why is Suffolk co. so crappy? (New York, Albany: 2009, apartments, condos)

[GypsySoul22]

I moved to Vermont from Suffolk last year (Hi OHBEE, another VTer!)..I would not come out and say "Suffolk is crappy." in a generalized statement.
First off, you can get any area and say, "It sucks" if you are comparing apples to oranges.

What does the OP want? Cheap housing, tons of jobs, happy diversity living together in peace and love? Whoa man, the colors...(hippy drug trip).

Come up to Vermont. It's not 'ugly' but heck, there's even less to do and a lot further to get there. The weather is bizarre. People are nice and you don't get a lot of that fake "Hey how'ya doing?" nonsense. The jobs pay very poorly for the work they expect...I can go on and on. But it's not 'horrific' here...there is very little traffic, which is a blessing after Sunrise Hwy, Southern State and so on..

Do I miss Long Island...sometimes for the ease of shopping...but that's about it. Still I would not going around bashing it. I tell people I left because of the expense (true--not that it's much cheaper here) and the school where my son goes now in VT is MUCH better than where he was going on LI.

There are lovely parks in Suffolk, pretty beaches, and lovely little towns...The OP could substitute a hundred different names all over the the country and get 'someone' to agree.

Wasting your time 'bashing' a place you never lived in much or don't live in now seems a waste of time.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by diamondplayer

Are there no work houses or jails or HUMOR! YOUR STRESSFUL LI LIFE IS SHOWING

Considering the rants that you've posted on the LI, NYC, and Charlotte, NC boards, you see the glass as half empty wherever you go and refuse to allow other to see the glass as half full.

Perhaps that's because you left one mediocre area, specifically Brentwood, for another.

Left North Brentwood in july 07 after living there for 20 years. At one time north Brentwood was considered a nice area but not as nice as the Brentwood country club area. Never would consider putting my kids in the Brentwood schools knowing all of the discipline problems that go on there even in the lower grades. They went to a parochial school and are better for it. The schools today are filled with many students who do not speak english and whose parents have little education of their own, a recipe for disaster. I was very fortunate during my 20 years living there, my neighbors were good WORKING people who for the most part kept there properties maintained. Never had a need to call 911. And believe it or not the neighborhood was generally quiet, maybe once or twice a year you would hear a party until 1 am but almost never any later. However, the last 5-7 years north Brentwood is not the nice part any longer. Those long time residents, who happened to be white, passed on and their homes were sold to people who did not have the same respect for themselves or others. Lawns not cut, garbage laying around, cars parked on the lawn and drug sales from cars are now a familiar sight. Thankfully I was able to leave the rat race and NY and not looking back.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

I moved to Vermont from Suffolk last year (Hi OHBEE, another VTer!)..I would not come out and say "Suffolk is crappy." in a generalized statement.
First off, you can get any area and say, "It sucks" if you are comparing apples to oranges.

What does the OP want? Cheap housing, tons of jobs, happy diversity living together in peace and love? Whoa man, the colors...(hippy drug trip).

Come up to Vermont. It's not 'ugly' but heck, there's even less to do and a lot further to get there. The weather is bizarre. People are nice and you don't get a lot of that fake "Hey how'ya doing?" nonsense. The jobs pay very poorly for the work they expect...I can go on and on. But it's not 'horrific' here...there is very little traffic, which is a blessing after Sunrise Hwy, Southern State and so on..

Do I miss Long Island...sometimes for the ease of shopping...but that's about it. Still I would not going around bashing it. I tell people I left because of the expense (true--not that it's much cheaper here) and the school where my son goes now in VT is MUCH better than where he was going on LI.

There are lovely parks in Suffolk, pretty beaches, and lovely little towns...The OP could substitute a hundred different names all over the the country and get 'someone' to agree.

Wasting your time 'bashing' a place you never lived in much or don't live in now seems a waste of time.

Don't invite him up to VT...shhhhhhh!

[diamondplayer]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Considering the rants that you've posted on the LI, NYC, and Charlotte, NC boards, you see the glass as half empty wherever you go and refuse to allow other to see the glass as half full.

Perhaps that's because you left one mediocre area, specifically Brentwood, for another.

You are right, I did leave a mediocre area, LI, for a much nicer area whose home prices continue to rise unlike the rest of the US and specifically LI.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by diamondplayer

You are right, I did leave a mediocre area, LI, for a much nicer area whose home prices continue to rise unlike the rest of the US and specifically LI.

*yawn*

You are just another bitter former LIer who resents the fact that he was uprooted from his community by a changing demographic (you did write about how new residents were unable to speak English) and your inability to afford to buy up on LI. As the LI board has seen in the past, those who resent having to move away are the most vociferous LI bashers. It's something you're all compelled to do in a misguided effort to assuage your anger that the rest of us are doing well here but you couldn't.

You can keep the Carolinas as I have no interest in your little backwater burbs. Not all of us had to tuck our tails between our legs, eat crow and leave Brentwood. What you did was no different than someone leaving the slums for the suburbs. You fled.

Your home values might have increased in NC, but the way the economy is going, ya'll are going to be feeling the pinch soon.

Given the amount of sniping and whining you do on the NC board about crime, it doesn't sound like sunshine and lollipops down there.

[newtoli]

Originally Posted by GigiBowman

lol I don't think I need you to tell me how bad my town is...or my real estate picture I'll live without that knowledge.

I did not attack your picture at all. I don't participate in personal attacks. Someone talked about bad real estate photos and I linked to a pretty popular email that was sent around with some really horrid ones.

[NYNewbie]

Originally Posted by diamondplayer

You are right, I did leave a mediocre area, LI, for a much nicer area whose home prices continue to rise unlike the rest of the US and specifically LI.

Actually, Long Island property values have done far better than the rest of the national market. You beef can't be with property value alone, for if you sold here you must have done fairly well in a market that outperformed the national market for about 5 years.

The draw to sell one's home and leave here for a place in the Carolinas is tempting. Why? Because if you live in a place for a long that that seems to give you little for your money you seem to think that all other things are equal, except for the value of a dollar. Once you move, you don't want to deal with buyers' remorse, so you develop a mental impression of your former home that helps justify the move. Hearing people talk positively about it makes you feel like perhaps your impression of the old place just might be manufactured.

It takes no more than common sense to understand why you get more for your money in other places. I had a lot of home in Florida with a large yard. I paid no taxes there, except for sales tax, which was rather high (a hidden tax). I had no paved road. My city had one part-time secretary. Needed something done? Had to be there when she was there. Needed cod enforced? Well one of the police (we had three - one full-time) was coe enforcement. This is important because doubling as code enforcement meant he couldn't enforce code. He had no time. People would burn plastic, park large construction implements on their front yards and fill in their ponds with impunity. You had to complain a lot to get enforcement to show up. The schools? Among the worst. My town was considered nice, and 51% of students qualified for school lunches. The library was part time. Park services were voluntary - they took free service from tree huggers and senior citizens to run state parks. Churches were built in protected wildlife areas. Daytona Beach ended police service because they nearly filed bankruptcy, relying instead on county sheriff. I could go on, but just know that I was terribly disappointed by how little people wanted for themselves or their neighbors. Every person was for himself.

The only reason I'd run to a low/no tax state would be if I were rich - to protect my money. The impacts of my selfishness would be left out of my gated community, far out of site. I'd have a big home, nice cars, and would never have to hear about the riff-raff outside of my pampered little life-world.

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Absolutely, compared to when I joined this board almost a year ago it seems posts have gotten not only more balanced but also much more informative. The normal crew on here nowadays paints a much more realistic picture of the island, IMO. Sorry to veer off-topic!

That's because they all moved down to NC and now spend their time on that forum talking about how much better it is down there because the taxes are lower and everything is shiny and new. There is still some LI bashing on city-data...it's just moved on to a forum where there are less people to go against it. I lived in NC for 13 years so I know it well and continue to post on the NC forum to provide info and commentary on whatever I can. Basically about half the posts are "I live here and this sucks about it (LI is common, with complaints about the hussle and bussle and high taxes and utility bills) and NC looks amazing and can you tell me how much better it is in NC than here...and then a flood of people come on to say how much lower their bills are and how much happier they are now that they've escaped the horrible unliveable northeast to the utopia that is North Carolina.

[GigiBowman]

Originally Posted by newtoli

I did not attack your picture at all. I don't participate in personal attacks. Someone talked about bad real estate photos and I linked to a pretty popular email that was sent around with some really horrid ones.

lol uh huh

[newtoli]

Originally Posted by GigiBowman

lol uh huh

Ok - I'm not going to get accused here of something I did not do.

Someone posted about bad Realtor photos.

I posted a link to a VERY popular email of Top 10 bad Realtor photos, including a woman in a bathing suit, that I'm sure others have seen.