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do LI schools teach about towns, hamlets, villages, etc?
once again dont mean to bash but is pretty ironic that the property tax goes toward the school district and these children arent even taught about where they live.
12K a year and they dont know where they live...:confused:
Local geography and gov't'l organization is in the 4th grade curriculum.
do LI schools teach about towns, hamlets, villages, etc?
once again dont mean to bash but is pretty ironic that the property tax goes toward the school district and these children arent even taught about where they live.
12K a year and they dont know where they live...
This is a wide spread problem that happens outside of NYC, not really an LI-only issue. I think that kids in high school and young adults actually have a more relevant view of geography than uninformed adults (by referring to School District of an area as its location).
"2) Going by what S.D. you are in - This is fairly common to do and probably more relevant than going by ZIP(mailing address). I think as teens/young adults, we adopt this as our understanding of LI geography."
Man, I keep reading these old threads and wanting to reply!
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Originally Posted by h-tonian
Your zip code designated "town/city" is just as valid a community as your CDP. Which community do find has more practical application in your life? Can you provide any examples of how a CDP trumps anything? Any evidence of how it is actually where you live? We use our postal designations for a very good reason...they define where are homes are! They give us an address. There's a reason why we speak about where we "live" this way.
Moderator cut: snip
My zipcode is 11746 (Huntington Station) but I live in Dix Hills. Dix Hills does not have its own zip and most of it is 11746. I personally don't care that my zipcode represents a more "undesirable" area but I'm SURE that some people in my town would loooove to have their own zip. We're zoned for Half Hollow Hills schools, use Half Hollow Hills libraries...most important services seem to correlate more with CDP/hamlet designation than zipcode designation.
Hamlet/CDP/village/whatever boundaries are obviously more practical than zipcodes in terms of everyday use. My friend's dad bought a house in Elwood with a 11743 (Huntington) zip, and for a while she didn't really know what to call the neighborhood. But when it comes down to it, the CDP is Elwood, the SD is Elwood, the neighborhood is colloquially referred to as Elwood, it's closer to the Elwood library and the Elwood shopping center and Elwood schools and other ELWOOD services. What the hell does Huntington have to do with where that house is, besides the fact that it's in the Town Of? Zipcode is just so irrelevant, I just don't understand your argument at all...do you even live here?
without the zip code you would get no mail, just like some people in Shirley decided they didn't want to live in Shirley anymore so they decided to call the neighborhood "Smiths Point""
"Smiths Point" is still Shirley,
"Dix Hills" is still "South Huntington"
It's a nice part of South Huntington
but South Huntington none the less!
without the zip code you would get no mail, just like some people in Shirley decided they didn't want to live in Shirley anymore so they decided to call the neighborhood "Smiths Point""
"Smiths Point" is still Shirley,
"Dix Hills" is still "South Huntington"
It's a nice part of South Huntington
but South Huntington none the less!
Hmmmm.
South Huntington is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the hamlet name in their mailing address:
Places in the Hamlet of South Huntington have a "Huntington Station, NY 11746", "Dix Hills, NY 11746" and "Melville, NY 11747" mailing address.
without the zip code you would get no mail, just like some people in Shirley decided they didn't want to live in Shirley anymore so they decided to call the neighborhood "Smiths Point""
"Smiths Point" is still Shirley,
"Dix Hills" is still "South Huntington"
It's a nice part of South Huntington
but South Huntington none the less!
Besides mailing and mapping purposes and things like that, I just think CDP does "trump" zipcode when you're actually talking about where you live on a more casual level. I guess Dix Hills 11746 is technically correct too (thanks Walter!) but the Elwood thing is still a good example of what I mean.
My zipcode is 11746 (Huntington Station) but I live in Dix Hills. Dix Hills does not have its own zip and most of it is 11746.
Actually, your zip code is Dix Hills, 11746. Dix Hills is an acceptable city name in 11746.
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I personally don't care that my zipcode represents a more "undesirable" area but I'm SURE that some people in my town would loooove to have their own zip. We're zoned for Half Hollow Hills schools, use Half Hollow Hills libraries...most important services seem to correlate more with CDP/hamlet designation than zipcode designation.
You're mistaken about a couple things here. School districts and library districts have nothing to do with hamlet/CDP borders. I don't know what services you're referring to, but they are most likely provided by the Town and school district. Your post office provides you with an address and , of course, delivers your mail. There are other boundaries in which you "live" such as your congressional district and fire district. None of these have anything to do with your hamlet or CDP.
Hamlets themselves are colloquial unofficial places with no legal meaning in New York State. They don't offer services. CDP's are areas designated by the US Census for statistical purposes. They also have no legal status nor do they offer services. They have somewhat arbitrary borders that shift with each decennial census and do not necessarily correspond to hamlet borders. While the Census identifies CDPs, census data is also broken down by zip and other municipal boundaries. This decade's census has attempted to make CDP's less arbitrary than in year's past. The criteria for 2010 CDP's can be found here.
Further information about how municipal layers interact (including the colloquial unofficial status of hamlets) can be found in the current edition of the New York State "Local Government Handbook" available here.
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Hamlet/CDP/village/whatever boundaries are obviously more practical than zipcodes in terms of everyday use. My friend's dad bought a house in Elwood with a 11743 (Huntington) zip, and for a while she didn't really know what to call the neighborhood. But when it comes down to it, the CDP is Elwood, the SD is Elwood, the neighborhood is colloquially referred to as Elwood, it's closer to the Elwood library and the Elwood shopping center and Elwood schools and other ELWOOD services. What the hell does Huntington have to do with where that house is, besides the fact that it's in the Town Of?
Yes, part of the Elwood SD is in the Huntington, 11743 zip code. Part of it is also in the East Northport or Elwood, 11731 zip code. Again, Elwood doesn't offer services, the different municipal layers that exist on top of the colloquial hamlet offer them. The Elwood SD is currently trying to fold itself into one of the neighboring districts. If it does become part of Harborfields or Half Hollow Hills, that doesn't mean your friend's dad will suddenly live in Greenlawn, Centerport, Dix Hills, or whatever neighborhoods/zip codes/hamlets those SDs are currently associated with.
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Zipcode is just so irrelevant, I just don't understand your argument at all...do you even live here?
Yes, I was born and raised in Cold Spring Harbor and have lived in Huntington for most of my adult life. I'm a former journalist and current information architect and adjunct journalism professor. I work with GIS systems.
My argument is mainly a counterpoint to a certain poster whose inaccurate/incomplete information is often taken as gospel around here. It can be summed up as this, "On Long Island, You Are Exactly Where You Think You Are." "Where you live" is a simple equation of geography and the functional municipal layers discussed above. Most people go by their "postal community" which is a completely accurate thing to do. It's your address. It's what GPS and other geolocation systems use to identify your home.
As I pointed out in an earlier thread zip codes can cause unhappiness in some communities (such as South Huntington/Huntington Station). I personally do find that isolated bubble of 11743 a bit strange. CDPs and hamlets can cause equal displeasure (as I explained earlier in this thread). If you want to go by your hamlet go right ahead. My educated opinion is that this is somewhat anachronistic, but it's certainly not "incorrect." Likewise (and on topic) referring to a place with a strong historical and cultural identity by name (e.g. Huntington Village) is also not "incorrect."
I don't think it's that confusing or complicated. People generally know where the live. There also isn't a cut-and-dry "right" and "wrong" (as some people suggest). It's better for locals to discuss the nuances of their communities rather than having a dictatorial judge of "right" and "wrong" (especially one provided by individuals who don't live in a community and are using criteria that they don't seem to understand).
Actually, your zip code is Dix Hills, 11746. Dix Hills is an acceptable city name in 11746.
You're mistaken about a couple things here. School districts and library districts have nothing to do with hamlet/CDP borders. I don't know what services you're referring to, but they are most likely provided by the Town and school district. Your post office provides you with an address and , of course, delivers your mail. There are other boundaries in which you "live" such as your congressional district and fire district. None of these have anything to do with your hamlet or CDP.
Hamlets themselves are colloquial unofficial places with no legal meaning in New York State. They don't offer services.
No, I know all of this. I meant "services" in a very unofficial sense, I know that hamlets have no real legal legitimacy or power. I guess my argument boils down to this: more often than not, hamlet boundaries are a more accurate representation of a neighborhood or area (and therefore how someone defines "where they live") than a given zipcode, with the EXCEPTION of mailing/mapping functions. And even that can get messy. I remember plugging my 11746 code into various internet...things (and I'm mostly thinking of myspace circa 2003, not gonna lie) and it defaults to Huntington Station, so if you share a zipcode, you have to take that extra step of clarifying WHICH hamlet/city/whatever you live in within that zipcode. Blech.
Plus, I just have a hard time taking up issue with Walter, and I rather enjoy his posts regardless of whether they're relevant (and mostly they aren't), so I'm being pretty defensive here for that reason too. He's just trying to help! A lot of people DON'T actually understand the wonky hamlet/village/CDP/zipcode system, even if you do, so anything helps. By now, it's almost ingrained in me to think twice about "where" we're talking about in any given thread.
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