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Well, as you can see I'm new to this forum, and as a matter of fact, I'll be new to Long Island as well. I'm British, but currently living in Germany. However from September 2010 I'll have a job at Stony Brook university, so will be living in that area for 3 years. As I've never been there before, I have a number of questions for all you LI residents!
1) What are the pros and cons of living in an apartment complex, compared to renting from an individual landlord? Rents seem to be very steep from what I've seen, but I'm single so will only need a studio or a 1 bedroom apartment.
2) Which areas around Stony Brook are considered to be "good" and which ones are "bad"? In particular, I'm interested in Stony Brook itself, Setauket, Lake Grove, Coram, Port Jefferson, Terryville, Smithtown, Centereach, or anything else in the neighbourhood that I missed...
3) Do furnished rental apartments exist at all? Or will I actually have to buy my own furniture...
4) Looks like utilities are generally not included in the rent, so on average how much per month could utilities (heat, electricity, water, what else?) cost for a studio or a 1 bedroom apartment?
5) Finally, is it at all possible to survive without a car? Having lived previously in London and in Berlin, I've never needed a car, so car ownership always seemed like a pointless huge expense to me, but something tells me that I'll be proven wrong.
That's it for now. Thanks a lot in advance, folks!
sgrig, there are others who will be able to answer your several questions, but for now ... in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:
What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".
Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".
You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet on Long Island by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".
You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.
When you do find a place to rent that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that place to rent is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP or Census Designated Place is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)
Living on Long Island is literally living on a long island.
I think it would be hard without a car out there, someone else chime in.
I went to college and still visit Long Island but me being from the mainland I always feel more at home on the mainland.
I notice that people who have lived in LI most or all of there lives are used to it.
I'm more at home anywhere on the soil, as Count Drac would call it, lol.
The further east you go in LI the less dense it gets, just not sure if it can be done without a vehicle there. You'll need a local's opin on that.
Welcome to our community! You'll find a lot of relocated Europeans here as well as a fairly decent number of British ex-pats in admin and faculty at USB.
Look into Stony Brook, Setauket, Lake Grove if you want to be close to USB. Many private home rentals (studios or 1br within a house, or a shared house) within this area are walkable/bikeable. I see a fair number of students and faculty getting to campus this way everyday. Parts of South Setauket and Centereach are within a reasonable proximity, too, but not necessarily a safe bike commute. Some parts of Centereach start getting a little questionable, so while I don't suggest you strike it off the list, I wouldn't place it at the top of it.
Port Jefferson Village is a lovely area with a touristy downtown (featuring some good restaurants and bars) but I am not familiar with the type and cost of housing you will find there. I knew a German couple through USB who were renting in an apartment complex in Port Jeff Station near the LIRR (they've since moved on to Switzerland) They had university friends in the complex, but didn't really visit the immediate neighborhood outside the complex as it was a trifle downtrodden and had (still has) a fair number of transients floating around. There is a bike path which runs from Port Jeff Station into Setauket (terminus is about 2 miles from campus) making some parts of PJ bike friendly.
Terryville and Coram are not walkable or bikeable to USB. There are some areas within these communities which you might think twice about renting in.
Smithtown is also not bike/walk commute friendly, but in terms of areas, it has a downtown with with shopping, banking, restaurants, bars, etc.
There aren't too many apartment complexes walk/bike convenient close to USB. There's one in Lake Grove on Nesconset Highway which is convienent to shopping and banking. Nesconset is a busy roadway, 6 lanes to cross at that point and once in a long while a pedestrian is struck over there.
I'll have to defer to someone who rents to give you a better idea as to the cose of utilities in an apartment as I am in a house.
It will be hard to get by without a car out here. it is doable, but very difficult and time consuming. Another poster on this board who utilizes the bus service might be able to give you more insight into this. If you are close to campus, you can pick up county buses on both the west and the HSC campuses. USB also runs their own buses to local shopping centers; you'll have to check to see the internal USB bus schedule.
USB campus is adjacent to the LIRR, so it is possible to hop a train into NYC from out here BUT it's slow (about 2 hours to NYC) and will require you to change trains further west.
Check out OCH (off campus housing) on the SBU website. OCH: Welcome to Off Campus Housing
I have rented a few places through their listings during my undergrad and grad days at SBU. We did find a couple places furnished as well. Due your due diligence on the landlords though as they aren't screened or anything by OCH. This would be for private apts as opposed to complexes.
Its certainly possible to live/work in SBU area without a car, though you'd need a bike most likely. The LIRR station is right on campus, so if you are content shuttling between NYC and SBU in terms of getting away, you'll probably be allright. Though having a car makes things ALOT easier. Most of the internatonal grads and postdocs I knew ended up getting a car.
Thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate it. I'll probably have to look into accommodation within a cycling distance, so that at least in the first 6 months or so I don't have to shell out for a car (other than perhaps renting a few times). Especially since I assume it will be difficult to get a decent car loan at first, since I don't have a US credit history.
According to statistics, Long Island in general seems to be pretty safe. Is that so in practice? Are any areas to be avoided?
Stony Brook is not very bike walk friendly... I would advise you to get a car... The neighborhoods you mentioned are all the same... Safe and convenient...
I wouldn't entail a car loan to buy a car. In the US there are many places to buy a used vehicle for maybe $1000 a few years old. My last few cars cost between $700 to $1200 bought from craigslist website locally and most people thought they where new cars.
Insurance will cost about the same, more or less per year.
Always research the model history beforehand, I say that NOW after I wound up buying some known lemons I would never buy again.
sgrig, the Hamlet of Setauket and environs played an important role during the Revolutionary War (sometimes referred to by Brits as the first Civil War). Google "Setauket spy ring" for more info.
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Understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland"
