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How could anyone prefer the South Shore over the North?
The North Shore has the following:
(1). beautiful scenery;
(2). grand estates from the Guilded Age and the Roaring Twenties, including Planting Fields, Old Westbury House, and Hempstead House;
(3). a history unlike any other;
(4). a hilly terrain in certain areas;
(5). a bucolic, forested atmosphere;
(6). beautiful rocky beaches without those waves that knock you down when you attempt to go in;
(7). nicer housing stock;
(8). fewer people with that God awful "Long Guyland" accent.
(9). lots of cute little villages such as Oyster Bay and Sea Cliff.
Count me as a "middle of the island" girl. After Sandy, I wouldn't advise anyone to buy close to the shore, mostly due to unaffordable insurance (no flood?) and the necessity to evacuate your own home whenever weather acts up again.
I see plenty of attractions to the middle of the island, most notably accessibility and easy travel to both north and south shores. But I'm also an "Anything in moderation" type of person.
- Much more reasonably priced (by comparison)
- Far easier access to LIE/Parkways
- Better beaches (less rocky and painful)
- Much less snobby on average
- Generally MUCH more walkable and convenient (by comparison)
- More driveable since icy and hilly roads DO NOT mix. lol, when im driving on the north shore in winter, i hold on for dear life!
Sorry but I have to disagree with most of your response.
-Price? Ever heard of Coram(not the gordon heights part), Selden, Rocky Point, Sound Beach. Good value for the dollar and all are alot safer than shirley, mastic, wyandanch, and north bellport.
-Access? This depends. If you live towards the center, i'd agree. If you live all the way south you have access to the southern state, we have the northern state, expressway is about the same distance either way, you have montauk highway, we have 25A and 347. Sunrise might be the only exception.
-Beaches? Check out West Meadow some time. No rocks at all. Cedar Beach isn't too bad either.
-Snobby? That's a town by town thing. When you go by most of the upscale on the water towns, there are more snobs. When you go to the middle class areas there is obviously a dropoff; so it's an income thing, not n/s.
-Convenience? No chance. Unless you go into the city, the north shore is generally more compact with their towns. Check out northport, port jefferson, port jefferson station, selden, rocky point, miller place as some of the examples.
-Driveable? Unless you are going north of 25A or 347 than it makes no sense.
***What it sounds like to me is that you have lived on the south shore most or all of your life. You go to very specific areas on the north shore to visit a friend or family member or a specific place of business. Not someone who has driven all over these areas.
**One job that I have done on the side for many years is cable work. Since doing my first repair, I have worked everywhere from queens to Amagansett on the south shore and all the way to orient point on the north shore, so i've probably been on every long island road and side street unless it's a new private road in old stony brook that was just put on the map.
Honestly they are both about the same for most items you mentioned. Most people use the expressway to divide the shores, some use middle country road. I use the first.
Honestly depending where you commute to and how far north or south you live would make this argument stronger. you can live on either shore but still be close to the center. Most people use the expressway as the divider so you could live in a town like Selden which is considered the north shore and still be only 2 minutes from the expressway. Honestly the businesses on the north shore including local pizza places, delis, and chinese food are far superior as a whole compared to the south shore counterparts.
Honestly the businesses on the north shore including local pizza places, delis, and chinese food are far superior as a whole compared to the south shore counterparts.
bahahahahaha
But of course! the North Shore has always been known for known for it's historic mansions, tony country clubs, and Chinese food!
Before I begin, yes to some extent, this is determined on a town-by-down basis. But since the OP did not specify a specific town, we are left to generalize the entire large region/s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lancet71
-Price? Ever heard of Coram(not the gordon heights part), Selden, Rocky Point, Sound Beach. Good value for the dollar and all are alot safer than shirley, mastic, wyandanch, and north bellport.
Exactly, you have to go all the way out to deeeeeep Suffolk in hopes of finding anything remotely affordable. Even the crappy areas of the north shore of Nassau/Western suffolk are overly-expensive even by LI standards. I think the only exception to this is some run-down sections of Huntington Station/neighboring areas.
Quote:
-Access? This depends. If you live towards the center, i'd agree. If you live all the way south you have access to the southern state, we have the northern state, expressway is about the same distance either way, you have montauk highway, we have 25A and 347. Sunrise might be the only exception.
Roads like Rt.347/Montauk Hwy/Rt. 25/Sunrise Hwy IN NASSAU/Rt. 25a are not uninterrupted roadways so you will face a lot of lights and disruptions in commuting. When I said distance to highways and no matter where you are on the South Shore, you are very close to a limited-access highway/parkway/expwy. I think Oceanside/Baldwin Hbr is the only exception.
Quote:
-Beaches? Check out West Meadow some time. No rocks at all. Cedar Beach isn't too bad either.
Generally speaking, most south shore beaches are soft, sandy and luscious; while most nassau beaches are rocky. It's possible there are a few exceptions like maybe the ones you listed but this is just the geography of Long Island (w/the former glacier that was once over the North Shore of LI and not the South Shore of LI).
Quote:
-Snobby? That's a town by town thing. When you go by most of the upscale on the water towns, there are more snobs. When you go to the middle class areas there is obviously a dropoff; so it's an income thing, not n/s.
This is 100% true.
BUT there are more rich areas on the north shore than the south shore so if you do the math...
Quote:
-Convenience? No chance. Unless you go into the city, the north shore is generally more compact with their towns. Check out northport, port jefferson, port jefferson station, selden, rocky point, miller place as some of the examples.
Some north shore towns do have walkable downtowns but most of the north shore has extremely low density. This is not conducive to walkability at all. Yes, some towns do have their little main streets but that really doesn't benefit anybody caring about walkability unless they live directly on and off that main road.
Quote:
-Driveable? Unless you are going north of 25A or 347 than it makes no sense.
When I said "drivable" this mainly pertains to driving on hilly roads when they are icy. This is considered dangerous and for most ppl-unpleasant; there's really not much more to say about that
I live on the south shore but the north shore is just beautiful. I just love driving through the north shore. It feels like you are out in the country. There are so many beautiful areas on the north shore. The scenery is breathtaking. The only problem is the lack of any major highways. Which might be a plus for some. It just takes so long to get anywhere on the N shore.
I prefer the North Shore but the ease of access is the reason why I'd rather live on the south shore.
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