Help with Seaford, Bellmore vs Great Neck

[Transpl]

Originally Posted by boomvang

I'm surprised nobody suggested Babylon. It is one of the nicer towns on L.I. IMO. Schools are pretty good, and the downtown area is just as nice as Sayville. Great restaurants, easy access to the city via a one hour commute on express trains.Problems would include parking at the station, and you would have to look awhile to find a nice house in your price range.

I'm glad you asked. I just moved to Babylon and am wondering what I'm missing. So far I love the area, the pool is like a resort, the restaurants, beaches, etc. The home prices are in line with Merrick-Bellmore-Seaford-Sayville areas where we looked.

It seems Babylon gets skipped in the prefered South Shore town discussions quite often. Makes me wonder what others know that I do not...

[quikmove]

Originally Posted by Transpl

I'm glad you asked. I just moved to Babylon and am wondering what I'm missing. So far I love the area, the pool is like a resort, the restaurants, beaches, etc. The home prices are in line with Merrick-Bellmore-Seaford-Sayville areas where we looked.

It seems Babylon gets skipped in the prefered South Shore town discussions quite often. Makes me wonder what others know that I do not...

which of the babylons do you live in and what are your school districts? our realtor is looking into the area for us too.

[Author11]

Wantagh Woods, hands down, although Bellmore, Seaford, North Bellmore and Merrick are perfectly fine.

[quikmove]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

You are absolutely right, poor choice of adjectives on my part. However, when I think of "South" Bellmore, my mind is filled with images of absurdly proportioned stucco McMansions, five jet skis in the driveway and grown men driving Cadillac Escalades with 22" chrome wheels. It is undoubtedly an upper-middle class area in economic terms, however to me there appears to be a much more extreme display of that upper-middle class-ness as opposed to it's fairly conservative counterpart in Merrick.

Similarly, Bellmore/North Bellmore strike me as being home to the kinds of people and sights you would associate with traditional blue collar suburban LI, moreso than any of the surrounding areas. Just to be absolutely clear, because I'm sure at least one person will take that statement the wrong way, I think this is an extremely positive thing. Bellmore is my top pick out of all of these, I like it even better than where I grew up and live.



I don't think you'll find much snobbery in that entire stretch of the south shore (Merrick<->Sayville) at least I haven't experienced much in my entire time living here! The schools can be another story....I was very glad to go to high school in Levittown as opposed to Wantagh, because I knew some people from down there and I know that whole clique nonsense did exist somewhat. From what I know it wasn't like an MTV reality show or anything ridiculous, but I personally never had to deal with it at all in high school and liked it that way. If that's a big concern, I'd recommend taking a look at Lindenhurst too - and strongly recommend Bellmore/North Bellmore in the area that feeds into Mepham HS. Don't know enough about the social atmosphere of some of the other districts to say.

Keep us posted on how the search goes, from what you've said I think you're definitely picking the right area and will fit in just fine. It's a good time to get a feel for these places...lot's of people out and about, block parties, BBQs, kids hanging out all day.... Anything specific you want to know feel free to ask, I'll do my best to dig up some answers!

Seanx4, love to read your posts, they are so honest and informative. my husband went all over sayville, bayport and oakdale. they were having summerfest so of course it was a good time had by all. he went to look at houses, they were small and needed work (most of them), but he loved it there. said everyone was so friendly, neighbors, etc. walked the village during the fest and said it was great. block parties were going on, he was really happy and thought it was exactly where we belonged. now i am throwing a little monkey wrench in and hes going to look at babylon village area this weekend. from what i see from other forums, people generally like it. alittle concerned about the schools and the "creepy people" they keep speaking of lurking about (which I haven't heard any of that in SAyville) Just curious, but whats your take on that area and compared to Sayville area? I'm alittle afraid of Nassau, b/c their taxes seem so up in the air. They seem to raise them more often too (dont know this for a fact, its just hearsay) altho, i may have him look at Bellmore/North Bellmore like you suggested, the commute for him would be so much better.
Would love to hear your opinion and anyone elses on the subject. Thanks so much!!!

[Transpl]

Sorry quickmove, I missed your question from last week.

I just moved to Babylon Village, zoned for West Babylon schools. In the 45ish day we've lived here, 2 thumbs up. The commute to the city is easy, the neighborhood is great. My kids found a batch of friends almost immeditely. They all reside in my kitchen eating me out of house and home, but I'm ok with that.

The restaurants, lake argyle, etc. drew us to the area. Now as a resident, the village pool is what is most impressive. It really has to be seen, the pool is at the end of a peninsula, surrounded on 3 sides by open bay, sandy beach and playground. Ocean scene murals. Just stunning...

[SoCalDaveL]

Originally Posted by KENNY GUIDO

try MASSAPEQUA. its got the best school system in the country. many famous people came from this town like jerry seinfeld, the stray cats, the baldwin borthers......massapequa has potential.

I agree. Massapequa is on the Babylon line (LIRR) along with Seaford, Wantagh, etc. Its about a 45 minute ride into Penn Station. Famous people aside, Massapequa's schools are rated quite highly (I didn't go there, but lived in Massapequa w/ my wife and 3 kids before we moved to Cali a few years back).

Massapequa also has a nice "small town feel" with the number of fairs it runs throughout the year on Broadway and on Park Blvd, boasts a number of good Pizza shops, bagel stores and of course... ALL AMERICAN BURGER (mmmm).

Seaford may be slightly less expensive housing wise depending on where you're looking.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by quikmove

Seanx4, love to read your posts, they are so honest and informative. my husband went all over sayville, bayport and oakdale. they were having summerfest so of course it was a good time had by all. he went to look at houses, they were small and needed work (most of them), but he loved it there. said everyone was so friendly, neighbors, etc. walked the village during the fest and said it was great. block parties were going on, he was really happy and thought it was exactly where we belonged. now i am throwing a little monkey wrench in and hes going to look at babylon village area this weekend. from what i see from other forums, people generally like it. alittle concerned about the schools and the "creepy people" they keep speaking of lurking about (which I haven't heard any of that in SAyville) Just curious, but whats your take on that area and compared to Sayville area? I'm alittle afraid of Nassau, b/c their taxes seem so up in the air. They seem to raise them more often too (dont know this for a fact, its just hearsay) altho, i may have him look at Bellmore/North Bellmore like you suggested, the commute for him would be so much better.
Would love to hear your opinion and anyone elses on the subject. Thanks so much!!!

Village of Babylon is excellent, really a gorgeous area. If you (and your husband) liked Sayville, you'll no doubt like it quite a bit as well. It's got a similar charm to it with a lovely downtown and old time suburban feel. I don't know a ton about the school district, but I've never heard anything negative. It's widely regarded as one of the best in Suffolk County and consistently puts up impressive test scores. To tell you the truth, I didn't think there would be much in your price range but a quick look at MLSLI.com proved me wrong. Not as much selection as some other places, but certainly more than I figured. Babylon has roots as one of the more upscale resort communities and as such has several large Victorian homes and few newer tract housing developments, but there were some extremely nice choices when I looked quickly just now.

The reports of "creepy people" are confusing to me, not something I've ever heard. The only possible reason I can imagine for that comment is that Babylon is definitely a party town on the weekends. There are tons of bars near the train station, but they're all pretty classy (and expensive!) places. I take the train there out of Wantagh occasionally for a change of scenery and it's always a good time. Where did you hear this tidbit of information from?

North Babylon and West Babylon are also good places but much different from the Village of Babylon. They're more typical modern suburbs, nice but not as scenic. West Babylon is also a huge area and a few parts I always thought were a little run down looking, or just extremely bland. It's more like Lindenhurst while North Babylon has more in common with Deer Park. A lot like Nassau but a little less dense. Traditionally, these areas both had large Italian populations but don't have as strong of a connection anymore. The schools aren't thought of as highly as Babylon schools in either, but they are still good districts just more middle of the road. Out of these two, I like NB better. Belmont State Park and of course the
Kime Street Christmas House which I think everyone on Long Island has made the trek to see at least once!

You are absolutely correct about the taxes being lower in the Town of Babylon/Town of Islip, though not in every instance. You'll also tend to get more house for your money everywhere (except the Village of Babylon). The big tradeoff is added commuting time, but that said the Babylon LIRR station has by far the best service to Manhattan anywhere in Suffolk as well as the most trains. I think one of the morning express trains actually does the trip in just slightly over an hour. If you can live with being a little "further out" the other benefits and lower cost of living are definitely worth it. As much as I do love the areas of Nassau we've discussed, they don't have the same charming atmosphere as the Sayville and Babylon downtowns do. Bellmore comes the closest, but the "Bellmore Village" area is much smaller. I'd also take the Town of Babylon beaches over Jones Beach or Robert Moses any day.

If you're still searching by the end of September, I'd recommend swinging by the Bellmore Street Fair (Sept. 26-29) which draws a lot of people from the surrounding communities and will give you a very good feel for the kind of folks who could be your neighbors should you choose to live in the area. I know Wantagh, Merrick & Massapequa have their own smaller fairs too but I'm not sure when they are....I'll keep my eyes peeled for signs and let you know.