Commack vs Plainview? (Merrick: fit in, apartment complex, renting)

[babadi]

I believe there's an apartment complex in Plainview on Central Park Road, behind the church next to the middle school. Don't know anything about it, though.

[Jennifer06]

Originally Posted by babadi

I believe there's an apartment complex in Plainview on Central Park Road, behind the church next to the middle school. Don't know anything about it, though.

It doesn't google. Can you describe it for me?

Thank you.

And thank you everyone for the replies.

[babadi]

I'm afraid not... I don't live in Plainview anymore and I'm just going off memory. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, like I said, I believe it is set back from the road, behind what I *think* is a church, on Central Park Road, right next to POB Middle School (which is at the intersection of Central Park Road and Southern Parkway).

[sean sean sean sean]

Jennifer, excuse me if I'm being presumptuous (I am), but I remember another recent thread where you said you wanted to get out of the East End because of some Anti-Semitic remarks you were subjected to and other general ignorance....is that why you're looking at Plainview and Commack specifically?

If that is the case, I'd recommend broadening your search. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of either of these. Not the worst places in the world but very expensive for the type of housing/property you get. I prefer Commack out of the two, but your money will go a lot further in other similar areas of Nassau/Western Suffolk even if you're renting. Like I said in that other thread, you've got nothing to worry about here. I remember your comments well because they really were surprising to me.

If, however, you do have your heart set on a community that has similar demographics to Plainview & Commack, you might want to check out Merrick & North Merrick. That's on the south shore, some parts a lot cheaper, some parts a lot more expensive...but a heck of a lot nicer in all regards, IMHO. Again, sorry if I'm assuming too much and you just happened to really like Plainview and Commack.

[Jennifer06]

Wow, Sean, that was really kind of you! Thank you. Yes, we are looking for a place to raise our son Jewish, where it is typical to be Jewish and he won't be the only child in Hebrew school. Also, our son is Korean, so we'd been looking at areas where he'd ideally be exposed and know at least some Korean or other Asians.

I just looked quickly at MLS and see that Merrick is very affordable. I'll look more closely at the schools and such later when I have time, but yes we are open to any suggestions, and I so appreicate your remembering. We're feeling very nervous at the idea of selling our house for a loss and moving to an unknown place. That's why it's been taking us so long; we've just been driving around touring the Island, but feel clueless. (I even started to think of renting out our house while we rent elsewhere, to hold onto it.)

You do remember correctly, I am having a hard time with the anti-Semitism out east. I've heard really abrasive comments I don't even want to repeat, and not just from strangers.

Right now it's all about our son. As much as we love the open air, or a small town, we want the community and education for him. That's what led us to the areas I mentioned; it seemed to have those things...but, you are so right, at very high prices - especially compared to what we'd be selling our home for right now.

Again, thank you!

[Jennifer06]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

If, however, you do have your heart set on a community that has similar demographics to Plainview & Commack, you might want to check out Merrick & North Merrick. That's on the south shore, some parts a lot cheaper, some parts a lot more expensive...but a heck of a lot nicer in all regards,

Can you tell me in what ways Merrick and North Merrick are nicer?

I'm sorry I ask so many questions. I didn't grow up on LI and am starting wholly from scratch. There are so many areas to learn about.

The other thing about Plainview and Commack are that they are close to my husband's job in Hauppauge. If there were other trade-offs (e.g. smaller town or downtown; more work for me) we'd look at longer commuting times.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Jennifer06

Can you tell me in what ways Merrick and North Merrick are nicer?

I'm sorry I ask so many questions. I didn't grow up on LI and am starting wholly from scratch. There are so many areas to learn about.

The other thing about Plainview and Commack are that they are close to my husband's job in Hauppauge. If there were other trade-offs (e.g. smaller town or downtown; more work for me) we'd look at longer commuting times.

This is all opinion, of course, I'm sure some people would disagree but I'll tell you what I think...

First off, Merrick isn't landlocked. It's probably from living here nearly all my life, but I always prefer to at least be close to the water if I can't be on it. The bay is walking distance from most of Merrick and Jones Beach is literally 5 minutes away if even that. They converted an old landfill near the parkway into a nature preserve recently, and as "appealing" as that sounds I gotta say when I checked it out it really was very beautiful & relaxing. There's also a golf course right on the water that any ToH residents can use.

I find the housing stock in general way more appealing in Merrick, a good mix of old and new (as you can see from MLSLI) and there are some really, really gorgeous neighborhoods where you would think you're in Rockville Centre or Garden City off of Merrick Avenue. North Merrick is a little more in line with traditional Town of Hempstead suburbia but does have some interesting sections. The properties certainly tend to be smaller (much smaller than Commack especially), but I think you get closer to "getting what you pay for" - especially considering the school district is just as good if not better than Plainview or Commack.

There is a downtown area at Merrick Ave & Sunrise but it's small, and nothing you'd really want to invest a whole evening in. Merrick Road (27A) has a lot of shopping and restaurants but more spread out. Bellmore, the next town over, has a great downtown area that does a ton of business on the weekends and Freeport's Nautical Mile is also close on the other side of town.

Train service to Penn Station is 45 minutes, Meadowbrook and Southern States parkways are right there. It's not really that much further than Plainview (from Hauppauge) and you'd be doing a "reverse commute" so the traffic isn't bad at either rush hour.

If you're looking at Merrick you might wanna look at Bellmore and Wantagh too. They're not known for having sizable Jewish populations, but in my experience they're not far off from Merrick. 99% are secular, but all the kids I grew up with attended Hebrew school either after school or on the weekends. That's awhile ago now, but the demographics of these three areas really haven't changed much in the last 20 years!

This post ended up getting rather long Hope it helps!

[bryson662001]

Plainview and Commack are remarkably similar. Plainview is closer to the city and thus more expensive and the housing stock is 20 years older than Commack. Otherwise they could be sisters. Plainview would be better for your purposes as would most of Nassau County.

[AlexisT]

Definitely Jews in Bellmore, at least parts of it--various friends of my parents lived there.

Merrick has a big mix of Jews from Orthodox to secular, as does Plainview.

Commack is more Jewish now than it was when I was growing up, but nothing like Merrick or Plainview.

Main advantage to Commack is that you'll get bigger house lots. Personally I prefer the denser building in Nassau and the way there's less trekking around everywhere, but that might just be me.

[jmax]

I've looked in these two markets as well - they both seem to have a pretty good amount of inventory for sale - at least in my price range 500-625 and with houses in good shape compared with others I've seen elsewhere. I wonder why?