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Long Island is messed up. Not all middle class areas got full of illegals, but some went the other way, most of the south shore towns like Merrick & Massapequa and everything in between used to be more middle class, but have become more expensive as the Babylon Branch has the best service, which is very appealing to yuppies. Most frequent trains and least crowding, most of the time in rush hour there is only 10 minutes or less between trains. Plus a good amount of express trains that make only a few stops and usually bypass Jamaica
The illegals, ex cons, and sex offenders are dumped in the middle of the island, places like Westbury, Hicksville, East Meadow have been in decline for some years now. At least the first 2 have a train station going for it, and Westbury has a walkable downtown, but the train service isn't frequent nor are there many express trains plus its packed, the schools suck, and generally it is not viewed as a desirable place to live. Always people up to no good just hanging around, especially in the warmer months. The train ride itself is pretty depressing through Nassau on the "Main Line", nothing but decrepid buildings covered with graffiti are the view out the window on the train, the Babylon Line is much more modern and there's trees and backyards as the view instead as you sail above everything with no grade crossings.
In NW Nassau you got Great Neck,etc which also have good train service. Of course no trains, places like Uniondale & Roosevelt will continue to sink further.
Long Island is basically becoming MORE segregated than ever. The nicer towns along the Babylon Branch are almost all white and have an ever rising income (along with rents, home prices), while the middle of the island areas are seeing aging white middle class leaving, replaced by renters, many of whom are illegal aliens put into single family homes by slumlords.
The trend is obvious, some of the worst neighborhoods on Long Island are in the middle, Hempstead, Uniondale, Wyandanch, Brentwood,etc. Basically LI is looking like a white bread sandwich.
If you're stuck in the middle, you are miserable and probably plan to move out. If you are doing very well & can afford the nicer areas on the north & south shores, than Long Island is probably great for you.
Of course Global Warming is the wildcard, especially for the South Shore, storms will no doubt result in the loss of homes and infrastructure there. Yet the wealthier folks keep moving there. Funny you mention Babylon Village, it used to be more middle class years ago but is more & more full of yuppies.
The suburbs will not die, they will just change. But the middle class dream of suburbia, at least on Long Island, is dead. You have to be rich to afford to live in a decent town with good train service, otherwise you'll be stuck in the middle with mediocre or no trains, increasing crime, and more & more of a ghetto element moving in. So anyone who isn't making well over 6 figures is probably making plans to or has already moved off Long Island.
Those trends were already hitting Long Island in the 90s. The Nassau County buses would drop lots of poor immigrants (The LIRR is expensive for them) off at 179th Street on the F or Jamaica Center on the E. It's just that in recent years with gentrification the pushing out of poor people into undesirable parts of LI has exploded.
Long Island is messed up. Not all middle class areas got full of illegals, but some went the other way, most of the south shore towns like Merrick & Massapequa and everything in between used to be more middle class, but have become more expensive as the Babylon Branch has the best service, which is very appealing to yuppies. Most frequent trains and least crowding, most of the time in rush hour there is only 10 minutes or less between trains. Plus a good amount of express trains that make only a few stops and usually bypass Jamaica
The illegals, ex cons, and sex offenders are dumped in the middle of the island, places like Westbury, Hicksville, East Meadow have been in decline for some years now. At least the first 2 have a train station going for it, and Westbury has a walkable downtown, but the train service isn't frequent nor are there many express trains plus its packed, the schools suck, and generally it is not viewed as a desirable place to live. Always people up to no good just hanging around, especially in the warmer months. The train ride itself is pretty depressing through Nassau on the "Main Line", nothing but decrepid buildings covered with graffiti are the view out the window on the train, the Babylon Line is much more modern and there's trees and backyards as the view instead as you sail above everything with no grade crossings.
In NW Nassau you got Great Neck,etc which also have good train service. Of course no trains, places like Uniondale & Roosevelt will continue to sink further.
Long Island is basically becoming MORE segregated than ever. The nicer towns along the Babylon Branch are almost all white and have an ever rising income (along with rents, home prices), while the middle of the island areas are seeing aging white middle class leaving, replaced by renters, many of whom are illegal aliens put into single family homes by slumlords.
The trend is obvious, some of the worst neighborhoods on Long Island are in the middle, Hempstead, Uniondale, Wyandanch, Brentwood,etc. Basically LI is looking like a white bread sandwich.
If you're stuck in the middle, you are miserable and probably plan to move out. If you are doing very well & can afford the nicer areas on the north & south shores, than Long Island is probably great for you.
Of course Global Warming is the wildcard, especially for the South Shore, storms will no doubt result in the loss of homes and infrastructure there. Yet the wealthier folks keep moving there. Funny you mention Babylon Village, it used to be more middle class years ago but is more & more full of yuppies.
The suburbs will not die, they will just change. But the middle class dream of suburbia, at least on Long Island, is dead. You have to be rich to afford to live in a decent town with good train service, otherwise you'll be stuck in the middle with mediocre or no trains, increasing crime, and more & more of a ghetto element moving in. So anyone who isn't making well over 6 figures is probably making plans to or has already moved off Long Island.
^^^ There's plenty of diverse towns along the Babylon line. Valley Stream, Rosedale, Baldwin, Freeport, Amityville, Copiague, etc; and some of the towns have even gotten more diverse.
^^^ There's plenty of diverse towns along the Babylon line. Valley Stream, Rosedale, Baldwin, Freeport, Amityville, Copiague, etc; and some of the towns have even gotten more diverse.
Valley Stream isn't technically along the Babylon Line, it's on the Long Beach, Far Rockaway, and West Hempstead Lines. Babylon trains don't stop there, for the most part. The Babylon Line tracks run to the north of the station. Ditto for Rosedale.
As far as those other towns, yes they are diverse (along with Valley Stream) and am surprised they haven't experienced any gentrification yet as a result of the good train service.
I know Valley Stream has some crime problems (moreso than Westbury) but being just a short LIRR ride away from the city could mean becoming more & more popular with yuppies who can't afford NYC.
If it continues at this rate ppl priced out of RVC may start looking at Baldwin, Freeport, or Valley Stream.
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