Is The Three Village Area Worth It Despite NYC Commute? (Syosset: house, schools)

[VTP]

I couldn't agree more with flowergarden. Any neighborhood, no matter how nice, that routinely pulls both parents away from their kids for 2+ hours, is not worth it. You can't even imagine how many times they will be sick, or there will be snow days, or days off (such as superintendents' conference days, Jewish holidays, etc.), or classroom activities at school, and it goes on and on and on. And what will you do in the summer? There are camps, but the decent ones are quite expensive and the camp day only runs from 9-3 at most places, with 2-3 weeks off at the end of the summer. What I also find surprising is that yours is not a situation of need, where you are focusing on an area because you can't afford to live anyplace else, or anyplace that is comparable in price. You can! As PizzaPedro pointed out, there are wonderful places on the North Shore of Western Suffolk, with fabulous school districts, that would be affordable to you if you were willing to give up some acreage. I agree that Syosset is busy, and not as quaint as Stony Brook. But what about Cold Spring Harbor, Centerport, and the parts of Huntington that feed into Harborfields? For sure, you'd get less house for the money, but you'd still have a nice house, and a very solid school district and neighborhood, with a manageable commute (albeit still a difficult one.) The commute you are proposing is deadly. Please don't be misled by LIRR timetables.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by PizzaPedro

70 minutes from Ronkonkoma means 2 hours door to door, which is what I said. And that's assuming you work near Penn.

Again, whether or not 3V is a great school district isn't the issue. Of course it is. Is it the best on Long Island? No. Is it the best in Suffolk? Not by any stats or rankings that I've ever seen. I'm not saying it isn't a good district, it is. It just isn't the best, and for that kind of commute it should be.

The Intel thing is a terrible measure of anything. It impacts a very few kids, kids that usually have parents who are Physics professors at Stony Brook or whatever. 1% is off, it's more like POINT 1 percent. Over the past 2 years, Port Washington has had more intel finalists than any school in Nassau. So is Port Washington the best school in Nassau? No, the sample of 2 or 3 kids out of a few thousand in the school is so small as to be meaningless.

Overall, when you look at Math, English and yes, SCIENCE scores for the entire district there are many, many other schools at or above that level. Do you have more kids with college profs for parents in 3V than many other districts? Almost definitely. But the other districts have more parents that are working on Wall Street or are lawyers or physicians or work in software or one of many other "successful" fields.

The New York Times has several other districts in Suffolk ahead of 3V overall and EVEN FOR SCIENCE ALONE. Schooldigger has TEN (!) other districts just in Suffolk ranked ahead of 3V. But I guess you know better. For me, I'm not commuting 2+ hours each way to live in a district that is borderline Top 10 according to the rankings. Syosset is a better choice. Jericho is a better choice. Harborfields and Half Hollow Hills are better choices. Garden City and East Williston are better choices. Heck, if you're going for that kind of commute, Port Jeff might even be a better choice.

Yes perhaps, Mt Sinai too but you keep missing the cultural and academic value of living in the backdrop of SBU.
Its not about line items or W2s.

Theres plenty of money but very little buying power in the towns you mentioned.
Some people define wealth differently and have very different set of priorities.

Stick with Pizza Pedro and re-read OP.
Its ok that youre wrong, but I think youre missing the point entirely.

; )



Crooks

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by flowergarden

Are you both commuting into NYC? With kids? If you have children or are going to have children, and still both work, you will want to work closer than 2 hours away. Daycare calls, your child is sick, come get them. Ok, I'll be their in 2 hours? Not good. Teacher conference? 2 hours. 1/2 days at school? 2 hours. If you intend on being a SAHM when your children are born, then it's doable. 2 working parents with both of them working 2 hours away? No Way. I'm speaking as a parent of 3 - this is not a reasonable lifestyle for you or your children (future or otherwise). I guess, unless you are going to get a full time nanny. I don't think the full time nanny life style is prevalant in 3V. Maybe some, but not alot.

Au Pairs actually are.
Plenty of foreign exchange due to SUSB.

Good question and point though.
(although "Ill see you in an hour and half" doesent sound much better)

Crooks

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by CoolaTroopa

Also another appealing factor is we seem to get more bang for our buck on houses. I can get a .5+ acre property for $500K here while that seems near impossible in a place like Syosset. Also, my fiance already has plans to take some time off (or at the very least, stop working in the city) when we actually have children..

I have always stood by this logic, affordability will be the greatest influence on your decision !!

[dman72]

Both parents commuting to the city with kids and living in 3V area? No way. Bad idea. With one person staying at home, it's fine, but you'd better be pulling mid 6 figures unless you have about 100K saved in the bank. Figure you're going to need to get through 5 straight years or so with one income or maybe one and a half incomes.

[TubaFish]

As someone who is from 3V and comes from a family full of NYC commuters, I feel obligated to chuck in my two cents.

The commute is absolutely doable, longer, but doable. In the NYC metro area 2 hour commutes are not out of the ordinary. Many folks coming from CT, NJ, and Westchester experience similar commute times.

When I was growing up, my mother worked locally and my dad commuted. IMO there is no other way to manage the situation. Having kids in school necessitates one parent being close. They don't have to stay home, but at least have to work close by.

Optimally, you should look at buying on the extreme western end of the district (i.e. west Stony Brook somewhere near 25A). The reason I say this is that you would be a very short drive to the Smithtown station. Taking the train from Smithtown is the ideal situation if you live in 3V. Ronkonkoma is a pain in the butt. The drive is over 20 minutes and you have to park way far from the station and walk. You don't end up saving much time in the end. At Smithtown you can park right near the platform and the total train ride is only about 90 minutes (including transfer). Plus, the crowd on the Port Jeff line is much cleaner, more polite, and less ghetto than the Ronkonkoma line.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by TubaFish

As someone who is from 3V and comes from a family full of NYC commuters, I feel obligated to chuck in my two cents.

The commute is absolutely doable, longer, but doable. In the NYC metro area 2 hour commutes are not out of the ordinary. Many folks coming from CT, NJ, and Westchester experience similar commute times.

When I was growing up, my mother worked locally and my dad commuted. IMO there is no other way to manage the situation. Having kids in school necessitates one parent being close. They don't have to stay home, but at least have to work close by.

Optimally, you should look at buying on the extreme western end of the district (i.e. west Stony Brook somewhere near 25A). The reason I say this is that you would be a very short drive to the Smithtown station. Taking the train from Smithtown is the ideal situation if you live in 3V. Ronkonkoma is a pain in the butt. The drive is over 20 minutes and you have to park way far from the station and walk. You don't end up saving much time in the end. At Smithtown you can park right near the platform and the total train ride is only about 90 minutes (including transfer). Plus, the crowd on the Port Jeff line is much cleaner, more polite, and less ghetto than the Ronkonkoma line.

Excellent point on Smithtown.

Way less ghetto, plenty of parking and only about 10 min away.

More than doable.

crooks

[TubaFish]

Originally Posted by dman72

Both parents commuting to the city with kids and living in 3V area? No way. Bad idea. With one person staying at home, it's fine, but you'd better be pulling mid 6 figures unless you have about 100K saved in the bank. Figure you're going to need to get through 5 straight years or so with one income or maybe one and a half incomes.

I agree. The beauty of the situation, though, is that many upper management jobs on Wall Street and in corporations do pay in the mid-six figures. This is definitely a workable scenario.

Your financial services paycheck will go alot further in Stony Brook than in western Nassau or Manhattan. Out here, you can buy waterfront on your salary.

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by TubaFish

Having kids in school necessitates one parent being close. They don't have to stay home, but at least have to work close by.

Ronkonkoma is a pain in the butt. The drive is over 20 minutes and you have to park way far from the station and walk. You don't end up saving much time in the end.

Totally endorse these points.... I hate the walk. There is an alternative on the south end of the station that has a wider parking lot.... but in general it is a pain nevertheless.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by TubaFish

I agree. The beauty of the situation, though, is that many upper management jobs on Wall Street and in corporations do pay in the mid-six figures. This is definitely a workable scenario.

Your financial services paycheck will go alot further in Stony Brook than in western Nassau or Manhattan. Out here, you can buy waterfront on your salary.

I still question the quality of life for the breadwinner, but if they are willing to put up with being away from home for close to 70 hours per week, that's their call.