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All of my retired neighbors are leaving, heading to NC, SC, Florida, etc. The neighborhood has almost fully turned over, only a few people with big pensions are staying. It makes me sad to think I'll have to do the same in about 20 years, but with 10K in property taxes and no end to the escalation in site, the finances make it a no brainer.
PS: And the one universal benefit of leaving LI; whether your income stays the same; increases; or (as in my case) decreases, is: You will see a major increase in your wealth AND a major increase in your quality of life.
With a POD sitting in my driveway, I have zero second thoughts about leaving. When the top two things I will miss are pizza and bagels, it is time to get out of dodge.
Somehow, my Delaware pizza tastes pretty good as I eat it in my 217,000 house, on my 1 acre of land paying $1100 property taxes!
If only everything was about money. I don't call leaving everyone I know a better quality of life, but I guess that's just me. It's just shortsighted IMO and then you must find ways to deal with it. Everyone knows we're paying through the nose (see any other desirable area) but we pay for a reason. It's not only about money. If you're leaving to save extra money, then that's your choice, but why push it as the reason others should too? If you're leaving because it is unaffordable for you, I don't know why you would bother to say anything at all.
Money is a tool, and if you have disposable income, what does it matter if you have $2k or $5k a month extra to live your days? If you're responsible, you will never want to spend all of it, and you're still doing a 9-5. When we cash out of here, we will have hundreds of thousands to get a new place (or pass on) just like all the other ex-pat braggarts, but some things are more important while we're actually living day-to-day.
Everyone knows we're paying through the nose (see any other desirable area) but we pay for a reason.
We pay because we're being systematically ripped off by the public sector. I have to hustle to support the bloated school district, corrupt pols and rich cops sitting on their fat butts in NC.
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Money is a tool, and if you have disposable income, what does it matter if you have $2k or $5k a month extra to live your days?
I'd rather use the money for a better life for myself and not throw it at the Nassau County cash vacuum. I'm tired and tapped out from bleeding cash propping up a dying island and those who are sucking the last drops from the teat. Am I anything else to them but a walking ATM?
This began as a positive thread about saying good-bye, but your comments unfortunately stirred up the resentment that at least 90% of us feel. Perhaps these threads are best avoided. I doubt it will end well.
If only everything was about money. I don't call leaving everyone I know a better quality of life
A fair comment, except that in the case of quite a few people I know they have either left, are planning to leave, or are waiting to leave. Many close family members have left LI.
In the past a typical cycle was you started off in the city, bought in LI and commuted, worked for your pension and when you retired moved to a lower COL location.
Now, the pensions are largely gone, many jobs can be done from anywhere, families are relocating during their prime earning years because the COL is waaaay too high and both parents have to work to support their kids.
This isn't a critique on LI specifically, because other areas like San Francisco/Silicon Valley are going that way too - too expensive to live. The challenge with LI is that a large manufacturing base has evaporated and the higher paying jobs based on LI are largely in the public sector now (education, police). This creates an unsustainable death spiral where benefits payable - to those who actually will get a pension - require higher and high taxes from a middle class whose salaries have languished. Either that or people pay $15K taxes for a 50 year old cape on a postage stamp within 1 hour commuting time to NYC.
Long Island has been "dying" for decades. Still waiting... while people are still moving in. True there are fewer jobs on LI but that's why suburbs near a major metropolis remain desirable - there's always plan B an hour away. Teachers and cops making the most on LI - that's moot in terms of who can survive here. But FYI, even regular jobs at Cablevision pay 6 figures if you're good.
Long Island has been "dying" for decades. Still waiting... while people are still moving in. True there are fewer jobs on LI but that's why suburbs near a major metropolis remain desirable - there's always plan B an hour away. Teachers and cops making the most on LI - that's moot in terms of who can survive here. But FYI, even regular jobs at Cablevision pay 6 figures if you're good.
What's considered a "regular job" at Cablevison that pays 6 figures? And if you're good, couldn't you make that in any number of places in the counrty?
Long Island has been "dying" for decades. Still waiting... while people are still moving in. True there are fewer jobs on LI but that's why suburbs near a major metropolis remain desirable - there's always plan B an hour away. Teachers and cops making the most on LI - that's moot in terms of who can survive here. But FYI, even regular jobs at Cablevision pay 6 figures if you're good.
I know people at Cablevision, and yes they make 6 figures. Let's say they earn $120K, which for a tech person is a decent salary. If they live inexpensively it's possible to support a family of 4 on that, but certainly not the lifestyle you'd expect from a "six figure salary". In 2012 a family needed $75K a year just to make ends meet.
A challenge though depends on what role you have. I don't know specifically about Cablevision, but other tech companies on the island have outsourced or offshored a lot of labor to India, Philippines, China, etc. The $120K support role can be done remotely by a $30K person. Earlier this year a friend of mine at CV said there was a lot of buzzing about layoffs in the IT staff. Don't know what ultimately happened, or if anything happened. But other companies have been laying off.
I do agree that reports of LI's death are exaggerated, especially as people continue to move to Nassau and Suffolk from NYC. That's really the saving grace, and why property still retains value and why taxes can still be so high, otherwise LI would end up like Buffalo.
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