Roslyn, Roslyn Heights or Rockville Centre for African American family??? (Oceanside: real estate, house)

[WheretomoveinLI]

Hello everyone,

I am so happy to have found this forum. We are an African American family with two young kids and are considering moving to Long Island. We like Roslyn, Roslyn Heights and Rockville Centre...but prefer Roslyn Heights because the homes there are slightly cheaper. We don't know much about either town only that the schools are good in both and have some diversity. If you know either or both towns please give me some info, which do you think we will be best for us?

Thanks in advance!

[queens2ligirl]

Hi! lots of luck with your house search....i think all of the areas you mentioned are really very nice, I LOVE Rockville Centre....I think you should probably look at communities, like, I would tell anyone, that have a population that is similar to your situation.....median age, household income, ethnicity, etc., you can look on www.bestplacestolive.com...there (broken link) you will find all of this information PLUS school district information which is what my husband and I did before we moved to New Hyde Park in Nassau County...this town is very nice, good schools, and has diversity. As far as I know, the towns you mention are predominately white/jewish..that is roslyn and roslyn heights, I think may be more diverse. Rockville Centre, is basically, an irish american town, I dont know much about the population of people, but, the homes are beautiful...and the schools are good...a town that is close to Rockville Centre that looks really nice, but, I dont know much about it is Malverne. Whatever you decide, again, lots of luck, hope you and your family find what you are looking for and that you are all happy with the final outcome.

[WheretomoveinLI]

Originally Posted by queens2ligirl

Hi! lots of luck with your house search....i think all of the areas you mentioned are really very nice, I LOVE Rockville Centre....I think you should probably look at communities, like, I would tell anyone, that have a population that is similar to your situation.....median age, household income, ethnicity, etc., you can look on www.bestplacestolive.com...there you will find all of this information PLUS school district information which is what my husband and I did before we moved to New Hyde Park in Nassau County...this town is very nice, good schools, and has diversity. As far as I know, the towns you mention are predominately white/jewish..that is roslyn and roslyn heights, I think may be more diverse. Rockville Centre, is basically, an irish american town, I dont know much about the population of people, but, the homes are beautiful...and the schools are good...a town that is close to Rockville Centre that looks really nice, but, I dont know much about it is Malverne. Whatever you decide, again, lots of luck, hope you and your family find what you are looking for and that you are all happy with the final outcome.

Thanks a lot for the info. Malverne schools are not comparable to Rockville or Roslyn schools. We are looking for some diversity but not a segregated neighborhood so the amount of diversity that is currently in both places given the diversity of the US as a whole is sufficient for us, just curious if AAs will be more welcome in Roslyn versus Rockville Centre. Household income and median age in both places are fine for us. By the way, the website you mentioned is yet to be built, it is currently a parked website with commercial ads.

[queens2ligirl]

your welcome. i really was not clear in my response to you...in NO WAY was I comparing neighborhoods, even though, reading my response to you, it sounds that way, so my apologies. I think that the areas you mention where you want to live are wonderful, really good, solid areas to raise a family. I cannot believe that website is not "working"..I will check out the address again with my real estate agent....

[romy07]

Hi Wheretomove in LI

I can understand your concerns, being African-American myself. I hope this helps. My fiancee and I lived in Rockville Centre for over a year. Great town, one of the best in LI and you don't come across pretentious, nasty people. Great transportation (buses, lirr ect..) bars, shopping, coffee, you name it. But the town is VERY expensive to live in especially if you're purchasing a home. We lived in a relatives house which was paid for, so we didn't have to pay rent, just basic utilities. But there are 2 sides to Rockville - the one where the homes are more modest and the side where your reaaally see the wealth of the town. I lived on the modest end and there was a black family right across the street and a Jamaican family was our back neighbor. There is also a Jehovah's Witnesses Church so there were always lots of minorities in the area where I lived. I think Rockville has one of the best school districts. Only racial incident that took place was at Oceanside HS. The family across from me had a teenage daughter who was being called the N word and all kinds of other stuff, it was on the news. They lived right across from me, I was shocked. I have to go but I hope some of this helps and feel free to ask questions!

[Dedalus]

Originally Posted by romy07

Hi Wheretomove in LI

I The family across from me had a teenage daughter who was being called the N word and all kinds of other stuff, it was on the news. They lived right across from me, I was shocked. I have to go but I hope some of this helps and feel free to ask questions!

That's not surprising. My girlfriend's kid has a lot of friends, and I hear that kind of trash talk out of them all the time. It is quite pointless to try to talk sense to them. They've never been anywhere else, and they don't look like they want to.

I don't know Rockville Center. I might have a different opinion of Long Island if I did. But, from where I sit, I would not recommend that anyone move here. It's overpriced, overcrowded, and full of narrow minded, provincial people. I can't say that it's any more racist than the next place, but their tolerance for anyone who is not like them in any way is very low.

[NYtoVegas]

I have lived in Rockville Centre my whole life, I'm 22 now. Let me say this, it is a lovely town and I feel lucky to have grown up there. Now, I am probably moving away since I can't afford my own place and a dream of a house there is far fetched with the taxes and home prices being what they are, that's sad. It has the best bar and restaurant scene anywhere in the area, it's basically a mini NY city and ppl come to the bars from surrounding towns. it has good schools, churches and temples, a 35 min easy train ride to NYC, great little leagues parks, etc, the works. I have never encountered overt racism in my time here, I have seen very subtle anti-semetism since I am jewish, but more just jokes from friends, I dont think it's present. African American wise, to be honest, there aren't a lot of them. But, my neighbors are, the man is a physician and they have beautiful kids and nobody ever had a problem they were accepted as much as anyone. It is a predominantly white-irish town though especially in the central, older part, but I think they would be accepting, many just mind their own business in general though, I think you guys would be fine there it's a lovely town
Rosyln is upscale, expensive and kind of snotty, Rosyln Heights I dont know about, but Rockville Centre is a great choice and you'll love it. If prices too high you have Lynbrook, Malverne on the outskirts which arent bad towns just a notch below, and Oceanside as well. Good luck in your search, NY is great it just is hard to get by there anymore, but no place is like it w/food, culture, people, thats for damn sure, I will come back and visit RVC and Long Island often

[dullnboring]

I am not a resident of Rockville Centre, nor am I black, so take my advice with a grain of salt. One of my best friends lives in Rockville Centre and I have visited her and explored the town numerous times and find it to be an incredibly charming place. While the town is incredibly pricey and apparently has somewhat of an uppity reputation, I've always found the people there to be very down-to-earth and friendly. The town is only 4% black, but when I've gone there, I've seen plenty of black people out and around and seemingly at ease in the community. That's based on my own perception, and may seem like a bizarre thing to notice, but I've noticed in other towns on Long Island, there's tension so thick that you can just feel it, and from my perception, that is not the case in Rockville Centre. The black population may not be huge, but 4% is enough so that it's not a foreign sight where you'll be stared down or followed by the cops while driving home from work.

[WheretomoveinLI]

Thanks everyone for replying and for the great advice!!. Rockville Center sounds so much better, thanks for helping us make this important decision.

[KellyFG]

I agree w/ RVC being a better choice than Roslyn. The town of RVC has a very urban/city feel unlike most of LI. I have a good friend that lives in RVC & I visit regularly. I see people of all races, shopping, eating, walking around, working in town. I think it would be a good place to live.