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The proof is the social circles. Impossible to break into on LI as everyone is still surrounded by 3 generations of family and the people they went to school with. They're literally afraid of outsiders. Completely different than many other places with a more global injection of people. But most other places people are just more open and friendly in general.
You can marry into it, which is what I did, or you hang out with other transplants. But yes, when I was single I found it very hard to socialize and I only dated women from work.
But - these same social circles are solid and nothing compared to flaky FL or CA ones. Friends become like family.
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Never mind the infrastructure on LI is absolutely abhorrent compared to elsewhere. There's some natural beauty here but the architectural style of commercial/retail/business buildings here is some of the worst I've seen on the planet. And every day it appears another goes vacant. Empty. Just sitting there wasting away.
Long Island had 2 golden periods - the Gold Coast era leading up to the 1930’s where rich NY residents would build part time or summer homes on the north shore, and post WWII growth starting with Levittown. While there has been some growth, in reality LI is stagnant circa 1970 with respect to its infrastructure. It’s also hard when every village or town holds sway and there is no master zoning plan for the region.
Long Island had 2 golden periods - the Gold Coast era leading up to the 1930’s where rich NY residents would build part time or summer homes on the north shore, and post WWII growth starting with Levittown. While there has been some growth, in reality LI is stagnant circa 1970 with respect to its infrastructure. It’s also hard when every village or town holds sway and there is no master zoning plan for the region.
And it seems that most municipality's zoning plans are not to allow anything that might make old people realize it's not 1955 anymore.
But - these same social circles are solid and nothing compared to flaky FL or CA ones. Friends become like family.
This has indeed been my experience. I moved here as an adult (20's), and during my time living here, I have made many wonderful, close friends, both from jobs (3) and from the neighborhoods in which I've lived (3). Some have since moved, but we remain close friends. I'm not sure why others have such a difficult time.
I've never been to NY, but was kinda curious about Long Island and if it was a cool unique spot that would be interesting to visit. I had no idea this place was so expensive, I thought expensive was limited to the high rises of Manhattan. I was hoping there'd be charm, but it sounds like it's much more so convenience than charm that's the pull. No wonder people come to Denver and buy a crappy 3 bedroom house for $500,000 and think they are getting a deal!
I do not get the restaurant obsession. Literally everywhere in the United States has decently good food. Basically any city over 10,000 people has decent ethnic variety that's fairly good, and any metro over a million has basically everything you could want. And if I wanted to take a food vacation, Mexico City will trump anything NY has and is 1/3 the price.
It just seems weird, there's many people who make the shift from a smaller town city to the big city, but it seems like when someone's raised in a big city, living somewhere smaller is not even a consideration, even though there's big benefits. This thread makes it seem like people get stuck in a place even if it's deteriorating and they don't really know what they're missing out on in the rest of the interior of the country.
It shouldn't be depressing. The thing about Long Island is that every town has it's own feel. It is expensive, I won't lie. But there are some very charming towns, some sprawling towns, some towns with a more urban feel... I was raised in the city, but I've lived in many different places outside of NY, including two other countries, so I'm not missing out on anything and I never feel like I'm "stuck" anywhere. I choose to live here because I like it. Count the number of people in this thread who hate Long Island. Are you really going to judge LI based on a few people who don't like it? If that's enough to keep you from visiting, then you're the one who's missing out!
This has indeed been my experience. I moved here as an adult (20's), and during my time living here, I have made many wonderful, close friends, both from jobs (3) and from the neighborhoods in which I've lived (3). Some have since moved, but we remain close friends. I'm not sure why others have such a difficult time.
It depends on the clique. When I moved to LI and I’d talk with people, I’d get often asked “where did you go to high school”, which is somewhat of an odd question when you think of it.
When I said where I went, some people’s eyes glazed over like I was from Mars...it was totally outside their experience base.
Not everyone was like this, but definitely more than half. It’s what I’d imagine moving to a small town from another state...
It depends on the clique. When I moved to LI and I’d talk with people, I’d get often asked “where did you go to high school”, which is somewhat of an odd question when you think of it.
When I said where I went, some people’s eyes glazed over like I was from Mars...it was totally outside their experience base.
Not everyone was like this, but definitely more than half. It’s what I’d imagine moving to a small town from another state...
Lol I’ve literally had the same exact experience when I say my FL High School when I’ve been asked.
There’s definitely a bunch of inbred folks on LI. A bunch of them are congregating at the Bellmore train station these days. That being said, nobody asks what HS you went to. That’s not a normal question. Most normal people would ask where you grew up and a response like Florida or California would probably receive a lot of positive attention. Obviously
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