not being in the "nicest" areas. We may be chasing a pipe dream but are they any towns and/or areas where you guys think we might possibly start our search. Just for reference...someone told us Farmingdale and Baldwin but when we saw Baldwin we were not impressed at all. Seemed like it had gone downhill.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. This task is very daunting when you really know nothing about the area.

Thanks in advance....

[nbres]

Check out Sunset City in North Babylon. Lots of really nice homes in your price range. The area is well planned with curved streets and sidewalks. Also, lots of young families with kids. Check out Woods Elementary - its a great local school. North Babylon is a great community and getting better.

[beachgirl558]

Oh yeah...I guess I forgot to add that want to be in an area with a train commute under 1 hour. I know....this is getting trickier!

[Rachael84]

North Babylon's middle school only has a 6/10 rating on greatschools.net. I would avoid a town with that low of a rating with a middle school.

[Andy64]

Since people live in every town, every town is the "best" to somebody at some point in time for their situations. Its all very subjective and best to those folks for many different reasons that may not be within all your own criteria. There are many "good" towns/villages all throughout Long Island, safe, good schools, convenient, quiet and lovely, etc..

Crime statistics are the ones that probably is the easiest to backup in terms of which areas are safe vs those that are sketchy, however, no area is immune to crime and things can happen anywhere. Some area's are more expensive than others, but that doesn't mean they are actually better than others for you and that you need to spend more to be there. Take all the advice with a grain of salt and do your own research and visit many of them, drive around them, etc. Whatever area you settle on, make sure its one you feel you can live with for a long time. Its going to be very difficult to trade up for quite some time down the road (staying on Long Island that is) until you can hit a seller's market again like it was 2 - 3 years ago.

Good luck on your search

[nbres]

This is in reply to Rachael84:

You said the following,

North Babylon's middle school only has a 6/10 rating on greatschools.net. I would avoid a town with that low of a rating with a middle school.

Did you read the reviews of which there were only TWO? Not a great statistical sample.

I posted below the actual two comments. Based on those comments I'd say the Middle School sounds pretty good. Yes. The first parent is concerned, but the Middle School has improved and overcrowding is less of an issue because of recent renovations.

Children here are overcrowded although they are working on an extension. There are different shifts for 6th graders because of this. They don't get to start a language until 8th grade.They have to choose between art and music.There are no inclusion classes, just special ed. All negatives in my book. On the plus side, the principal is fabulous and on top of every problem, social or otherwise in the school;and is very welcoming and receptive to parent concerns and inquiries.Most of the teachers seem very dedicated as well.There are lots of hard working kids with involved parents, but a large transient population brings down the scores.It concerns me to have my children in this district.I'd feel better if the test scores were better.
Submitted by a parent

Write your own review
5 out of 5 stars

Posted January 26, 2005

Teachers and administration are extremely helpful and caring.
Submitted by a parent

Write your own review

[clamboy]

North Babylons OK
I prefer Babylon Village if $$ permits

I found Town Hunter to be the best/most accurate resource out there.
Great Schools seems a little skewed.Best bet...go to a supermarket in the area and ask a parent with kids.
The measuring stick for me is usually Household Income vs % of Kids on Free Lunch

Heres the surrounding towns:
Side-by-Side City Comparison


North Babylon West Babylon Babylon West Islip
School Scores
Achievement index
Normalized average of 6 other school scores. Higher number indicates better score
51.3 65.58 65.58 67.53
School Info
Fundamentals index
Combined measure of other indexes in this group. 0 is the worst, 100 is the best.
71 72 72 70
Program expenditures per student
Amount spent annually on each student for educational programs
$7886 $8165 $8165 $7410
Total expenditures per student
Total amount spent annually on each student
$16909 $12826 $12826 $15442
Student to teacher ratio
Average number of students per teacher
14.6 14.9 14.9 14.1
High School Drop out rate
Percentage of students that started but did not complete high school
0 % 0 % 0 % 0 %

North Babylon, NY West Babylon, NY Babylon, NY West Islip, NY
Household Income
Median household income
Half of the households in the community make less than this and half make more
$64128 $60862 $60064 $75914
Per capita income
Average annual income per person in the community
$24181 $22280 $22844 $27704
Population
Total population
Total number of people living in the community as of Q3 2000
17766 43452 211779 29105
Median age
Half of the residents of the community are older than this age and the rest are younger
38 36 37 36
Education Level for adults
Average years of schooling
Average years of schooling for adults. High school is 12, B.S. is 16 etc
13.3 13 13.1 13.7
School Enrollment
Total enrollment
Total number of students enrolled into public schools, private schools, or colleges.
4192 11313 55998 8442
Percentage in private schools
Percentage of pupils in private schools
20 15 17 17

[KellyFG]

Originally Posted by nbres

Check out Sunset City in North Babylon. Lots of really nice homes in your price range. The area is well planned with curved streets and sidewalks. Also, lots of young families with kids. Check out Woods Elementary - its a great local school. North Babylon is a great community and getting better.

I'd have to agree. My Grandparent's house was on Colfax Lane, we sold it about 6 years ago. I spent almost every saturday at that house my entire life & I agree its a cute little neighborhood.

[beachgirl558]

Thanks for the advice. I think to be sure we will just have to spend the money for a big trip to come out and do some hunting around various neighborhoods in person. I was just trying to get some areas ahead of time in which to narrow in. Anyone know anything more about Baldwin or Farmingdale?

[clamboy]

Originally Posted by beachgirl558

Thanks for the advice. I think to be sure we will just have to spend the money for a big trip to come out and do some hunting around various neighborhoods in person. I was just trying to get some areas ahead of time in which to narrow in. Anyone know anything more about Baldwin or Farmingdale?

My FIL lives in Farmingdale and is very happy.

Hes by the park in Bethpage(Check out Bethpage too....great little town)

I still cant beleve Baldwin made the list for Money100

I wouldnt

C