New Hyde Park vs. Williston Park (Union, Elmont: real estate, houses, neighborhood)

[gmann425]

I live in Queens now and am looking to buy a house in Long Island. I've narrowed down the choices between New Hyde Park in the Great Neck school district and Williston Park in the Herricks school district. I like 2 houses now - one in each district with the NHP house asking $100k more (the Williston Park house's taxes are about $1.5k more).

My top criteria are: Great schools (I have a toddler and a baby on the way), Commute to Penn Station (My husband and I both work in the city) and overall quality of the neighborhood (noise, crime, etc.)

So my question is, what should I choose? Should I pay the extra $$ for the Great Neck schools and shorter ccommute (the NHP station has several express trains and East Williston station has only 1 or 2) and have a higher financial burden? Is it worth it?

Thanks for your advice.

[Walter Greenspan]

gmann425, in both cases, the houses you are looking at are probably not in the community whose name is in those houses' mailing addresses.

Places that have a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address (3,339 acres) that are not in the Village of New Hyde Park (531 acres) are in the Village of Lake Success, the Hamlet of Manhasset, the Village of North Hills, the Hamlet of Manhasset Hills, the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park, the Hamlet of Herricks, the Hamlet of Garden City Park and the Village of Garden City.

Places that have a "Williston Park, NY 11596" mailing address (933 acres) that are not in the Village of Williston Park (390 acres) are in the Village of East Williston, the Hamlet of Roslyn Heights and the Village of Mineola.

You can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) a 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.

[HomeFinder15]

Why not New Hyde Park with Herricks Schools (#9)? Might give you exactly what you want, as long as purchase price and taxes balance out.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by HomeFinder15

Why not New Hyde Park with Herricks Schools (#9)?

HomeFinder15, it does not appear that any part of the Village of New Hyde Park is in the Herricks Union Free School District; but, it does appear that the parts of the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park, the Hamlet of Garden City Park, the Hamlet of Herricks and the Hamlet of Manhasset Hills that have a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address are in the Herricks Union Free School District. Don't you agree?

[kew2006]

What are you looking for in a community? Have you thought about Floral Park? As close or closer to NHP station than many parts of NHP. FP or Bellerose are also a quick train to Penn. Good schools. The HS was awarded a Silver Medal by Newsweek. I live there and we are within walking distance to NHP, Stewart Manor or Floral Park stations. Gives us lots of options. Of course, depending on where you are in NHP, Great Neck may be the closer station and that is a short ride to Penn which bypasses Jamaica. I would not do Williston Park because the commute would be a little rougher. I don't think the trains are as frequent. You'd probably find yourself going to Mineola station.

[WJFM]

Herricks and Great Neck are both Top-Tier school districts, you should do ok with both.

I think you mean Great Neck school district with NHP mailing address, probably not village of NHP. What about commuting TO the train station. There is a good chance you can walk to the East Williston station from Williston Park, but can you say the same thing about NHP train station.

Originally Posted by gmann425

I live in Queens now and am looking to buy a house in Long Island. I've narrowed down the choices between New Hyde Park in the Great Neck school district and Williston Park in the Herricks school district. I like 2 houses now - one in each district with the NHP house asking $100k more (the Williston Park house's taxes are about $1.5k more).

My top criteria are: Great schools (I have a toddler and a baby on the way), Commute to Penn Station (My husband and I both work in the city) and overall quality of the neighborhood (noise, crime, etc.)

So my question is, what should I choose? Should I pay the extra $$ for the Great Neck schools and shorter ccommute (the NHP station has several express trains and East Williston station has only 1 or 2) and have a higher financial burden? Is it worth it?

Thanks for your advice.

[Xplrr]

Also, if you don't mind a bit of a walk, or taking the bus, Mineola train station is only about 1 mile south of Williston Park and has much more frequent train service than East Williston. I live just north of Hillside Ave between Herricks & Willis and it's about a 20 minute walk for me. When I'm running late, the N22 runs east on Hillside, turns south on Willis and continues on to the Mineola train station.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by kew2006

Have you thought about Floral Park?

Just like New Hyde Park, where the postal zone is much larger than the village, the "Floral Park, NY 11001" ZIP Code postal zone is larger than the Village of Floral Park, and places that have a "Floral Park, NY 11001" mailing address (1,285 acres) that are not in the Village of Floral Park (903 acres) are in the Village of South Floral Park, the Village of Bellerose, the Hamlet of Bellerose Terrace, the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park and the Hamlet of Elmont.

Originally Posted by kew2006

Of course, depending on where you are in NHP, Great Neck may be the closer station and that is a short ride to Penn which bypasses Jamaica..

Actually, that would be parts of the Village of Lake Success, the Hamlet of Manhasset Hills, the Village of North Hills and the Hamlet of Manhasset that have a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address that are closer to the LIRR Great Neck station (actually, the LIRR Great Neck station is in the Village of Great Neck Plaza, not in the Village of Great Neck), and not the Village of New Hyde Park itself.

[HomeFinder15]

Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan

HomeFinder15, it does not appear that any part of the Village of New Hyde Park is in the Herricks Union Free School District; but, it does appear that the parts of the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park, the Hamlet of Garden City Park, the Hamlet of Herricks and the Hamlet of Manhasset Hills that have a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address are in the Herricks Union Free School District. Don't you agree?

I had written a rather lengthy response to you Walter, but then decided it wasn't worth the time. My clients do not ask me to find them a home in a HAMLET; rather in a 'neighborhood', 'area', or even - dare I say it - a 'town'.
It is just what we ordinary folks (and even professionals) use to describe where we live. Nothing fancy. Nothing technical. It just 'is what it is'.
Don't YOU agree?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by HomeFinder15

I had written a rather lengthy response to you Walter, but then decided it wasn't worth the time. My clients do not ask me to find them a home in a HAMLET; rather in a 'neighborhood', 'area', or even - dare I say it - a 'town'.
It is just what we ordinary folks (and even professionals) use to describe where we live. Nothing fancy. Nothing technical. It just 'is what it is'.
Don't YOU agree?

No, I don't agree.

For a real estate professional, who by claiming to be a professional is supposed to understand the correct local geography, to let a client believe that a house with a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address that is not in the Village of New Hyde Park is in "New Hyde Park" is wrong, and could be considered fraud.

Houses with a "New Hyde Park, NY 11040" mailing address that are not in the Village of New Hyde Park must be somewhere, and that somewhere is not a generic "New Hyde Park".

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.