Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I see this thread is getting somewhat of a revival so I figured I'd chime in while on this flight with free WiFi in the event someone stumbles upon this at some point during their home search. My wife and I moved here from Queens not too long ago and I have to say we're glad we did. I love NYC, was born and raised there, but as I've gotten older, I decided it was time to leave. Here's some of my/our thoughts. We picked Oceanside mainly because it felt right to us, and because it was close enough to the city for both our jobs and for leisure.
-Driving: The 10 minutes or so it takes to get the highway can be a real pain every day, but you really begin to forget about it after a while. Not a deal breaker for many.
-Train: If you take the train, LIRR parking is $3/year which is fantastic. However, you won't find a spot after 8AM (still better than some other town lots which fill up at 630). There is ample street parking a few blocks away though. Getting on at O'side, you'll always have a seat as it's the 3rd stop. There's a fantastic coffee spot called Caffeine right by the platform. I work in the Financial District, and I get to work a whopping 5 minutes later than I did when I took the E train from Queens. It's astonishing. Granted, the Long Beach line is one of the better ones, and I don't have the same horror stories I hear from my co-workers about the other lines.
-Schools: No kids yet, but neighbors tell us they're pleased. It may not be at the top of the state, but it's miles ahead of NYC (not a high bar. It's gotten really bad since I was student not that long ago).
-Taxes: Someone mentioned above, but I did find them to a be a little lower here. I don't feel as price-gauged as some of my fellow NYC expats in other areas. Even without STAR, I'd say I'm taxed pretty fairly (for now).
-Houses: We have a colonial that reminds us of the houses we grew up around in Queens. There are a variety of styles so you can be sure to find one you like. Aside from a few blocks, I haven't really seen too many cookie-cutter blocks. I would say to anyone buying here- buy out of the flood zone. It'll not only save you on insurance, but it's nice to be 15 minutes from the beach and not have to [reasonably] worry about coming home to an unplanned swimming pool.
-Pricing: We got in to a totally renovated, simple 3bed/2ba home for just shy of $500k. The inventory at the price point is dwindling though. The lower priced houses are usually very dated or located right in the flood zone. Prices are still reasonable overall though (don't know for how much longer). I don't think there'll be much at all below $500k in the next couple of years.
-Shopping: Before buying, I heard a litany of complaints here about the traffic on Long Beach Road. I'm glad I didn't listen. Sure, it's not a race way, but it's nothing that crazy. Definitely not as bad as Queens Blvd. You can just about anything you need without having to go off of LBR (Trader Joe's, gas, the fish market, great coffee, etc.). However, there is no "quaint downtown," so you're out of luck there, if that matters to you.
-Crime: Very safe. You'll get property crimes like any other residential town, but that's the bulk of it. No issues to report on that front. When our silent panic button went off by accident, cops and an ambulance were outside in literally minutes. While I apologized, I did mention how reassuring it was.
-Nightlife: Lacking, but I mean, I didn't move to Nassau for nightlife (who does?). I always smirk when people complain about that (e.g., angry FB posters on local pages). What I like about O'side is you are literally a stepping stone away from all the nightlife and restaurants of Rockville Centre without having to pay their taxes.
-Things-to-do: O'side (or much of LI for that matter) isn't exactly a cultural capitol, nor is it meant to be. The library is great, the beach/boardwalk is literally in your backyard, and the nightlife, as mentioned above, is right next door. If I want to do anything else, I look something up nearby and go there. Funny how that works. Don't move here from Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens and complain you don't have museums. You may laugh, but it's another complaint I see on FB.
-People: We have great neighbors, the shop owners/workers have been great, and we have found the town to be welcoming. It's a good mix of blue and white collar. Our block has a doctor, a teacher, a police officer, tradesmen, small business owners, etc. to name a few. This isn't a ritzy North Shore town so don't expect that type of attitude (I've learned some people seek that out). I'd label ourselves upper middle class. It seems the new houses are filling up with young couples with little ones or about to have little ones. We are an interracial couple and we were fed stereotypes about how we would get "looks" in Long Island. Total BS! Everyone has been awesome, and while still majority white, there is a good mix of ethnicities, religions, etc. For the record, we got more of those looks in Queens! Now, there will always be complainers who talk about "how things were" but that's in any city. Yes, this is isn't 30 years ago. Things change. Traffic gets worse. Prices rise. Deal with it.
-Bottom line: We're happy we moved here. I don't think we could ever go back to our cramped apartment. The funny thing is we still hang out in our old neighborhood and it takes all of 25-30 minutes. Only difference is we come back to a nice home we've made for ourselves with parking, grass, and space. And Penn Station is only a 45 minute train ride away for those city nights.
Good luck to anyone who may read this in the future, and come check us out in Oceanside!
/\ take the advice of a resident. That post was very thorough and thoughtful. Some posters are miserable humans and some, like in your other thread, are uninformed and unsuccessful ex- New Yorkers.
So you don't like Black people or Hispanic people then or what?
Anyone who spends more than a week in Oceanside will know the residents are closeted racists - they type who may not even realize they are. They act like they're politically correct because they're "good people" types, but just look at them and you can tell they're not exactly progressive. As a minority parent in Oceanside I walk my kid into school and I'm met with people who avoid eye contact or roll their eyes at the very sight of me. Meanwhile they will chit chat with literally anyone else who is white and has the typical Oceanside look and voice. The only people here who talk to me are commuters who know how the rest of the world works. I'm leaving the second I can afford to.
Anyone who spends more than a week in Oceanside will know the residents are closeted racists - they type who may not even realize they are. They act like they're politically correct because they're "good people" types, but just look at them and you can tell they're not exactly progressive. As a minority parent in Oceanside I walk my kid into school and I'm met with people who avoid eye contact or roll their eyes at the very sight of me. Meanwhile they will chit chat with literally anyone else who is white and has the typical Oceanside look and voice. The only people here who talk to me are commuters who know how the rest of the world works. I'm leaving the second I can afford to.
And what is the typical "Oceanside look and voice?" Aren't you stereotyping too? FWIW, Oceanside Schools have a sizable ESL population. Have you been to all of the schools in the district?
Anyone who spends more than a week in Oceanside will know the residents are closeted racists - they type who may not even realize they are. They act like they're politically correct because they're "good people" types, but just look at them and you can tell they're not exactly progressive. As a minority parent in Oceanside I walk my kid into school and I'm met with people who avoid eye contact or roll their eyes at the very sight of me. Meanwhile they will chit chat with literally anyone else who is white and has the typical Oceanside look and voice. The only people here who talk to me are commuters who know how the rest of the world works. I'm leaving the second I can afford to.
It might not be racial. It could be a difference in lifestyle choice. The parents/women who take their kids to school might be SAHM or people who work locally. They have more time than commuters. They can meet for coffee after dropping off their kids. They can be cliquish. Their circles may seem more closed since they spend their days locally on LI. Commuters, like yourself, need to rush off to get to work and don't have the time for after school playdates and activities. These parents can spend their days with their children and children's friends at the playground, beach, shopping. They do tend to become a tight circle, but that's not necessarily based on race since you mentioned that the commuters don't shun you and accept you. They would probably treat other white parents who are outside of their inner circle the same.
Property values are about to nose dive thanks to that little letter from TOH.
looks like quite the opposite has been happening
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
