Is Baldwin THAT bad? (Hempstead, Brentwood: real estate, budget, rental)

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Glad2BHere

What does a tranny hooker scream? Are you serious? It screams dreg neighborhood to me. You won't find any trannie hookers coming out of homes in the Wantagh Mandalay area I bet.

I have never seen hookers in ANY area of LI that is considered a "good area". And I am always traveling all over the island, throughout neighborhoods (day and night) so I am definitely not sheltered.

I meant what do they literally scream....out of their mouths.

I once saw them right around the block from my house, on Wantagh Avenue...and another time on Washington in Seaford. Do you know where those streets are? Tell me those are in any way bad areas....

[Glad2BHere]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

I meant what do they literally scream....out of their mouths.

I once saw them right around the block from my house, on Wantagh Avenue...and another time on Washington in Seaford. Do you know where those streets are? Tell me those are in any way bad areas....

What do they scream? When you buy a home in Baldwin, you can be the first to let us know.

And I certainly don't think Seaford or Wantagh can even compare to Baldwin's undesirability scale, no matter if you saw one assumed hooker or not. It's not one thing, it's MANY things that make a town undesirable.

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

I meant what do they literally scream....out of their mouths.

I once saw them right around the block from my house, on Wantagh Avenue...and another time on Washington in Seaford. Do you know where those streets are? Tell me those are in any way bad areas....

Sean x4, you are always a calm and contrarian point of view for many narrow views on the board...and I regularly support your comments. But sometimes (and it might kill you) an area that many consider worse off and declining than other neighboring cities is just that. Baldwin has noticeably "declined" over the years relative to the 60-80's. I am not as cognizant of it in years prior to that period. I understand the concern is that people associate "brown" residents with a decline, and you like to attack that ignorance. That is all well and good. But the facts are fairly clear that Baldwin is not a fantastic area. If you can afford other neighboring cities your home value, child's school experience, and likely comfort level will be better. I would love to see many areas of LI recover like pockets of the boros have. But for now, if you were going to buy a home and spend the same amount in either say Seaford, or Baldwin...you would probably choose Seaford 9 times out of 10. This is not to bash current Baldwin residents, it is simply not as ostensibly a nice area as other surrounding communities.

[DonnaReed]

Originally Posted by Glad2BHere

I would say with that budget 400-500, look at Lynbrook or Floral Park, if you can afford the taxes. I still would pass on Baldwin if you are worried about the future of the town.

I don't know much about Lynbrook, but $400,000 in Floral Park?

I can't see it.

And some of these "drive through" stories are suspect and strange

I also think the "drive-throughs" are not adequate familiarity to say whether an area is safe or not.

I spend lots of time in Baldwin. I have a very close friend with a very nice home there.
And I've never had any problems there.
The school systems isn't bad either.

It's not what it used to be, but it's not bad.

[Glad2BHere]

Originally Posted by DonnaReed

I don't know much about Lynbrook, but $400,000 in Floral Park? I can't see it.
And some of these "drive through" stories are suspect and strange

Before you go implying I have given misleading info regarding home costs in FP, shouldn't you check the MLS? I know the market very well and yes, they do exist. May need work, or may be small, didn't say they didn't. But as of right now on MLS, 11 homes come up in the FPV area that are b/c $400-$500. And I know where every single one of them is, all in fairly desirable areas.

Moderator cut: ..

Fact - A home can be purchased in FPV b/w 400-500 (check the MLS to verify my fact)
Fact - I saw a creepy weird crackhead looking trannie/hooker in the broad daylight coming out of a home in Baldwin on a short drive through the town (sorry, I didn't take a pic to back up what I say is a fact)

Truth is, I have nothing to gain by exaggerating and I have no reason to sugarcoat my experience there for that matter either. Sorry if the truth hurts.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

Sean x4, you are always a calm and contrarian point of view for many narrow views on the board...and I regularly support your comments. But sometimes (and it might kill you) an area that many consider worse off and declining than other neighboring cities is just that. Baldwin has noticeably "declined" over the years relative to the 60-80's. I am not as cognizant of it in years prior to that period. I understand the concern is that people associate "brown" residents with a decline, and you like to attack that ignorance. That is all well and good. But the facts are fairly clear that Baldwin is not a fantastic area. If you can afford other neighboring cities your home value, child's school experience, and likely comfort level will be better. I would love to see many areas of LI recover like pockets of the boros have. But for now, if you were going to buy a home and spend the same amount in either say Seaford, or Baldwin...you would probably choose Seaford 9 times out of 10. This is not to bash current Baldwin residents, it is simply not as ostensibly a nice area as other surrounding communities.

JRP - I wasn't alive from 60-80, so I can only comment on the current status of Baldwin. When I was younger I worked in a pizza place right next to the high school, so I saw all the kids come and go. They were no different than the kids who went to my own high school - jocks, nerds, preps, burnouts...whatever you wanna call them. There were some kids who looked pretty thugged out, but they ended up just being goof balls. I also got to see all kinds of people and homes throughout the neighborhood, and the shady looking houses and rentals were seriously a minority, really only a handful. Even most of those people in those places seemed alright, may have just run into some bad luck. It was really not much different from doing the same job in Wantagh.

The worst thing that happened to me in Baldwin was that I left my car running one time and came back to a very large crackhead-looking woman digging through the glovebox, right near the border of Freeport. Got away with $20...I was able to chase her down but decided she needed the money way more than I did. Another time, late at night, someone drove a pickup truck through the front of a bagel store and made off with the cash register, and the worst thing I know about that happened in Baldwin is a few years ago, after I was out of there, an off-duty cop got shot during an altercation at a bar on Grand Avenue. So there you go, I'm not denying that Baldwin has it's fair share of problems, but these are (realistically) things that can (and do) happen everywhere else in South Shore Nassau. I feel like it's the perceived decline and "changing demographics" that somehow make them seem worse when they happen in Baldwin. Burglary is Massapequa? Reaction is "oh how awful!" Burglary in Baldwin? Reaction is "figures".

Like I said, I was not alive in the 1960s but I seriously doubt most suburban communities in Nassau resemble the character they had back then. In present terms, and from what I know of being there 12 hours a day, every single day for three years, Baldwin has far more positives and is on par with East Meadow or Levittown.

[Sunny Day]

I gew up in Baldwin. It was nice in the 1960's -80's. I have relatives that still live there, the High School (was great then) is not the best now, problems with gangs. I have relatives in Seaford who love it there.

[Smash255]

Some of the comments on here are really out there. To say Baldwin is even remotely a bad area is just plain silly. One incident happens and it seems like the worst place in the world to some people.

To the original poster, Nothing is wrong with Baldwin. Its a middle class area, with good schools and low crime. It is a diverse area, which at times (as seen here) results in people labeling it as a bad area just because its not an area which is 99% white and actually has some people whose skin color might be different from their own.

[Ready2LeaveLI]

North Merrick, North Bellmore and North Wantagh (near the Southern State Pkwy) are great areas. Close to all and good schools. Since real estate has come down a little, you should be able to find something (not huge). Good Luck!

[Diane Giam]

My sister lives in Baldwin, South of Merrick Road, by the lakes.
There is nothing at all wrong with Baldwin. I would hardly call it just middle class. Her taxes are $9000 which imo is very high.
Money Magazine in 2007 had it among the Top 100 best places to live.

MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2007: New York

Diane G