Lawrence, Long Island (New York, Hempstead, Babylon: apartment, to rent, houses)

[Carolgre]

We currently live in Rockaway Beach but, after several trips to doctors offices in Lawrence, were intrigued by the area. It looks beautiful and peaceful. We are currently paying $1300 for a two-bedroom apartment; what could we get for that price in Lawrence? We don't drive so we're looking for an apartment within walking distance of bus/LIRR connection and not too far from supermarkets, libraries, drugstores, etc

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ziggi813]

All I can tell you is that it is a very orthodox jewish area. Just FYI. I know many people who live there.

[Walter Greenspan]

For those who may not be familiar with Lawrence:

Lawrence is a village (incorporated in 1897) in the southwest part of the Town of Hempstead, in the southwest part of Nassau County, adjacent to the Queens/Nassau County line.

The Village of Lawrence is one of the upscale "5 Towns" (none of which are towns) that includes the Village of Cedarhurst (incorporated in 1910) and the Hamlets of Hewlett, Inwood and Woodmere.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Lawrence in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Inwood, the Village of Cedarhurst and the Village of Woodsburgh; on the east by Hewlett Bay; on the south by Reynolds Channel; and, on the west by New York City (the Nassau/Queens County line).

The Village of Lawrence has a different border than does the "Lawrence, NY 11559" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a "Lawrence, NY 11559" address and not be in the Village of Lawrence and a place can be in the Village of Lawrence and have other than have other than a "Lawrence, NY 11559" mailing address): places that have a "Lawrence, NY 11559" mailing address that are not in the Village of Lawrence are in the Village of Cedarhurst and the Hamlet of Inwood; and, at the same time, there are places in the Village of Lawrence that have a "Cedarhurst, NY 11516" mailing address.





For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County):

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html

[Carolgre]

What are the good areas of Lawrence and which are the areas to stay away from? We are semi-retired, white, and my husband is Jewish. Again, we are looking to rent.

[baylovers]

If you don't mind me asking... if you don't drive how do you get to Lawrence? Public transportation would a nightmare.

I don't think there are too many bad areas in Lawrence except for around the border of Inwood.

[sean sean sean sean]

There aren't really any spots to stay away from in Lawrence, it's cut off from Far Rockaway by 878, cut off from Inwood by the LIRR. Inwood & Lawrence share a zip code, and some people will tell you that Inwood is "a part" of Lawrence but that's not the case...there's also plenty of parts of Inwood that are pretty nice, but other ones you might as well be in Far Rockaway. Lawrence itself is a very old village, one of the first Long Island resort areas for the wealthy (was considered like the Hamptons are nowadays) but it's mostly single family year round housing now. There are some really amazing old mansions near the water and the Isle of Wight area.

Public transportation is about the same as it is in Rockaway Beach...the LIRR will get you to Penn Station in 45-50 minutes. Rush hour is direct, other times you usually have to change at Jamaica, bus service runs up and down Peninsula Blvd as well as over the bridge to Long Beach. From the Valley Stream train station (a 5 minute train ride away) you can also get buses all over the island as well as transfer to the Babylon/Montauk, West Hempstead and Long Beach branches of the LIRR. There's shopping all over the place and Green Acres Mall is very close.

Apartment prices shouldn't be all that much different from Rockaway Beach, but your big problem would be finding an apartment. There aren't tons of buildings in Lawrence, but there are some two family houses. You might find something above a storefront along Broadway, which is a really nice area...that runs through Cedarhurst too, which is another good area to look.

I personally like the Five Towns area a lot, it's unique to Long Island and has it's own certain charm...some snooty people here and there but no place is perfect!

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Inwood & Lawrence share a zip code, and some people will tell you that Inwood is "a part" of Lawrence but that's not the case...

For those who may not be familiar with Inwood:

First named North West Pointers and then Westville, Inwood is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the southwest part of the Town of Hempstead, in the southwest part of Nassau County, adjacent to the Nassau County/New York City Borough of Queens county/city line.

The Hamlet of Inwood is one of the upscale "5 Towns" (none of which are towns) that includes the Village of Lawrence (incorporated in 1897), the Village of Cedarhurst (incorporated in 1910) and the Hamlet of Hewlett and the Hamlet of Woodmere.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Inwood in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Head of Bay Basin and the Nassau County/New York City Borough of Queens county/city line; on the east by the Village of Cedarhurst; on the south by the Village of Lawrence and Inwood Creek; and, on the west by the Nassau County/New York City Borough of Queens county/city line.

The Hamlet of Inwood has a different border than does the "Inwood, NY 11096" postal zone (i.e., a place in the Hamlet of Inwood can have other than an "Inwood, NY 11096" mailing address): places in the Hamlet of Inwood with other than an "Inwood, NY 11096" mailing address have a "Lawrence, NY 11559" mailing address.

Inwood's original ZIP Code "11696" indicated that it was a station (branch) of the Far Rockaway, NY post office, because all "116" ZIP Codes are in the Far Rockaway post office. All the other Far Rockaway stations are in the New York City Borough of Queens/New York State County of Queens, and hence, as computers became more prominent in recent years, to many computers, such as those that sent out Supreme Court jury notices, anyone with a "116" type ZIP Code was likely game for jury duty in Queens County.

The residents of Inwood constantly had to prove that, although they had a Far Rockaway post office mailing address, they were not residents of Queens County, and they lived in Nassau County.

Finally, in the late 1990s, the USPS was persuaded to change the ZIP Code to prevent such problems. They replaced "11696" with "11096".





For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County):

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html