Welcome to Long Island:All of the Traffic, None of the Infrastucture. (train, commute)
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Why? Why wouldnt you want Long island to remain beautiful and green. I am all for updated transportation along existing lines (I mean we pay enough taxes to have anything we want) Why cant we have better trains and better mass transit? why cant we have better highways and incentive programs for people to drive together instead of by themselves... the answer is we do. Nobody cares! everyone wants to drive there hummer to dairybarn. thats just the way it is...
This is true. Your average Islander doesn't care about green. He or she cares about commute times, lots of roads (for their SUV which they drive by themselves to work...but you know they need it b/c they have a 2 ft tall toddler), and big box shopping/malls. That's it. It's pretty much a braindead, suburban, sanitized, paved over place. Not everyone wants that, of course. And that is more Nassau than Suffolk. But that is the majority opinion.
This is true. Your average Islander doesn't care about green. He or she cares about commute times, lots of roads (for their SUV which they drive by themselves to work...but you know they need it b/c they have a 2 ft tall toddler), and big box shopping/malls. That's it. It's pretty much a braindead, suburban, sanitized, paved over place. Not everyone wants that, of course. And that is more Nassau than Suffolk. But that is the majority opinion.
Actually, these days I would say it's more Suffolk than Nassau. I moved back to LI recently and I'm amazed at how much more diverse it is now.
And big box stores? Suffolk is really bad for that. Nassau's building style is much denser and there are more downtown areas.
I know the Ronkonkoma line is terrible for that, once you pass Farmingdale there isn't any stops in downtown areas. And I hate the waiting rooms on that line (except for Ronkonkoma).
The Babylon/Patchogue line is better as most of its stations are near or in downtowns.
Part of the reason why the south shore branch is my favorite, Merrick,Bellmore,Lynbrook,Rockville Centre, Massapequa Park, Babylon, Lindenhurst, are all walkable from downtown areas. No grade crossings either (west of Babylon). That line and area are some of the best planned areas on Long Island. That's why I've thought of moving down there if I have to leave Westbury.
I know the Ronkonkoma line is terrible for that, once you pass Farmingdale there isn't any stops in downtown areas. And I hate the waiting rooms on that line (except for Ronkonkoma).
The Babylon/Patchogue line is better as most of its stations are near or in downtowns.
Part of the reason why the south shore branch is my favorite, Merrick,Bellmore,Lynbrook,Rockville Centre, Massapequa Park, Babylon, Lindenhurst, are all walkable from downtown areas. No grade crossings either (west of Babylon). That line and area are some of the best planned areas on Long Island. That's why I've thought of moving down there if I have to leave Westbury.
Take Nassau over all of 98% of Jersey any day. When you start going away from the swamps around Giants stadium and the dump of newark, it gets more "scenic" but there is nothing around. At least many towns on Long Island have houses in blocks with a more neighborhood feel. Most of Jersey is built like an Arizona cookie cutter development. LI has more character.
White plains has a bit of a sterile feel with the malls and its new ness, although not as bad as Stamford CT. However Mamaroneck Ave is a good time, and WP does a good job attracting companies, hence the insane cost of living. Westchester as a whole is done excellently for being old...for travel the sound shore has 95/Hutch/Post Road/New Haven Line, the River has Broadway/Saw Mill/87/Hudson Line and the middle of the county has the Sprain/Central Ave/Bronx River/Harlem Line, and go cross county at 2 points, less than 10 miles apart from each other. Every town in lower westchester is convenient to these options. Lower Westchester has to be as crowded as Nassau and youll see main arteries traffic free during rush hour.
I think the key to good planning is having as few roads as possible that resemble NJ-17 with people switching 4 lanes of traffic to get off at various strip malls. Westchester only has 1 (Central Ave, and its nowhere near as bad) and thats why shopping is condensed to nearest downtown you live in or WP, and traffic generally moves well for old roads. Roads like 17 are the worst. Jersey sucks. So does 99.99% of the south & midwest.
But back to LI, LI needs more downtown building to alleviate congestion and provide more space. They need to consolidate work places and shopping into more downtown areas, and make more available housing around those work places, to take cars off the road going in random directions. For starters, they should bulldoze everything around the Coliseum and the mall there and build the light house complex, but make it like an actual city and not some cheesy suburban yuppie apartment compound. Im not a fan of the gentrification scene but LI needs to give the 20 and 30 somethings a place to congregate. You got a pro sports team, a university, and a mall with good stores all there. Bring high rise office/residential buildings in and run shuttles to the trains. Give people jobs, keep the kids on Long Island.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crookhaven
Apples to apples would be Northern NJ to Nassau.
Id take Nassau hands down.
I imagine it would be easier to commute to Philly from Old Bridge.
Totally different animal.
As for White Plains....they got it right.
I imagine we will se a few more "Cities" on Long Island over the next few decades.
When will we realize that we have transportation challenges that need addressing immediately?
If we wait to retrofit solutions on our kids dime.........it will be devastating both ecologically and economically.
When I lived on Long Island the bus was useless! (Suffolk County) It only went in 'unfriendly' areas and for court runs once you made the connection (you try walking several blocks with a little kid in tow!).
People TRY to run you down if you walk or take your bike *you must be scum not to own a car*.
Anyhow, that's the one thing I DO NOT miss about Long Island. Here everyone who walks is treated with dignity and the cars HAVE TO yield to you.
When I lived on Long Island the bus was useless! (Suffolk County) It only went in 'unfriendly' areas and for court runs once you made the connection (you try walking several blocks with a little kid in tow!).
People TRY to run you down if you walk or take your bike *you must be scum not to own a car*.
Anyhow, that's the one thing I DO NOT miss about Long Island. Here everyone who walks is treated with dignity and the cars HAVE TO yield to you.
The worst of it is that our Busses dont intersect with our Train schedules making it utterly useless to commute.
crooks
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