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I was wondering if this is at all possible. I work in downtown Manhattan and my girlfriend in Brooklyn and we both use public transportation to commute. Is there an area in Long Island we can look into to rent an apartment or a house or is there no way we can do it without having a car?
Yes, there are places. Mostly western Nassau. Depends on your budget. YOu would want a place near stores and the LIRR so your choces would be limited, but not impossible. Look for apartments a long the Long Beach line, the Far Rockaway Lline, and Babylon trains because some will go to Atlantic Terminal. You could find rentals in Great Neck and wouldn't need a car but the Port Washington line does not go to Brooklyn.
I was wondering if this is at all possible. I work in downtown Manhattan and my girlfriend in Brooklyn and we both use public transportation to commute. Is there an area in Long Island we can look into to rent an apartment or a house or is there no way we can do it without having a car?
Great Neck, Garden City, Long Beach, Port Washington, Rockville Centre are doable without a car if you live downtown by the train. I agree with the poster though who said you won't really enjoy Long Island's full potential without a car.
A significant problem with living in Long Island without a car, or any suburban area for that matter, is that places are strictly zoned as residential or commercial, so there are only houses in residential areas and only stores in commercial areas. So, with your house in a residential area, you'd most likely be very far (>15 minute walk) from any store, and even farther from a large department store.
The NICE bus system has very bad service throughout the county, and doesn't serve most residential areas.
Staying in NYC would probably be better for you. There aren't many transit friendly communities on LI, and you can only really depend on the LIRR as a reliable form of transportation as buses are basically viewed as transportation only for the poor and are far from reliable, especially since MTA stopped operations of Nassau's buses (now called NICE Bus).
There are communities that do offer fairly decent LIRR service, are walkable, and have supermarkets. The Babylon Line is the best LIRR branch, so look into Rockville Centre, Merrick, or Bellmore since they have fairly frequent service and supermarkets and plenty in town.
Living in Westbury I have fairly infrequent train service (generally once an hour, 30 min rush hours) as most trains skip the station, and there are no supermarkets in town (unless you like bodega food...NOT ME!).
Funny they opened condos that are supposed to gear to ppl in your situation (Horizon,ahem) but most people there have cars, you really need a car to live here otherwise it is difficult, trust me I rant about it enough here!
I cannot drive though, and am trying to move to one of the communities I mentioned above due to more stuff in town & better LIRR.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Great Neck Plaza is also worth a look but certainly more expensive than the other places. And speaking of that, the LIRR is going to cost you much, much more than transport in NYC. About $300-$400 per month.
As others have mentioned, there are places where this can work even though most of us can't imagine getting by without a car. The occasional Zipcar could probably bridge the gap.
A better perspective could probably be gotten, though, if you told us why you're considering the move. Housing is cheaper, yes, but a monthly ticket to most of the places mentioned so far will cost you each $276.
Is it possible? Of course. Is it logical? Of course not. Peapod for groceries sure but with winter coming I'd lay even odds your girlfriend won't be around long.
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