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I was born on Long Island. Most of my family still lives there. When they visit me in New Jersey, I tell my family to tell their Long Island friends that NJ xucks. I don't want them moving here.
And, if you want a decent commute, both areas will hit you with high taxes.
Difference between NJ and Long Island, NY are mainly at government, tax system, and things are state level. Areas such as school, property tax, crime, and even traffic are pretty comparable between the two. Of course it matters where you compare.
I've lived for years in Syosset, NY (Nassau County) and Deer Park, NY (Suffolk County). Now I live in Edgewater, NJ (Bergen County) and been so for past 3 years going into my 4th.
First. Comments such as LI is full o gangs, thugs, and crime is not true. Same problem exists in NJ. It's matter of which towns and certain towns in Long Island are bad just like certain towns in NJ are bad. If you actually compare crime data between two comparable towns of Long Island, NY and NJ. It looks very similar.
Second. Traffic is comparable too. 495 can be hellish but so is 80 and 280. Worst is by the bridge and tunnels...which is same for 495 when you get toward cross island or to queens boro or mid town tunnel. Same for NJ when you get toward George washington, lincoln or holland tunnel. I doubt that 495 traffic is worse than 80 or 280. It's about same. No better no worse.
Third. Education level are also comparable but so are property taxes along with school administration overhead and teacher salary.
However the big advantage Long Island, NY offers over NJ in my opinion is the government and tax system in both local and state level.
Police
Better administrative and lower overhead. In Long Island with exception of few towns that have their own sheriff. You only get two Police. County or State.
In NJ. You get two police too except it's Town and State. So what ends up is each town have their own chiefs. That's too many chiefs in NJ in my opinion and it certainly does not help tax payers.
Pay scale for police for Long Island and NJ cops are pretty much same. Both get paid well except for NJ cops in tough areas like Newark.
Tax System
If you work in NY and live in out of state, tax is pain in butt since you gotta file in NY and NJ. I did that for a year (work in NJ and live in NY). Less paperwork and less hassle to stay in same state you work & live in. But aside from that. While both NY and NJ state have fiscal crisis with budget. NY has leg up on NJ when it comes to how tax system is setup for the future for the long run currently. NY doesn't have 2,000 entities that can levy taxes... NJ does. Plus NY gets much bigger chunk than NJ when it comes to Federal dollars it receives. There is number somewhere that shows how much NJ gets back from Fed and it's pretty pitiful.
Government
NY state senate is more widely known than NJ state senate to be helluva lot more inept and waste of tax payer dollar. Corruption is just as bad in senate level in my opinion. However when it comes to local and overall state government. Corruption is higher in NJ than NY.
Summary
All that said. There are many things I love about NJ. I love fact that I live near NYC with great view and although I don't have kids. I have public school district comparable to Long Island while I live right across the river from NYC. Got lot of greens and cheap gas.
If I look at your specific case. I think you would be better off in Long Island for now.
Edit: If you post similar thread in NY section. I'm sure some NY folks will say NJ is crime full o crime, armpit of country, 10000 x worse blah blah. So I think you can generally ignore those from both side unless it's about specific town. You can google crime data. Not hard to look at general data to come to general conclusion...
Wow I had no idea about the Police differences. Thanks for the info.
To add, many safe areas of NJ have *extremely* high salary police departments. Probably higher paid than some police in Newark -- who actually deserve that higher pay.
That doesn't stop these bored policemen from taxing the townspeople with ridiculous tickets and making peoples' lives a general hell. I think we need to transport a few of these suburban cops to the hood to show them what's up.
The biggest difference to me is what I can summarize as "being stuck on an island" vs. "being on the mainland". All I can say is you would need to visit the place to see if you get those vibes.
I'm not paranoid nor anything, in fact I have climbed mountains, bridges, skyscrapers regularly, I just get bugged out being on "the island" too long.
If someone presented me with an opportunity to move anywhere in the US on a fixed salary, it would certainly NEVER be anywhere in the tri-state area for a multitude of reasons.
But since we're on the topic, I don't see any more of a reason to live in Long Island over NJ. I work in an office an the people who live in Long Island are just a wee bit more complainey and less down to earth than New Jerseyians. Plus people from Long Island have this obnoxious persona where they think that since they live in New York State, they are more NYC savvy than anyone else. Ask any young person from Long Island where they are from and they will say "New York" and falsely lead you to believe they live in NYC proper. And don't get me started on the girls from Long Island. Talk about women with a huge stick shoved up their a** a horrible sense of fashion, and lousy personalities (but Jersey Girls can also be just as trashy, manipulative, and dangerous. A whole other topic.)
In terms of logistics, taxes and traffic certainly remain higher in Long Island over Jersey. That's not to say that Jersey is much cheaper, this is just an expensive region to live in general. Although if you are looking in the high 3's for a house I'd recommend to you Scotch Plains, Cranford, Westfield, and parts of Union Township. You'll find a good deal in these areas plus NJ Transit to NYC. If you don't want to pay for the insanely high monthly ticket, then I'd recommend driving to Newark Penn and taking NJ transit from there, or the PATH from Newark that stops at 5 points in Manhattan up to 33rd street.
I quote Scarface: "the world is yours" and I'll add it my own 2 cents to that: "just don't make bad decisions."
The biggest difference to me is what I can summarize as "being stuck on an island" vs. "being on the mainland". All I can say is you would need to visit the place to see if you get those vibes.
I'm not paranoid nor anything, in fact I have climbed mountains, bridges, skyscrapers regularly, I just get bugged out being on "the island" too long.
That was the issue when they were going to build that nuclear power plant out there. How do you evacuate six million people off an island, especially when there are a couple million more in the way on the only land route out.
I just moved here from Texas (husband in the military) and this is the first time in a 15 year military career that I have considered leaving my husband behind and moving back to Texas. We chose Long Island and I now feel we made a mistake. We were originally going to live in Westfield, NJ but got a good deal with a military housing place here in East Meadow. I hate it. We are considering moving to NJ just feel bad uprooting a 12 and 14 year old again!! NY requires a state license for my career field so that means paying up and pretty much having the NYSED sit on their butts until they feel like working on your case. So frustrating. Not to mention this place is so crowded and no offense but these people are so rude. Even the ones who work in the stores. They act like they are doing you a favor by doing their job. Just don't get it, that would not fly in TX. I always heard people were rude here but I really didn't think it was this bad. The streets are crowded, the stores are crowded, the mall is crowded, the gym is crowded, on and on. I could go on but oh well I'm sure you get my point. Just not used to it I guess. I loved Westfield and the schools are great but we were in a hurry to move, it being half way through the school year and all. Anyways, so I guess my question is... Is it as crowded in NJ (Westfield area) as it is here? Is it "nicer"? Are the people just as rude? (I know there are rude people everywhere) but is it as bad? Also, the kids here are WAY more advanced if you know what I mean and not sure how bad it is in Jersey. Help!!
Same problem exists in NJ. It's matter of which towns and certain towns in Long Island are bad just like certain towns in NJ are bad. If you actually compare crime data between two comparable towns of Long Island, NY and NJ. It looks very similar....
I have to disagree. Most of the so-called "bad areas" on Long Island aren't really that bad at all.
Places like Brentwood, Roosevelt, Uniondale and Central Islip (in LI) aren't even near being in the same bracket as Newark, Jersey City(west of I-78), Paterson, Irvington and East Orange when it comes to quality of life.
The difference between the "bad areas" of LI and the "bad areas" of Northern Jersey are that the so-called "bad areas" of Long Island just tend to be slightly worn low-density suburbs with moderate crime mostly in the Summertime and moderate poverty. Uniondale, for example, is often considered a "bad area" by some people but most people there keep their lawns/neighborhood very tidy and have respect for their community.
The "bad areas" of North Jersey are pretty much full-blown ghettoes by almost everybody's definition and are medium to high-density areas with high crime and poverty and face a large level of urban decay/grittiness for the most part.
Last edited by LongIslandPerson; 05-13-2012 at 07:53 PM..
I have to disagree. Most of the so-called "bad areas" on Long Island aren't really that bad at all.
Places like Brentwood, Roosevelt, Uniondale and Central Islip (in LI) aren't even near being in the same bracket as Newark, Jersey City(west of I-78), Paterson, Irvington and East Orange when it comes to quality of life.
The difference between the "bad areas" of LI and the "bad areas" of Northern Jersey are that the so-called "bad areas" of Long Island just tend to be slightly worn low-density suburbs with moderate crime mostly in the Summertime and moderate poverty. Uniondale, for example, is often considered a "bad area" by some people but most people there keep their lawns/neighborhood very tidy and have respect for their community.
The "bad areas" of North Jersey are pretty much full-blown ghettoes by almost everybody's definition and are medium to high-density areas with high crime and poverty and face a large level of urban decay/grittiness for the most part.
It makes no sense to compare tiny suburban towns to big cities, so I'd say this argument is invalid. The poster you quoted was comparing mediocre NJ suburbs to mediocre LI suburbs.
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