Best town/village on long island for single mom (Islip: for sale, apartment)

[jaxsky]

Hi, I just want to see if anyone has any advice for me. I live in Hauppauge, Suffolk county. I grew up in Merrick, Nassau county. I am in the process of getting divorced, and will need to sell my home. I have a 4 year old, I am trying to find a neighborhood that would be ideal for a single mom. I think I am leaning towards a condo but possibly a house. I am looking at the South Shore, from Sayville all the way west to Lindenhurst. I have seen that there a decent amount of good school districts in that area. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions for me? I am also open to any other towns not only south shore, like, Melville, Plainview Bethpage etc. Thanks

[KellyFG]

I raised my son as a single mom for nearly ten years in a townhouse in Oakdale. Connetquot schools which I loved through middle school but though were mediocre in HS.
The neighborhood I was in is called Greenwood(sister neighborhood willow wood) & it was beautiful, safe & my neighbors were great.

[AnthonyNYC]

I would look into school districts that had full day kindergarten and also after school programs as well. Use that to help you narrow down your choices.

Anthony

[jaxsky]

Thanks for your help. Greenwood looks nice. There are a few units for sale. Do you remember if it has a playground? Also, good thinking with the after school programs. She has another full year of preschool, then kindergarten. I am also thinking about possibly renting for 1 year. I've got mixed opinions about this option. What do you think? Thanks again to both of you.

[nancy thereader]

Huntington Village. That is a lovely place to live. Port Jefferson. Generally the small villages have lots to offer. Best of luck in your search!

[KellyFG]

Greenwood is great, there was a very small playground at one point but I think they removed it, but I'm gone 4 years they may have replaced it. I actually rented there the whole time, the first unit for 3 years & the second larger unit for 5 or 6. You rent privately from individual owners not a management company. Honestly I'd rent first there because the prices are still a little inflated but are coming down. When I started renting there my landlord was an original owner that bought it as a newlywed in 1987 & paid $120k, by the early 90's they had two kids & outgrew it, unfortunately they couldn't give it away. So they rented it to me & bought a house in sayville. They never intended to be landlords & in 1998 they decided to sell & they got $153k. I moved into a slightly larger unit in the same building on the other end. Same deal original owner bought it as a bachelor pad. Had it rented several times before me. When I told him we bought a house(I got married) he was thrilled because he wanted to sell but didn't want to ask me to leave because my son was still in high school. He sold it for $389K in January of 2005. So I see the small units now still listed for around that price-its too high. If you can get a two bedroom two bath ranch unit(no upstairs neighbors, all end units with big windows) for $299-320 I think that would be a great long term investment.
The pool is nice & not too huge & kid friendly. Every unit has a patio or deck & although the grassy areas are "common grounds" lots of kids play outside. We had a hammock in our backyard & our neighbors had a little tikes playhouse on their deck. Its not to strict with the rules. Its been a long time since my son was little so I'm not sure about before & after care but I'm pretty sure the kindergarten is full day in connetquot.
I have lived in port jeff village too & I had a terrible experience with the school district. getting in & out of the village from may to september on weekends is a horror.
Good luck to you! if you have more questions about oakdale/connetquot/greenwood-let me know!

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by jaxsky

Hi, I just want to see if anyone has any advice for me. I live in Hauppauge, Suffolk county. I grew up in Merrick, Nassau county. I am in the process of getting divorced, and will need to sell my home. I have a 4 year old, I am trying to find a neighborhood that would be ideal for a single mom. I think I am leaning towards a condo but possibly a house. I am looking at the South Shore, from Sayville all the way west to Lindenhurst. I have seen that there a decent amount of good school districts in that area. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions for me? I am also open to any other towns not only south shore, like, Melville, Plainview Bethpage etc. Thanks

Hauppauge schools are very good and it is a full day program. Why leave? I believe there are some condo/apartment communities on Veteran's highway that might be an option. Just another thought. Not sure if moving west is part of your plan of course. I am not a huge fan of Lindenhurst. Sayville is a very nice community and on the way into town there appears to be a number of coop/condo complexes. Might be an option. Good luck to you.

[jaxsky]

Thanks JrProfess, Hauppauge schools are great but don't love it here. Oakdale seems to have the developments your talking about. I'm going today to look around.

[Walter Greenspan]

For those who may not be familiar with Oakdale:

Oakdale is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the southeast part of the Town of Islip, in the southwest part of Suffolk County.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Oakdale in the Town of Islip is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Bohemia; on the east by the Hamlet of West Sayville; on the south by the Great South Bay; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Great River.

The Hamlet of Oakdale has a different border than does the "Oakdale, NY 11769" postal zone (i.e., a place can have an "Oakdale, NY 11769" mailing address and not be in the Hamlet of Oakdale): places that have a "Oakdale, NY 11769" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Oakdale are in the Hamlet of West Sayville and the Hamlet of Great River.





For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County):

//www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html

[mgcmcw]

Would you consider Lynbrook or is that too far west? There are lots of condos and coopts.....very easy to get around.