Does any town fit the bill? (Hempstead, Huntington: rentals, condo, houses)

[ceskykrumlov]

Hi everyone, I am new to this board...my husband and I and our 2 children (ages 6 & 1) currently live in Queens and are looking to move out. We have been seriously considering Westchester but are afraid his commute might be too stressful. He works in Port Washington--but is firmly against moving there. We'd be fine within a 30-45 minute commute from there. Are there any other LI towns that might fit what we are looking for? We will be renting (either a house or apt/condo). Here are our basic criteria:

1. Great schools. We are less interested in test scores and more interested in a nurturing, safe enviorment where the arts are incorporated more into the curriculum and children are not just evaluated as readers/writers/test takers. The school my daughter is in now (in Qns.) is too rigid and militaristic for us, and it's been a tough year. But she is doing fine academically.

2. Walkability--we only have 1 car and would love to be able to keep it that way. We would very much like to be able to walk to a coffee shop, a few restaurants/pubs, a park, a farmers market, and the LIRR.

3. Sense of community--people where we live now are pretty detatched and uptight, & we would love to be in a generally liberal community where people are relaxed and care about their environment, and have some sense of civic responsibility..We have so far shied away from LI because of its stigma as materialistic, somewhat conservative, manicured lawn-loving etc. But we may be biased and don't want to pre-judge...are there any towns that are not like that, on the whole? As an example, a town like Nyack seems to be what we are looking for.

5. Proximity to hikes/nature walks is a big plus.

Thank you for anyone willing to offer their advice...I really appreciate it.

[Jrprofess]

Not having been born and raised on the island and having moved here from the city in 99/2000 I think I get where you are going regarding your cultural preferences and community preference. I am scratching my head though on a community that would overall be considered similar to a Nyack... I am certain there are communities that have many pockets similar to that type of environment, but a Nyack-esque community with the other items you mentioned such as walkability and the school considerations escapes me. Long Island is a tough place to find the walking thing as well, especially the further east and north/south you go. The only places that pop to mind that might be that convenient are just across the Queens borders, such as Great Neck. My other thought was to look into some of the eastern town communities surrounding say Stony Brook University, but that would be too far for a commute and the one car thing would be quite a challenge. It would get you closer to the nature feel you seek. The one thing you will most likely find in most LI communities is a sense of community pride. Whether or not it manifests itself in a way that you prefer is another story...maybe look into Garden City as well, or Greenlawn Village. By the way, I have little sense of the rental options and costs in these communities mentioned, as most of them are expensive. Rockville Centre could be another option. Great town to walk aroud in and strong schools.

Best of luck to you....hopefully others have some better insight.

[jasonsdaddy]

Just moved to Rockville Centre and we LOVE it here. Very walkable littlw downtown area with the most restaurants per capita or sq mi (not sure); great schools, right next to Hempstead Lake State Park... Not to over-generalize, but we chose it over some other towns for the 'people factor' - the more time we spent there, the more we felt at ease with the non-snobby feel of the town. Our first month+ and I am still just *amazed* at the people we keep encountering... not sure of the price point, but could be worth checking it out if it's not too far south as I consider it generally comparable in cost to Port Washington.

[AlexisT]

Originally Posted by ceskykrumlov

3. Sense of community--people where we live now are pretty detatched and uptight, & we would love to be in a generally liberal community where people are relaxed and care about their environment, and have some sense of civic responsibility..We have so far shied away from LI because of its stigma as materialistic, somewhat conservative, manicured lawn-loving etc. But we may be biased and don't want to pre-judge...are there any towns that are not like that, on the whole? As an example, a town like Nyack seems to be what we are looking for.

I think you've got a bad impression of LI. Manicured, yes. People are very house proud. But the flip side of this is that they are also proud of their communities and active in them.

Conservative? Only by NYC standards! Yes, LI voted Republican up till the '90s, but this is not Bush style conservative Republicanism. People happily (maybe not entirely happily, but they reject the alternatives) pay high taxes for very high levels of services. There is a somewhat conservative, cops-and-teachers, family oriented element, but it isn't as intolerant as you might think. Huntington has a gay pride parade. Maybe in the 21st century LIers will even start calming down over race in the public schools (one of the nastiest things there, IMO, and I went to one of the few integrated high schools).

Materialistic: let's be realistic, materialism is rampant all through the NY burbs. God knows you'll find ten tons of it in Westchester--I can't say that the people I know from there are any better in that respect.

I do think you'll have to compromise a little: you're either going to have nature and open spaces, or walkability. The latter is found only in fairly small pockets, and in some cases you have a fair bit of things within walking distance but not everything (for example, Huntington village has a lot of stuff you can walk to, but the LIRR station isn't really one of them). Plus, if your husband is working in Port Washington, he'll want to drive, and you'll probably find that you want a car to get around with 2 small children during the day.

[PizzaPedro]

I agree with the Huntington area. Just check on the school district when you look at houses, you want to be in Cold Spring Harbor or Harborfields.

[ceskykrumlov]

Thanks everyone--

We will def. check out Rockville Ctr. It sounds great! Thanks jasonsdaddy and jrprofess for the tips.

And Alexis, I didn't mean to come off that way...thanks for setting me straight on LI, I am completely aware of the materialism elsewhere, too! Gotta say I do have a not-so-great impression of LI and I am trying to get past that. I know it is not fair to judge a whole region in any blanket terms.

I just am looking for a place where my kids can go to a great school and yet not be around lots of other kids who drive these huge expensive SUVs when they are 16. I know there is bound to be some of that out there but that is why we, say, ruled out Scarsedale and Rye.

Not having to get around with a car with 2 small children is a priority. I do not want to have to get in/out/in/out/in/out with them for every little excursion. Not my cup of tea, that's all. So am looking for a community where we can walk to the library, park, coffee shop, bakery, etc.

We have been to Huntington a few times and it is lively and fun, but never really thought of it as a place to settle. How would the commute be to Port Wash? And if we lived in Huntington Village in the Cold Sp. Harbor or Harborfields SD would we be able to walk places?

Interesting how you all mentioned that people have a real sense of community. That is really wonderful, and something that I feel is really lacking in our disconnected neighborhood we live in now.

[PizzaPedro]

If you live in Cold Spring harbor or Harborfields school districts it's going to be a hike to Huntington village. Both Cold Spring Harbor and Greenlawn both have nice little towns where you can walk to the park or library or get pizza or whatever and you're still close to Huntington Village.

[ceskykrumlov]

Thanks, pizzapedro! Are there regularly rentals available in either Greenlawn or Cold Spring Harbor?

[Jennifer06]

Originally Posted by ceskykrumlov

Thanks, pizzapedro! Are there regularly rentals available in either Greenlawn or Cold Spring Harbor?

From what you described, you might not care for the feel of these towns -- they might be too "suburban" for you. Huntington Village, though, is an area that better fits your description. You may have to decide between school district and the dowtown Huntington feel. But, looking over the Huntington Schools website, I see lots of arts. I know people trash this district a lot, but I was very pleased with their arts curricula (as well as their lunch menu - healthy stuff!)

You might have trouble with only one car anywhere on LI, though. It is a driving culture.

Also check out Northport. But, you're getting father away from Port Washington now.

I swear, I think I wrote the exact same post you did when I first joined this bulletin board, only I described what I was looking for as "Park Slope meets Amagansett in Greenwich Village."

I think your feel for LI is fair, from the less-than-others-here that I know. Huntington is more liberal than other areas, but honestly even there I see the big cars and fur coats. I think I might get flamed for that, but for me coming from the East End by way of the city, wearing no make-up, long skirts and sandals...you know, most of LI just isn't that way.

What I did: Learn to love the Manicured Lawn

[PizzaPedro]

Originally Posted by ceskykrumlov

Thanks, pizzapedro! Are there regularly rentals available in either Greenlawn or Cold Spring Harbor?

Not so much. Definitely more available in Huntington.

Northport is another good idea. Good schools, cool town with a lot going on, very walkable.