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We gave PA a try and that didn't work for us. A variety of events seemed to conspire to take us to a pretty mid western hamlet that was first settled by people originally from Connecticut. It has a North Shore feeling.
No we don't have the Ocean but we have the North Coast. That's Lake Erie for the uninitiated. No it isn't polluted it's pleasant and beachy.
We can't go home again - but we can search for a place that replicates the place that we spent childhood. Nothing wrong with that.
We have found a place that does just that. My child is getting a top notch education and our taxes are only 1500 per year for a 1926 house that has over 2000 square feet. Five bed rooms and a third of an acre.
No it's not Oyster Bay. But Oyster Bay isn't Oyster Bay anymore either.
I'm glad that I've gone to "look for America". And I think I've found it.
I'm glad that I've gone to "look for America". And I think I've found it.
Well, I grew up on Long Island and though I have left, I still keep up with the news and so on. Still have a few friends who call the LI/NY area home.
The quoted statement above is interested from my point of view. One way to |look for America", is to Leave America. And that's what I did. Trust me, being away from American helps you understand America, both the Good...and the Bad.
Greetings from the Geneva area of Switzerland. Been here for a few years now. There is a small community of former Long Islander's here, but like me and others here, have not returned.
I imagine Long Island has probably changed alot demographically in terms of racial spead and perhaps urban sprawl. For me I was happy to leave Long Island due to the high cost of living and that urban spead. Though I should not talk about high-cost of living, Geneva and my now new purchased home in Zurich are among the top 10 expensive cities in the world.
None the less, fond memories of my former home, its nice to check in from time-to-time.
This is sad for me reading the OP's post and the one or two immediate replied. My husband and I are a young couple (he's from NJ and I'm from Miami) - we're looking to start a family and settle in Long Island.
I guess nothing is left for us and it's no longer America. Sad that we came to like a place who people hate these days. Yes, it's expensive and it may not be the L.I. you guys had in the 60's but it's still something to others. Don't rain on the parade. The grass always seems greener, I guess. But it seems fine for us. People want so much these days and nothing is ever good enough anymore. Maybe NE folks get depressed in the winter, but I grew up in FL and can really do without the heat, so maybe that's why I'm content.
I know exactly what you are talking about. Grew up in Jericho in the 70's, not the typical Jericho but the older section which were mostly older homes. I think my parents paid about 17 thousand in 1963. Even to this day the area is "not really Jericho " according to my real estate agent friend but is more like Hicksville but with the children going to the Jericho Schools.
What I do know was it was a blast growing up there. All the kids in the neighborhood played togather in the streets and yards. Everyone knew who you were and were you lived and who your parents were. On more than one occaision elderly neighbors would come and have words with you parents about the way you were acting. Most of the time it turned into an ass wooping. Getting hit back then was an accepted way of getting taught a life lesson. Try that today......
I can remember go to Oyster Bay on a Friday night to Pine Hollow roller skating. It was the place to go and hang out. You would then walk up the street to Carvel and have an ice cream cone. Sad to say it is long gone and the building is a Stop And Shop grocery store and Carvel was torn down and is now part of a BMW dealership. My first real job was in Oyster bay working for a construction company located behind a family bar called Del's Bar.
In the late 80's I looked at buying a house in the Oyster Bay area but could not afford anything. The prices were 150 thousand and up, just could not afford it. Wound up buying a house in Hicksville that needed a lot of work for 110 thousand in 1990, valued today at 400 thousand. Still here but only for another couple of years I hope. Rising taxes and encrouching local government rules have soured my taste to stay here. My little 50 x 100 lot costs me over 9 thousand dollars a year in taxes.
Three of my children have moved away. When they come to visit they all have the same to say, this place has gone crazy traffic wise, the stress level here is going to kill you, what are you still doing here.
Its sad when you look around at how much everything has changed since you were playing in the streets and the biggest worry was making it home for diner. Many times I think about the future and it saddens me that I no longer see my future here. As a middle class American I can no longer afford to live where I grew up.
What more do you request from the town? Did you see the school post? Jericho High School is the #1 high school in Nassau county. Yes, things have changed but come on....
My husband and I would like to leave LI in about 10 years maybe a little sooner. We would like to live in AZ or NV. We hate the winters,love the heat, and the cost of living keeps going up.I don't hate LI but I don't think I want to live here the rest of my life.
That's funny you say that. We Floridians say the opposite. We don't get seasons (some people never see a drop of snow their entire lives), you never see fall leaves and can't really dress nice b/c of humidity and heat.
I moved to NY 5 years ago to be with my husband, my best friend came the year after. My other best friend just left Florida for DC (she's in for a brutal winter shock) - but she left to raise a family in a place where her future children can have a reason to play outside and watch nature change seasons. That's something you don't see in Florida and can't experience.
I'll tell you where the grass is always greener....Kentucky!! We moved here from LI after a long time selling our place in Suffolk County. Both of us are native LI'ers, and will always love LI for all it offered us. But, we've found our little slice of heaven here in the Bluegrass!!
YIKES!!! But prices keep increasing and demand is still outrageous. I don't get it.
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