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I agree Huntingtons a good town to eat and drink in.
Canterbury Ales was fun so was Finnegans.
C
Canterbury Ales still IS fun! You should stop by for Oktoberfest!
We tried Finnegans once, but ended up leaving before we were even seated. (Lessings owns it now, so I don't know if that has anything to with it. And I generally like Lessings.)
Oh wife, you are right! Gosh, when I fleft Cocos was boarded and chain linked-no work done yet. ANOTHER over-priced steak house in Hunt? Indeed one was enough with the new one across from the whole new BUILDING next to TCBY. Yikes that corner changed, though I think it was an improvement from the parking lot/Juniors pizza. Ted? Starts with a "t" ? Abels is still a great place, though has slacked over the past 10-15 years, still a weekly for my folks, always will be
And Honu, well fancied up the already fancy for Huntington! too much for me really, but good for birthdays/celebrations-1-3 times a year. A cocktail after an early movie maybe?
I am fondly remembering all the ease and fun in Huntington. Findo's was/may be still is always a bar first, food second. Old timer Huntington men used to drink/eat, some ladies for lunch-you know! That was when old-man Finnegan owned it and poured .50 pints Much has changed, still a pretty popular bar though!
Really Shamrock and The Velencia get the most consistent crowds now, certainly off-summer-believe THAT!
I thank you for sharing all the good you find in Hunt. for the OP, as I really do think it is a good place to retire/or change in pace to as it has a ton based on the OP's criteria of taxes, land, house style,price,interests!
I also think value will hold up over time in the area. It has dipped deeply, but always manages to hold up and increase over time, and as the spread continues weat to east, Hunt. is positioned well
Cheers to all! A pint, a bite, and a story! Now, go have dinner in huntington
Last edited by JustSayNo; 09-04-2007 at 04:46 PM..
Reason: typos
Oh wife, you are right! Gosh, when I fleft Cocos was boarded and chain linked-no work done yet. ANOTHER over-priced steak house in Hunt? Indeed one was enough with the new one across from the whole new BUILDING next to TCBY. Yikes that corner changed, though I think it was an improvement from the parking lot/Juniors pizza. Ted? Starts with a "t" ? Abels is still a great place, though has slacked over the past 10-15 years, still a weekly for my folks, always will be
I'm trying to think of what other steakplace you're referring to? There's Mac's which is on Gerard (between Stewart and NY Ave.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustSayNo
Really Shamrock and The Velencia get the most consistent crowds now, certainly off-summer-believe THAT!
I mentioned The Velencia to my dad not too long ago. To me it looks like a "dive bar" and seems so out of place for the area, but my dad said it's been there for years and they used to make one hell of a burger! DH and I need to venture up that way one day and check it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustSayNo
I thank you for sharing all the good you find in Hunt. for the OP, as I really do think it is a good place to retire/or change in pace to as it has a ton based on the OP's criteria of taxes, land, house style,price,interests!
I also think value will hold up over time in the area. It has dipped deeply, but always manages to hold up and increase over time, and as the spread continues weat to east, Hunt. is positioned well
I'm in total agreement with you! It's a wonderful place to live regardless of where you are in life. So much to offer from Camsuett St Park, to the beaches, to the Village and for its reasonable commute to NYC (whether by car or train). And as you said, the homes seem to retain their value.
Mac's is it! Obviously the cobwebs have already settled in to the Huntington memeory part of my brain! If you want a good burger at a dive, go to Shamrock's (in Halsite) go early, and you will avoid the bar crowd. Don't let the looks fool you, the menu is great, great burgers, and if Phil is still the chef you will not be disappointed. Dress casual, no fancy folk at the rock.
I hope all this banter can provide some insight for the OP,or at least pique the interest.
Well, on the spur of the moment early yesterday morning, DH and I decided to take our weekend trip to check out houses on Long Island. We stayed overnight and saw several different areas and some Open Houses today as well. This was our impression of the areas we visited (all in Suffolk County because we don't want Nassau) from my resulting pages of notes:
HUNTINGTON: The village/business district was larger than we expected. I now see what some of you meant about all the restaurants and bars!! They seem to be everywhere -- practically every other storefront (doesn't anyone in Huntington ever cook at home?). Overall most of it struck us as kind of what we call a 'boutique village', meaning almost all specialty shops and restaurants, but the 'daily necessities' stores (supermarkets, drugstore chains, dry cleaners, post office and so forth) are elsewhere. We only saw two supermarkets in the village, went in and were very un-impressed by both (the 'Wild Nature' store is apparantly a Whole Foods-wannabe that definitely falls short). I noticed that Long Island does have Super Stop & Shop markets -- which we do also -- but does not have Shaw's. Finding convenient parking in the village is clearly a challenge. We drove around the residential neighborhoods immediately surrounding the village and found all the streets within a half mile of the business area have lots that are too small. As we went further north we found nicer streets with larger lots and houses but those are all too close to the harbor for us. So north of the village is not an option. We didn't like the areas south of the cemetery at all! However, there was one area which was just southeast of the village and north of the railroad tracks (off Park Avenue) which had an ranch open house today. We liked the neighborhood and street very much, but the house itself was not big enough. The realtor told us that the area is called Bayberry Estates but is considered to be in Huntington. Does anyone know more about that specific area? Overall we thought the village attractive but I honestly doubt that we'd have much reason to go there even if we lived near it. We're well past the 'gifty/home decor/specialty stores' stage of life (trying to get rid of stuff – not buy more!) and have no patience for crowded restaurants, bars or clubs – so Huntington Village is in the 'nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there' category.
DIX HILLS: We spent quite some time covering this unexpectedly large area! We liked most of the neighborhoods in it (though there were a few that looked a bit run-down or 'iffy') but immediately noticed that there is far too much traffic noise in any within 2 or 3 blocks of the Long Island Expressway – a loud annoying constant 'background roar'. We also thought that several of the open houses looked FAR better on the outside than the inside! We liked the area near Caladonia Road best, but there are no suitable ranches for sale there. I had already noticed that the taxes in Dix Hills are the highest of any area we looked in and assume that is because the lots are 1 acre. The houses themselves seemed to us to be somewhat overpriced for what they were (either square footage or general condition). We like the idea that Dix Hills is all residential but not too isolated, being convenient to the freeways (though we wouldn't want to be within earshot of them!).
SMITHTOWN and VICINITY: We did lots of driving here also. Of all the areas we saw, this seems to be the most promising for us. We liked the business district better than Huntington Village, because it (Smithtown) seems much less congested and MUCH easier to find convenient parking in. All the 'practical everyday necessities' places that we would be using (supermarkets, library, stores that we typically frequent, a large shopping mall, etc) are all in much easier reach and are more like what we are used to. No 'yuppie atmosphere' (which we thought prevalent in Huntington Village) -- just normal everyday conservative caucasian (as another poster here put it) people. Although we can't afford the taxes in adjacent Saint James and Head of the Harbor, we did drive around them and loved the look of what we saw, especially in Head of Harbor. I brought my notes regarding which spots in or near Smithtown have groundwater problems (like The Branch) so that we knew to not bother looking there, but there were other neighborhoods that do have potential for us, both in lot size and house size and taxes. Unfortunately there were no open houses for ranches without a pool this weekend. We also like the fact that there is a Lexus dealership in Smithtown, which would be extremely convenient for us (the nearest other one on Long Island is all the way in Nassau county) because that is where we always have our cars serviced.
STONY BROOK: We went east from Smithtown to the little village of Stony Brook, which seems to be another 'boutique village' with nothing of everyday practical use except the post office. I assume that people who live in Stony Brook do their normal shopping in or near Smithtown? The lots close to the village were all too small, as were the houses, and the terrain too hilly for flat wide ranch houses. I wouldn't want to have to drive some of those streets in snow and ice! The village neighborhoods are too close to the water. We drove around the Strathmore sections which are further away but were not impressed – they are all 1/3 acre cookie cutter developments, and the houses don't have basements or crawlspaces (a must for us, for interior remodeling ease).
WADING RIVER: This was the furthest east we went (or would want to live). The prices and taxes seem reasonable here, and the commercial area has all the basic 'daily necessities' stores. Unfortunately the few ranches for sale either have swimming pools or are too close to the water. We did see some nice neighborhoods but nothing suitable for sale in them. The area we liked best surrounds a street called Deerfield, but they are ALL 2-story homes there – every single one! --- not a ranch in sight. Too bad. Another area we liked is behind a white church near Remsen Road – it seems quiet and private with some nice sized lots and houses which are mostly all different (no cookie cutter effect). A third area had many streets all with the word 'Farm' in the name, and the lots look to be at least one acre. What we can't understand is why there is only ONE ranch style and it is a very small one. Why would a developer put such a small ranch on such a large piece of property? It doesn't make sense. We stopped at a spa resort called East Wind and had a very nice meal there, by the way.
MANORVILLE: We were originally planning to drive this area (and past a ranch which for some reason has been on the MLS for awhile) but after reading the posts on Friday regarding all the compost facilities and other issues, we decided that Manorville is not an area we'd want to live in – so we didn't bother going.
PORT JEFFERSON: We took the ferry back (to CT and then home) from this village, so left it until last. It looks like yet another 'boutique village' with shops that cater mostly to tourists. Not 'our thing', and of course it is right on the water so that's out for us. The area further south seems to be all 1/3 acre cookiecutter developments with no character or privacy – not our thing either.
We're going to tell our buyer agent to send us notifications of homes in Smithtown and Wading River (and possibly Dix Hills, just in case a bargain should suddenly come on the market) that fit our requirements, and see what may be or come up for sale in those areas. I realize we were there on a weekend and so didn't run into any of the traffic problems (other than in Huntington Village and that awful traffic noise in the parts of Dix Hills near the Expressway) that people here have complained of – but we're no stranger to traffic horrors, being in a Boston suburb and having to deal with The Big Dig for what seems like forever. Long Island traffic and drivers can't possibly be worse than the normal weekday Boston commute!
It was a very nice weekend though, especially today when the weather was so beautiful.
Last edited by BlueSkyHoliday; 09-23-2007 at 09:07 PM..
Wading River is great....be sure to tell your agent you only want Shoreham Wading River SD.
(Riverhead schools will seriously hamper RE value)
Eastwind is nice but make sure you stop at LaPlage next time. Home
BTW did you get a look at Shoreham Village?
Its beautiful.
If you come back you should definitely check out everything in between as well.
Mt Sinai/ Miller Place /Rocky Point and Ridge to the South
There all different and all nice.
We drove through part of Shoreham on our way to Wading River from Stony Brook, but from what we saw, the nicest parts are -- guess what -- all within the dreaded 2 mile radius from the shoreline.
What is the difference between the different parts/sections of Wading River? If it is just the school district it wouldn't matter, because that's not an issue for us.
We drove through part of Shoreham on our way to Wading River from Stony Brook, but from what we saw, the nicest parts are -- guess what -- all within the dreaded 2 mile radius from the shoreline.
What is the difference between the different parts/sections of Wading River? If it is just the school district it wouldn't matter, because that's not an issue for us.
You should try and get past that 2 mile rule on the North Shore.
We're 150 feet up...we dont flood here.
I really think you may be selling yourself short..IMHO some of the best parts of LI are all 2mi from the LI Sound
There are a few differences for Wading River besides schools
Riverhead Township vs Brookhaven Township
As I recall much of Riverhead township was well water and you definitely dont want that.
Hi clamboy, thanks for the links but all but one of those houses has an inground pool (no way) and the only one that doesn't, has the garage at basement level (another no-way because of handicap access). We do see those two issues a lot in Long Island listings. Especially in the areas on the north shore, it seems like so many of the ranches -- because of the hillly topography, I guess -- have the garage on the lower level which immediately eliminates those homes.
As for distance from the water, it's the insurance companies who are causing the problem. There's no sense in us looking at a house for which we will have to pay $5000 or more a year just for homeowners insurance, if we can even get it, which from our research so far is proving to be the case. For a house with $10,000/year taxes (which by the way is several thousand dollars more than we are paying here in MA) in such a location, one might as well say that the effective taxes are $15,000 (except that only $10,000 of it would be tax deductible).
We have done our homework and all of the major insurance companies in New York have told us that they WILL NOT give us a policy on a house within 2 miles of the water, whether it is North Shore or South Shore. They are NOT concerned about flooding, they say it is 'wind and wind-related damage' they are basing their requirements on. We could go to a high-risk insurance company for anything closer, but there is a limit to how much we are willing to pay for both taxes and insurance. We can't afford a 'blank check' mindset for insurance, so have structured our requirements (location) accordingly.
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You should stop by for Oktoberfest! 
And I generally like Lessings.)
Much has changed, still a pretty popular bar though!
However, there was one area which was just southeast of the village and north of the railroad tracks (off Park Avenue) which had an ranch open house today. We liked the neighborhood and street very much, but the house itself was not big enough. The realtor told us that the area is called Bayberry Estates but is considered to be in Huntington. Does anyone know more about that specific area? Overall we thought the village attractive but I honestly doubt that we'd have much reason to go there even if we lived near it. We're well past the 'gifty/home decor/specialty stores' stage of life (trying to get rid of stuff – not buy more!) and have no patience for crowded restaurants, bars or clubs – so Huntington Village is in the 'nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there' category.
