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I don't see a point in living on Long Island if you don't make utilization of what Long Island has to offer.
I think the NYC argument grows weaker as years go by.
My neighbors and I go to the Theater/Concets/Events in the City weekly and easily.
If Nassau is only a bedroom community for NYC, then it really has nothing to offer at all.It cant just be a one trick pony and remain compelling.
Suffolk co. is very rich in natural beauty, parks, beaches, Fire Island, the Hamptons, North Fork etc etc etc.
As stated earlier. If you live in Matinnecock, Muttontown, or even Garden City you can avoid "Queens East" but otherwise Nassau has very little to offer the aveage joe other than a decent commute and schools. I would just stick with Queens or head out to Suffolk.
JMHO
Crooks
Nassau is convinently located between both New York City and Suffolk. It is true a lot of Nassau's natural beauty has been eroded away by development; though it has it's fair share of parks, beaches, and unique historical and natural landmarks.
For me, the decent commute and schools is the only reason I am here.
As I previously stated, if this wasn't the case- I can't understand why I would live here.
Suffolk county would only increase in commute times to both, yet offer me nothing else on a day to day basis.
Like Rachael, I am a "reverse migrator" - grew up in Huntington, now live in GC. When we were looking at houses 13-14 years ago, it was a toss-up between the two towns. We eventually went with GC - although we got a smaller house for the money, we thought the value would hold up better, the schools would stay better, the recreation offerings for the tax money would be better and the community as a whole was more stable. We have not been wrong, except that we aren't getting nearly as much for our tax money now as we did back then.
One thing I like about living in Nassau is that when we want to leave LI to visit family or go on vacation, it now takes FOREVER to get off the Island...it would 100 times worse if we lived in Suffolk....so living here eases that pain a bit. It seems that no matter what time you leave LI anymore, you are going to hit traffic, traffic, traffic. It's always a nightmare getting anywhere anymore.
And I have to say that I don't think extreme western Suffolk is all that different from Nassau these days - my family still lived in Huntington up until a year ago and it's not that different than any Nassau area there. Once you get past Huntington you do lose the city-ish or borough-ish vibe. But the plots are still bigger in Huntington when you're talking about houses.
And along grant516's line of thinking, I do think commute times will always keep people in Nassau. A lot of people who live in GC don't get home till 7-8 at night as it is because of job responsibilities...people who have to work that late just aren't going to live past a certain point on the Island because getting home at 9-10 at night when you have kids is an untenable situation. One of the reasons my parents bought in Huntington was because the railroad was electrified to that point and my dad did not want to have to deal with transferring trains when he got out here at the end of the day.
Actually, I lived in a fairly suburban area of Queens, and it was still quite a bit different than Levittown. It's hard to explain. I enjoy it here a lot more.
I like Levittown, its a neat little slice of Americana.
Good schools, safe, affordable. I wish LI had more Levittowns.
Would I want it over College Point...perhaps?
Whitestone, Douglaston or Bayside....probably not, but I understand your point.
Really nice enclaves being bordered by less than nice neighbors.
Sound familiar?
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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What's nice is that when I miss Smithtown, I just go there to do my errands instead since it isn't all that far away. Once in a blue moon I'll do that to get my Suffolk fix, lol. I do the same with Queens, since I'm from there too.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twingles
One thing I like about living in Nassau is that when we want to leave LI to visit family or go on vacation, it now takes FOREVER to get off the Island...it would 100 times worse if we lived in Suffolk....so living here eases that pain a bit. It seems that no matter what time you leave LI anymore, you are going to hit traffic, traffic, traffic. It's always a nightmare getting anywhere anymore.
Yeah, my sister lives in Lindenhurst, and it's just as dense as Nassau is. I think south shore Suffolk extends a bit further east when it comes to being similar to Nassau compared to the north shore. Once you get to West Babylon, it starts to look more like Suffolk.
Yes, Suffolk has a larger total population, but is much less densely populated than Nassau, I assumed when I read it that was what the OP said.
To the original topic though-
I don't see a point in living on Long Island if you don't make utilization of what New York City has to offer- for that reason I don't see Suffolk as a more viable place to live.
Maybe it's just me... I go a lot of places, Atlantic City, Syracuse, Washington, Westchester once-a-week... and being further out on the Island means being further away from the rest of the country. As it is a 40 minute train ride into Manhattan is a bit much for just going out to a bar or a club on the weekend, I can barely imagine drudging that 5 times a week.
I think the question that comes to mind with me... is that if you live far out in Suffolk, NY wouldn't you be better off in a suburban area somewhere a bit more cost efficient?
You can buy a house and a lot 2x the size for 1/2 the price in Pennsylvania and afford to send your kids to top notch private schools.
(obviously this message does not apply to Suffolk County Police employees, rail-workers, or teachers who can make a better-than-adequate living in that suburb)
Central or Eastern Suffolk would be a great place to live if you worked on the Island. Taxes aside, NYC trips on the weekends and the LI beaches sounds pretty good to me.
That said, I work in the city. Living east of western Suffolk is off the table, when your commute climbs over an hour, every 15 minutes count. The grind of an hour 45 commute vs an hour 15 is huge day in and day out. Before doing a 2 hour Suffolk commute I'd strongly consider the NEPA 2 hour commute. lots of open space and even cheaper cost of living
I drove through parts of Commack, Smithtown, east Northport etc. I really did not find a big difference between homes, plot sizes etc between these and Syosset/Plainview. Jericho Tkpe was equally crowded, LIE was worse. Dix Hills was quieter and more serene. Maybe I have not explored suffolk as much, but I do not see a big difference between quality of life in Nassau and Western suffolk ( expect the price of homes).
I drove through parts of Commack, Smithtown, east Northport etc. I really did not find a big difference between homes, plot sizes etc between these and Syosset/Plainview. Jericho Tkpe was equally crowded, LIE was worse. Dix Hills was quieter and more serene. Maybe I have not explored suffolk as much, but I do not see a big difference between quality of life in Nassau and Western suffolk ( expect the price of homes).
Suffolk eclipsed Nassau's population in the 2000 census.
Suffolks just way nicer, again for a reason.
Crooks
2000 was 9 years ago, lol. I have no idea if it's still that way but Nassau is a richer county than Suffolk and that is the truth...that tells you something about the people that live here. The trashier neighbourhoods in Suffolk are trashier than the the trashy ones in Nassau...the nicer neighbourhoods are nicer in Nassau than the nicer ones in Suffolk. Mastic, Wyandanch, Central Islip & Gordon Heights etc. are much trashier than Hempstead, Freeport, Uniondale & Roosevelt. (Let's not forget Coram, home to more than 40 registered sex-offenders)
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Go North of 25A
