Is it me or is Long Island starting to lose its luster? (Valley Stream: coops, tax rates)

[SilverBulletZ06]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

If 231 was completed the Deer Park Ave corridor would look completely different.

BTW, Here's info on the Sagtikos which may have some changes coming it's way.
Sagtikos State Parkway

One problem that the Island has is that it should have been growing these roads before population centers sprung up. Now it's mostly too late to respond to the changes in population.

Yep. They used the ill-concieved transportation methods on LI as a get-out-of-jail-free when someone wants to build a race track, but convienently skip it when someone proposes a indoor ski resort or wants to build another 400 home subdivision.

[Coney]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Moses steamrolled his projects through, abused eminent domain and disregarded the people. Moses was a study in hubris.

His Cross Bronx Expressway is one of the reasons (early on) given for the decline of the Bronx. His parkway designs were such as to keep buses of city people (specifically black people) from utilizing his parks. The beaches -- Robert Moses, Jones Beach and Jacob Riis were his 'whites only' playgrounds. His car-centric approach alienated the poor. His projects dislocated over 500,000 people, and he stands accused as the reason the Dodgers left Brooklyn. The Dodgers wanted to relocate to the area where the Nets project is now planned, but Moses had other ideas.

Granted he is behind Lincoln Center; but that was part of an 'Urban Renewal' -- who do you think was being displaced to create an arts playground for the wealthy?

Another thing to bear in mind was that Levitt had clauses that prevented anyone of color from buying within the original Levittown.

Given that LI is a rainbow of people and built out, would you really want two planners such as them, now?

[Crookhaven]

White flight? Suburbs lose young whites to cities - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100509/ap_on_re_us/us_changing_suburbs - broken link)

[mongoose65]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

LI is heavily populated b/c it's a damn good place to live and everyone wants to live here. Period.

This is EXACTLY the type of arrogance that keeps LI from improving. That "our **** don't stink" attitude while the landfill is overflowing in the background. Layers of bureaucrats who know how to play on that arrogance and fear of change and we pay top dollar for 0 progress!!

[mongoose65]

[quote=OvertaxedinMass;14078558]

Originally Posted by specialp

So it is not just that I want to go drink $30 drinks at 1Oak in the city (I don't!), it is that there is not much going on either for young families, or even people that are older and still want to be active. And if we keep providing no place for younger people and creative types to thrive, they are all going to leave. quote]

Really, nothing to do on Long Island. You mean there are no restaurants, parks, golf courses, bars, beaches, camp grounds....?

Lots of restaurants, if you love a 2 hour wait at the Outback. Lame little parks with few events although Tony Orlando DID overwhelm Massapequa last summer. Yay. Bars? Please. Cabaret licenses impossible to come by. Absolutely THE WORST original music scene in any area this populated. A shining sea of sports bars with the occasional mega-disco (that changes names and ownership every other year) thrown in. And beaches, well those are great two months out of the year and IF you are there before 7am to get parking and a place to sit and swim between the 2 green flags. Camp grounds?! Tou mean the parking area with the built in hibachi grill?! Oy yeah, you sold me. What a vivid cultural mecca we have.

Besides, who has time to do anything? We're all working 60 hrs a week to pay the $12k avergae taxes (on my $7000 Levitt cape) on our homes as addressed in an earlier post.

[boan]

Originally Posted by mongoose65

Lots of restaurants, if you love a 2 hour wait at the Outback. Lame little parks with few events although Tony Orlando DID overwhelm Massapequa last summer. Yay. Bars? Please. Cabaret licenses impossible to come by. Absolutely THE WORST original music scene in any area this populated. A shining sea of sports bars with the occasional mega-disco (that changes names and ownership every other year) thrown in. And beaches, well those are great two months out of the year and IF you are there before 7am to get parking and a place to sit and swim between the 2 green flags. Camp grounds?! Tou mean the parking area with the built in hibachi grill?! Oy yeah, you sold me. What a vivid cultural mecca we have.

Wait...lemme get this straight: you waited 2 hours for a table at the Outback (or any restaurant, for that matter)? That's just plain koo-koo. There is a vibrant original music scene in Brooklyn (it's not far, not hard to reach). NYC is the cultural mecca (again, pretty conveniently located). There is lots to do outdoors on LI. Agree about the bars: I doubt there is one without the requisite TV screens everywhere.

[MikeyKid]

Originally Posted by mongoose65

Lots of restaurants, if you love a 2 hour wait at the Outback. Lame little parks with few events although Tony Orlando DID overwhelm Massapequa last summer. Yay. Bars? Please. Cabaret licenses impossible to come by. Absolutely THE WORST original music scene in any area this populated. A shining sea of sports bars with the occasional mega-disco (that changes names and ownership every other year) thrown in. And beaches, well those are great two months out of the year and IF you are there before 7am to get parking and a place to sit and swim between the 2 green flags. Camp grounds?! Tou mean the parking area with the built in hibachi grill?! Oy yeah, you sold me. What a vivid cultural mecca we have.

Besides, who has time to do anything? We're all working 60 hrs a week to pay the $12k avergae taxes (on my $7000 Levitt cape) on our homes as addressed in an earlier post.

So true... it's kind of sad when you really think about how people just don't get it. You get less for more almost on a daily basis and the vaunted LI demographics are changing as we sit here writing this... How the blinders stay on as to what the future holds is amazing.

I guess you have to overlook these things and keep moving forward with the cards you've been dealt... you'd drive yourself crazy otherwise.

[mongoose65]

Originally Posted by boan

Wait...lemme get this straight: you waited 2 hours for a table at the Outback (or any restaurant, for that matter)? That's just plain koo-koo. There is a vibrant original music scene in Brooklyn (it's not far, not hard to reach). NYC is the cultural mecca (again, pretty conveniently located). There is lots to do outdoors on LI. Agree about the bars: I doubt there is one without the requisite TV screens everywhere.

Boan I appreciate your post and the friendly tone. You are correct, however proximity to Williamsburg is not what I meant. There are craigslist "debates" over the lameness of LI's original music scene, mostly "pros" who play in cover, tribute and wedding bands spouting about how unimportant "original" music is (sample quote: "The Beatles started as a cover band...nyahh nyahh nyahh").

It's the gentrification of Williamsburg, Hoboken, Jersey City, Dumbo, LIC that should set some examples of how to keep young people on Long Island and more importantly, how to attract and keep BUSINESSES on LI! Unfortunately, change is extremely hard to come by here. Fear, arrogance, Nimbyism make a gale politcal force to maintain the status quo, i.e. "cultural decline!"

[boan]

Originally Posted by mongoose65

Boan I appreciate your post and the friendly tone. You are correct, however proximity to Williamsburg is not what I meant. There are craigslist "debates" over the lameness of LI's original music scene, mostly "pros" who play in cover, tribute and wedding bands spouting about how unimportant "original" music is (sample quote: "The Beatles started as a cover band...nyahh nyahh nyahh").

It's the gentrification of Williamsburg, Hoboken, Jersey City, Dumbo, LIC that should set some examples of how to keep young people on Long Island and more importantly, how to attract and keep BUSINESSES on LI! Unfortunately, change is extremely hard to come by here. Fear, arrogance, Nimbyism make a gale politcal force to maintain the status quo, i.e. "cultural decline!"

Well, as people continue to get priced out of the gentrified areas (I used to live in the east village, can't afford it now), they are moving further east: W'burg to Bushwick, Ridgewood, etc...eventually there may be a hipster influx onto LI. Anyhoo, because the NYC original music scene is so close, there is little reason to try and start another scene on LI (imo). It's very hard to compete with televised sports.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by boan

Well, as people continue to get priced out of the gentrified areas (I used to live in the east village, can't afford it now), they are moving further east: W'burg to Bushwick, Ridgewood, etc...eventually there may be a hipster influx onto LI. Anyhoo, because the NYC original music scene is so close, there is little reason to try and start another scene on LI (imo). It's very hard to compete with televised sports.

I wonder if they will cross that NYC border en masse. Should be interesting. I know some apartment buildings and coops are seriously upgrading the interiors, etc., and trying to attract them to Valley Stream with the lower cost modern apartment and "close commute." (And I know a few young city transplants who have taken them up on it too and say they are happy here.)

But, for what it's worth, hipsters have reached the St. George area of Staten Island and Staten Island has a worse "republican bourgeois" reputation than LI does. So, could be.