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I'm mainly referring to Nassau since Suffolk is a lot less developed overall and I wouldn't expect there to be too many apartment buildings to begin with. The only apartments I see larger than 3 stories are in Long Beach and Hempstead Village, and even those are usually no more than about 6 stories tall. Are there some sort of regulations preventing the construction of apartment buildings more than 3 stories tall in most of the municipalities of Nassau County, or are there infrastructural issues preventing it?
Building tall buildings is expensive, so developers build "up" instead of "out" based on the cost of land (a product of demand). For example, Manhattan has skyscrapers because the land is extraordinarily expensive, and as you go further away from Manhattan, building height drops along with land cost.
Zoning and local laws also play a role, but those tend to be tweaked given enough demand. There just isn't enough demand in most of Long Island to make high-density housing worthwhile, particularly since your average buyer is looking to get away from the density of the city. Right now we're starting to see more high-density housing in communities surrounding major transportation hubs such as Mineola, which is catering to commuters as well as locals who can't afford to buy a house.
I'm mainly referring to Nassau since Suffolk is a lot less developed overall and I wouldn't expect there to be too many apartment buildings to begin with. The only apartments I see larger than 3 stories are in Long Beach and Hempstead Village, and even those are usually no more than about 6 stories tall. Are there some sort of regulations preventing the construction of apartment buildings more than 3 stories tall in most of the municipalities of Nassau County, or are there infrastructural issues preventing it?
Freeport and Mineola have a lot of apartment buildings over 3 floors. The areas near the Roosevelt Field Mall have larger apartment buildings too. For example, I think the Hofstra dorms are around 14 floors.
But yes, zoning is the main thing keeping building heights low.
I'm mainly referring to Nassau since Suffolk is a lot less developed overall and I wouldn't expect there to be too many apartment buildings to begin with. The only apartments I see larger than 3 stories are in Long Beach and Hempstead Village, and even those are usually no more than about 6 stories tall. Are there some sort of regulations preventing the construction of apartment buildings more than 3 stories tall in most of the municipalities of Nassau County, or are there infrastructural issues preventing it?
I know when I used to live in Great Neck, all buildings are three stories or less, unless they are one of the 3 pre-war buildings. It seems there were some zoning changes which now prohibit from building taller than 3 stories. The 3 pre-war buildings are the more expensive and desirable.
The real reason is that planes are flying into Kennedy airport. The locals don't want anyone to get any bright ideas about jumping up and holding on to the landing gears.
No the real reason is: earth quakes. Think about what just a 6 on the richter scale would do to tall buildings.
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