Considering move to Long Island from L.A. (New York, Islip: houses, neighborhoods) - City-Data Forum

lashell · 12-23-2009, 12:53 PM

My husband is considering taking a position in Melville, We have two children 12 (boy) and 9 (girl) years old - they would be entering 8th and 5th grade respectively in Fall 2010. I need advice on neighborhoods and schools. Both kids are currently in a very small, very academic private school in L.A. - both play violin and sports. We'd ideally love to live somewhere within a decent commute to Melville with a school district with great academics, small class size, and a vibrant music and sports program. I'd love to hear your opinions on the best schools either public or private. Housing costs/taxes not an issue as we are already paying out the nose here. Thanks in advance!

LongIslandCitizen · 12-23-2009, 01:00 PM

Ouch. Long Island...really?? Good luck with that. But if you must I hope your salary is easily over 6 figures.

Jetties · 12-23-2009, 01:04 PM

what kind of taxes were you paying and what range of a house price are you looking for?

pjes · 12-23-2009, 01:19 PM

Melville isn't a bad area, although for what your looking for your own kids you want to look North of Melville. Commack is a high rated school district although with your requirment for heavy music you would probably be looking for a private school. The areas along the north shore are called the Gold Coast for a reason. Property and life style is high end, but you can find private schools that excel in just about any specialty you want. Whatever you do, don't look south of Melville, areas like Amityville and Wyndanch are very rough.

dman72 · 12-23-2009, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lashell

My husband is considering taking a position in Melville, We have two children 12 (boy) and 9 (girl) years old - they would be entering 8th and 5th grade respectively in Fall 2010. I need advice on neighborhoods and schools. Both kids are currently in a very small, very academic private school in L.A. - both play violin and sports. We'd ideally love to live somewhere within a decent commute to Melville with a school district with great academics, small class size, and a vibrant music and sports program. I'd love to hear your opinions on the best schools either public or private. Housing costs/taxes not an issue as we are already paying out the nose here. Thanks in advance!

All things are relative to income and cash in hand. You would get much more specific info that way.

lashell · 12-23-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dman72

All things are relative to income and cash in hand. You would get much more specific info that way.

Household income would be in the 350k range - looking for a house in the 1.5M to 1.8 M range.

Crookhaven · 12-23-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lashell

Household income would be in the 350k range - looking for a house in the 1.5M to 1.8 M range.

North

Cold Spring Harbor/Northport Village

South

Brightwaters/West Islip/Babylon Village

dman72 · 12-23-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lashell

Household income would be in the 350k range - looking for a house in the 1.5M to 1.8 M range.

You have pretty much your pick of areas except for a few super exclusives.

I'd look in Cold Spring Harbor first, then places like Head of the Harbor or Nissequogue further east. Just remember that your property taxes on a house of that price are going to be 15-25K per year. There are some stunning houses in Nissequogue in your price range. That'd be my pick if I had your income.

twingles · 12-23-2009, 02:43 PM

Cold Spring Harbor. You will love it. I grew up in Huntington, the next town over. Very much like a private school atmosphere (HS graduates about 100 kids a year) - expensive but not McMansion-y, lovely, quaint town, but close to the much bigger and more vibrant Huntington.

any specific ? - DM me!

Walter Greenspan · 12-23-2009, 03:07 PM

lashell, in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

NYS Geographic Glossary and Excellent Long Island Geographic Resource may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland".

On LI, You Ain't Where You Think You Are, rev. 1 may help you understand the great geographic confusions caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones.

You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet on Long Island by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".

You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.

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.