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I can add some thoughts/comments here. I am a white guy who grew up in a majority white town on Long Island. I lived in Manhattan in my 20s and moved to Manhasset Hills in my 30s to raise my family. We are a mixed race family so we thought a lot about diversity when house hunting.
The New Hyde Park area in general is very diverse. It is more diverse than most other Long Island towns.
I can only speak specifically to Manhasset Hills and the Herricks school district (which would be considered part of the NHP area by real estate folks).
*I would estimate the Herricks school diversity as follows: (i) 1/3 Asians - a mix of Chinese, Koreans, other; (ii) 1/3 Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Bangledesh, etc.; and (iii) 1/3 Other - a mix of white Catholics, secular Jews, Greeks, Black and Hispanic.
*The neighborhood has more white families than what is reflected in the school #'s. Two reasons: (i) there are a bunch of retiree/empty nesters who are aging in place; and (ii) there are several white families with school aged children who send their kids to catholic school - these families are typically obsessed with Chaminade High School. :-)
*A ton of people in the neighborhood grew up in Queens.
*Many of the Asians or Indian folks with school aged children were born to immigrant parents here in the US or came here when they were young.
*There is a decent amount of mixed race couples.
*Economic diversity in Manhasset Hills is not great as most folks are well educated/affluent. Economic diversity within the Herricks school district is better given it is a large district that draws from several areas.
You mentioned a budget of 800K for a lot larger than 6,000 sq ft. That sounds really hard to find for this area. Even pre COVID it would have been tough on that budget.
*I understand a lot of the New Hyde Park Village homes are older pre war homes built on 6,000 square foot lots. These would be in the New Hyde Park School district.
*The homes I drive past in "New Hyde Park North" seem to have smaller lots/smaller homes. I don't know the exact square footage, but I would guess 6,000 square feet lots and 1,500 sq ft homes on avg. These are in the NHP school district.
*Most homes in Manhasset Hills have 8,000 square foot lots but they are above your budget. Most homes here are in the Herricks school district. Maybe you could squeeze in there at $900K but it will likely be a fixer upper. Searingtown is probably a similar story.
*Willston Park also seems to have smaller lots/homes as far as I can tell. A small section of Willston Park does attend Herricks but most kids go to Mineola. I could not tell you how diverse that area is.
*I don't ever drive through Garden City Park but I believe those are older and smaller homes.
Someone mentioned Garden City above. That area is beautiful but it is above your budget and less diverse than most other towns in Nassau County. Nice place overall in my opinion.
I would describe the commute from the New Hyde Park areas as very good.
*One commenter posted a negative comment on this topic which I find perplexing. The door to door commute to most of midtown Manhattan is an hour or less. This is better than most tri state area suburbs.
*Keep in mind that commute time is highly dependent upon when you choose to commute and your parking situation at the station. If you want to commute at 9am then good luck because there is no parking anywhere. If you want to commute at 6am or 7am then you will fly in to Penn. Long story short is make sure you understand the parking situation before buying a home.
*NHP area folks generally pick one of the following train stations: New Hyde Park, Merillion Avenue, Mineola, Little Neck or Douglaston.
*If you are in NHP Village you would go to NHP station - you could probably even walk. NHP has village parking and visitor parking. For visitor parking get there before 7am.
*I understand Merillion has a small public parking but it fills up by 5:30. There is also street parking many folks use but I could not tell you how any of that works.
*I prefer Little Neck. It is a 10-12 minute drive from Manhasset Hills and there is a public pay lot next to the train platform. The monthly train ticket is a tad cheaper b/c the zone is Queens. You usually get a seat in the morning because it is one of the first stops (note that NHP is one of the last stops so you never get a seat). My neighbor likes Douglaston for exactly the same reasons. I usually take a train before 7:30am so I can't speak to later times.
*Mineola has a big public pay lot. I see this as a last resort b/c there is always parking but the train ride is slightly longer to Penn at 40 minutes vs. ~30 minutes at the other stations. It is also five minutes driving in the wrong direction.
*These comments are all pre-covid commuting. I suspect parking tightness may ease as more folks work from home but time will tell.
Good luck in your search! Shoot me a DM if you have more specific questions about the area.
I live in New Hyde Park, which is an upper middle class, diverse and Eastern Queens-like suburb. Anyone who says NHP isn't diverse doesn't know what they're talking about. On my block I have an Irish firefighter, an Ecuadorian business owner, an Indian accountant, a Filipino teacher, a Trini car dealer, a retired German homemaker, and an Italian corporate professional.
The schools are good, there is no crime, and you won't find a better commute to Manhattan. Several surrounding areas are borderline affluent or affluent and that has caused New Hyde Park (and Garden City Park) to skyrocket in value. Can't go wrong with any of these areas: Manhasset Hills, Herricks, NHP, GCP, Garden City, Williston Park, Floral Park, Franklin Square and Mineola.
The houses? Determine the neighborhood you desire most and then find the most affordable house. I think these sections of Nassau are very much like New York City real estate market in the sense you get in where you can. If you have $1.5 million for a house, Garden City. If you *only* have $800K, then look at the other areas. It's like deciding whether to live in Bayside, Douglaston or Little Neck. Not very different at the end of the day.
Even if OP had a ~$1.5MM budget he probably still wouldn't be looking at Garden City. He is focusing on his towns (NHP etc.) for specific demographic and cultural reasons and there's nothing wrong with that.
I can add some thoughts/comments here. I am a white guy who grew up in a majority white town on Long Island. I lived in Manhattan in my 20s and moved to Manhasset Hills in my 30s to raise my family. We are a mixed race family so we thought a lot about diversity when house hunting.
The New Hyde Park area in general is very diverse. It is more diverse than most other Long Island towns.
I can only speak specifically to Manhasset Hills and the Herricks school district (which would be considered part of the NHP area by real estate folks).
*I would estimate the Herricks school diversity as follows: (i) 1/3 Asians - a mix of Chinese, Koreans, other; (ii) 1/3 Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Bangledesh, etc.; and (iii) 1/3 Other - a mix of white Catholics, secular Jews, Greeks, Black and Hispanic.
*The neighborhood has more white families than what is reflected in the school #'s. Two reasons: (i) there are a bunch of retiree/empty nesters who are aging in place; and (ii) there are several white families with school aged children who send their kids to catholic school - these families are typically obsessed with Chaminade High School. :-)
*A ton of people in the neighborhood grew up in Queens.
*Many of the Asians or Indian folks with school aged children were born to immigrant parents here in the US or came here when they were young.
*There is a decent amount of mixed race couples.
*Economic diversity in Manhasset Hills is not great as most folks are well educated/affluent. Economic diversity within the Herricks school district is better given it is a large district that draws from several areas.
You mentioned a budget of 800K for a lot larger than 6,000 sq ft. That sounds really hard to find for this area. Even pre COVID it would have been tough on that budget.
*I understand a lot of the New Hyde Park Village homes are older pre war homes built on 6,000 square foot lots. These would be in the New Hyde Park School district.
*The homes I drive past in "New Hyde Park North" seem to have smaller lots/smaller homes. I don't know the exact square footage, but I would guess 6,000 square feet lots and 1,500 sq ft homes on avg. These are in the NHP school district.
*Most homes in Manhasset Hills have 8,000 square foot lots but they are above your budget. Most homes here are in the Herricks school district. Maybe you could squeeze in there at $900K but it will likely be a fixer upper. Searingtown is probably a similar story.
*Willston Park also seems to have smaller lots/homes as far as I can tell. A small section of Willston Park does attend Herricks but most kids go to Mineola. I could not tell you how diverse that area is.
*I don't ever drive through Garden City Park but I believe those are older and smaller homes.
Someone mentioned Garden City above. That area is beautiful but it is above your budget and less diverse than most other towns in Nassau County. Nice place overall in my opinion.
I would describe the commute from the New Hyde Park areas as very good.
*One commenter posted a negative comment on this topic which I find perplexing. The door to door commute to most of midtown Manhattan is an hour or less. This is better than most tri state area suburbs.
*Keep in mind that commute time is highly dependent upon when you choose to commute and your parking situation at the station. If you want to commute at 9am then good luck because there is no parking anywhere. If you want to commute at 6am or 7am then you will fly in to Penn. Long story short is make sure you understand the parking situation before buying a home.
*NHP area folks generally pick one of the following train stations: New Hyde Park, Merillion Avenue, Mineola, Little Neck or Douglaston.
*If you are in NHP Village you would go to NHP station - you could probably even walk. NHP has village parking and visitor parking. For visitor parking get there before 7am.
*I understand Merillion has a small public parking but it fills up by 5:30. There is also street parking many folks use but I could not tell you how any of that works.
*I prefer Little Neck. It is a 10-12 minute drive from Manhasset Hills and there is a public pay lot next to the train platform. The monthly train ticket is a tad cheaper b/c the zone is Queens. You usually get a seat in the morning because it is one of the first stops (note that NHP is one of the last stops so you never get a seat). My neighbor likes Douglaston for exactly the same reasons. I usually take a train before 7:30am so I can't speak to later times.
*Mineola has a big public pay lot. I see this as a last resort b/c there is always parking but the train ride is slightly longer to Penn at 40 minutes vs. ~30 minutes at the other stations. It is also five minutes driving in the wrong direction.
*These comments are all pre-covid commuting. I suspect parking tightness may ease as more folks work from home but time will tell.
Good luck in your search! Shoot me a DM if you have more specific questions about the area.
You did a nice job with the reply except for the bolded, where people pay to send their kids to school is of no import to the discussion. Chaminade is an exceptional school that not all can gain entry to. There are, of course others, like the Buckley School and Solomon Schechter, to name just 2.
You did a nice job with the reply except for the bolded, where people pay to send their kids to school is of no import to the discussion. Chaminade is an exceptional school that not all can gain entry to. There are, of course others, like the Buckley School and Solomon Schechter, to name just 2.
How is it "of no import" to know that certain families tend to send their kids to Catholic/private school? This can have a huge impact on the public school demographics and might be an important part of a person's decision making process. Hell, public school demographics vs. actual neighborhood demographics is one of the biggest reasons why people move out to the suburbs.
How is it "of no import" to know that certain families tend to send their kids to Catholic/private school? This can have a huge impact on the public school demographics and might be an important part of a person's decision making process. Hell, public school demographics vs. actual neighborhood demographics is one of the biggest reasons why people move out to the suburbs.
I have no problem with the term parochial school, but to single out Chaminade is not germaine to the conversation. Say, something like X% of the families living in the south east portion off Herrick's road send their children to private schools could be helpful. I am stick and tired of the fingerprinting at Catholic Schools in particular.
It may well come to this soon too, but if your districts had to build classrooms to handle the by number of students the Catholic schools specifically and also private schools in general, you would be thanking your luck stars to have the tax bill you do now. You could not afford it.
I have no problem with the term parochial school, but to single out Chaminade is not germaine to the conversation. Say, something like X% of the families living in the south east portion off Herrick's road send their children to private schools could be helpful. I am stick and tired of the fingerprinting at Catholic Schools in particular.
It may well come to this soon too, but if your districts had to build classrooms to handle the by number of students the Catholic schools specifically and also private schools in general, you would be thanking your luck stars to have the tax bill you do now. You could not afford it.
How am I finger-pointing at Catholic schools?
This isn't specific to OP's situation, but if you were a White family looking to move to an increasingly non-White town, wouldn't you want to know that the remaining White families tend to send their kids to Catholic school? This is the sort of "on-the-ground" information that makes the CD forums so helpful to people, especially ones who aren't from Long Island.
*One commenter posted a negative comment on this topic which I find perplexing. The door to door commute to most of midtown Manhattan is an hour or less. This is better than most tri state area suburbs.
I assume you are referring to my comment which I think was very clear and should not have left you perplexed. I wrote:
Quote:
It was a minimum 90 minute one way commute for me to go to lower Manhattan when you include driving to the station, walking from the parking lot, wait time for the train, the ride itself, and then switching to a subway to lower Manhattan. I don’t consider a daily three hour round trip a great commute.
Notice I said to lower Manhattan, not midtown. If you live in walking distance to the NHP station and work near Penn Station then an hour commute would be likely. I don’t think most people work around Penn Station. If you work in midtown on the east side for example near 53rd and Lexington, you’ve got to catch an E train from Penn and travel five stops.
As for a commute to lower Manhattan which I commented on, consider the scheduled time from NHP to Penn is 34 minutes. A trip arriving up to 40 minutes is considered on time. For me in North NHP, I have about a 5-7 minute drive to the station. I park in a lot about a five minute distance away when you consider paying for visitor parking and crossing busy streets. I would want to arrive at the station a minimum of five minutes before the scheduled train. That is already a 55 minute trip to Penn assuming the train isn’t technically behind schedule. Then walking through a packed Penn Station to catch a subway for 5-6 stops downtown and a couple (or more) block walk to your office building and you easily have to add another half hour to the commute, making it an hour and a half on a day without delays.
My comment is based on a 12 year commute from NHP to lower Manhattan on the LIRR and the subway. It is not based on a theoretical calculation from living in a neighboring town.
This isn't specific to OP's situation, but if you were a White family looking to move to an increasingly non-White town, wouldn't you want to know that the remaining White families tend to send their kids to Catholic school? This is the sort of "on-the-ground" information that makes the CD forums so helpful to people, especially ones who aren't from Long Island.
I guess I gave you my answer and you chose to ignore it. Nevermind.
You did a nice job with your reply except for the part where you lost your sense of humor...turned benign comments into an attack on catholic schools...and hijacked a thread... In any case, I think Sweatpants is spot on in his/her responses.
More context for the catholic school comments
*I have met five white families who send/sent their kids to catholic school in my 2-3 three block vicinity. Four are Chaminade and one is St. Mary's. I have met zero Buckley families and zero Yeshiva families.
*The sample size is low but Chaminade is batting ~80%. This excludes the family I bought my house from who sent their kids to Chaminade (they attended in the 70's so it is not "germane" to his conversation).
*All the Chaminade families I have met joke openly about how much pride they have in their school. This is a good thing by the way. My comment was not digging at Chaminade but rather teasing catholic school parents in a friendly way.
I will stand on my prior comments and have to agree to disagree about your statement.
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