Southeast Garden City -- Help (Hempstead, Huntington: real estate, housing, condos)

[azzurrony]

Ok, I need some advice on Garden City.

I currently live in Plainview, but I'm getting married in April. My fiance, who lives in London, is absolutely in love with Garden City. Frankly, I love it too. To me, it's the best town on Long Island for value, sense of community, great homes, vicinity to city, and great schools.

I've noticed house prices are starting to fall a bit, which of course is good for someone like me who will be in the market this Spring and Summer.

We love the Mott Section, but it's hard to find a home with 4 bedrooms there (need space for when the in-laws from England come). My fiance and I recently saw a wonderful 4 bedroom Tudor on Garden Street. We loved it and the neighborhood. However, I quickly realized it's only 3 blocks from the Hempstead border.

So, we decided to take a drive at night down Boylston (one of the few streets that crosses Meadow and takes you to Hempstead).

It was BAD. Ghetto punks were everywhere and honestly I thought I saw a drug deal. My fiance locked her door. Mind you this was about 6 blocks south of the border, but still!!

---
GCGuy or any other Garden City residents: Can you tell me more about the Southeast area. Is it safe? Is there crime? Robberies? Can my wife jog in the evening in that Southeast section?

Thanks.

[Wes927]

I wouldn't worry at all. When it comes to neighborhoods a few feet can be a thousand miles.

I went to Adelphi and lived in the area for years (Garden City Park). The border is like the Berlin Wall: heavily patrolled by police. I've never seen evidence that the Hempstead Troubles extends over the border.

Good Luck!

[Kbinspections]

I agree, GC police is on top of it.........

[monkeygorilla]

I agree that the police do a good job of keeping the *rif raf* out. But to me, I didn't like the feeling of having to worry about the neighborhood drastically changing the minute you get outside of Garden City. I guess its a personal preference, but I like being able to venture into surrounding neighborhoods without having to worry about crime. I was initially VERY drawn to Garden City...we looked at many houses there (mostly in the Mott section...most were 4 or more bedrooms, by the way). I was totally set on living there. But when I started thinking about some of the areas just outside of GC, it really started to bother me. I didn't want to be confined within the city limits of GC...just the thought of it made me feel very claustrophobic & walled in. Which was too bad because like I really loved to look & feel of Garden City. But like I said, it a personal decision.

[GCGuy]

Originally Posted by Kbinspections

I agree, GC police is on top of it.........

Concur with this. GC is very safe and Hempstead might as well be Jersey in most respects. Perhaps there are some nuisance crimes on Meadow (the street right on the border), but once you hit, say Pine (I think that's the 3rd after Meadow and Willow) it's like nothing and the prices shoot up. There are a number of people with families right there b/c of the price break I wouldn't worry. One of my friends lives on Chestnut and have for quite some time and have never known or heard of any problems.

The wonders of having Village police, I guess.

Plus, when Hempstead is redeveloped (don't laugh), the prices will go way up. I bet you it'll happen. I wouldn't worry about it.

You've seen my posts...GC is the best, IMHO.

Good luck and congrats.

[azzurrony]

GCGuy & Others

Thanks for the info. I'd love to see Hempstead redeveloped, but even if it is, who would move there? The schools are so bad that I can't see it attracting many good people.

It's good to know the police are on top of it.

Realtors in Garden City keep saying to me that the Estates area is much more preferred than the Mott section. For the life of me, I don't get why. The Mott section has beautifully built homes by some of the master masons of the 30's (mostly brick, stone, stucco) whereas the Estates area she keeps pushing on me has homes with siding. Don't get me wrong, the Estates is great too. I just don't get why it's considered "better". The other thing I like about the Mott section is that it's so close to Mineola. You could drive there in 5 min and be in the city about a half hour after that.

I also like the Central area and the Country Life Press area (closer to Stewart), but the prices there are still quite high, even with the dampening real estate market.

[GCGuy]

Not sure about that. Yes, the Mott houses tend to be on the small side, but I know for a fact that they are in high demand, esp from people with young families. Gorgeous area. Now, Estates and Central have some spectacular houses, to be sure, but you're talking big money. Mott is much more reasonable. Plus, I like being close to Franklin, Old Country Rd, the mall, the highways, etc.

Hempstead is already being developed. There are a number of new/converted condos. One of them was converted...80% young white people...it's affordable. There was a proposal by an NYC developer to build on 26 acres...2500 condos, 500K retail, office, etc...shot down by people that wanted more affordable housing, but the Mayor wants to build and is shopping it again...on the GC border. There's also the Lighthouse (Long Island Lighthouse) next door and redevelopment of downtown Mineola with condos, etc.

I think GC will be more than fine with its neighbors both now and in the future.

Originally Posted by azzurrony

GCGuy & Others

Thanks for the info. I'd love to see Hempstead redeveloped, but even if it is, who would move there? The schools are so bad that I can't see it attracting many good people.

It's good to know the police are on top of it.

Realtors in Garden City keep saying to me that the Estates area is much more preferred than the Mott section. For the life of me, I don't get why. The Mott section has beautifully built homes by some of the master masons of the 30's (mostly brick, stone, stucco) whereas the Estates area she keeps pushing on me has homes with siding. Don't get me wrong, the Estates is great too. I just don't get why it's considered "better". The other thing I like about the Mott section is that it's so close to Mineola. You could drive there in 5 min and be in the city about a half hour after that.

I also like the Central area and the Country Life Press area (closer to Stewart), but the prices there are still quite high, even with the dampening real estate market.

[monkeygorilla]

Originally Posted by azzurrony

Realtors in Garden City keep saying to me that the Estates area is much more preferred than the Mott section. For the life of me, I don't get why. The Mott section has beautifully built homes by some of the master masons of the 30's (mostly brick, stone, stucco) whereas the Estates area she keeps pushing on me has homes with siding

Funny...when I was looking, I was told the Mott section was more desirable!!! I agree w/ you on the quality of Mott houses being superior (and the overall layout/ aesthetics of the Mott section are more pleasing than the Estates section IMO). And I love that Mott never ever built 2 of the exact same houses, so the neighborhood has a nice uniformity without being "cookie cutter". I found a few houses there that were larger...they do exist! But even the larger houses usually have just a 1 car garage, which was a major drawback for me.

[azzurrony]

GCGuy

Good to hear about all of the development plans. I sometimes wonder though if that Lighthouse project will ever take off. I thought there was a lot of opposition to it.

Frankly, aside from Hempstead and Uniondale, I don't mind the bordering towns to GC. I feel very safe in Mineola, New Hyde Park, Franklin Sq., etc.

----

Here's what I notice about the Mott section. If you go down towards Huntington Rd and that area on the south side of Mott, you get bigger homes and the lots are about 75 by 125. As you go towards the North side they get a bit smaller (60 by 100). Still, they are gorgeous homes.

I also prefer to be near that Franklin/Stewart Ave. area. It's nice to have pubs, cafes, bakeries, restaurants, etc. near by. There is a real small town feel there.

[Kbinspections]

Originally Posted by monkeygorilla

I agree that the police do a good job of keeping the *rif raf* out. But to me, I didn't like the feeling of having to worry about the neighborhood drastically changing the minute you get outside of Garden City. I guess its a personal preference, but I like being able to venture into surrounding neighborhoods without having to worry about crime. I was initially VERY drawn to Garden City...we looked at many houses there (mostly in the Mott section...most were 4 or more bedrooms, by the way). I was totally set on living there. But when I started thinking about some of the areas just outside of GC, it really started to bother me. I didn't want to be confined within the city limits of GC...just the thought of it made me feel very claustrophobic & walled in. Which was too bad because like I really loved to look & feel of Garden City. But like I said, it a personal decision.

The day price drop in GC and Hempstead moves in.......I will leave LI.....its just not going to happen.