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I am looking for a pretty town in Long Island. I grew up in a place with a couple 'ghetto'-type areas, and ugly shopping centers, so I am looking to avoid that. I love quaint England towns, so if there is a place with nice architecture and such like there that would be appreciated. I am open to living other places in NY, but focusing on Long Island.
Northport but it even has shopping centers and empty gas stations and views of 4 giant smoke stacks so??Try the Catskills or Adirondacks.
I'd agree it's getting overpopulated on LI, but your examples are an over-generalization - not really a surprise considering you're trying to describe every town and every area of LI in 1 paragraph. Even on Black Friday afternoon places weren't that bad. We've always been able to get to the beach with zero traffic on the Wantagh Expressway but we go in the mid-mornings, not sure when you do. I think on 2 occasions in 2 whole summers of going often did we get stuck in some traffic situation, going back home.
Bottom line, it is not how you describe it 100% of the time, not even close. Other than high prices for homes/taxes, we love the places we go around here, except if it's into or through the city (someone please nuke Newark/Jersey City). Today we went to 5 stores after breakfast at Ihop and ran into zero problems. Very uneventful, other than our wallets getting raped. Actually, the most stressful part was getting our kids into and out of the car that many times.
I'd agree it's getting overpopulated on LI, but your examples are an over-generalization. Even on Black Friday afternoon places weren't that bad. We've always been able to get to the beach with zero traffic on the Wantagh Expressway but we go in the mid-mornings, not sure when you do.
Bottom line, it is not how you describe it 100% of the time, not even close.
its been overpopulated since the late 70s if you put your glasses on you"ed know that.
There are many picturesque, New England type areas on Long Island. I was raised there, and recently relocated to PA.
LI gets a bad rap, because of what sociologist Donna Gaines refers to as "Turnpike towns"- the fast food, 7-11 and strip mall laden communities that tend to hug Jericho Tpke. (Route 25) These are the places that you might want to avoid.
Most of the New England Village placed are located on the North Shore. Several are not. I can safely say that none are in the middle of LI.
Some of my favorites-
Stony Brook
Setauket
Port Jefferson Village
Cold Spring Harbor
Locust Valley
Babylon Village
North Port
Sayville
Bellport Villiage
Avoid Long Island if you can, it's turned into a rat race. The biggest problem with Long Island is OVERPOPULATION. I am native of Garden City and I could not wait to get out. It is just way too freaking crowded, as is most of the NYC metro area. Something that should only be a 15 minute car ride is a 30 minute ride during the day. My mom said she can't even go out to lunch anymore because the traffic is so bad.
Yes there are nice malls here, but you can't even enjoy shopping on a weekend because it's so crowded. Forget going to Roosevelt Field after 12pm on a weekend. The stores are so picked through and have little selection unless you go early in the season or just get lucky. Want to go to the beach? Way too crowded also. While Long Island does have nice, clean beaches you will be stuck in 40 minute traffic trying to get there, fight for a parking spot, and have no space.
Western Nassau is the worst. Feels more like Queens than Long Island. Even most of Western Suffolk has become more build up and crowded. Eastern Suffolk still has some nice farms and vineyards, but not like what it used to be. Vacationing in the Hamptons or Montauk is way overpriced for the most part. The problem with Long Island is that geographically it is an island, so there is limited space for population growth. Unlike all other American cities that are on the mainland, they were better able to keep up better with their population growth because they had more room to expand unlike NYC/LI metro area. Personally, I think one of the main reasons why Long Island is so expensive is supply and demand, too much demand to move here but not enough supply for land and expansion. I feel the overpopulation here has made people stressed out and have no sense of outdoor recreational activity.
I moved to Albany, NY a little over a year ago because I attended college in the area. While I may not stay there permanently and it does not have the best weather, it is way better than living on Long Island. People are much more laid back, calm, and has great outdoor recreation such as hiking, biking, and water rafting. The suburbs are much more spacious, cleaner, prettier, and have better schools than Long Island from what I hear. Albany may not be as exciting as NYC and other big cities, but the state government and several prestigious colleges make the area diverse and have an overall well-educated population. Saratoga Springs is gorgeous and while it is pricey it is not where near as expensive as most of NYC and LI. The cost of living in the capital region is very well-priced and much more affordable. Albany metro area being less crowded and cheaper offers a much better quality of life compared to Long Island IMO.
If really would prefer to stay on Long Island I would suggest Port Washington, Rockville Center, Long Beach, Port Jefferson. These towns have a very nice ambiance and somewhat of a village/downtown area. I would not recommend my hometown Garden City because it's kind of snooty and you feel like you're in a bubble. Good Luck!
While Queens is on LI, Queens is generally considered NYC. FWIW FHG is very expensive, beautiful homes.
Queens IS a borough of New York City. So it's not 'generally considered NYC'...it IS NYC.
Some areas that border Nassau County are apparently in talks now to be re-zoned to Nassau County. That will mean higher taxes for some of us
That being said, I don't know of any 'New England' type towns really. Although Port Jeff, Cold Spring Harbor, Oyster Bay, Sea Cliff are by the water - none are really like New England.
The OP also didn't give budget, as some of those areas are very pricey.
Some areas that border Nassau County are apparently in talks now to be re-zoned to Nassau County.
That would take an act of the state legislature.
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