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JRP - I wasn't alive from 60-80, so I can only comment on the current status of Baldwin. When I was younger I worked in a pizza place right next to the high school, so I saw all the kids come and go. They were no different than the kids who went to my own high school - jocks, nerds, preps, burnouts...whatever you wanna call them. There were some kids who looked pretty thugged out, but they ended up just being goof balls. I also got to see all kinds of people and homes throughout the neighborhood, and the shady looking houses and rentals were seriously a minority, really only a handful. Even most of those people in those places seemed alright, may have just run into some bad luck. It was really not much different from doing the same job in Wantagh.
The worst thing that happened to me in Baldwin was that I left my car running one time and came back to a very large crackhead-looking woman digging through the glovebox, right near the border of Freeport. Got away with $20...I was able to chase her down but decided she needed the money way more than I did. Another time, late at night, someone drove a pickup truck through the front of a bagel store and made off with the cash register, and the worst thing I know about that happened in Baldwin is a few years ago, after I was out of there, an off-duty cop got shot during an altercation at a bar on Grand Avenue. So there you go, I'm not denying that Baldwin has it's fair share of problems, but these are (realistically) things that can (and do) happen everywhere else in South Shore Nassau. I feel like it's the perceived decline and "changing demographics" that somehow make them seem worse when they happen in Baldwin. Burglary is Massapequa? Reaction is "oh how awful!" Burglary in Baldwin? Reaction is "figures".
Like I said, I was not alive in the 1960s but I seriously doubt most suburban communities in Nassau resemble the character they had back then. In present terms, and from what I know of being there 12 hours a day, every single day for three years, Baldwin has far more positives and is on par with East Meadow or Levittown.
I think with your crackhead experience you might have offended residents of Freeport, in implying it was on the border...easy now.....
Before you go implying I have given misleading info regarding home costs in FP, shouldn't you check the MLS? I know the market very well and yes, they do exist. May need work, or may be small, didn't say they didn't. But as of right now on MLS, 11 homes come up in the FPV area that are b/c $400-$500. And I know where every single one of them is, all in fairly desirable areas.
You say the stories we tell are " suspect" as if we are lying or exaggerating, when you are the one who clearly posted about something you do not know facts about (FP home costs). So who posted based on facts? Me or you?
Fact - A home can be purchased in FPV b/w 400-500 (check the MLS to verify my fact) Fact - I saw a creepy weird crackhead looking trannie/hooker in the broad daylight coming out of a home in Baldwin on a short drive through the town (sorry, I didn't take a pic to back up what I say is a fact)
Truth is, I have nothing to gain by exaggerating and I have no reason to sugarcoat my experience there for that matter either. Sorry if the truth hurts.
I'm very familiar with Floral Park AND real estate
Ain't no decent home in Floral Park for nobody's $400,000.
(don't care what you saw on MLSLI)
You're getting somebody's hopes up for nothing.
and YES some of these stories ARE suspect and strange.
Because you saw a crackhead in Baldwin doesn't make it a bad area.
BTW, how do you know it was a crackhead? What's your famliarity with crackheads that makes you so sure?
And
so what if you DID see a crackhead coming of out of a house in Baldwin?
You're likely to see a crackhead if you go to Paris Hilton's neighborhood coming out of her house, or Liindsay Lohan's or Nicole Ritchie's ...so what?
Last edited by DonnaReed; 02-12-2008 at 10:12 AM..
I'm very familiar with Floral Park AND real estate
Ain't no decent home in Floral Park for nobody's $400,000.
(don't care what you saw on MLSLI)
You're getting somebody's hopes up for nothing.
and YES some of these stories ARE suspect and strange.
Because you saw a crackhead in Baldwin doesn't make it a bad area.
BTW, how do you know it was a crackhead? What's your famliarity with crackheads that makes you so sure?
Look back at what I wrote. I didn't write you would get a phenomenal home for that price range. Again, $400 is NOT the same as $500. OP wrote they had a budget of b/w $400-$500. Big difference. I know a couple of people who just purchased homes in FPV for under $500 in the last year. Sure they may be smaller, and all of the homes needed work as I told the OP, but they were certainly livable. So nothing misleading in that info.
And again, it wasn't only the crackhead trannie I saw (if you can't tell a drug user or crackhead by now...I won't bother explaining), I even forgot to mention the dreggie types I saw when I went into Petco on Sunrise in Baldwin. Bottom line, when you see multiple types of undesirables (and NOT talking about simply one's race, the ones I refer to were white in fact), then the signs are clear that if you could choose to buy a home elsewhere, it would be in your best interest.
That's my story and my experience. I would NEVER suggest purchasing a home there if there are other choices/other towns to choose from. Bottom line.
Last edited by Glad2BHere; 02-12-2008 at 12:23 PM..
Why is everyone so negative and quick to condemn an entire town because someone stopped in at a rundown shopping center? Stop making such broad judgements. It's not nice and it's ignorant.
It's no walk in the park up on Grand avenue because the people and town reps let it get that way but there are beautiful parts of Baldwin, even up north. If residents complained to town hall like they do in other towns, things would be in better shape. Start yelling!
By the way, If I lived in Hempstead town I would be all over that Kate Murray. What's with this "Thank you Kate Murray!! crap. You'd think that she was paying all of the town taxes with her name slapped all over everything. Does the toilet paper in town hall say "Thank you Kate Murray?!" Tell her to take the town money she spends on those annoying commercials and use it to clean up upper Grand Ave through improved code enforcement!
It's the South Shore and it's closer to the city. Some beautiful old houses. Great prices for waterfront property. Nothing beats growing up on the water. They are revitalizing the storefronts on Grand Avenue soon. Know what kills neighborhoods? Opinionated people kill neighborhoods. This "good" vs "bad" has to stop.
It's the South Shore and it's closer to the city. Some beautiful old houses. Great prices for waterfront property. Nothing beats growing up on the water. They are revitalizing the storefronts on Grand Avenue soon. Know what kills neighborhoods? Opinionated people kill neighborhoods. This "good" vs "bad" has to stop.
It might be true, but it won't stop. Funny thing is with all the bad areas......LI is very safe to live! Our preception of bad, is most americans good, or atleast OK neighborhoods.
And again, it wasn't only the crackhead trannie I saw (if you can't tell a drug user or crackhead by now...I won't bother explaining), I even forgot to mention the dreggie types I saw when I went into Petco on Sunrise in Baldwin. Bottom line, when you see multiple types of undesirables (and NOT talking about simply one's race, the ones I refer to were white in fact), then the signs are clear that if you could choose to buy a home elsewhere, it would be in your best interest.
That's my story and my experience. I would NEVER suggest purchasing a home there if there are other choices/other towns to choose from. Bottom line.
I would like to clear something up. I happen to be friends with the "dreggies" that work at the Baldwin Petco. I grew up with them and if you take some time to talk to them, you might be surpised to find that they have something valuable to offer.
Let me inform you of a little known secret. "Dreggs" or "Freaks" or "Goths" are usually honor students, animal lovers, and they found music to be their "niche" opposed to sports or theatre, or CRIME. When you take the time to talk to these "freaks" you will find that they have depth, character, as well as dreams and aspirations, just like everyone else.
Its a shame that these groups of people get wrapped into the same catagory as theives and thugs.
In response to the O/P, Baldwin has its nice areas and its bad areas. I would recommend staying south of Sunrise Hwy. If you have or going to have kids, I feel that the High School has been on a decline for the past several years. Baldwin (or Freeport for that matter) have a lot more to offer if you do not need to utilize the school system.
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