Moving to LI, Suggestions on Nassau Neighborhoods/Schools???

[rockypointny]

Originally Posted by vanishent

BUDGET would be $250-$350's.

I would work in Yaphank.
She has yet to decide. Our son's school would influence where we live, see my posting about Private Schools in Long Island.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

You can definitely find some decent homes on the high end of your budget in Rocky Point. Anything below 300k will not be that great, but is possible. Look on Coldwell Banker Moves or Realtor.com to see what you can find, it may suprise you.

[nycgirl93]

Trust me, it's really safe in nassau. And I mean, EXTREMELY safe (:
School's are fine, yea I know a lot of people who go to Saint Anthony's, big sports school. If you're child is into sports-go there definately, if not I really wouldn't bother-the public schools are amazing in nassau (but the prices of housing and taxes for those schools is a killer) (;

[headendtech]

Smithtown !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike409]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Whoever gave you this information is very misinformed, like Smash255 said Nassau is statistically the safest county in America and also has, arguably, the best public schools.

PLEASE, I would like to know who say's Nassau County is the SAFEST county in AMERICA.

Although I would NOT consider Nassau unsafe OR dangerous. I would also NOT consider it the SAFEST place in the country.

[GCGuy]

Originally Posted by Mike409

PLEASE, I would like to know who say's Nassau County is the SAFEST county in AMERICA.

Although I would NOT consider Nassau unsafe OR dangerous. I would also NOT consider it the SAFEST place in the country.

The FBI, I believe for any "city" with more than 500K people. Crimes (in total, not violent) are way less per 100,000 people than most other places. Suffolk, NJ, and CT are also high on the list.

Where would you think to be an unsafe area in Nassau, other than the obvious?

[longilander]

Bellmore, Merrick ,Wantagh &Seaford are good towns .I lived in Bellmore for 40 yrs .Good school districts EastMeadow is ok too.

Originally Posted by vanishent

WHO WE ARE
30 y/o married couple moving to LI with our 8 y/o son this summer.
I will be working in Yaphank (50 mi East of Queens), traveling often for work (access to airports a plus).
My wife is graduating from Law School and will be:
1) Looking for Full/PT work in the city or at a firm/office on LI
2) Stay at home mom b/c of our son's before/after/days off school needs.


WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

SCHOOL -
GREAT school, preferably Catholic but w/ the Cost of Living and taxes we don't know if we can afford it. After that would be great public schools, but the taxes and cost of housing in those areas are a barrier to entry. It's a "catch 22."

NEIGHBORHOOD
A neighborhood that is family oriented, where kids play outside together and the parents don't have to worry too much. We have heard Suffolk is the place for good schools, but where are these types of communities?
We would also like this reasonable access to NYC via LIRR or reasonable drive - i.e. Nassau County, however we heard not to live in Nassau.

WHAT WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT LI
LOCATION- Live in Suffolk as Nassau isn't that safe (we are looking for opinions on this, preferably specific places that might cater to what we are looking for in a NEIGHBORHOOD in Nassau).
SCHOOLS- Port Jefferson, Miller Place, Rocky Point are the good public school districts. Our Lady of Wisdom (love it) and Laurel Hill (love it, can't afford it) are the great private schools.
St. ANTHONY's in Hamilton is the Catholic School our child should go to for High school.

WITH THIS IN MIND, WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR US AS FAR AS:
LOCATION
Family-style neighborhood w/ sense of community, preferably w/ access to NYC, however not mandatory.
Thank you for your detailed feedback in advance as this is a huge concern for us.

[I_Love_LI_but]

... if someone told you Nassau isn't safe? That assumption is incorrect, I can assure you. Truly incorrect. Nassau (and Suffolk) are constantly voted in the top (and some years end up in the #1 spot) of polls measuring low crime counties throughout the USA.

Originally Posted by vanishent

BUDGET would be $250-$350's.

I would work in Yaphank.
She has yet to decide. Our son's school would influence where we live, see my posting about Private Schools in Long Island.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

As for your housing budget, you would not get much in Nassau with it. You might be able to squeak by and get a small 2-br house in an okay (meaning not upper crust or fancy but has a good school district nonetheless) neighborhood as prices are going down. You would be better off in Suffolk because you would have more lower priced houses to choose from, especially as your job is way out in Suffolk. It will cost you a lot to drive in rush hour traffic everyday, so why not look to live near where you will be working? There is a good airport in Suffolk County, MacArthur, so you may not need to go to JFK or LaGuardia all the time.

As for the schools on LI, most public school districts are excellent and if you avoid the few that aren't (if you have questions on a particular SD, just post them and you will get lots of answers), you will not need to spend extra money sending your child to a private school (unless you exclusively want a CATHOLIC education for your child since you mentioned Catholic schools in your post).

Good luck!