All "north shore" towns in upper 400k to low 500k range w/good nyc commute? (Oyster Bay: place to live, restaurants)

[Walter Greenspan]

gwenrn, in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...-glossary.html and http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...you-think.html may help you understand the great geographic confusions caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones.

When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP or Census Designated Place is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)

And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.

[Port North]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

In WHAT neighborhood of Port Washington? I'll bet where the illegal aliens and gangbangers are doubled and tripled and quadrupled up. Would you recommend spending a half a million or more on a house there? As I said above in post #4, there are some undesirable areas of Port Washington.

Excuse me, but I LIVE right near one of those 450K houses and there are no gangbangers on my street and no it is not all illegal immigrants, most people are middle class to upper middle class White or Asians. A few of those houses in the immediate vicinity of Harbor Road have some stectchy neighbors, but Avenue C is not ghetto at all. Prices are lower there because its a cut through street. A few of those 450K houses are two doors down from 700-800K houses. Know the area first before you post such ignorant comments!

Even Manorhaven isn't all bad, there are some good deals to be had there too!

Most of the problems Port had years back seem to have dissappeared, don't think twice about moving here.

[Port North]

Originally Posted by paulyc44

Port Washington is an amazing area. No area is really "bad." In fact if there are questionable areas they are the equiv of bad pizza - still pretty good.

Wherever you go there will be illegals. This is America.

There are only a few places that are a little sketchy: Harbor Road and the streets immediately adjacent Harbor Homes, Avenue A can be a little sketchy(getting better though), some streets in Manorhaven (Firwood Ave seems to have a lot of problems and alot of illegals seem to hang out on Manorhaven Blvd but this has dimishished since NCPD has cracked down on loitering.) Otherwise I would not hesitate living anywhere else in Port even on streets immediately adjacent to these sketchy streets. Port is a decent place and I'm tired of people trashing it!

[paulyc44]

Originally Posted by Port North

Excuse me, but I LIVE right near one of those 450K houses and there are no gangbangers on my street and no it is not all illegal immigrants, most people are middle class to upper middle class White or Asians. A few of those houses in the immediate vicinity of Harbor Road have some stectchy neighbors, but Avenue C is not ghetto at all. Prices are lower there because its a cut through street. A few of those 450K houses are two doors down from 700-800K houses. Know the area first before you post such ignorant comments!

Even Manorhaven isn't all bad, there are some good deals to be had there too!

Most of the problems Port had years back seem to have dissappeared, don't think twice about moving here.

Thank you for the clarification. It sucks that I have to be discouraged by people that post on this forum without first hand knowledge of the area especially when you're a prospective first time home buyer like myself who wants to live in Port. I plan on renting starting May 2011 for a year and then snatching up a starter home in the 450K range. I have been browsing homes in the area online and it seems that this will be doable. I also agree home prices will continue to fall and when I am ready to buy in May of 2012 it'll be just right for me coincidentally when the market is somewhere in the bottom of the trench - whether its on its way out or not doesn't matter. It's when it will be right for me.

[WJFM]

There is a "East Williston" train station near Willston Park ( part of Roslyn-Mineola-Penn line).. just one station from Mineola ( and one before Albertson). http://www.mta.info/lirr/html/lirrmap.htm

Originally Posted by AlexisT

The problem is the "North Shore" part. There are 2 train lines serving the North Shore proper: Port Washington and Oyster Bay. The Port branch is expensive, and the Oyster Bay branch has appalling service. If you went to other parts of Nassau, you could definitely get something that meets the commute and budget.

Williston Park is nice, especially with Herricks schools, but it's not 5 minutes from the train.

Jericho is out with that budget. Plainview and Syosset are in, and I would call Syosset North Shore. The commute is about 50 mins to Penn, plus travel time to the station.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by WJFM

There is a "East Williston" train station near Willston Park ...

The LIRR train station is named East Williston because it's in the Village of East Williston.

East Williston is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the village name in their mailing address: all places in the Village of East Williston have a "Williston Park, NY 11596" mailing address.

[AlexisT]

WJFM, that's the Oyster Bay branch. Not a lot of trains, unreliable service, change at Jamaica. In theory, commutable from East Williston (not commutable past Sea Cliff); in practice, not so much. From Williston Park, you'd be better off driving to Mineola, though I don't know about parking there.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

WJFM, that's the Oyster Bay branch. Not a lot of trains, unreliable service, change at Jamaica. In theory, commutable from East Williston (not commutable past Sea Cliff); in practice, not so much. From Williston Park, you'd be better off driving to Mineola, though I don't know about parking there.

I think service from the East Williston station is pretty good, that's what I've heard at least. Unlike every other Oyster Bay Branch station, the tracks are electrified....that probably has something to do with it. I checked the LIRR website, most trains transfer at Jamaica but there is a 6:25 and 7:26 one seat train to Penn. 40-50 minutes average time, with or without transfers.

I'm not sure what the parking situation is like either, although looking at a map - EW station is geographically much closer than Mineola...and it'd definitely be possible to walk to the station from certain parts of Williston Park. I have seen people doing this while stuck at the RR crossing on Hillside Avenue.

Regarding Port Washington, I was just up in Manorhaven/Manhasset Isle a lot over the last few weeks and I have no idea why this area gets a bad rep. It isn't Beacon Hill or Sands Point, but it's still nicer than like 90% of LI, IMHO.

N.Y. Times - Living In: Manorhaven, LI

Has anyone suggested Roslyn Heights? Landlocked, but it's distinctly "North Shore". 14 results under $550k on MLSLI.com, some very nice options.

[ShellieF]

Have you looked into Glen Head? There are about half dozen homes on mlsli that are under $ 500K. We have friends and family in the area.

North Shore schools are highly regarded, taxes in the area are relatively reasonable due to the Glenwood power plant. Town has a real sense of community...many friends grew up there then bought homes and are raising families of their own now.

I wouldn't commute to NYC via GH train...Manhasset station is a short ride away and much, much quicker...skips Jamaica altogether.

Only real negative I can think of is that traffic/congestion on Northern Blvd./GC Road can be killer...

hth...

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Has anyone suggested Roslyn Heights? Landlocked, but it's distinctly "North Shore". 14 results under $550k on MLSLI.com, some very nice options.

Roslyn Heights can be confusing because the hamlet is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where many of the places (about 1 out of every 2 places) with a "Roslyn Heights, NY 11577" mailing address (1,704 acres) are not in Roslyn Heights (944 acres).


For those who may not be familiar with Roslyn Heights:

Roslyn Heights is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the center part of the Town of North Hempstead, in the west-central part of Nassau County.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Roslyn Heights in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Roslyn Estates, the Village of Roslyn and the Village of East Hills; on the east by the Village of East Hills and the Village of Old Westbury; on the south by the Village of Mineola and the Village of East Williston; and, on the west by the Village of East Williston, the Hamlet of Albertson, the Hamlet of Searingtown and the Village of North Hills.





Roslyn Heights is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where many of the places (about 1 out of every 2 places) with the community name in their mailing address are not in the hamlet: places with a "Roslyn Heights, NY 11577" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Roslyn Heights are in the Hamlet of Albertson, the Village of North Hills and the Village of East Hills; and, at the same time, there are places in the Hamlet of Roslyn Heights that have an "Albertson, NY 11507" and "Williston Park, NY 11596" mailing address.


For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County): http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html