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I've posted on here intermittently...we're a young family currently living in Mass, but whos entire family is on LI and we're torn about coming back or not (jobs are good up here, cost of living so much higher down there, etc)...but are really starting to lean on coming back, just because its so tough being away from everyone (especially on our 3 yr old, whos starting to ask why we can't go to Grandmas on random nights for dinner, or why we can't go swimming in her pool, etc etc).
Anyways, one of our biggest things has always been trying to find a town that makes sense for us and we like. We grew up in Smithtown/Stony Brook, and like that area, but makes no sense both a) cost-wise and b) commuting-wise, as I assume I'd be working in the city. We see houses that are 10 miles from downtown Boston here that are affordable with subway access to the city and just lovely with tons of land, charm and minimal taxes - what a concept!!
So...fastforward to last weekend...my wife went out with some of her old girlfriends in Huntington Village and talked about how much she liked it. We started doing some research, saw how highly ranked Elwood and Harborfields schools are, and started looking at some houses on Redfin...and they're actually somewhat reasonable (by LI standards!). So now, we're wondering...what are we missing here? Something HAS to be up, right? I mean, I know we're probably looking at houses in the low-end of those school districts, but there is seemingly more in the 400 range (give or take a little on either end) than most anywhere we've seen on the island. 3-4 BRs, a little bit of a yard is really all we're looking for in a strong school district. Now I know its not the ideal commuting town by any means, but I've given up on the idea that any commute to Manhattan will be easy...and at least this way my wife/son will be somewhat near families (rather than being out in Nassau, with no one around, and still a pretty bad commute...relatively speaking, as I'm 30 minutes door to door right now living in a Boston suburb).
That is a nice area. Since it is close to the "downtown area" (Broadway) of Greenlawn which is not rowdy, but quite quaint. You will be close to the Harborfields library which is beautiful and walking distance from the high school with the Lahey elementary school a little further. This is a great area with a great school district. As far as commuting to manhattan, unless Port Jeff connections luckily work for you, most of us commute out of Huntington Station which is 8-10 minutes away from Greenlawn. If you have any questions PM me. I am here over a year now and I am so happy with my move.
There is nothing intrinsically "wrong" with Gates St, however, with a young family and coming from where you come from, I think that that area will not appeal to you. It's a little too close for comfort to the "village" of Greenlawn. Also, those streets tend to have a lot of rentals. My friend lived there and sold her house about 5 years ago, even as a young single woman she found she was becoming unhappy with the "atmosphere" (and she sold at the height of the market and didn't get $399K for her house which leads me to guess this house you posted is way overpriced).
I think you can get into a nicer section of Greenlawn in the $400Ks - my friend lives in the college section which is a nicer location IMHO.
Thanks for the insight Twingles...my "wondering" was less about specific areas and more about Greenlawn/Elwood in general. That helps to answer part of my question though: there are areas to avoid here?
I noticed a lot of general terms you used in quotes...could you care to expand on whats wrong with the Village of Greenlawn (having a cute town center within walking distance would seem to be appealing to us...we're very used to a lot of walking here in New England, where town centers are key). Also, what is it you mean by "atmosphere"?
Again, I'm pretty ignorant to the area...if there is something up with it in general, something wrong with certain parts or whatever, I'd LOVE to hear those critiques...were certainly not set on the area or any one house...just trying to find a spot we can at least starting looking into! If there is something obvious I should know that you assume is common knowledge, well, it probably isn't to us...we basically like the Suffolk location, proximity to a main train station, quality ranked schools and close to Huntington Village which my wife just last week visited for the first time (and I have never seen). So, just trying to fact-gather right now.
There isn't anything wrong, which is why I put it in quotes. I'm just saying, for a young family, do you really want to be 50 feet away from where people are spilling out of bars and restaurants until 4 a.m.? Probably not. I wouldn't want to live that close. But it's (as Old Spice says) a very quaint downtown and it's really upgraded itself over the last decade. But it's still a "downtown" with all sorts of commercial enterprises, and as I mentioned a lot of houses over there have renters. That is the "atmosphere" I referred to. My friend got sick of the noise, etc, and she was a young single woman, so I'd imagine it would be even less tolerable for a family. She sold her home and moved to Centerport.
BUt I think Greenlawn is a little gem - you have everything you need right there and if you want more "action" Huntington is 5 minutes away. My best friend has been a homeowner in Greenlawn for almost 20 years and believe me money is no object for her, she could live anywhere, but she's a got a nice house, nice .3 acre, and everything she needs nearby.
There isn't anything wrong, which is why I put it in quotes. I'm just saying, for a young family, do you really want to be 50 feet away from where people are spilling out of bars and restaurants until 4 a.m.? Probably not. I wouldn't want to live that close. But it's (as Old Spice says) a very quaint downtown and it's really upgraded itself over the last decade. But it's still a "downtown" with all sorts of commercial enterprises, and as I mentioned a lot of houses over there have renters. That is the "atmosphere" I referred to. My friend got sick of the noise, etc, and she was a young single woman, so I'd imagine it would be even less tolerable for a family. She sold her home and moved to Centerport.
BUt I think Greenlawn is a little gem - you have everything you need right there and if you want more "action" Huntington is 5 minutes away. My best friend has been a homeowner in Greenlawn for almost 20 years and believe me money is no object for her, she could live anywhere, but she's a got a nice house, nice .3 acre, and everything she needs nearby.
I'm from the area and I had no idea Greenlawn had that kind of nightlife. The town always seems kind of quiet after 10pm.
I'll agree that the area where the OP is looking is predominantly renters, but they take care of the homes & property and it always seemed family oriented to me. The only negative in my mind is it's proximity to the tracks and small lots...but that's also a positive in a sense in that the RR station is right there and one can walk to town. It's a catch 22.
We live in Greenlawn, have young kids and love it. That house is way overpriced for the proximity to the tracks. The trains definitely use the horns at that intersection and I don't think you'll like the noise.
If you spend a little bit more you can definitely get something better.
You could find some great homes right in Huntington, both just north and south of the Village itself, with lower taxes than comparable homes in Greenlawn/Centerport/Elwood. Going too far north gets very expensive.
The school district, despite some people's obvious bias against the minority population, is the best. The schools are absolutely safe. You won't find as many offerings in the smaller high schools surrounding Huntington, and there are more AP courses, better Special Ed programs, more sports teams, fantastic music/art programs etc. Kids graduate with millions in academic scholarships going to all the great colleges/universities/ Ivy's. I wouldn't bypass the Huntington district ever. In fact, it has had students transfer to it's high school from places like Cold Spring Harbor and Harborfields because of the large number of course offerings and great teachers. There have been faculty/admins who pay tuition to have their own kids attend Huntington rather than their home district! That says something!
There are only 2 bars on Broadway somewhat close to the intersection of Gates Ave and honestly I have never heard the noise spill onto the streets. They seem to be more like "a place for a drink after work" and far removed from a "watering hole" or "college dive", but that is my perception. as far as homes rented out, I think that is prevalent in many neighborhoods on Long Island. When we were going with our agent to look at homes we were looking at homes in the "poets section" of Greenlawn" specifically one day as well as in the "college section". My agent unlocked the door of one particular home and almost tripped over 3 naked college students who were passed out on the floor (obviously renters). But is this bad? One of my neighbors (she owns the home) goes away all Summer. Therefore her college aged kids are home alone and have house parties. Once in a while I get real lucky and I get to hear some chick throwing up right outside my bedroom window. So as far as renters, I don't think that that is necessarily a problem. Gates ave is also a fairly long street so I would be curious as to how far it is from Broadway that may be a factor as well.
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