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Old 11-13-2009, 10:05 PM
 
Location: Mile Post 17, NY
30 posts, read 58,300 times
Reputation: 52

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Hey, I've been occasionally reading threads here and I think a lot of you have some really great insight on things - so I figure I'll post the "big thing" that's been on my mind for nearly half a year now, and see what you guys think.

First off, I've lived in the Western Nassau area most of my life and loved growing up here in the 90s. The area I live (South Valley Stream) always had it's little share of problems, but nothing ever seemed out of the ordinary. This particular area is still just fine to me, but even very recently the Chinese take-out on the corner got robbed two times in the past few weeks, and everyone seems to gossip about the decline of the quality of life here. A lot of threads about Nassau seem to chime in on this disgustingly unfortunate trend. Now, I'm no saint myself... but I'm nearing the age where I'm ready to get married within the next two years and kind of "graduate" to that proper adult life, but do I want to stay here?

Obviously, this would be less of a pertinent question if money were as abundant as it were even two years ago. Living costs all around here are high - and I accept that if we get as much of what we pay in return. (Okay, maybe that was a really stupid way to put it, considering) I've lived on this street for a long time, and I really enjoy the neighborhood around here. We're on the border with Hewlett and are part of that school district, there's an amazing library close by, and I'm literally a five minute walk from the LIRR. I really don't want to move far from here, but my fiancée and I - just like any of you - aren't going to struggle to live here if the current trend continues.

Food for thought: In the past couple months we've visited friends who moved out to the inner-ring suburbs of Philly, as well as where my mom moved in Florida. I realize the grass is always greener, but it seemed so refreshing in these places. I could never live in FL, don't get me wrong. I could tell that area (Tampa Bay) was good for her. For what she sold her little ranch house here for, she has an immaculate town-house in a pretty nice area there on a lake, and enjoys the s l o w lifestyle and disgustingly warm weather. Our friends who moved out to Pennsylvania live in a similar area, but pay a little less for everything, and have a beautiful place.

Now, I really don't want to sound like a prick here, but it just seems like Nassau (especially western Nassau) is losing it's identity. What happened to the way things were not even a decade ago? Now first off, I'm all for healthy diversity and I enjoy it - I have and have always had friends of all colors and backgrounds, but there's a difference when you drive down a street (won't name any names...) that used to be pretty nice, and now it looks like a dump... and I'd accept that if there were 30 years of slow change, but this has happened shockingly quickly. It is also different when a neighborhood goes from either diverse or highly of one background that of another. I myself don't care about who I live around at all so long as the area is nice, but if I'm going to bear children, I want them to grow up like I did, with a healthy mix of people, and to feel safe in the future when they want to ride their bikes 20+ minutes somewhere, etc. I just don't know if this area is going to be like that in the future.

Again, these are just some "coming of age" questions I've thrown out.
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Old 11-14-2009, 02:21 AM
 
Location: Long Island (chief in S Farmingdale)
22,154 posts, read 19,397,646 times
Reputation: 5284
Well first off I think it is important to understand the differences between perception and reality. Fact of the matter is so much that will be covered is going to be the bad things that go on which leads to a perception that some things are quite common. However, when you look at the actual statistics and compare crime rates to either other portions of the country or even our own area 10 or 15 years ago, you see that reality is things really aren't worse. I think areas such as Valley Stream and Baldwin that have gone through some demographic changes tend to get treated the most unfairly in this regard.

Something happens, they make a big deal out of it, compare it to the demographic changes and suddenly assume things must be getting worse. That isn't to say someone shouldn't have concerns when things do occur, but I don't think it helps when some people try to pretend things are worse than what they actually are, or things have gotten worse when the actual crime stats show that it isn't the case, and if anything the reverse is true.
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Old 11-14-2009, 09:10 AM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,651 posts, read 36,657,128 times
Reputation: 19848
Well, obviously only you can decide if this is the place for you to spend the rest of your life. You probably know all the arguments for and against, and if you don't - take a minute and do a search thru some of the older threads. This topic has been discussed ad nauseum here. (Somewhat) reasonable minds do not agree on whether to stay or go and you'll find that out quickly.

However at the end of your post you pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as I'm concerned. We want to raise our kids in a place that they will be able to move back to once they get thru college. Long Island is not that place. We live in Garden City, which was barely affordable when we boght here 12 long years ago. No way will our kids be able to buy here, unless they just decide to take a job that pays a ton of money but means nothing to them and they maybe hate.

As far as anything else, I don't really know if LI is any better or worse than any place else, not when you take all the other variables as a whole. It's certainly way too expensive, and people here will make the argument that "you get what you pay for" - I bought that 10,15,20 years ago, but when my mortgage payment goes up $700 a month just from tax increases alone, I don't really see what I'm getting that is so much better than it was years ago.
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Old 11-14-2009, 10:59 AM
grant516
 
n/a posts
This comes up a lot too in these threads-

Are you or your fiancee a Police Officer, A School Teacher, or a 6 Figure Manhattan based salary?

If not... you will likely find a better lifestyle somewhere else.
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Old 11-15-2009, 01:44 PM
 
Location: I'm gettin' there
2,666 posts, read 7,322,094 times
Reputation: 841
I think Nassau is great, but there are better places out there as far as bang for the buck goes. I mean that without compromising on housing, education and general quality of life. Living in the tri-state area is in general nice, if you really enjoy going to Manhattan a lot and spending time in the city then maybe you should stay put, but if you go into the city for a handful times per year then you can explore areas of New Jersey or close to Philly too. The main thing is to visit these places first hand and do as much research as you can.
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Old 11-16-2009, 03:32 AM
 
Location: NYC
305 posts, read 1,003,218 times
Reputation: 151
I for one am one of the ppl who was born in raised in LI moved to queens and ended moving to FL for a better and cheaper living for my child. For me speaking from experience it all depends on the person. I have found that people say the LI is more expensive and they are correct New York is expensive, however, I have found that I struggle just as much in FL and GA as a struggle here, with the cost of living came a salary that was never enough. What made me come back home, is the quality of life, the opportunities to excel in NY is greater, the education system is by far no comparision with the south. I cannot speak for Philly but FL and GA do not hold a candle to NY. The job market is extermely different as well in that these are right to work states you have no union and no stability low wages, you work more hours and receive often times no overtime, this creates an even more expense if you have children due to the fact you still need someone to watch your children while you work these FREE hours to keep your job. In FL I paid 400.00 a month to have someone watch my child for 2 hours out of the morning and 2 hours out of the evening, where here she has after school programs, sports, and clubs that she is a part of through school. As far as safe neighborhoods, well, you will also pay more to live in a safer neighborhood in these places as well, now I did not mention you have no public transportation so you have to drive everywhere with gas costing almost 3.00 a gallon you will end of spending more in transportation in these places than you ever would in NY. Now let,s factor in the higher price for food and the lack of activities for your children which leads to spending more money trying to entertain them and keep them happy and you will get a more clear picture of all the parameters in moving south vs staying north.
For me it was not worth it, the homes are wonderful but it was more like a false preception of a picture that was not even there and I am happy to be back home
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Old 11-16-2009, 11:58 AM
 
Location: Nassau, Long Island, NY
16,408 posts, read 33,240,130 times
Reputation: 7338
Quote:
Originally Posted by grant516 View Post
This comes up a lot too in these threads-

Are you or your fiancee a Police Officer, A School Teacher, or a 6 Figure Manhattan based salary?

If not... you will likely find a better lifestyle somewhere else.
This is better known as the dman72 principle.
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Old 11-16-2009, 12:17 PM
 
12,769 posts, read 18,322,970 times
Reputation: 8768
OP...what makes you think life will be better somewhere else though? Cheaper living doesn't necessarily mean better living.
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Old 11-16-2009, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Long Island
9,531 posts, read 15,838,163 times
Reputation: 5948
I remember riding my bike with friends in our neighborhood as a kid. Playing stickball or football at the local school property. Things like that are staples of growing up. If you don't feel it's safe around YOUR neighborhood to even do that, the answer to move or not is obvious. It could be to a different community / town in Nassau of course. WHERE to is an entirely different subject.
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