northern VA vs. Long Island (Suffolk, Warrenton: homes, neighborhoods, schools)

[jbakerman]

Can only speak from personal experience, but I grew up in Wantagh (LI) and have lived in Burke for the past 6 years, and in NoVA for 9 years. Outside of missing LI's great food and beaches, I greatly enjoy the quality of living in this area. Nicer parks, lower taxes (not even a close comparison), excellent job mobility and schools, and generally, a feeling of things being much less overcrowded. Not that it's exactly pastoral around here, but there's elbow room with housing in suburban areas, and less 'run-down' older areas with 50-60 year old strip malls and aging main streets. Sure, the traffic sucks, but there are no $13 tolls to get from Brooklyn to Staten Island, plus access into DC isn't bad on weekends for cultural activities.

[Caladium]

Sound Beach is kind of like Bayville, except an hour further out, right? If it is, then the vibe here is going to be different. We don't have that "beachy" feel.

OTOH, although I don't know anyone from Sound Beach I do know some people from Bayville who moved here and they love it here. They say the same thing that others have said--taxes are becoming a problem, as well as the animosity over public employees, recent political corruption, and the fact that young people seem to be leaving in droves because they can't really afford to live there. At the same time there are a lot of things about Long Island that the miss.

We're really not that far--why not take a weekend trip down here and see what you think? Only you know if a place will appeal to you.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by terrence81

I know someone who ironically is near the Huntington metro who's from Long Island and he doesn't speak fondly of his child hood home. Says you couldn't pay him to move back to Long Island. Said it was way too conservative for his taste. He also like the diversity and interracial dating options in the DC area. So different tastes for different people I suppose.

LOL, it's true that the people I know up there frequently say things that reveal a lot of underlying racism (even though they would insist they are not racists). There isn;t the same degree of diversity, and they are very conservative in a lot of ways that surprise me sometimes. I recently attended a funeral in Huntington and it felt like I had stepped back in time--the last time I had been to a funeral home like that and seen some of the traditions (mass cards, etc.) were more than 20 years ago.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Caladium

LOL, it's true that the people I know up there frequently say things that reveal a lot of underlying racism (even though they would insist they are not racists). There isn;t the same degree of diversity, and they are very conservative in a lot of ways that surprise me sometimes. I recently attended a funeral in Huntington and it felt like I had stepped back in time--the last time I had been to a funeral home like that and seen some of the traditions (mass cards, etc.) were more than 20 years ago.

Yeah it was really surprising when he told me that. He mentioned underlying racism behind closed doors up there as well. You would think with it being New York that it'd be more liberal than NoVA but not so apparently.

[alexei27]

Originally Posted by terrence81

Yeah it was really surprising when he told me that. He mentioned underlying racism behind closed doors up there as well. You would think with it being New York that it'd be more liberal than NoVA but not so apparently.

Definitely not more liberal...although I would also say it varies from town to town.

My two daughters are from Haiti and China, and we've never experienced any sort of negative response form anyone here, but there is a lot of chatter to that extent on the LI boards.

But then again, we lived in Utah where racism was much more prevalent in my opinion. I guess there are idiots everywhere.

I don't foresee any issues moving to that part of VA.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by alexei27

Definitely not more liberal...although I would also say it varies from town to town.

My two daughters are from Haiti and China, and we've never experienced any sort of negative response form anyone here, but there is a lot of chatter to that extent on the LI boards.

But then again, we lived in Utah where racism was much more prevalent in my opinion. I guess there are idiots everywhere.

I don't foresee any issues moving to that part of VA.

Alexei, I have a daughter from China, too! NoVA is much more of melting pot than LI seemed to be. Regardless of whether people were racist or not, I wanted my daughter to have other Asian faces to look at and not feel like she is "the only one" in a sea of white faces It seemed to me that in order to get into a school with a significant Asian population, you had to move pretty close in in Nassau County. Since my husband's job was actually on Long Island (Jericho), we really didn't need to live close in, plus it was much pricier. And farther out where we looked in Northport seemed to be very high-percentage white.

In NoVA, my daughter's school is 20% Asian plus a mix of many other races and ethnicities. It's nice because no one stands out for being different, because truly no one is or actually everyone is. I'm not sure if Gainesville and Haymarket have quite the same amount of diversity, but I'm sure there is still a lot - you can always look at the school profiles to find out.

Speaking of schools, another major difference between NoVa and LI is that schools are run by the County rather than the individual townships like on LI. Pros and cons to both methods. But it's a very different mentality here - not just with the schools, but there is very little local government. Instead, most programs are county-led. To me, it loses much of a community feel because of that, but there are probably economies of scale, and may be one of the reasons we don't have such high taxes.

[AppleJacks]

I lived in Nassau County for several years and I'd say the quality of life overall is probably better in NoVa. There are some things I miss about L.I., but some things are better here.

The traffic here is awful, I think much worse then there for everyday running around town (but not so in the Gainesville area), but the traffic to get out of L.I. for a weekend trip was awful.

Taxes are cheaper here, housing should be cheaper in the Gainesville area I would think than in L.I. You could probably buy a brand new and bigger home for the same cost of a much older, smaller home in L.I.

The proximity to beaches is the biggest difference, but there are lots of other places to see and visit here that are wonderful day trips.

[Alicia Bradley]

There's a difference?

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

There's a difference?

Yes. Long Island has more overly precious American bistros serving overpriced salads and walkable suburban downtowns with cute pre-WWII houses and train stations than NoVA does, both of which seem to be really important to you based on all your posts on the subject.

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

Yes. Long Island has more overly precious American bistros serving overpriced salads and walkable suburban downtowns with cute pre-WWII houses and train stations than NoVA does, both of which seem to be really important to you based on all your posts on the subject.

But you can still get a good (hot) sub there, right? That seems to be one of the things that transplants from that part of the world miss the most after they settle in NoVA.