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I've gotten some great advice on this forum before, so thought I would try again with a new potential move.
My husband and I are thinking about buying a house in Queens or LI. Budget under $1 million. I work in midtown Manhattan and my husband will be working near Forest Hills in Queens.
Some key criteria for us are:
- Safe area with good schools is most important
- Commute - looking for < 35-40 minute drive to Forest Hills and easy commute to midtown (no more than 1 hour to Central Park or 35-40 minutes to Penn Station). I would very much prefer living within WALKING distance to LIRR station or subway.
- House with at least some semblance of a grassy yard
- Walkable, friendly town area - I hate driving and really want to be able to walk to downtown / cafes / supermarket.
- Area with some Russian and Jewish population would be great. We also really don't want to end up in a town with a big "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality.
- Environmental factors: there seems to be a lot of concern with LI water sources in recent years, so NYC has its appeal with cleaner water (?)
We currently rent in Bayside and really like the almost-urban environment - still walkable, but green and quiet. We're having a hard time finding Russian / Jewish (not very observant) families here, though, which will be important to us as our son grows up.
So far we really like Forest Hills, but it seems hard to find a 3-bed house + yard for our budget (which I find kind of crazy). We think we can also be happy somewhere more suburban, but going much further than Great Neck gets me to > 1 hour commute, which isn't ideal.
Are we looking for a unicorn? I'm wondering if there are other areas we should be exploring that we just haven't thought of yet.
I currently live in Bayside too and about to close on a house in Stewart Manor/Garden City area. I needed the quick walk to the LIRR (didnt want to drive) and my husband still worked in Queens. LIRR is less than 40 mins from there, making commutes appox 1 hour which was my max. Also, there are 2 lines to choose from. You can also walk to stores for groceries & other things which was a huge perk for me (Covert Ave).
I was looking in the $900k range and you can find much more for your money in Long Island vs Bayside or Forest Hills -- I looked in Queens before LI. You don't want to look too far out bc those commutes can be brutal.
I wanted all the same as you except for the Russian/Jewish thing -- I have no idea on that one. Great Neck might be more of an option. Great Neck is still on the Port Washington line, which is great.
If you are looking for a Jewish community, I suggest Great Neck, Kensington or Great Neck Estates zone. There are a lot of synagogues and schools are excellent. You can walk to the train station. Great Neck to Pen is 30-40 minutes. Houses can go over 800k+ while 2Bedroom, 2Bath can range from 400k-600k.
Commuting to NYC is no problem but Forest Hills might be a problem. He can either take the LIRR to Woodside and take local subway/LIRR to Forest Hills. Or he can drive to work, 30-40 minutes.
If not, Forest Hills is probably the best. I have never seen a Jewish family in Garden City.
Bingo! You hit the nail on the head. A 4 bedroom house in Bayside gets you a $7300 or so tax bill (I live here so people don't argue with me on that one LOL) whereas the house I grew up in in Nassau is an easy $13,000 to 14,000 year tax bill (same size house). OTH, the schools in certain Nassau towns are great. But, then again, once the kids hit high school, you have great exam schools which are FREE in NYC.
OP, I think that you sound like you will never be happy unless you live adjacent to, if not "in" a Russian Jewish neighborhood. Which is very understandable. I would say that you could talk to all of the Forest Hills real estate agents you could find, if you have not done so and told them how important your wish is to get into such an area for such and such price. Maybe a fixer upper? By the way, since you are in Bayside, surely you know about Fresh Meadows and Hollis Hills where there are so many Russian Jews. I am sure you know better than anyone on this board where the RJ reside in Queens.
I am not Jewish but really like Great Neck and am sorry it's a tough commute for you. Great schools. As in Port Washington...but I am getting too far out even mentioning Port!
There are many good houses in the $900's. 3 and 4 bedrooms.
Bingo! You hit the nail on the head. A 4 bedroom house in Bayside gets you a $7300 or so tax bill (I live here so people don't argue with me on that one LOL) whereas the house I grew up in in Nassau is an easy $13,000 to 14,000 year tax bill (same size house). OTH, the schools in certain Nassau towns are great. But, then again, once the kids hit high school, you have great exam schools which are FREE in NYC.
OP, I think that you sound like you will never be happy unless you live adjacent to, if not "in" a Russian Jewish neighborhood. Which is very understandable. I would say that you could talk to all of the Forest Hills real estate agents you could find, if you have not done so and told them how important your wish is to get into such an area for such and such price. Maybe a fixer upper? By the way, since you are in Bayside, surely you know about Fresh Meadows and Hollis Hills where there are so many Russian Jews. I am sure you know better than anyone on this board where the RJ reside in Queens.
I am not Jewish but really like Great Neck and am sorry it's a tough commute for you. Great schools. As in Port Washington...but I am getting too far out even mentioning Port!
There are many good houses in the $900's. 3 and 4 bedrooms.
Except that as Baysider, you pay NYC income tax. At the income required to afford a 900k house it will make property taxes on LI vs Queens a wash or better in many cases.
Once again, Hewlett. Perfect for your budget, ground zero for Russian Jews on LI, both secular and religious. Huge range of home prices and lifestyles (you don't have to keep up with the Joneses if you don't want to, but you certainly can!), decent walkability depending on the neighborhood, train, etc.
Seconding Hewlett and parts of Woodmere and North Woodmere. There are also a small number of Russian Jews in Long Beach and Far Rockaway/Bayswater (Queens), but neither will fit the rest of your criteria, nor would be a good match based on your price point. Hewlett-Woodmere SD 14 is excellent. Great Neck is mostly Persian.
Thanks all - this is very helpful and I really appreciate the thoughtful responses. You've given me some food for thought!
We may branch out to Great Neck, Port Washington and the Hewlett area based on the above suggestions - it does look like we may get a bit more what we're looking for (in terms of house & yard) for the money than Forest Hills. Hewlett definitely has its appeal because of the Russian Jewish population. What's giving me some pause on all 3 is the rush hour commute for my husband to the Forest Hills area -- it looks like it would be about 35 minutes to an hour daily in heavy traffic (which sounds far more painful than a 1-hour train commute for me into the city). But you can't have everything, so we'll need to consider space vs commute and decide where our priorities lie.
We actually hadn't really heard much about Fresh Meadows or Hollis Hills, so those sound like new potential areas to look into (thanks Martha Anne)! It looks like the only option for commuting to Manhattan is the express bus. Does anyone know how these buses are? Generally timely / designated bus lanes, or do they often get stuck in traffic?
Does he work in Forest Hills? He can take the LIRR to the Forest Hills station if he doesn't want to drive. You can't take the LIRR from Great Neck to Forest Hills. Driving from Hewlett/Woodmere to Forest Hills can be irritating but it's certainly doable. If you have the budget, check out Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Bay Park.
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