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Some people don't even read the OP and just want to blab on about whatever viable they live in. RVC and GC work best for the commuting needs and that price range will get you a nice house on both places. Rvc line goes to Atlantic direct a lot as does the Hempstead line in GC. If you by a house in the right spot in GC you can take advantage of the other rr line which gets you to penn st in about a half hour. Now what do I mean by right spot in GC? I would not buy a house in GC east of Franklin ave. trafficis too much of an issue especially as your kids get older and play youth sports. You will spend a half hour getting back and forth from St. Paul's every sat. When your kids go to middle school and high school and you are picking them up from band or drama or sports or whatever at 5:00 god luck. Plus I would not move anywhere near meadow or first street as crime can be a nuisance if not a problem. GC is sleepy at night except for CEO and sat when you may see people out past nine. So that may be a shock coming from Brooklyn. Roc would give you the nightlife you are a little more used to. A do feel like rbc is a bit more divided by the big roads that run through but it is a great village. Taxes are a problem in all these and will get worse as the pension obligations promised over the last thirty years come due. So be warned.
I totally agree. GC and EW are kinda boring in terms of nightlife.
I have a friend who is a doctor and lives in GC, kids went to GC schools. He lives right near the Merrillon train station. That's where I got the info on the taxes. I don't know the dividing lines for who gets the tax benefit and who doesn't. And obviously that's not "official" data. Just hearsay.
This could be old information, I'm not sure about what the status of this is right now but quoting from Nassau County, Long Island New York
"Roosevelt Field Mall presently pays over $16 million in school taxes, yet only two school districts share in this revenue. Is this fair?" If anyone needs more detailed or accurate information they can take it from here.
Thank you all for your helpful responses! Rockville Centre seems to be pretty large geographically. Are there any neighborhoods within that area that you would recommend specifically?
Thank you all for your helpful responses! Rockville Centre seems to be pretty large geographically. Are there any neighborhoods within that area that you would recommend specifically?
considering your budget, I would look in either the Old Cantebury or Harvard sections. Generally, the west side of town. There are other beautiful homes on great streets in other parts of RVC, but those are generally the two most affluent parts of town.
I have a friend who is a doctor and lives in GC, kids went to GC schools. He lives right near the Merrillon train station. That's where I got the info on the taxes. I don't know the dividing lines for who gets the tax benefit and who doesn't. And obviously that's not "official" data. Just hearsay.
This could be old information, I'm not sure about what the status of this is right now but quoting from Nassau County, Long Island New York
"Roosevelt Field Mall presently pays over $16 million in school taxes, yet only two school districts share in this revenue. Is this fair?" If anyone needs more detailed or accurate information they can take it from here.
Roosevelt Field Mall is in the Uniondale School District, so wouldn't it pay only Uniondale school taxes?
EW definitely has a small town feel, which you may or may not like (e.g., running into neighbors on the street, people waving at you as you cross Hillside Ave, etc). The school district is very strong but also small, with only one elementary, middle and high school. I personally like that for my kids, but you may not. The commute is decent but not great from the EW train station. The biggest advantage is that parking is never a problem. You can either get a EW village parking permit for the train station for cheap or a East Williston/Williston Park sticker for the larger lots. Both are never crowded and you can always find a spot easily, even for the later trains. The actual train time varies from about 40-50 minutes, which may or may not include a transfer, especially if you want to go to Atlantic terminal.
In addition to East Williston, parts of Roslyn Heights, Albertson and a tiny sliver of Mineola are also zoned for EW school district but in your budget, there are plenty of houses in EW that are relatively updated, depending on what you're looking for. The downside is that there are usually no more than 30 houses (in all price ranges) on the market in the EW school district.
East Williston is a bedroom community and, by LI standards, a VERY small town, with a population of less than 3,000. Shopping, restaurants post office, etc. are in Williston Park. No commercial tax base means higher taxes. School system is small. Don't know how significant religion is to you, but chances are you will need to go to another town to church, synagogue, etc. while most religions are represented in both GC and RVC. GC beats both of the others for trains, as someone else observed. The main line has a station in New Hyde Park (which is just north of the western part of the village) and another on Merillon Avenue and then Mineola is also close. The Hempstead line has 4 stations in Garden City. RVC and East Williston are much more limited. GC is wealthiest, both in terms of median income and housing prices. RVC is most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse of the three. RVC has rec center, but GC has many parks as well as huge playing fields. Manhasset is another community to consider, although it is still on septic systems and among my friends at least, they are considered a nuisance. One other item possibly to consider is that parts of East Williston do not have sidewalks, and with small children, you may worry about them walking home from school, etc. Good luck!
I dont know if this is true for RVC/EW, but in GC throughout elementary school and middle school, if your child is not involved in sports (especially that godforsaken "lax") he (not as much as a problem for girls) might feel "left out" or "unpopular"
Also, the demographics of the three towns vary... EW is a mix of white/asian/jewish/persian... Rvc is pretty solidly white christian/jewish... While GC is 99% white catholic.
RVC has the best nightlife by far. GC is extremely sleepy most of the time
To be perfectly honest I never understood the appeal of Rockville Centre. Yes the school district is supposed to be fine, and yes there are plenty of restaurants there but that town has always seemed uppity to me. I'm not saying the people of Rockville Centre are uppity, but it's just that there are so many parking rules and regulations in Rockville Centre that I just don't get why so many people rant and rave about it. I honestly feel that if anyone is going to live in Rockville Centre they better have enough money to buy a house, because you sure don't want to live in an apartment or be a visitor in Rockville Centre. It is impossible to park your car anywhere on the streets of East Rockaway, or Rockville Centre without seeing any no parking signs in either of those neighborhoods. What about if you have family or relatives who want to visit you, but they'll have to park their car a good distance from the house because of all the no parking signs?
As far as Garden City being sleepy, did you forget that Roosevelt Field Mall is in Garden City? Garden City can't be that sleepy seeing as how it has such a well known mall within its boundaries. Maybe there doesn't appear to be as much activity going through Garden City because it doesn't have as many restaurants as RVC, but there have to be busy spots in Garden City as well and they have to be within or near Roosevelt Field Mall. By the way I noticed that I just received 16 reputation points, which is an increase from the 13 reputation points I had the last two days. Can anyone tell me how these reputation points work? How do you get your reputation points to change? I just signed on a few days ago so I don't know how all these features work.
Last edited by WildHellcat01; 09-24-2013 at 01:59 AM..
To be perfectly honest I never understood the appeal of Rockville Centre. Yes the school district is supposed to be fine, and yes there are plenty of restaurants there but that town has always seemed uppity to me. I'm not saying the people of Rockville Centre are uppity, but it's just that there are so many parking rules and regulations in Rockville Centre that I just don't get why so many people rant and rave about it. I honestly feel that if anyone is going to live in Rockville Centre they better have enough money to buy a house, because you sure don't want to live in an apartment or be a visitor in Rockville Centre. It is impossible to park your car anywhere on the streets of East Rockaway, or Rockville Centre without seeing any no parking signs in either of those neighborhoods. What about if you have family or relatives who want to visit you, but they'll have to park their car a good distance from the house because of all the no parking signs?
As far as Garden City being sleepy, did you forget that Roosevelt Field Mall is in Garden City? Garden City can't be that sleepy seeing as how it has such a well known mall within its boundaries. Maybe there doesn't appear to be as much activity going through Garden City because it doesn't have as many restaurants as RVC, but there have to be busy spots in Garden City as well and they have to be within or near Roosevelt Field Mall. By the way I noticed that I just received 16 reputation points, which is an increase from the 13 reputation points I had the last two days. Can anyone tell me how these reputation points work? How do you get your reputation points to change? I just signed on a few days ago so I don't know how all these features work.
Roosevelt Field Mall's address is in Garden City, but it's not in Garden City proper. It's way off to the east side, practically in Westbury. Most people don't even go through Garden City to get to it.
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