How is West Islip? (Babylon, Brentwood: homes, bankruptcy, good schools)

[VTP]

I think it's a really good thing that West Islip has been able to stay "diversity-free" despite the geographic proximity of some dubious neighbors. Why on earth wouldn't someone want a safer community, better schools, better financial return on your real property investment, and a more attractive place to live? How can living in a "diverse" community, with the multitide of problems that brings, possibly trump those things? I just don't get it -- to me, it's a no-brainer. I see that some have introduced the "cultural wasteland" argument, but I respectfully (and strongly) disagree. I would argue, in fact, that exposure to culture in general takes a beating when the teachers at school have to use their valuable time to attend to matters such as fights and the collateral consequences of neglect (or worse) at home. Also, I doubt that too many students in heavily diverse communities are attending concerts and plays with their parents, or traveling to other parts of the world.

[Glad2BHere]

Originally Posted by VTP

I would argue, in fact, that exposure to culture in general takes a beating when the teachers at school have to use their valuable time to attend to matters such as fights and the collateral consequences of neglect (or worse) at home. Also, I doubt that too many students in heavily diverse communities are attending concerts and plays with their parents, or traveling to other parts of the world.

Having worked in the school setting, I can attest to that. The entire class suffers when a child who is up against so many issues from their upbringing/family life rear their ugly head in the school setting. In most cases where neighborhoods are changing, it is not on a positive note when the neighborhood begins to change b/c most of the population coming in is not from a culturally rich background. In areas that have changed for the worse, I don't see how gangs, broken families, absentee parents, poverty, theft, crime, thuginess,etc are anything that anyone would strive to "expose" their child to. Of course I know this does not encompass "every" person who is not white, but if you look at the history of some towns that have changed racially, they have not improved and have not become culturally rich by far! What "cultural" elements would you like your child to pick up from these new residents? None for me.

[Smash255]

Originally Posted by Joe L

West Islip is great my sister lives there.
She came from Hicksville, her girls like the school. To add they DON't come home speaking "gangsa" or Spanish or get dry humped in the stairways by the 10 year old Spanish boys.
School taxes are low since the school doesnt have 20 ESL teachers...dont need them.

People wanting to bring diversity to Long Island can SHOVE IT!
Move to Ridgewood Queens (where I am originally from) JHS 91 and 93 are REAL nice and diverse like the Bronx Zoo these days.
I hear Kingston is just lovely, so lovely you need a million dollar emergency room insurance on your kids

-J

Ahh yes racism, you soul be proud of yourself.....

[west islip hs student]

Okay well comming from ME a 10th grader in West Islip High School,this town is boring and the teens are dirtbags.We are known as "White Islip",because most who live here do coke.This year we had about 4-5 fake bomb threats:like any other ordinary high school you have the jocks,gangstas,preps,goths..etc. but here there all white and think who the hell they are. Most the girls, oops i meant almost all the girls are stuck up and rude,and so are most of the adults.Everyone here is FAKE.

- In the Junior High , we begin to grow up and go in different directions,
the girls become sluts and the boys think about sex-oh and i forgot everyone focuses on drinking and drugs just to fit in.

_ Elementary,egh its not as good as it used to be.

i have all different kinds of friends,because i dont want to hang out in west islip due to all the drugs and DRAMA and i have different races of friends and personally id rather move in a mixed town,because everyone isnt all the same.For the guy who said things about gettting "dry humped" on the staircase .. um in my school people give head/have sex etc. BEHIND the staircase. Every town is the same so dont act like West Islip is all that good,because its not.The look of it dont get me wrong its beautiful,but the people who live here are stuck up,arrigant,and rude. =]
k thankkksss byyee .

[west islip hs student]

oh yeah i forgot everyone is racist (;
this town sucks!!!!

[nancy thereader]

You sound so very young. But, I'm glad that you are spending time looking up places such as this on line.

[dman72]

Diversity is a double edged sword. I went to a school that was 90% white, but I had friends who were black, Asian, and exchange students. In a school like that, diversity is great!!!

In a school like Brentwood or CI, where if you are white you will fear for you life every day and probably turn into a thug yourself to survive, diversity ain't so great. The simple fact is that diverse schools on LI..where diversity means black or Hispanic..are bad. Where diverse means Asian...they're generally good.

This is where JoeL shows his true colors. As long as people aren't looking to beat my kid up every day, I have no issue with where they come from. Unfortunately, that means he isn't going to go to a heavily black or Hispanic district. I wish things were different, but they aren't.

As for the kid posting, sex and drugs are and have been part of being a teenager on LI for a long time. They are the pitfalls that good child raising will hopefully navigate you through. However, add those things and then throw gang violence and a complete disrespect for human life in, and you have the areas bordering WI.

[GigiBowman]

Originally Posted by KellyFG

West Islip is sometimes dubbed "white islip" or "WASP Islip". Its a nice area though, south of montauk hwy is $$$$. Its close to great beaches & the southern state parkway. Schools have a good reputation.

White Islip lol omg
What's East Islip?
Central Islip....let me guess......

[twnxn]

That's good that West Islip is still a good place. I didn't know it had the nickname of "White Islip". I was a kid there in the mid 1970's before our family moved to Southern California. We lived in Higbie Lane. I'm Asian-American and remember being the only Asian-American kid in my 1st grade class at Higbie Lane School. There were a couple of Puerto Ricans and a couple of African-Americans (as I can remember). I guess that school does not exist anymore. I did have some great memories of living there, but did remember as a kid, the town was mostly white. I guess it is still that way now? Are the white people there largely of Italian or Irish descent? Or is it something else? Just curious.

[totallyfrazzled]

A friend of mine lives in West Islip, she's a widow in her 70s now and has lived there ever since she and her late husband were married. One of their 3 grown children still lives there (not the same house). I've heard that son call it White Islip and I remember laughing the first time I heard it too! He said it's because West Islip has been always almost entirely white. Their daughter (my friend's granddaughter) went through the schools there and from what I've heard it is still over 90% white. I went with my friend to see her granddaughter in a school play last year and I did notice that the parents were almost all white, and some Asian and some I think middle Eastern. But even so, very few of either. I don't remember seeing any African-American parents or kids there at all.

I have a feeling the teen's translation of 'white islip' is just from his point of view whereas the demographic interpretation is what the adults mean when they say it! LOL Seriously, we have friends with kids in other good school districts and they ALL (the parents) say the same thing about drugs in the schools. It's all over the place no matter what the demographic is, but in some areas it's much more a way of life and then there are other problems added (gangs, crime, etc) in areas like, say Brentwood, Central Islip, Wyandanch, that you don't find in places like West Islip.

As for the ethnicities in West Islip, I don't think it's predominately anything in particular. My friend is of German and English extraction and her husband was (really!) Irish and Jewish! I've been to luncheons and teas that my friend has given, and know many of her local friends casually. Going by the last names, I can recall Jewish, German, Scottish, Italian, Irish, but most of them are names that could be anything at all (like Moore and Taylor). I know one of her neighbors is Asian because I've met her at my friend's house. She lives in the section of West Islip that's north of 27A and south of Sunrise Highway.