Is "White Flight" over on LI? (Hempstead, Smithtown: houses, neighborhoods)

[dman72]

Originally Posted by scottzilla

I think the term white flight refers to the exodus out of NYC to live in what was perceived to be a better area-LI.
I'm sure you can find examples of white folks leaving suburban areas but for the most part, I think it's an urban term.
Along these lines, I chuckle when I read real estate discussions here that advise against living in (And even living near) certain areas that are "bad". Gordon Heights, Homestead Village come to mind as recent discussions. I chuckle because everyone tip-toes around the fact that these areas are "Black". Nobody has the guts to say "Don't live there because it's a black neighborhood".

I was one of the people who pointed out Homestead Village. It is what it is. I would never tell someone not to live somewhere because there are black people there. It's simply a bad place to live. I have friends living in areas of Virginia that are near 50% African American but I wouldn't discourage someone from living there. I also would never tell anyone I know to move next to a NYC housing project, which happen to be populated by mostly African Americans. It is..what it is.

[TeamExit]

way way back, brentwood AKA Modern Times use to be "the place to be". not so much anymore though lol.

the thing is, as racist as it is, the old saying of once a black/colored(hispanic, etc) family moves in, "there goes the neighborhood" comes so true in many parts of LI. as diverse as long island is, its still very racist, and its plainly obvious by reading this board. Nobody "white" wants to live around any place that not 80%+ "white", nor recommend any of those areas. you are just as likely to get your GPS stolen out of ur car in front of your house in beautful Smithtown as you are in "shady" brentwood or CI. how about this, stop making yourself vulnerable to crime, and it will be less likley to happen to you...

[jpg71]

Originally Posted by TeamExit

way way back, brentwood AKA Modern Times use to be "the place to be". not so much anymore though lol.

the thing is, as racist as it is, the old saying of once a black/colored(hispanic, etc) family moves in, "there goes the neighborhood" comes so true in many parts of LI. as diverse as long island is, its still very racist, and its plainly obvious by reading this board. Nobody "white" wants to live around any place that not 80%+ "white", nor recommend any of those areas. you are just as likely to get your GPS stolen out of ur car in front of your house in beautful Smithtown as you are in "shady" brentwood or CI. how about this, stop making yourself vulnerable to crime, and it will be less likley to happen to you...

I think Long Island is more financially segregated than racially. Nobody has a problem living next to the fortune 500 CEO who happens to be black. In other parts of the country, that would be a huge issue, regardless of the wealth involved.

[scottzilla]

Originally Posted by jpg71

I think Long Island is more financially segregated than racially. Nobody has a problem living next to the fortune 500 CEO who happens to be black. In other parts of the country, that would be a huge issue, regardless of the wealth involved.

I travel frequently for work and I noticed in the southern states, blacks and whites live in the same neighborhoods unlike here in the north, where we live mostly seperate lives.
Southerners are tagged with the "Racist" and "Redneck" label, thus I think it's ironic that we segregate more than they do.

[jpg71]

Originally Posted by scottzilla

I travel frequently for work and I noticed in the southern states, blacks and whites live in the same neighborhoods unlike here in the north, where we live mostly seperate lives.
Southerners are tagged with the "Racist" and "Redneck" label, thus I think it's ironic that we segregate more than they do.

This is true. In fact, it is fairly well documented that segregation is more prevalent in the North. A lot of it is reportedly attributed to blacks who migrated from the South into the North and settled in black communities together.

[TeamExit]

Originally Posted by jpg71

This is true. In fact, it is fairly well documented that segregation is more prevalent in the North. A lot of it is reportedly attributed to blacks who migrated from the South into the North and settled in black communities together.

this is what happens.. a place like brentwood gets labeled as a black/hispanic town, so whites stay away and the blacks/hispanics are drawn to it... which just leads to even more segregation

[AlexisT]

And, because LI is known to be segregated, and the black communities have poor school districts, middle class black families don't come to Long Island. They stay in the city or move down South.

[napjester666]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

And, because LI is known to be segregated, and the black communities have poor school districts, middle class black families don't come to Long Island. They stay in the city or move down South.

Today, you have to be middle-class (regardless or race) to be able to afford to move here anyway!

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

Well I believe in the 50's Hempstead was the "the place" to be! It had a ton of businesses and it was a great town. My father grew up there in the late 40's through the 70's...it has changed drastically since then. I mean, Hempstead has got to be one of LI's worst towns!

I grew up in Levittown in the 1950s and used to regularly travel to Hempstead with my mom all through childhood (on the bus, too, because she never learned to drive!).... and can personally vouch for the fact that all during the 1950s and even into the early 1960s it was a lovely town. We'd get off the bus at the Hempstead bus station, stroll through town stopping into dress shops and coffee shops on our way to the A&S and Arnold Constable stores at the other end. Our dentist was located just where Hempstead met up with the east end of Garden City and since I had braces we were there often!

One of my first few jobs after highschool was working at Ford Motor Credit Company which was located in Hempstead about a block from the bus station. This was in the early 1970s and by that time Hempstead had begun to change noticeably. There were crime incidents of ALL types at the bus station and it became office policy that no female was to go there alone but only with at least one buddy, either male or female, after several were accosted either verbally or physically there. Unfortunately the only place within a few minutes walk where you could buy coffee, rolls, danish, etc was inside the bus station (FMCC did not have a cafeteria or even coffee machines inside -- which may come as a shock to today's working young people!). By the time I left it had become standard for only male employees to make the "coffee break runs" into the station area.

By the late 1970s Hempstead was no longer a place where a young white mother and child could feel 100% comfortable strolling from one end of town to the other.

[nancy thereader]

In the early sixties, we kids used to love to go to Hempstead Village on the bus from Roslyn on Friday nights because there were actually stores that were OPEN. John's Bargain Stores and Woolworths. What could be cooler?