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Hi there!
My husband and I will be looking to relocate to Long Island soon. Husband is a city worker and will need to commute to Brooklyn, so we would like no more than an hour commute by car. I work from home so job is not an issue to me. We are seeking a suburban area with a sense of community (community based activities such as festivals, farmers markets, etc. not necessarily all of those things, but you get the idea). We do not want an urban feel at all. We are sick of Brooklyn, so we do not want to move to any location that remotely reminds us of it here. We are interested in living in an area where everyone speaks English (no judgement, please - we currently live in a neighborhood where majority of the people do not speak English and only socialize with others of their own culture, so it makes it very difficult to even have friendly chit chat with our neighbors). We prefer Suffolk county as we feel it has a more suburban feel, however, we are open to Nassau county as well if there are places that fit in with what we want. We are also interested in country/rural areas but I know there probably aren't any of these on Long Island. Good schools would be nice, but are not super important to us right now. Finally, we would like to be able to purchase a house under $300k, preferably 1.5+ baths, 3 bedrooms. If there are any places like this, or close to this, please post here. Thanks in advance!!!
Hi there!
My husband and I will be looking to relocate to Long Island soon. Husband is a city worker and will need to commute to Brooklyn, so we would like no more than an hour commute by car. I work from home so job is not an issue to me. We are seeking a suburban area with a sense of community (community based activities such as festivals, farmers markets, etc. not necessarily all of those things, but you get the idea). We do not want an urban feel at all. We are sick of Brooklyn, so we do not want to move to any location that remotely reminds us of it here. We are interested in living in an area where everyone speaks English (no judgement, please - we currently live in a neighborhood where majority of the people do not speak English and only socialize with others of their own culture, so it makes it very difficult to even have friendly chit chat with our neighbors). We prefer Suffolk county as we feel it has a more suburban feel, however, we are open to Nassau county as well if there are places that fit in with what we want. We are also interested in country/rural areas but I know there probably aren't any of these on Long Island. Good schools would be nice, but are not super important to us right now. Finally, we would like to be able to purchase a house under $300k, preferably 1.5+ baths, 3 bedrooms. If there are any places like this, or close to this, please post here. Thanks in advance!!!
It would be VERY hard to find something that fits all of your criteria on that budget. Finding a 3 bedroom house on LI for under $300K is very difficult, unless it's a fixer or in a poorer school district. If you want Suffolk, you're almost guaranteed to be looking at close to an hour commute to Brooklyn (possible more with traffic), and if you want country/rural, you'd be looking at the east end, which could be close to a 2-2 1/2 hour commute one way to Brooklyn.
There are places in Suffolk that meet your criteria but they are going to be much much more than a 1 hour drive to Brooklyn. Try 2 hours and maybe you can get somewhere.
Off the top of my head, Ridge and Rocky Point are nice, exurban, cheap places to live in your price range, but you will drive forever! You could take the LIRR from Port Jefferson to Jamaica, but it will be a long long ride.
Better off leaving the area entirely for a different city.
I think you can find something. It will take some looking. We had a similar budget to yours and criteria and it took us 6 months. We ended up in the Sachem school district, but we also looked in Connetquot school district and also in the South Shore communities (Amityville, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Copiague, etc.)
Your best bet is somewhere in western to central Suffolk, maybe south shore or middle of the island. Find a real estate agent who knows the area.
The commute will be your biggest sacrifice though. I know someone who lives in Selden and commutes to Brooklyn everyday. He's been doing it for well over 20 years at least. It's more than an hour, I'm certain of that. He says he's happy to travel all that way and come home to a nice house at the end of his day. Some can do it, some can't.
We are happy with our neighborhood, everyone keeps up on their landscaping, children are outside biking and skateboarding all the time.
Better off leaving the area entirely for a different city.
^This!
The nice salary hubby may make in Brooklyn, will more than be consumed by the expense of housing/taxes/commuting.
There are still some nice places in this country where one can have what you're looking for (I know, I moved to one 1000 miles away) but you're certainly not going to find them within an hoiur's drive of "Bruke-ling".
You might be reluctant to give up the good salary, but believe me, it's so much cheaper to live in other places; and the quality of life is so much higher, that in reality, you wouldn't be giving up anything. (I make a third of what I made in NY, in my new locale, but it's like i was living like a pauper in NY vs. living like a king, now.)
And LI is turning into Brooklyn, anyway- lots of non-English-speakers, and the native Engliush-speakers are generally foul-mouthed and nasty (it's a NY thing)- and likely not the kind of people you'd want to "community" with, anyway.
30 years ago, moving from Borough of churches to LI would have been the thing to do. Today, you wouldn't notice too much of a difference, except in the higher property taxes. If you want quality of life....you really have to move out of the area; out of the state; out of the northeast! (I don't know how I used to endure those winters!)
Thanks everyone for your responses! Obviously I'm aware that I have high expectations. If anyone could give more insight as to areas that are almost like what I described and reasonably priced, that would be great. Also please do not suggest I move elsewhere, as that is not an option. I'm willing to sacrifice some things but the most important things are that I do not want to live in an urban area and I need housing under $300k. Thanks!
Thanks everyone for your responses! Obviously I'm aware that I have high expectations. If anyone could give more insight as to areas that are almost like what I described and reasonably priced, that would be great. Also please do not suggest I move elsewhere, as that is not an option. I'm willing to sacrifice some things but the most important things are that I do not want to live in an urban area and I need housing under $300k. Thanks!
You are asking for a lot here. You are not going to find a decent house anywhere on LI for less than 300k that is in a safe neighborhood. Maybe you could find something in Brentwood or Wyandanch in your budget but those are less desirable.
Staten Island makes more sense for what they want in price and distance to Brooklyn
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