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This thread proves very interesting, everyone is trying to convince themselves that Long Island taxes are justified by your wonderful schools. YET if you read another current thread where someone is questioning whether she should move here or not--WOW== no one thinks she should do it!! Many excuses-- taxes too high, area is starting to look run down, definitely can't make it on LI without making at least $100,000 and even then it is difficult. I want to reiterate-I grew up on Long Island and loved it, hoped to raise my own kids there. BUT once you take the leap, there can be a better way. I realize many have jobs which prohibit you from leaving, but stop trying to console yourself with the idea that there is no where else to live. I moved to NC and it is the most beautiful, clean, friendly place. The schools are great, the neighborhoods are affordable, kids are outside all day playing, it really is better way of life.
I would qualify that by agreeing that clearly NC is a better way of life for you/your family. However there are plenty of us who live on Long Island because we want to, and many times our reasons have nothing to do with the school system. Please don't dismiss out of hand the fact that many people love Long Island and simply do not want to live anywhere else.
School systems and property tax rates are not the ultimate arbiters of how any locale should be judged. That's like saying the most important criteria of a professional athlete is his/her stats, and ignoring the intangibles like attitude, work ethic, and "heart".
Hockey fans will immediately relate to the above example if I mention Sidney Crosby vs Alexander Ovechkin. ;-)
I think some of it is cultural. I don't want to generalize, but there's some degree of "contempt" for "New Yorkers" out there (tempered a bit after 9/11), some of it being that NYers that want to move elsewhere overrun a given place and wreck it for the natives, and I think with some people it's a fear they won't have a "comfort level" in places that otherwise seem great for them to move and thrive at.
My experience with this is with a grad school friend who worked for Capital One in Richmond, VA and now lives near Charlotte and with my brother-in-law, who initially went from NY to the Boston area, then to the Piedmont Triad area of NC. The impression I get using NC as an example while it is certainly not the NC of the Greensboro sit-in or Jesse Helms days, that this kind of air still exists. One thing I noticed is that the transplants have their own neighborhoods for the most part (i.e. the town of Cary in the Raleigh-Durham area, which I've heard natives joke is an acronym for "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees"), with other neighborhoods being mostly "redneck" (for lack of a better word).
I would never feel so "contained" up here and I imagine others have that feeling here. Now I feel "contained" in other ways (i.e. lots of nice towns I can't afford vs. others I feel unsafe in), but that's another story, but I think when you grow up here you kind of try to deal with that, even if it's not the best way (and I've been wrestling with this myself).
I don't know a single person who would say they are here for the school system. Everyone I know grew up here, loves the quality of life (that is a mix of various things to large to get into), and #1 reason is their friends and family are here. I also hear very often they would leave if they didn't have the friends/family connection here because it too expensive. In fact, I had a root canal last week and my endodontist (a guy in his 30's) said those exact words to me. If professionals are saying this there is a real problem IMO. But nobody wants to be that person that only gets to visit LI 2x a year. That is the glue holding this place together right now. I hope this crisis will create an opportunity to make some sensible decisions about how we govern our Island and our State. It will get worse before it's better but I think I see a tipping point in distance.
I just moved to a new neighborhood (nice friendly people, everyone talks to each other) and people are very concerned about taxes. I've never seen anything like it.
I grew up on Long Island, moved to Jersey after college/marriage - still have family on LI and in NJ. We left NJ for FL 2 years ago - primarily for economic reasons -- corporate downsizings, rising property taxes, rising utility costs and yes, the weather
The only regret we have now is why didn't we do this sooner? Yes, culturally it has been an adjustment -- this is not the NYC metro area and (good thing) no one thinks they are living in the center of the universe. I am thrilled that my kids know there is life beyond the Hudson. And guess what, we have Broadway Across America -- and now we can actually afford to go see shows!! We took the kids to see Bruce Springsteen! We're going to see U2!! We can go the beach for free!! We have the money to do this b/c we're not paying 10k+ a year in property taxes, we paid a reasonable amount for our home (in a community w/swimming pool, tennsi courts, playgrounds). And its nice in January to head out to hit the tennis ball around in the 70 degree weather!
Education? We've found the schools to be better academically fo our kids....high school is excellent and yes, believe it or not that even have AP classes here! My DD is being recruited by the ivies, little ivies etc -- she definitely has a hand up on yet another kid from metro nyc with great grades, SATs etc. And if she wants to stay in FL she can go to college for FREE or put that $20k towards a private school in FL. And the elementary/ middle schools have exceeded our expectations -- Believe it or not we think they are getting a better education here than in NJ.
Again our only complaint is that if we had done this years ago we'd be in much better shape financially than we are now -- we left behind lots of family and friends but - you know what - we still keep in touch and visit back and forth.
Trust me - it was a huge move fraught with lots of sleepless nights and anxiety but 2 years later I'll say it was the best decision for our family!
I'm glad to hear that whole neighborhoods are out discussing their taxes and their concern over them, but the NYS Teacher's Union is one of the most powerful in the state. And the fact remains that teachers' salaries and benefits which are negotiated into their contracts are the single biggest expenditure that school districts make and there is NO WAY to force them to change those contracts. So the idea that you can make those contracts go down is a pipe dream. County workers, same thing (and I have a family member that is a county worker). Did anyone see the article about the Suffolk COunty social worker in last week's Newsday? She started out 3 years ago at $36K a year and is now making $52K.
Anyone else out there get $15K in raises over the last 3 years? Anyone?
this thread proves very interesting, everyone is trying to convince themselves that long island taxes are justified by your wonderful schools. Yet if you read another current thread where someone is questioning whether she should move here or not--wow== no one thinks she should do it!!
Now adjust this for cost of living Cost of Living comparison calculator
(charlotte > nassau) = $81,000
(duram > nassau) = $81,000
(greenville > nassau) = $78,000
(lexington > nassau) = $84,000
(raleigh,cary > nassau) $72,000
(wilmington > nassau) = $75,000
Pretty similar to average teacher salary in nassau which is around 80,000.
Then compare, SAT participation rates, AP exam scores, US news top schools ratings, general rating of schools by state ... nassau is definitely on top. Rather than the opinion of a few people who went there, may have a bias to validate their decision to move, and somehow have the ability to judge the caliber of the whole education system based on how their kids feel or performed, take a look at some stats.
djdairyp--what is your point? That teachers salaries are comparable in NC to Long Island teachers? Great!! I am a teacher in NC and I have 15 years experience, most of them being in NY-LI to be exact (not board certified yet-which ironically is big in many other places but LI) and make over $50,000. I do have my masters degree. I own my home and taxes are about $2,000 a year. I do live extremely comfortably down here. You mention Nassau county's top scores-yet Nassau county is NOT NY STATE. It is one small part of NY, just like their are many areas of NC that are more rural than Wake County, so you are comparing apples to oranges. You have good schools and bad schools in every state, county and town. Are you telling me Hempstead is on the top for state scores? THE big difference here is there are NO TEACHER UNIONS, which are bleeding LI dry. I don't recall Long Island ever being mentioned in a top 10 survey of best places to live for overall quality of life. Enjoy Long Island, it is a great area, but again you are paying a high price for the privilege of living there.
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Many excuses-- taxes too high, area is starting to look run down, definitely can't make it on LI without making at least $100,000 and even then it is difficult. I want to reiterate-I grew up on Long Island and loved it, hoped to raise my own kids there. BUT once you take the leap, there can be a better way. I realize many have jobs which prohibit you from leaving, but stop trying to console yourself with the idea that there is no where else to live. I moved to NC and it is the most beautiful, clean, friendly place. The schools are great, the neighborhoods are affordable, kids are outside all day playing, it really is better way of life.
