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We are a Chinese-American family looking for a great town to raise our daughter. We would like a good school district, but we also want a well rounded education and a friendly community. We have been looking into herricks sd as well as syosset and great neck. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
What's your budget? What size home are you looking for?
I don't really know anything about Herricks. As for Syosset, it's an excellent school district, but the property taxes are absolutely absurd (think a minimum of $15K per year on your standard 3 bedroom/1.5 bath single family home on a relatively small lot). Great Neck taxes are also pretty bad, but not quite as bad as Syosset, and Great Neck is another nationally ranked school district. However, with regard to Great Neck, I'm pretty sure that district was home to the SAT cheating ring that resulted in criminal charges for some students, so I'd personally be a little concerned about the culture there.
You may want to look in to Roslyn as well - I have a friend who grew up there and got a fantastic education, and had nothing but good things to say about it (and according to her, Roslyn has a decent-sized Asian community, for what it's worth).
ETA: I completely forgot this before, but if you don't mind Syosset-level taxes, Jericho is another strong option.
Last edited by InfoSeeker52; 02-13-2013 at 07:16 PM..
Reason: Forgot something
Thanks for your reply! Our budget is around 500-600k. We hope to have 3br and 1.5 baths, but it can be small since our budget is on the low end for these areas.
Yea, I was a little concerned about the culture at great neck too since I feel like life isn't all about an ivy league education. But, I do believe in education and working hard and doing your best.
Herrick's has a very diverse population and you can expect your taxes to be roughly $13k on the lower side. There are many homes in the price range you suggest. The district was approximately 57% Asian in population. I don't know the mix of Indian, Chinese and Korean however.
You may also be interested in the small section of Mineola or Albertson that is in the East Willston School district. Check out East Williston, but their homes are generally higher in price.
OP, If you feel life isn't all about an IVY education, then why even bother with these competitive school districts with high taxes?
You can live in Queens where its cheaper and more diverse, especially since you mentioned you are Chinese. Or one of the other cheaper Nassau districts with "good" but not "great" schools.
I lived in Great Neck in my teens (I'm Chinese) after my family moved from the city and it was full of snotty priviledged kids, but the cut throat competitive education was good for me, and I am now a Doctor.
For the person that mentioned Rosyln and low taxes... I think Rosyln has ridicously high taxes... maybe Rosyln Heighs is better. Great Neck actually has comparatively lower taxes because of the commercial tax base.
Bayside and Whitestone in Queens have very nice houses with very low, NYC taxes. Oakland Gardens as well. These areas have many Asians, the valedictorian from my HS in Bayside went to Harvard (her parents were born in Hong Kong). It is as close as you can get to Great Neck and north shore Nassau feel without the taxes.
Bayside, Oakland and other SD26 schools have successful outcomes, but it doesn't sound like the kind of school environment that the OP is looking for. Class sizes have gone up considerably and there is substantially more competition and navigation required to get into the good classes, which is why people turn to the suburbs and escape these headaches.
Despite the recent cheating scandal, Great Neck is a fine district and has a visible Chinese and Korean presence. Manhasset and Syosset do as well. These are the Asians who used to live in the Flushing area but moved when they prospered. Not sure about the price ranges though.
If you're open to Westchester, Mamaroneck, Rye Neck, Rye and Scarsdale already have an established East Asian student population while Eastchester, Chappaqua and even Yorktown have growing populations. I was particularly surprised with Eastchester. You can find a better home that fits your 500K-600K budget in Mamaroneck - one with 2 full baths. I don't think you need to settle for a 1.5 bath house that can be hard to resell and problematic when kids reach adolescence.
1. Taxes will be high in just about any of the communities you choose. You can go to mynassauproperty.com to verify the taxes on any home in Nassau and compare them to others in the neighborhood.
2. Some folks avoid Great Neck because of the cultural differences of the Persian Jewish community there vs. other residents. I have Jewish friends who have moved out of Great Neck because they felt the cultural influence was a bit too strong.
3. Herricks is a great choice, with a strong Asian community and a lot of high-achievers in the schools. Manhasset Hills has some nice homes, but you're probably looking at the $700-$800K range. To spend less, you will have to go to the areas of Williston Park and New Hyde Park that are served by the Herricks school district. You may also end up with a smaller home in those neighborhoods.
4. You can try East Williston and the Wheatley schools, but in your price range, you'll most likely be in the less desirable section south of Hillside Avenue.
The obvious challenge for you is that the homes in the better school districts tend to cost more. Good luck!
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