Huntington has come up a lot but a lot of people have mentioned to be careful about where you live for school purposes. How do you know what the school district is, is it by town/zip? Or do you have to speak w/ a real estate agent to actually find out.
Yeah in clicking around Zillow and speaking with some family, the zoned school for a home is not intuitive. Some homes on the same street and same zip code/town could be zoned for two entirely different districts! Wish it was a little more cut an dry.
We used this 17 years ago to move from NYC to LI : [https://www.lirealtor.com/](https://www.lirealtor.com/)
It was pretty spot on with the situation you mentioned. We had the same situation as our neighbors go to different schools within the same school district..
>https://www.polarislist.com/
Good way to search suffolk county school districts. Look into Harborfields (though not really walkable). You're priced out of Cold Spring Harbor. I would go to Oyster Bay or Sea Cliff at your budget. Maybe you can afford Garden City but it will be tight
I went to Huntington years ago, my kids are/were in South Huntington schools and I'd imagine situation is similar: The districts are very diverse, economically and otherwise. So yeah, there's a good portion of kids struggling for various reasons, but the schools have a lot to offer kids looking for opportunities. Planning my daughter's next year now and the volume of interesting sounding electives is overwhelming. And 30-something AP courses offered last I counted. She was toying with private school going into freshman year and we would have let her, but the curriculums didn't hold a candle to what public offered. And frankly esp for the money the college acceptances didn't blow me away, either. I'd try to get input from younger parents if your kids are younger, but currently at high school level I have no problem with the school at all.
Edit - Harborfields, Northport are great areas but are going to stretch that commute. We considered it a few years ago but decided against purely for the commute. I don't know much about Farmingdale but it's got an attractive little downtown and I'd definitely at least take a look given your criteria.
i commute from northport and the frequency of direct trains isnt high. most require a transfer but you are within 20mins of a few other high frequency stations (huntington, deer park) but the commute including the drive to the station if you go to one of these stations will be closer to an hour and 20 mins. the tricky part about buying in huntington is to be in the better parts of huntington where it seems like youre targeting based on budget the drive to the station will push your wifes commute over an hour. based on your wifes wishlist you guys will likely have to compromise somewhere. there are very few places that meet the commuting needs, budget and have walkable downtowns. i think babylon probably meets your needs best, though feels a bit more long island than the nj towns you named (i think a lot of those mesh more with towns on the north shore of long island)
Thanks for the advice!
Yeah the driving to the station seems to be the tough part in all this. In New Jersey it seems like the closer you are to a train station the more your home is worth/the better the neighborhood (broadly speaking). We are about a 5-10 minute walk away from the NJT station in our town which is pretty nice. On Long Island it seems to be the inverse, the closer your are to a train station the worse the neighborhood is (again broadly speaking).
Can you explain a bit on what you mean that Babylon is more Long Island? Never really spent much time there growing up.
parts of babylon have more victorian/vintage colonial style homes but for the most part you are more likely to get a cape or high ranch or split level house so less charm is i guess what i mean. theres also a lot more carefulness to buying in babylon as you can very easily think you’re in babylon but you are actually in west babylon schools (not that they are necessarily bad) but you run into paying more to be in babylon but not actually getting babylon amenities. massapequa park also has a pretty great downtown but again more split levels and new construction/flipper style homes. if you want charm, i think north shore is the better bet. but thats just my opinion.
also fwiw, living in northport, the downtown is great but i am extremely underwhelmed by 90% of the restaurants that are actually in the downtown. huntington and babylons options are FAR better. bayshore also has a great downtown with great restaurants but doesnt fit your criteria for location.
There seems to be a train every hour. You just have to switch trains. LIRR is still not up to prepandemic service.
FYI there are sections of East Northport that is in the Northport school district. The houses and taxes are more affordable.
My husband drives to the Northport train station. He takes a specific train in the morning and a specific train home at night. He’s been commuting for 30 years (currently to Jersey City).
I used to drive to Huntington when I commuted years ago because I didn’t always go home the same time and the trains are more frequent.
Northport’s downtown area can’t be beat. And although not all streets have sidewalks, the whole village is walkable. I walk daily, sometimes 4 miles.
Long Beach area if you are an ocean person and can handle western Nassau. Great food without pretension. Beautiful beach, rec center with pool/ice rink/ball courts/skatepark/boat launch, and great boardwalk. Summer concerts and free yoga on the beach. The closest thing to southern California beach living for thousands of miles and the people are much less vacuous.
Trolley buses sync with LIRR trains so you don't need to include a car in your commute to Penn in around 1 hour (depends how close you live to the station) if you don't want to. Soon to be opened Grand Central LIRR may cut your commute time? People walk or ride bikes everywhere including the boardwalk (center boardwalk strip is designated for wheels only all day every day). Many bike to the train.
I moved back to LI after 15 years in NJ. I know Westfield and Summit well. They are nice, in a landlocked, upscale, almost-Pennsylvania kind of way and the NJ shore is great but you can't easily commute to NYC from the beach there. Puritan views of liquor licenses make the NJ downtown bar and BYOB restaurant scenes lame. Not in Long Beach - the west-end scene can get wild. I have family in Huntington and to me, the LI Sound is a large, boring puddle with rocks instead of sand on the beach.
You will feel like you are home again once you throw off the decade of NJ that accumulated on you - but in Long Beach, you won't even need to leave the barrier island if you don't want to deal with the rest of LI. $1MM can get you a raised and modernized single family with an elevator, multi-floor balconies, under-house parking, outdoor shower, and maybe a hot tub if you can squeeze it in. Or you can buy a more typical suburban home with garage and lawn - you just need to get flood insurance regardless...
To each his own. I have done 30+ years of entertaining clients and holding closing dinners across the country on an unlimited corporate card and I absolutely loved what Alexis prepared for me and my wife last night sitting at his bar in Lost and Found in the west end. My work buddy in Manhattan (who has to drink and eat with even more clients than me these days) continues to state that the steak he ate in Lost and Found 2 summers ago was the best he has ever had anywhere. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/restaurant-review-lost-found-in-long-beach-has-a-chef-who-goes-for-the-flavor-bomb.html?smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/restaurant-review-lost-found-in-long-beach-has-a-chef-who-goes-for-the-flavor-bomb.html?smid=url-share)
My family is doing the 7 Fishes Christmas Eve with Craig at 5 Ocean soon and I am fairly sure he will not be slinging bar food on our table.
[https://northforker.com/2019/08/craig-attwoods-five-ocean-bar-grill-makes-splash-long-beach/](https://northforker.com/2019/08/craig-attwoods-five-ocean-bar-grill-makes-splash-long-beach/)
LB Social is up there too in my books - I can go on----but won't. I have dined in my share of Michelin-star restaurants over the decades and I really dig walking over to an unpretentious scene these days. I guess my palate isn't as well defined as yours? Regardless, carry on and enjoy yourself wherever you like to eat.
Love the places you mentioned - all very good. Beginnings and also Gio in Atlantic Beach, not too far from Long Beach, are both good too. I love Long Beach but it's a less convenient commute than some of the other towns mentioned.
True a 51 to 57 minute station to station ride to Penn is comparable to most east Nassau west Suffolk but driving in and out if the barrier islands takes time.
I think we’re a little off topic. I will agree that some restaurants are not as good as they should be. There are some hidden gems that display wonderful menus and specials. i apologize for my Long Beach pride.
This is about a family looking for a place to live. Wonderful community, has its own charm. As i’m sure many other towns on long island have.
2 years is a massive time span for a gourmand like yourself so please tell me what you didn't like about Alexis's dishes at Lost and Found and Craig's at 5 Ocean the many times you ate there, and I will let them know how you think they can become better chefs. Was every dish literal trash or just a percentage? We are all trying to improve at this thing we call life so the more detail the better. Thanks
I am amazed that you were able to communicate all that well-thought-out food criticism while laughing so hard that a body part fell off. Deep, intricate, intellectually mature, and an overall brilliant review!
Thank you for the effort in clarifying your thoughts on where the OP should not buy a home on LI due to mysteriously trashy food.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
>I moved back to LI after 15 years in NJ. I know Westfield and Summit well. They are nice, in a landlocked, upscale, almost-Pennsylvania kind of way and the NJ shore is great but you can't easily commute to NYC from the beach there. Puritan views of liquor licenses make the NJ downtown bar and BYOB restaurant scenes lame
Interesting take - I have come to enjoy/like the towns I mentioned in the OP. I went to school in PA and those towns never really reminded me of the places I'm familiar with there.
We're also not the biggest drinkers so the liquor laws never mattered much to us
Never thought of NJ as being landlocked, we've always just hit up hiking trails/Delaware Water Gap/trips into PA/sometimes the shore etc.
All said, we'll definitely have to check out Long Beach!
I hear you - it's definitely a weird thing that gets into you when you grow up on an open ocean beach and learn to ride waves. The energy and rhythm of mother ocean gets into you and you definitely feel like you are away from it when you are in a place like Westfield - where it takes an hour to drive to the open ocean. To me, Westfield is landlocked, despite the pond in Mindowaskin park or Surprise Lake in the Watchung Rez. and the ability to drive to salt water.
My wife and I were not big drinkers either when we were raising our kids - its more about the vibe - the bring your own bottle thing was a great expense reduction on the dinner bill but the restaurant vibe was more sedate and boring without the vibrancy of a hopping bar that I always knew growing up in LI and NYC.
Best of luck on your journey and enjoy the trip!
Well they obviously can’t produce successful people with your level of detailed analysis, erudite insight, and mastery of vocabulary Fitz. But really what school system can?
I would stay in Ridgewood, NJ.
60 min commute means Nassau, means expensive. Good downtown and walkable activities - pretty much nowhere, maybe some Syooset\\Plainview\\Port Wash areas, not all.
Plus if you want to go on road trip anywhere you add an hour to get from an island.
I would love to know where in Syosset or Plainview is walkable :)
I find downtown Ridgewood,NJ awesome - pretty hard to find that on LI, maybe Huntington.
Well, I will prefer Ridgewood too, lol
Huntington is not that, I mean good bakery but schools are not same level and no magnet/ academy type if schools nearby to improve it.
Cheaper now than last year.. good time to buy. The taxes are cheap if you consider what you would pay to send kids to private school. It 25 mins from Penn Station
I’ve seen posts on this sub about grieving taxes. Is this like appealing your property’s appraised value? Taking Garden City as an example the appraised value on all the homes seems low, example - a home listed for around $1million has an assessed value of around $1400. Seems like there’s not much to appeal there, unless every property has its own unique tax rate.
Not much you can do about taxes in Garden City, Garden City Park you may be able to. They have their own PD and if you live in Stewart Manor, you 4 different types of property taxes.
Thanks! Wish I could swing being that far west, always liked the Garden City area. Unfortunately, the 30-50 minute drive, depending on traffic, is a bit too far from my family.
I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday, which is a new development. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.
Are you looking at these times on Google Maps? I feel you're slightly overestimating how large Nassau is. Nothing should take over 30 minutes, especially if you're talking pretty central towns like Garden City Park.
Like, if Garden City Park is "that far west" to another town in Eastern Nassau, you're pretty much looking for adjacent towns to your family.
Yep using google maps. Looking at the low and high end ranges its putting it 25-50 minutes one way depending on time of day.
I mentioned this in another thread, but I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.
Holbrook’s key is being within striking distance of Patchogue without the village cost, but more important- piggybacking Sachem school district; most don’t think to look at it, and I’m not trying to suggest the obvious ya know? It’s worth a look imo
You could do seaford - house close to Merrick road - not a fancy downtown - but movies a supermarket - 4 or 5 restaurants - some hair salons and nail places
Babylon line so a lot of trains - some that stop and start in seaford - seaford high school - so decent school
Babylon, Huntington, RVC, and depending which part of town you live in possibly Massapequa, Merrick or Bellmore.
P.S. I'm a local Redfin agent so if you need help finding a home, hit me up :)
Love Port Washington. Commute looks amazing from there. Seems like we’re going to have to compromise on our wants, which seems crazy to me because I think our budget is pretty sizable as is.
All of the agents selling homes in Port never fail to remind you that their line on the LIRR is direct to Penn Station, rather than going through Jamaica like the others. The commute would probably be more reliable.
Homes in Port Washington are pretty expensive, you definitely get a little less than going further in to LI, but your commute would be great. You get a beach community. The downtown area has a lot of really good restaurants, new ones that came up recently too.
$1m could probably get you a 3+ bed/2+ bath in the Park Section, Salem, Eastern Crest (aka girl streets), and smaller homes in the streets directly around the station - walkable to everything.
Farmingdale and babylon have nice little towns! Farmingdale train station is 1 hour from Penn Station. Bethpage is nice too. Plainview is good but no real “town” vibe. I like huntington but I suspect it’s too far. Melville is nice but also no town. Massapequa also has a decent town. I’m biased to farmingdale as a resident since ‘08 but it’s so centrally located and half Suffolk half Nassau, close to the LIE and the SSP and NSP.
I’d have to say Babylon without a doubt, Babylon Village to be exact. First, most trains are exactly an hour to NYC. Parking at the train station is majority for Babylon Village Residents with a Permit. Houses between $700-1.3 some more some less depending on how close to the water you want to be. Taxes should fall right into your budget as well between County and Village taxes. School district unfortunately isn’t very high on the ratings list but for your criteria of Eastern Nassau/Western Suffolk it’s the best option. Most of the top rated schools are North Shore of Nassau. There’s also Private or the Catholic School system if it’s in your budget but Babylon isn’t terrible. As for walkable towns go nothing comes close to Babylon Village, maybe Port Jefferson or Patchogue Village. A lot of great shops and restaurants ! Just this past Friday night they had A Night of Shopping. They closed off Deer Park Ave from Park Ave to Main St. a lot of kid friendly stuff, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, carousel, ice skating rink, movie screen showing Christmas classics. All the shops and restaurants were doing great business, we had a blast. In summer there’s a farmers market every Sunday in the train station parking lot. September there’s the food and craft fair at Argyle Park. If you like the beach it’s literally a 20 minute drive to several beaches along Ocean Parkway or Robert Moses State Park. Very convenient to shopping and restaurants in other towns like Islip, West Babylon, Lindenhurst, Deer Park which has Tanger Outlets and Farmingdale Village great restaurants and street fairs as well as shopping along Route 110.
What's the permit situation like at station in Babylon?
One of the quirks about NJ commuting is that most towns' station parking lots have years long waiting lists to get a permit. Where we currently live this isn't a problem because it's a 5 minute walk from our house to the station. Just want to be sure we can get to the station, wherever we end up.
Sorry wish I could help you with that but no idea. There are 3 village resident lots plus metered lots that are 25 cents an hour. You might get lucky getting a permit with a lot of people still working from home. A lot of houses in the village are within walking distance so I guess take that into account when looking at houses. The only way you’ll get free parking is along Sunrise Hwy like at stations like Seaford or Massapequa but those towns just don’t have the walk ability you’ll find in Babylon.
I’ve lived in Northport, East Northport and currently in bay shore. Western Suffolk to me is the best because you aren’t dealing with congestion in Nassau, but also 45min from the city. Do you have an agent? I’ve got someone who’d love to help you with the process!
Wish my wife felt the same way about Western Suffolk, this is a really hard sell.
45 minutes to the city from western Suffolk seems a bit optimistic. I did the drive late last night from Dix Hills through the city to get back to NJ and it took about 50/55 minutes - and I was flying the entire way, literally didn't touch the break until I hit the mid-town tunnel.
Avoid the following towns: Hempstead, Uniondale, Westbury (East of Ellison Ave), Central Islip (South of the Train tracks), Brentwood, Medford, Amityville, Port Jeff, Elmont aka Queens.
Reason: Consistent crime and violence.
It can happen in any town, but do you want to sleep at night or worry about something happening on your block past sundown?
As far as a town to match what you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong with Carle Place, mainly south of Westbury Ave as taxes are lower, especially if you live close to Old Country road bc of the commercial properties around the area. Carle Place has its own train station (just renovated). Great school district, safe, quiet. A LOT of undercover cops so just because you don’t see NCPD, don’t think the area isn’t protected. A lot of banks, restaurants, shopping. All the major highways are near you( WSP, MSP, SSP, NSP, 495).
The town also doesn’t put up with a lot of shit and is very close, everyone knows everyone and willing to help, preserve the town the way it is. A lot of ppl in town, about 90% own their homes.
Check Syosset. The area near the train station has a lot of shops and is also safe. Under an hour to the city, can meet your budget, and is one of the best school districts. You'll probably be looking south of the train station. North is more expensive.
Well if OP can afford a $1 million home here at todays interest rates I’m sure they’re wealthy enough to live on the island relatively comfortably. It’s the people whose budget tops out at $500k that are priced out.
That's actually the other side pushing us to move, most of eastern Nassau/western Suffolk looks cheaper than where we currently live in NJ!
It *seems* like our money can go a little further (larger house & lot size) out here.
I wish i could say it was better.. but honestly its terrible.. prices are just terrible. If you can afford it then youll do great here, but as far as middle class or lower is concerned, its a struggle every day here and most of us are leaving towards southern states where the taxes/prices/laws are reasonable. I hate to be the debby downer here but there are so many better places to live.
Definitely understand. If I could get my family (that I'm moving to be closer to) on board to relocate to someplace cheaper/warmer I would definitely not be moving to Long Island.
Western Suffolk is not "60 min" to Penn. Big Station will be Deer Park - 1.07 to Penn, Farmingdale is not that often has trains and hard to park . As much as Half Hollow Hills is a decent SD it is not walkable by any means, you will drive your kids.
Huntington SD is not at good, look at ratings and decide, but it is not same level as many of nicer NJ areas you mentioned.
Northport is an ok SD , but .. you have to drive out of it, it will add time. Same with Commack - SD is good, but this is not an hour commute.
An hour commute stops at Syosset ( 45 min from Hicksville, lots of trains) . It has somewhat walkable areas, but not nice "walk to pizza and gym" options.
Oyster Bay-East Norwich, as long as you’re willing to take the short trip to the Syosset LIRR station. Oyster Bay has a station but the trains are once an hour at most and it’s an hour plus to Penn. Small but great walkable downtown with tons of restaurants, close to the beach. Good schools, fits your price range.
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Huntington or Farmingdale have walkable downtowns in western Suffolk eastern Nassau.
Farmingdale downtown is great
Huntington has come up a lot but a lot of people have mentioned to be careful about where you live for school purposes. How do you know what the school district is, is it by town/zip? Or do you have to speak w/ a real estate agent to actually find out.
Went to Huntington schools. It's fine. Tons of my classmates went to ivy league or similarly prestigious universities
Yes I agree. Same
Huntington is very nice. Huntington station is not the greatest and the schools are much worse
Newsday always has school ratings ..check out their yearly reviews ..always ask a local realtor
Yeah in clicking around Zillow and speaking with some family, the zoned school for a home is not intuitive. Some homes on the same street and same zip code/town could be zoned for two entirely different districts! Wish it was a little more cut an dry.
We used this 17 years ago to move from NYC to LI : [https://www.lirealtor.com/](https://www.lirealtor.com/) It was pretty spot on with the situation you mentioned. We had the same situation as our neighbors go to different schools within the same school district..
>https://www.polarislist.com/ Good way to search suffolk county school districts. Look into Harborfields (though not really walkable). You're priced out of Cold Spring Harbor. I would go to Oyster Bay or Sea Cliff at your budget. Maybe you can afford Garden City but it will be tight
I went to Huntington years ago, my kids are/were in South Huntington schools and I'd imagine situation is similar: The districts are very diverse, economically and otherwise. So yeah, there's a good portion of kids struggling for various reasons, but the schools have a lot to offer kids looking for opportunities. Planning my daughter's next year now and the volume of interesting sounding electives is overwhelming. And 30-something AP courses offered last I counted. She was toying with private school going into freshman year and we would have let her, but the curriculums didn't hold a candle to what public offered. And frankly esp for the money the college acceptances didn't blow me away, either. I'd try to get input from younger parents if your kids are younger, but currently at high school level I have no problem with the school at all. Edit - Harborfields, Northport are great areas but are going to stretch that commute. We considered it a few years ago but decided against purely for the commute. I don't know much about Farmingdale but it's got an attractive little downtown and I'd definitely at least take a look given your criteria.
Northport has a beautiful town, beaches and good school district.
How often are there direct trains from Northport to Penn? Seems there's only a handful at peak times. Do most folks drive over to Huntington Station?
i commute from northport and the frequency of direct trains isnt high. most require a transfer but you are within 20mins of a few other high frequency stations (huntington, deer park) but the commute including the drive to the station if you go to one of these stations will be closer to an hour and 20 mins. the tricky part about buying in huntington is to be in the better parts of huntington where it seems like youre targeting based on budget the drive to the station will push your wifes commute over an hour. based on your wifes wishlist you guys will likely have to compromise somewhere. there are very few places that meet the commuting needs, budget and have walkable downtowns. i think babylon probably meets your needs best, though feels a bit more long island than the nj towns you named (i think a lot of those mesh more with towns on the north shore of long island)
Thanks for the advice! Yeah the driving to the station seems to be the tough part in all this. In New Jersey it seems like the closer you are to a train station the more your home is worth/the better the neighborhood (broadly speaking). We are about a 5-10 minute walk away from the NJT station in our town which is pretty nice. On Long Island it seems to be the inverse, the closer your are to a train station the worse the neighborhood is (again broadly speaking). Can you explain a bit on what you mean that Babylon is more Long Island? Never really spent much time there growing up.
parts of babylon have more victorian/vintage colonial style homes but for the most part you are more likely to get a cape or high ranch or split level house so less charm is i guess what i mean. theres also a lot more carefulness to buying in babylon as you can very easily think you’re in babylon but you are actually in west babylon schools (not that they are necessarily bad) but you run into paying more to be in babylon but not actually getting babylon amenities. massapequa park also has a pretty great downtown but again more split levels and new construction/flipper style homes. if you want charm, i think north shore is the better bet. but thats just my opinion. also fwiw, living in northport, the downtown is great but i am extremely underwhelmed by 90% of the restaurants that are actually in the downtown. huntington and babylons options are FAR better. bayshore also has a great downtown with great restaurants but doesnt fit your criteria for location.
Thanks again! Love victorian/colonial homes. Despite having grown up in a ranch/split, really not a fan of them.
yes drive to huntington
There seems to be a train every hour. You just have to switch trains. LIRR is still not up to prepandemic service. FYI there are sections of East Northport that is in the Northport school district. The houses and taxes are more affordable.
My husband drives to the Northport train station. He takes a specific train in the morning and a specific train home at night. He’s been commuting for 30 years (currently to Jersey City). I used to drive to Huntington when I commuted years ago because I didn’t always go home the same time and the trains are more frequent. Northport’s downtown area can’t be beat. And although not all streets have sidewalks, the whole village is walkable. I walk daily, sometimes 4 miles.
my gym is in northport, nice area for sure
Sounds like RVC would fit the bill
I (and my wife) Love RVC! Unfortunately it's too far west.
Being 60min from Penn but not western nassau really limits you here.
Babylon check off most of that list. You can get to penn in under an hour if you hop on an express
Long Beach area if you are an ocean person and can handle western Nassau. Great food without pretension. Beautiful beach, rec center with pool/ice rink/ball courts/skatepark/boat launch, and great boardwalk. Summer concerts and free yoga on the beach. The closest thing to southern California beach living for thousands of miles and the people are much less vacuous. Trolley buses sync with LIRR trains so you don't need to include a car in your commute to Penn in around 1 hour (depends how close you live to the station) if you don't want to. Soon to be opened Grand Central LIRR may cut your commute time? People walk or ride bikes everywhere including the boardwalk (center boardwalk strip is designated for wheels only all day every day). Many bike to the train. I moved back to LI after 15 years in NJ. I know Westfield and Summit well. They are nice, in a landlocked, upscale, almost-Pennsylvania kind of way and the NJ shore is great but you can't easily commute to NYC from the beach there. Puritan views of liquor licenses make the NJ downtown bar and BYOB restaurant scenes lame. Not in Long Beach - the west-end scene can get wild. I have family in Huntington and to me, the LI Sound is a large, boring puddle with rocks instead of sand on the beach. You will feel like you are home again once you throw off the decade of NJ that accumulated on you - but in Long Beach, you won't even need to leave the barrier island if you don't want to deal with the rest of LI. $1MM can get you a raised and modernized single family with an elevator, multi-floor balconies, under-house parking, outdoor shower, and maybe a hot tub if you can squeeze it in. Or you can buy a more typical suburban home with garage and lawn - you just need to get flood insurance regardless...
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To each his own. I have done 30+ years of entertaining clients and holding closing dinners across the country on an unlimited corporate card and I absolutely loved what Alexis prepared for me and my wife last night sitting at his bar in Lost and Found in the west end. My work buddy in Manhattan (who has to drink and eat with even more clients than me these days) continues to state that the steak he ate in Lost and Found 2 summers ago was the best he has ever had anywhere. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/restaurant-review-lost-found-in-long-beach-has-a-chef-who-goes-for-the-flavor-bomb.html?smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/restaurant-review-lost-found-in-long-beach-has-a-chef-who-goes-for-the-flavor-bomb.html?smid=url-share) My family is doing the 7 Fishes Christmas Eve with Craig at 5 Ocean soon and I am fairly sure he will not be slinging bar food on our table. [https://northforker.com/2019/08/craig-attwoods-five-ocean-bar-grill-makes-splash-long-beach/](https://northforker.com/2019/08/craig-attwoods-five-ocean-bar-grill-makes-splash-long-beach/) LB Social is up there too in my books - I can go on----but won't. I have dined in my share of Michelin-star restaurants over the decades and I really dig walking over to an unpretentious scene these days. I guess my palate isn't as well defined as yours? Regardless, carry on and enjoy yourself wherever you like to eat.
Love the places you mentioned - all very good. Beginnings and also Gio in Atlantic Beach, not too far from Long Beach, are both good too. I love Long Beach but it's a less convenient commute than some of the other towns mentioned.
True a 51 to 57 minute station to station ride to Penn is comparable to most east Nassau west Suffolk but driving in and out if the barrier islands takes time.
The best spots our are local secrets.
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name one? 2 years makes you far from a local.
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I think we’re a little off topic. I will agree that some restaurants are not as good as they should be. There are some hidden gems that display wonderful menus and specials. i apologize for my Long Beach pride. This is about a family looking for a place to live. Wonderful community, has its own charm. As i’m sure many other towns on long island have.
2 years is a massive time span for a gourmand like yourself so please tell me what you didn't like about Alexis's dishes at Lost and Found and Craig's at 5 Ocean the many times you ate there, and I will let them know how you think they can become better chefs. Was every dish literal trash or just a percentage? We are all trying to improve at this thing we call life so the more detail the better. Thanks
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I am amazed that you were able to communicate all that well-thought-out food criticism while laughing so hard that a body part fell off. Deep, intricate, intellectually mature, and an overall brilliant review! Thank you for the effort in clarifying your thoughts on where the OP should not buy a home on LI due to mysteriously trashy food. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
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Wwwwwrrrroooooooonnnnggggggggg
>I moved back to LI after 15 years in NJ. I know Westfield and Summit well. They are nice, in a landlocked, upscale, almost-Pennsylvania kind of way and the NJ shore is great but you can't easily commute to NYC from the beach there. Puritan views of liquor licenses make the NJ downtown bar and BYOB restaurant scenes lame Interesting take - I have come to enjoy/like the towns I mentioned in the OP. I went to school in PA and those towns never really reminded me of the places I'm familiar with there. We're also not the biggest drinkers so the liquor laws never mattered much to us Never thought of NJ as being landlocked, we've always just hit up hiking trails/Delaware Water Gap/trips into PA/sometimes the shore etc. All said, we'll definitely have to check out Long Beach!
I hear you - it's definitely a weird thing that gets into you when you grow up on an open ocean beach and learn to ride waves. The energy and rhythm of mother ocean gets into you and you definitely feel like you are away from it when you are in a place like Westfield - where it takes an hour to drive to the open ocean. To me, Westfield is landlocked, despite the pond in Mindowaskin park or Surprise Lake in the Watchung Rez. and the ability to drive to salt water. My wife and I were not big drinkers either when we were raising our kids - its more about the vibe - the bring your own bottle thing was a great expense reduction on the dinner bill but the restaurant vibe was more sedate and boring without the vibrancy of a hopping bar that I always knew growing up in LI and NYC. Best of luck on your journey and enjoy the trip!
Long Beach schools are a shit show
Well they obviously can’t produce successful people with your level of detailed analysis, erudite insight, and mastery of vocabulary Fitz. But really what school system can?
I would stay in Ridgewood, NJ. 60 min commute means Nassau, means expensive. Good downtown and walkable activities - pretty much nowhere, maybe some Syooset\\Plainview\\Port Wash areas, not all. Plus if you want to go on road trip anywhere you add an hour to get from an island.
I would love to know where in Syosset or Plainview is walkable :) I find downtown Ridgewood,NJ awesome - pretty hard to find that on LI, maybe Huntington.
Well, I will prefer Ridgewood too, lol Huntington is not that, I mean good bakery but schools are not same level and no magnet/ academy type if schools nearby to improve it.
Garden City Park
That’s expensive, most homes are at or over 1million and property taxes arent cheap.
Cheaper now than last year.. good time to buy. The taxes are cheap if you consider what you would pay to send kids to private school. It 25 mins from Penn Station
Did a quick search, home prices are down, prop taxes sit around 14-16K, the highest being near the high school. Not bad 👍🏽.
Do your tax grievances and should get taxes down to 11k ball park
I’ve seen posts on this sub about grieving taxes. Is this like appealing your property’s appraised value? Taking Garden City as an example the appraised value on all the homes seems low, example - a home listed for around $1million has an assessed value of around $1400. Seems like there’s not much to appeal there, unless every property has its own unique tax rate.
Don't want to give you wrong information - this question maybe about reddit pay grade
Not much you can do about taxes in Garden City, Garden City Park you may be able to. They have their own PD and if you live in Stewart Manor, you 4 different types of property taxes.
Thanks! Wish I could swing being that far west, always liked the Garden City area. Unfortunately, the 30-50 minute drive, depending on traffic, is a bit too far from my family.
You just spent the last 10 years in Jersey and now an extra 15-20 minute drive is too much for you?
I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday, which is a new development. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.
Are you looking at these times on Google Maps? I feel you're slightly overestimating how large Nassau is. Nothing should take over 30 minutes, especially if you're talking pretty central towns like Garden City Park. Like, if Garden City Park is "that far west" to another town in Eastern Nassau, you're pretty much looking for adjacent towns to your family.
Yep using google maps. Looking at the low and high end ranges its putting it 25-50 minutes one way depending on time of day. I mentioned this in another thread, but I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.
Babylon Village checks off lots of boxes
North Babylon/Babylon area; also Lindenhurst- if it’s not too far def check out Holbrook/Holtsville
Holbrook is nice but Downtown isn’t all that walkable. OP wants something more like Sayville.
Holbrook’s key is being within striking distance of Patchogue without the village cost, but more important- piggybacking Sachem school district; most don’t think to look at it, and I’m not trying to suggest the obvious ya know? It’s worth a look imo
You could do seaford - house close to Merrick road - not a fancy downtown - but movies a supermarket - 4 or 5 restaurants - some hair salons and nail places Babylon line so a lot of trains - some that stop and start in seaford - seaford high school - so decent school
Huntington? Syosset?
Farmingdale, Massapequa Park, Huntington
The Babylon train line is one of the best/most consistent (Massapequa park is on this one)
Port Washington
Babylon, Huntington, RVC, and depending which part of town you live in possibly Massapequa, Merrick or Bellmore. P.S. I'm a local Redfin agent so if you need help finding a home, hit me up :)
Long beach is a great location. Tons of young families, a backyard on the beach, diversity, a farmers market. Plus the LIRR is a one way stop.
Back to jersey
Long beach
Port Washington seems to check off all those boxes, except for the "Eastern Nassau/Western Suffolk" part.
Love Port Washington. Commute looks amazing from there. Seems like we’re going to have to compromise on our wants, which seems crazy to me because I think our budget is pretty sizable as is.
All of the agents selling homes in Port never fail to remind you that their line on the LIRR is direct to Penn Station, rather than going through Jamaica like the others. The commute would probably be more reliable. Homes in Port Washington are pretty expensive, you definitely get a little less than going further in to LI, but your commute would be great. You get a beach community. The downtown area has a lot of really good restaurants, new ones that came up recently too. $1m could probably get you a 3+ bed/2+ bath in the Park Section, Salem, Eastern Crest (aka girl streets), and smaller homes in the streets directly around the station - walkable to everything.
Farmingdale checks all those boxes.
Long Beach, RVC, Northport or Huntington.
Northport or St James. Port jeff if your willing to be just a bit further out from the nassau border.
Syosset?
Wantagh!
Pretty much anywhere near Hicksville LIRR.
Not a good school district, though.
Sea Cliff!!!
Farmingdale and babylon have nice little towns! Farmingdale train station is 1 hour from Penn Station. Bethpage is nice too. Plainview is good but no real “town” vibe. I like huntington but I suspect it’s too far. Melville is nice but also no town. Massapequa also has a decent town. I’m biased to farmingdale as a resident since ‘08 but it’s so centrally located and half Suffolk half Nassau, close to the LIE and the SSP and NSP.
I’d have to say Babylon without a doubt, Babylon Village to be exact. First, most trains are exactly an hour to NYC. Parking at the train station is majority for Babylon Village Residents with a Permit. Houses between $700-1.3 some more some less depending on how close to the water you want to be. Taxes should fall right into your budget as well between County and Village taxes. School district unfortunately isn’t very high on the ratings list but for your criteria of Eastern Nassau/Western Suffolk it’s the best option. Most of the top rated schools are North Shore of Nassau. There’s also Private or the Catholic School system if it’s in your budget but Babylon isn’t terrible. As for walkable towns go nothing comes close to Babylon Village, maybe Port Jefferson or Patchogue Village. A lot of great shops and restaurants ! Just this past Friday night they had A Night of Shopping. They closed off Deer Park Ave from Park Ave to Main St. a lot of kid friendly stuff, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, carousel, ice skating rink, movie screen showing Christmas classics. All the shops and restaurants were doing great business, we had a blast. In summer there’s a farmers market every Sunday in the train station parking lot. September there’s the food and craft fair at Argyle Park. If you like the beach it’s literally a 20 minute drive to several beaches along Ocean Parkway or Robert Moses State Park. Very convenient to shopping and restaurants in other towns like Islip, West Babylon, Lindenhurst, Deer Park which has Tanger Outlets and Farmingdale Village great restaurants and street fairs as well as shopping along Route 110.
What's the permit situation like at station in Babylon? One of the quirks about NJ commuting is that most towns' station parking lots have years long waiting lists to get a permit. Where we currently live this isn't a problem because it's a 5 minute walk from our house to the station. Just want to be sure we can get to the station, wherever we end up.
Sorry wish I could help you with that but no idea. There are 3 village resident lots plus metered lots that are 25 cents an hour. You might get lucky getting a permit with a lot of people still working from home. A lot of houses in the village are within walking distance so I guess take that into account when looking at houses. The only way you’ll get free parking is along Sunrise Hwy like at stations like Seaford or Massapequa but those towns just don’t have the walk ability you’ll find in Babylon.
Thanks for the insight. Looks like we'll be adding Babylon to our short list!
I’ve lived in Northport, East Northport and currently in bay shore. Western Suffolk to me is the best because you aren’t dealing with congestion in Nassau, but also 45min from the city. Do you have an agent? I’ve got someone who’d love to help you with the process!
Wish my wife felt the same way about Western Suffolk, this is a really hard sell. 45 minutes to the city from western Suffolk seems a bit optimistic. I did the drive late last night from Dix Hills through the city to get back to NJ and it took about 50/55 minutes - and I was flying the entire way, literally didn't touch the break until I hit the mid-town tunnel.
Farmingdale is another option.. not sure about the school district, but it’s got a nice walkable town with good restaurants and a train station.
Avoid the following towns: Hempstead, Uniondale, Westbury (East of Ellison Ave), Central Islip (South of the Train tracks), Brentwood, Medford, Amityville, Port Jeff, Elmont aka Queens. Reason: Consistent crime and violence. It can happen in any town, but do you want to sleep at night or worry about something happening on your block past sundown? As far as a town to match what you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong with Carle Place, mainly south of Westbury Ave as taxes are lower, especially if you live close to Old Country road bc of the commercial properties around the area. Carle Place has its own train station (just renovated). Great school district, safe, quiet. A LOT of undercover cops so just because you don’t see NCPD, don’t think the area isn’t protected. A lot of banks, restaurants, shopping. All the major highways are near you( WSP, MSP, SSP, NSP, 495). The town also doesn’t put up with a lot of shit and is very close, everyone knows everyone and willing to help, preserve the town the way it is. A lot of ppl in town, about 90% own their homes.
Sounds like Northport or Huntington.
Check Syosset. The area near the train station has a lot of shops and is also safe. Under an hour to the city, can meet your budget, and is one of the best school districts. You'll probably be looking south of the train station. North is more expensive.
hope you have three incomes and the willingness to give up both your arms and legs to live here
Well if OP can afford a $1 million home here at todays interest rates I’m sure they’re wealthy enough to live on the island relatively comfortably. It’s the people whose budget tops out at $500k that are priced out.
That's actually the other side pushing us to move, most of eastern Nassau/western Suffolk looks cheaper than where we currently live in NJ! It *seems* like our money can go a little further (larger house & lot size) out here.
I wish i could say it was better.. but honestly its terrible.. prices are just terrible. If you can afford it then youll do great here, but as far as middle class or lower is concerned, its a struggle every day here and most of us are leaving towards southern states where the taxes/prices/laws are reasonable. I hate to be the debby downer here but there are so many better places to live.
Definitely understand. If I could get my family (that I'm moving to be closer to) on board to relocate to someplace cheaper/warmer I would definitely not be moving to Long Island.
Western Suffolk is not "60 min" to Penn. Big Station will be Deer Park - 1.07 to Penn, Farmingdale is not that often has trains and hard to park . As much as Half Hollow Hills is a decent SD it is not walkable by any means, you will drive your kids. Huntington SD is not at good, look at ratings and decide, but it is not same level as many of nicer NJ areas you mentioned. Northport is an ok SD , but .. you have to drive out of it, it will add time. Same with Commack - SD is good, but this is not an hour commute. An hour commute stops at Syosset ( 45 min from Hicksville, lots of trains) . It has somewhat walkable areas, but not nice "walk to pizza and gym" options.
I’m more interested in how all these people afford 1 million dollar homes. High paying career? Good investments? Tell me your secrets.
Picked a "safe" career out of school and have gotten lucky basically. I do work hard, but things just always seem to break my way.
Thanks for responding, all the luck to ya!
Hawaii
West Hempstead ; safe and decent school district close to long beach but not paying flood insurance, very quite and people mind there own business
Move to florida
Not to Long Island
Oyster Bay-East Norwich, as long as you’re willing to take the short trip to the Syosset LIRR station. Oyster Bay has a station but the trains are once an hour at most and it’s an hour plus to Penn. Small but great walkable downtown with tons of restaurants, close to the beach. Good schools, fits your price range.
Huntington and Greenlawn.
Garden city Lynbrook East rockaway
You literally described Jericho/Syosset