Bad areas of Long Island. Why did it happen? (Hempstead: rent, crime)
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We can all agree on which are the bad areas on Long Island. We can also agree of face observations as to how they got that way. Some Like Roosevelt and Uniondale suffered from "white flight" others like Gordon Heights" were born that way.
But really why did a village like Hempstead ended up the way it did? It's in the heart of Central Nassau, it has the best road infrastructure and you can still see reminders of its wonderful past in some neighborhoods (Catherdral Gardens). By right, it should be the crown of Nassau.
Why did white flight occur in places like Roosevelt or Central Islip or as we are seeing today in Baldwin and Valley Stream but skipped hamlets such as Islip Terrace, East Meadow or Lynbrook village?
What made one town suffer but the next town which physically looks the same unharmed?
I lived in Islip Terrace for a few years; rented a place on a side street (named for a Nassau Cty town) between Greenlawn and Connetquot, not too far south of the IT/CI border.
From my observations I noted that most of the side streets in north IT dead ended as opposed to running straight through to Carleton, which eliminated contact with some of CI. Then there was the junction of Lowell and Connetquot, which was sort of an IT/CI Mason-Dixon line. People from both communities would shop at the stores there (at the time there was a cheesy grocery store and a tropical aquarium store which was awesome) but the area also served as some sort of a boundary.
A girl with whom I worked, was born and raised in CI and watched the community change. We never got into the how and why of it, but I can only speculate that the inexpensive houses meant more absentee landlords who had little regard for their community or their properties. Instead of renting to people who would improve upon the area, they went for the fast buck. People got fed up or white flighted out, sold and left; more houses became available for the slumlords.
Before I could give you my reasoning, I would need you to describe what is meant by "bad" when you refer to those neighborhoods.
Badness is a relative commodity, it is subject to personal interpretation and perhaps that interpretation is affected by viewing your
town in contrast to surrounding towns. Every neighborhood has some badness to deal with but if you are referring to areas with
ethnic groups who form distinct pockets of people but I might believe that they have settled there primarily because of certain
socio-economic considerations, the chance to be among those of similar condition and to feel comfortable in that situation.
Does the daily gathering of Hispanic day laborers,constitute badness because there are certain behaviors that might be associated
with such gatherings, things like wolf-whistling at the women or public urinating or even just "hanging-around"? Neighborhoods don't
make bad people, it's the people who live in these neighborhoods that allow the badness to continue thus setting and maintaining the
standard for it's inhabitants. As long as we turn a blind eye to the degrading of our towns through an influx of those who come from
far-away and often uncultured places. Yes, there is crime and badness in my town but it isn't so bad that I have to lock up my doors
at night, because the steep cost of living here, has kept me from owning anything worth stealing!
But really why did a village like Hempstead ended up the way it did? It's in the heart of Central Nassau, it has the best road infrastructure and you can still see reminders of its wonderful past in some neighborhoods (Catherdral Gardens). By right, it should be the crown of Nassau.
Why don't people on LI do the same as people in other areas? Go in the bad neighborhoods, buy the cheap houses, and change those neighborhoods for the better?
Why don't people on LI do the same as people in other areas? Go in the bad neighborhoods, buy the cheap houses, and change those neighborhoods for the better?
Don't forget the most important aspect of this ideology - you still a need a place for the poor people to live. In essence, it's easier said then done and you can be seriously burned financially unless the government provides incentives to gentrify an area.
Why don't people on LI do the same as people in other areas? Go in the bad neighborhoods, buy the cheap houses, and change those neighborhoods for the better?
Because they do go into bad areas and buy the houses but they rent them out.
Places get bad reputations - and once they do - UNLESS the place had some sort of glorious past or is of extreme historical significance - and I am talking extreme - no one wants to be the ones to call it home. Gentrifying does occur but usual in more urban areas and usually in places with an architecturally pleasing and significant housing stock. A three bedroom ranch buit in 1960 is just not gonna cut it here.
Also you have the school districts. People with children do not want to live in areas with bad schools.
some places were built FOR the type of people that they continue to attract. Shirley and the Mastics are such a place.
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