Young family - which town to move to? (Huntington, Freeport: rent, affordable houses)
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Yeah - I think Great Neck is too pricey for us. The whole Port Washington line is very expensive - my hometown of Bayside included - so I know I can get a lot more for my money in Merrick.
I like Glen Head and Sea Cliff, but transportation isn't great from either of those for my wife.
My husband and I currently live in Glen Head. GH and Sea Cliff are both in walking distance to their LIRR stations. My husband used to commute to the city and walked 2 minutes down the road to get a train at the GH station. Problem with GH and Sea Cliff are the taxes
There are so many jews on LI that honestly no matter what town you go to, you won't be the only one.
I have to wonder how do people get such high budgets for homes? I saw another person with a budget of $800k ... seriously where does this $$ come from?
Port Washington is great but your budget won't get you much. No offense to your budget - it's a lot of money - but Port Washington is crazy. To me, Merrick woods is the clear winner for you on LI.
To me Port Washington line is the best train line, separate and faster (direct) That's why the area is more expensive, schools are excellent as well as amenities (pool & skating rink, restaurants and shopping)
I know you say you've ruled out Suffolk because of commute, but let me at least throw this in there for consideration. My wife and I (we are Jewish and both work in Manhattan) recently bought a house in Greenlawn after renting in Port Washington (love Port, but couldn't afford an adequate house there for our growing family). The old fields section of Greenlawn/Huntington is beautiful. Great schools (Harborfields). Despite being pricier for the area, $800K goes a long way. The one downside is the obvious commute issue. But what we noticed is that despite the convenience of the Port Washington line our commute is only 15-20 minutes longer each way even though the train is 25-30 min longer. The reason is that, in Port, we lived about an 8 min drive from the train (with morning commute traffic) and then had to park in one of the far lots most of the time, so add another 5 min for the walk. We consistently left our apartment 15-20 min before the scheduled departure in order to safely make the train. We now live a 3 min drive from the Greenlawn station and we can park right next to the station at most times without issue. So we leave only 5-10 before the scheduled departure. So while the train is 25 min longer(if you catch the right train), we cut out 10 min of that between living closer to the station, less traffic, and not having a long walk. There are of course other issues related to the commute, like fewer train options, transfers, etc... but I find it remarkable how far money goes out here (relative to Nassau, it's obviously still expensive) without making the things completely unbearable commute-wise. We're still new to it, and maybe 30+ years more will wear us down, but wanted to share this perspective in case it is helpful.
Regards,
Quote:
Originally Posted by valethor
Hi all,
This is another one of those, "what town should I look to move to" thread. You all usually provide helpful suggestions that I may not have had thought of, so I'm hoping maybe you can add a few towns to our search.
I am born and raised in Bayside, NY (32 years old now); my wife is from Bucks County, Pennsylvania so the sizes of the houses on Long Island are already a shock to her system (she grew up in a 7K sq. ft. house and is just learning now that only the rich live in those here on Long Island). We currently live in an apartment in Forest Hills, NY.
We already have our search narrowed down to two towns based on my own research and my general knowledge, but I'm hoping maybe you guys have a few other ideas as we feel two towns is restricting (but if that's all that meets our criteria, it is what it is!).
Here is the criteria we are hoping for:
-House cost: up to $800K (preferably 4 bedrooms and 2 baths)
-Taxes: up to $15K
-Wife works in Manhattan so good trains are important (Suffolk County is ruled out for us). This seems to be our most limiting criteria because trains are so difficult to park by and most towns have not-so-good areas in the immediate vicinity of the train.
-I work in Syosset and I commute by car so I can pretty much live anywhere
-Good schools (obviously - who wants bad schools?
-We are Jewish and we usually tell people, 'We don't want to be the only Jew in the area but also don't want an area of only Jews.' Basically, we don't want Garden City, but we also don't want Roslyn.
We've narrowed our towns to Port Washington (which is a little high for our 800K budget) and Merrick (preferably Merrick Woods). Are there other areas that meet our criteria that we may not have thought of?
Where exactly is this old fields section if you don't mind me asking?
We are thinking about the huntington area as well. I work in Manhattan and my husband works in Stonybrook area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacemanspiff323
I know you say you've ruled out Suffolk because of commute, but let me at least throw this in there for consideration. My wife and I (we are Jewish and both work in Manhattan) recently bought a house in Greenlawn after renting in Port Washington (love Port, but couldn't afford an adequate house there for our growing family). The old fields section of Greenlawn/Huntington is beautiful. Great schools (Harborfields). Despite being pricier for the area, $800K goes a long way. The one downside is the obvious commute issue. But what we noticed is that despite the convenience of the Port Washington line our commute is only 15-20 minutes longer each way even though the train is 25-30 min longer. The reason is that, in Port, we lived about an 8 min drive from the train (with morning commute traffic) and then had to park in one of the far lots most of the time, so add another 5 min for the walk. We consistently left our apartment 15-20 min before the scheduled departure in order to safely make the train. We now live a 3 min drive from the Greenlawn station and we can park right next to the station at most times without issue. So we leave only 5-10 before the scheduled departure. So while the train is 25 min longer(if you catch the right train), we cut out 10 min of that between living closer to the station, less traffic, and not having a long walk. There are of course other issues related to the commute, like fewer train options, transfers, etc... but I find it remarkable how far money goes out here (relative to Nassau, it's obviously still expensive) without making the things completely unbearable commute-wise. We're still new to it, and maybe 30+ years more will wear us down, but wanted to share this perspective in case it is helpful.
Regards,
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