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Hi, my family will need to relocate to Long Island within the next year. We currently live in a small town where my older kids can walk/bike to locations on their own (library, playground, school, stores). I was leaning towards Dix Hills on "paper" because I liked a lot of its stats, but driving through the area yesterday I could see it's not very walkable to anything. Can anyone recommend towns where kids can bike to places safely on their own? My kids are used to having a lot of independent mobility. Would like good schools, housing prices more like Dix Hills than Jericho, and a decent Asian population (preferably at least 10%). My husband will be working in the North Hempstead area. Thanks in advance!
I'm in Stony Brook, walking/bicycling distance to the village, park, harbor, stores, LIRR, and the university -- which as some decent bike paths. The schools are good and according to the 2017 NY report cards, there are approximately 10% Asian students. This has gradually increased. Several of my neighbors are either Chinese or Japanese -- the university and hospital have helped lure a more diverse population to our area.
BUT -- as others have mentioned -- bicycling on LI isn't as safe as it is in areas off LI. My children walked to a number of places -- some areas in Stony Brook have sidewalks which take us from our home to the spots I mentioned at the start of this post. You will see many people out walking on a nice day.
The big question where will you need to commute? While I love Stony Brook, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who has to go into Manhattan every day.
Our family can walk to the supermarket. Bakery. 7-11. Pizza. Dry cleaners. Bar. Barber. And a bunch of empty store fronts here in saint james. Plenty of kids bike here to the playground and their friends homes. Library is too far. There’s a lot of potential for this place to get better and things are looking up.
Surprisingly. You can walk into Asian people on a normal day too. But most of them work in the Chinese restaurant. Nail salon. Etc.
But all moot. Too far of a commute for your husband.
Yikes. Okay. How dare I ask for a town with some sort of Asian population?
Anyway...
It looks like I can't find it all but am interested in hearing descriptions of towns where kids can walk/bike to at least a store or two. Came across these towns in my research, would anyone mind giving input on what any of them are like?
Northport
Centerport
Huntington
Greenlawn
Babylon
Biking to stores is probably easier in Nassau County.
Valley Stream has bikes racks at the library and the train station. Library, post office, stores are all within close range.
Significant Indian population, smaller East Asian population. There are a few stores that cater to southeast Asians, including a woman's clothing store, eyebrow threading, Hallal restaurant.
Merrick doesn't have a huge Asian population, but depending where you live, kids can bike to stores and the library. Same for Bellmore and kids can bike to the movie theater.
Depending on location of house, Oceanside, maybe.
Manhasset has a sizable Asian population and a very nice "downtown." Depends where you live if your kids can bike to that area.
Biking in Bergen County? It's really hilly and parts are very urban and dense. I have property in one of the Bergen County towns and no way, I could I bike around there. We take our bikes and put them on the back of the car and drive to a park to go bike riding. I can't imagine biking to the Paramus Mall.
I think I need to drive through different towns to get a feel for the layout. Maybe I should get recommendations for street areas to drive through for each recommended town? Like the central town area and a residential section?
Yeah, Paramus isn't really bikable for anyone. You need one of the smaller towns that don't get much out of town traffic.
I grew up in Huntington and we rode our bikes into town all the time as a kid, again would not let my kids do it today if we lived there. Northport is very nice, not sure about bikability, again lots of roads with no sidewalks, narrow, combined with distracted drivers, etc. Probably a tad too far for your husband to have a 30 minute commute.
Reading your description makes me think of Oyster Bay. If you live close enough to town, you can walk and bike anywhere. I see kids on their bikes all the time so it’s definitely a common thing around here. Library, food, playgrounds are all within the main town. Syosset is next door and that has a healthy Asian population if you’re looking for places of worship etc.
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