south huntington or greenlawn? (Elwood, Cold Spring Harbor: houses, neighborhood, to buy)

[3boysunder6]

My husband and I have recently sold our home and are looking at two houses on the market. One is in greenlawn, in the college section. The other is in the point of woods section in south huntington. The house in south huntington is much nicer, but the school district is not as reputable. What do people think of Walt Whitman HS? Also, can anyone tell me about the college section of greenlawn (just south of Pulaski)?

[Elke Mariotti]

If you're looking at the Point of Woods ranches, there are a couple on the market in the Elwood SD on a nice, quiet street...

[TomMoser]

Personally, I would go with S. Huntington, although the college section of Greenlawn is also nice.

[Walter Greenspan]

3boysunder6, 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.

[3boysunder6]

Thanks. The house in point of woods is definitely in the south huntington school district. Would that sway any one's decision?

[twingles]

I wouldn't be swayed by the school district so much. You're really talking about comparing apples and applesfor the most part when you're talking about LI school districts. My nephew was going to go to Whitman before they moved away and she was fine with it and she's a teacher (he was going into 9th grade when they moved).

Also - if your kids are all really under 6, a lot can change. Plus not to scare you but there are things you never hear about until your kids are actually in the school and no one is going to tell you about them because they don't want it to affect re-sale. I know of one VERY highly rated school district on LI where there is a small but growing heroin problem at the HS. It's becoming quite serious but no one, not even the HS parents, will acknowledge or talk about it.

I have a friend who lives in the college section of Greenlawn. Very nice area. She's lived there for 15 years and wouldn't consider moving.

[procfreq]

We're looking to buy in the college section of Greenlawn too. I love that neighborhood. I have 2 boys under 5. FWIW, we've essentially crossed S. Huntington off our list due to schools--not b/c there's really anything wrong with them, per se (because I think ALL of the systems around here are great), but we'd just rather stay in SD6 if we can. Greenlawn is also just a little more centrally located and closer to the beach! Good luck!

[PizzaPedro]

If you have kids in school, Harborfields and S. Huntington aren't remotely on the same level, and this is coming from someone that has lived in both districts. In the local area, S. Huntington is universally considered the worst district and Harborfields is considered the best with the exceptions of Half Hollow Hills (basically a push) and Cold Spring Harbor (completely different economic base.) If you have kids going to public school, go for Greenlawn and don't think twice.

[3boysunder6]

Thanks for the responses. I would prefer to be in Harborfields but the house needs alot of work. The house in South Huntington is in beautiful condition, on a beautiful piece of property, BUT I recently learned, backs up to St. Anthony's HS. I have concerns about the noise level, athletic fields, etc. My husband really wants the south huntington house. Any thoughts about living next to a high school? My realtor thinks this house in south huntington is a good deal, but I don't know......

[PizzaPedro]

FYI, according to School Digger, S. Huntington SD is ranked 2 stars out of 5 and is ranked 387th in the state. Harborfields is ranked 5 stars out of 5 and 36th in the entire state. I'd rather do the work on the house.