Do you think the exodus from LI accelerating now that we are in an economic downturn? (Islip: apartment, insurance)

[ClarkStreetKid]

Originally Posted by TomMoser

This is true. My brother recently moved to Delaware and he told me that it reminds him of "Long Island twenty years ago". I wonder if, in twenty years, it will be like Long Island today?

Could be, Tom. I moved down here and the place reminded me of Long Island; farms, fields, woods and some suburbs. These days it's all built up with traffic in places that an Islander would recognize, though the country is still only 5 minutes away by car from my front door.

You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye. Eagles, The Last Resort.

[Kbinspections]

Originally Posted by LauraC

But here's the problem. You (not you personally) go to those cheaper states and their taxes wind up going up to support you. You are used to having things. You go to a place where the culture is a little different than yours and you still want things you had on Long Island not the stuff that's in the new state. The towns have to add more police and more fire and widen the roads to accommodate additional population growth. Then you want more stores and restaurant choices. They have to build new schools to accommodate your kids. Pretty soon the new place is just as traffic congested and expensive as the place you left.

Excellent post!

[ClarkStreetKid]

But it may not be that way for awhile. Even though where I live now looks a lot like the Island did population/traffic wise back in the early 80's, I still had a lot of years of very low taxes, good bang for the buck housing combined with an excellent salary. All that added up to a nice nest egg, college cash for the kids and investments; all things that I doubt I would have had staying on the Island.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

But it may not be that way for awhile. Even though where I live now looks a lot like the Island did population/traffic wise back in the early 80's, I still had a lot of years of very low taxes, good bang for the buck housing combined with an excellent salary. All that added up to a nice nest egg, college cash for the kids and investments; all things that I doubt I would have had staying on the Island.

Where are you now?

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by TristansMommy

But therein lies the problem.. if you are not getting away from LI for a change of lifestlye then you re moving for the wrong reasons.

IMO, not true. Many people are moving, or want to move, away from LI for purely economic reasons. It's simply getting too difficult for them financially to pay $8000+ a year for taxes, or to afford to buy your average $400,000 - $500,000 house. They have no problem with the "lifestyle": They like having a huge range of retail and restaurant and doctor and hospital and recreational choices close by. They like our moderate, rarely-any-extremes climate. They like being close to a major city and airports. They like having high-speed broadband, and public water, and (in many cases) sewers instead of cesspools. And they like having good schools, especially compared to places like Florida.

IMO the tax rate and the house price are not "lifestyle" items. They are economic items. Our tax rate is largely determined by our schools; that is not a "lifestyle". And if the same exact house costs $500K here but $200K in Upper Toadspittle, WhateverState, the "lifestyle" of living in that house is the same in both locations; it's the local market that has determined its price.

And so if their tax bill and/or the house prices were lower, those people would NOT be talking about relocating from Long Island. But for many it simply comes down to income versus Property Tax and/or House Price outgo. IMO, most other things on LI are really not more expensive than you'd find the same item priced at in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Can you think of any consumer goods that are pricier on LI than elsewhere? We're not Hawaii, after all....

IMO it's unfair to say that people who are relocating from LI for purely economic reasons is "wrong". It's just as valid a reason for them as for those who can afford the taxes and house prices to decide to move because they don't like the traffic, or all the malls, or because they want 2 or 5 or more acres of land rather than 1/4 or 1/3.

A case can be made that no area can have all of the conveniences that Long Island does without also having home prices and property taxes (in order to support all those amenities) that are also significantly higher than the norm. One can't have one's cake and eat it too.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Originally Posted by dman72

Where are you now?

20+ miles west of Richmond VA. close to a place called Short Pump.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page you'll see what was right by my house. Most of these old places were around my neighborhood.
Nuckols Farmhouse Demolished 2004
Lost Structures | Downtown Short Pump


The main drag of Short Pump when I first came down looked something like this.
The Story Of Short Pump | Downtown Short Pump

and has now been replaced with this, a Wal-Mart, upscale car dealerships, etc
Welcome to Short Pump Town Center

[dman72]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

20+ miles west of Richmond VA. close to a place called Short Pump.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page you'll see what was right by my house. Most of these old places were around my neighborhood.
Nuckols Farmhouse Demolished 2004
Lost Structures | Downtown Short Pump


The main drag of Short Pump when I first came down looked something like this.
The Story Of Short Pump | Downtown Short Pump

and has now been replaced with this, a Wal-Mart, upscale car dealerships, etc
Welcome to Short Pump Town Center

I have a friend who left LI about 4 years ago and moved to Chesterfield County. Bought a 5 bedroom house for $199K, sold it for 250K 2 years later, bought a ginormous place for 350K or something.

My wife and I looked at houses there. If she wasn't a tenured high school teacher here, we'd be OUT!! My father has tried to convince me to move to florida for 10 years. It's ugly. That area of Virginia you live in is beautiful.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Sure is, but it has built up quite a lot. I live in the West End of Henrico County and we're a bit pricier than Chesterfield but both places are nice. Hanover County is now up and coming though still quite rural. VA is a great alternative to NC in my opinion.

[arangoa79]

You can get so much more for your money in other places. Mine and my wifes salary stayed the same from the move from LI to Madison, WI. Though our mortgage payment went down by 48% and we got a new construction which is larger and better then our LI home. Oh and our taxes are only 3K a year.

[nancy thereader]

Ya gotta love a town with that name....Short Pump.