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If there was no NYC, there's no way I'd stay on LI. There are a million suburban beach communities all over the East Coast with the same or similar amenities and a significantly lower COL. If all you want is what's offered on Long Island, why wouldn't you move to a place that offers nearly identical options at a significantly lower price (and, in most cases, a warmer climate to boot!)?
If there was no NYC, there's no way I'd stay on LI. There are a million suburban beach communities all over the East Coast with the same or similar amenities and a significantly lower COL. If all you want is what's offered on Long Island, why wouldn't you move to a place that offers nearly identical options at a significantly lower price (and, in most cases, a warmer climate to boot!)?
I've asked this before - which suburban areas exactly would be similar and have the same proximity for everything and good schools for kids? Such that the beach isn't an hour away, etc. Genuine question about alternatives.
Actually there are a lot fewer other places with LI's amenities AND a lower COL than you'd think. Believe me, I've been looking into a LOT of them.
I don't want "south" but I also don't want to deal with worse winters than our typical ones either.
Suburbs of cities with medical care options comparable to NY are almost as expensive and often with worse weather (IMHO; I am not a "sunbird" but not a "snowbird" either, lol) and/or with natural-disaster risks higher than anything we have here. We don't need to worry about tornadoes, earthquakes, floods/mudslides, or radon levels in our homes. And the only REALLY bad hurricanes that we've had in most of our lifetimes have been Gloria (1985) and Sandy. And I was living in a waterfront community for both of those, so had to deal with more fallout from them than most. (that said, I would not live within 2 miles of the shore ANYWHERE anymore, as much because of the homeowners insurance problems nowadays as from fear of wind or water damage)
The Delmarva peninsula offers lower home prices and taxes BUT the COL is the same as we have here. And due to the lack of zoning and the summer tourist trade, you'll have fancy HOA's butting right up against trailer parks, chicken farms, and other things that many people (including myself) would find objectionable. And Delaware has one of the highest crime rates in the nation coupled with the most limited selection of decent hospitals. Yes, taxes are low but there is a LOT less in the way of basic services, including police and fire department response times. People in Maryland complain about their taxes (which while not as bad as ours, are by no means low) and move across the border to PA where they can get more house for the money but then find out that an hour's wait for a police response is typical, and that they need a 4WD vehicle to get around on the barely-plowed roads.
I've asked this before - which suburban areas exactly would be similar and have the same proximity for everything and good schools for kids? Such that the beach isn't an hour away, etc. Genuine question about alternatives.
I wish I knew. See my comment about lower Delaware above. Communities are near the beach BUT you also have the same scenario that we have each summer in the Hamptons area: nightmarish traffic, prices jacked up on everything to take advantage of the tourists, crowds of rowdy vacationers, lots of people buying houses just to rent out to same). There is ONE fairly decent hospital in the coastal Delaware area and the only 2 ranked hospitals in the entire state are in the crime-ridden north of the state near Wilmington. HOAs everywhere (I happen to think they are NOT a good thing, and am very happy we don't have many on LI) as a "protective" measure. A good public water supply is not necessarily a given, like it is here on LI.
I’m 31, only lived in NY for 5 years and if I didn’t *have* to go into Manhattan for work or some other matter, I wouldn’t go. We do have family and friends that like the city, so every few months, we make the effort to meet there for dinner/drinks/etc. Other than that, never.
I have lived on Long Island my entire life and have been into the city maybe 20 times in my lifetime. All of my needs are met on Long Island (work, school, recreation, etc.).
Now, if I had the choice to relocate to another area of the country, I would in a heartbeat, but unfortunately, due to work and family, my wife and I are stuck here for the forseeable future.
But NYC never enters into my equation of living on Long Island.
I've asked this before - which suburban areas exactly would be similar and have the same proximity for everything and good schools for kids? Such that the beach isn't an hour away, etc. Genuine question about alternatives.
Friends/acquaintances have relocated to the beach communities in Delaware, Maryland, Myrtle Beach and Florida. I haven't done much research on it myself, since I have no plans to relocate, but that's where people I know who have relocated have gone.
I'm sure there are other trade-offs involved, to some extent, but for me personally, if I was *never* going to visit the city for anything, I know I wouldn't waste my money living here.
Our business is based in Suffolk and the bulk of our clientele work in Suffolk, a few in Nassau. I go into Manhattan perhaps 1x every year for a play. I'm not dependent upon NYC; everything we need is here on LI.
If taxes weren't rising so meteorically, we would retire here. Doesn't look like that will happen.
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