Your Neighborhood

I thought it would be great to create a post in which we can share our neighborhoods. I thought this would be really helpful to anyone as they search for a home or an area to rent an apartment or to know about places that one of us may know that the other who might live in the same area doesn't. Share everything from good restaurants for example to school districts or things about your neighborhood that you love/hate....etc...
Let's share!

Message edited 2/21/2010 12:37:03 PM.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Great idea

I just bought a house in East Rockaway (after living in Long Beach for over 6 years)
--love that it's near the LIRR (38 minute ride into NYC)

--I live by the church off of Atlantic, which is technically "village" of ER and we pay a bit more in taxes than someone who lives on the other side of town (they are Town of Hempstead)

-tiny school district

--I have a pretty big lot for Western Nassau 60x175

--I don't really know a ton about restaurants and stuff

--I have parking now (for people who live or have lived in Long Beach, I am sure you feel my pain.

--it's quiet

--still close to the water.

Re: Your Neighborhood

I currently live in Forest Hills. Here are the things I like about the neigborhood:

1. Convenience to Manhattan / great commute: We have the subway, LIRR, express bus, and regular bus.

2. Austin Street: Lots of nice shops and restaurants

Things I dislike:
1. Parking can be a pain

2. There are a lot of crazy drivers tearing around my neighborhood - it drives me mad!

Re: Your Neighborhood

This is a great idea. I am in the process of looking for a place to call home and appreciate every bit of feedback on the different communiites. I am not sure if this is helpful to anyone but I currently rent in Brooklyn Heights. It's a beautiful area, great restaurants, parks, and a beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 2,3,5,R,A,F and C subway lines are all within walking distance and LIRR is two subway stops away (Brooklyn - Flatbush Ave., 20 min to Jamaica). The place that I rent is a coop (it has places for sale if you have the money to afford it) and is very reasonable for the Heights. It has great ammenities including a gym, bike storage, a doorman and rooftop access.

Re: Your Neighborhood

DH and I own a house in the Village of Farmingdale
- There is a Main Street near us with restaurants/bars etc. and lots of shopping centers nearby (but of course this is long island, where is there not lots of shopping centers!!)
-It is very close to the 135 which connects us to the northern and southern state parkways as well as the LIE
-It has its own train station
- There is a huge range of housing available in my town, new houses, old house, big houses, small houses, co-ops

Re: Your Neighborhood

FH and I just bought a house in East Setauket.

Likes:
large property (we are on almost half an acre) and our taxes arent too ridiculous comparatively.

historical neighborhood

close to water, Port Jeff Village

our neighbors are super nice

excellent SD

cons:
347 and Nicholls can be a nightmare- that is the only way (besides sidesdtreets) to get to major roads.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Stamford, CT

Low taxes

Close to water/on the water

Great night life and restaurants

Decent schools

Really up and coming

Buildng a Trump Tower and Ritz carltun next year

Royal bank of Scotland and UBS make their homes here

42 minute express train to Manhattan
Cons:

the west end is really bad area

schools could be better (but tons of parocial and private schools to choose from)

mall needs updating

Message edited 3/13/2007 2:33:17 PM.

Re: Your Neighborhood

I grew up in Nesconset, NY.

Pros - Great community with lots of families.

Convenient to major highways: North of LIE, south of 347.

VERY close to the Smithhaven mall and other shopping districts.

Close to yummy restaurants.

Cons - They are developing very quickly, both residential and commercial, so the area is starting to get very crowded and they are destroying what land is left

I think they just split the schools up, but watch out for redistricting due to all of the development. Smithtown schools were crowded when I went there years ago!

Traffic is starting to get out of hand.

Over an hour to NYC from Ronkonkoma.

I currently live in East Village, NYC and bought a co-op in Murray Hill, NYC. I don't think this will help anyone, but great neighborhoods!!

Re: Your Neighborhood

Bought a home in Wantagh Oct. 2006 after living in Forest Hills for 4 years.

We live in the Woods section.
Pros
- cute neighborhood
- excellent school district
- 15-minute walk to the LIRR
- close to shops (I go down to Levittown to shop)
- restaurants we like - Hemingways & ThomThom

Cons
- taxes are high (IMO)
- in our section, there are no basements
- mostly oil heat in the neighborhood (but we converted to gas)

Re: Your Neighborhood

Posted by mommy2bellabean

Great idea

I just bought a house in East Rockaway (after living in Long Beach for over 6 years)
--love that it's near the LIRR (38 minute ride into NYC)

--I live by the church off of Atlantic, which is technically "village" of ER and we pay a bit more in taxes than someone who lives on the other side of town (they are Town of Hempstead)

-tiny school district

--I have a pretty big lot for Western Nassau 60x175

--I don't really know a ton about restaurants and stuff

--I have parking now (for people who live or have lived in Long Beach, I am sure you feel my pain.

--it's quiet

--still close to the water.

Re: Your Neighborhood

We live in Sayville and I couldn't be happier here--I love it. My Dh & I are as we call it Nassau transplants--neither of us grew up in Suffolk and really have no family or friends out here and took the plung

Pros-
-south shore charm with what I call the north shore town feeling
--huge property
--GREAT school district--from what I am told the budget always passes here and everyone is really involved
--friendliest town in America (or so the sign says)
--great restaurants/bars
-close to the water/Fire Island

I just love it :)

Re: Your Neighborhood

We live in Whitestone Queens, and personally i can not find one bad thing to say about it. It is close to the seven train and LIRR (which is a twenty five min commute to penn station) close to all major highways, district 25 schools, which are very good as well as a great selection of private schools. Most houses have driveways and if not the parking is very easy. Tons of pizzarias, chain restaurants etc. I would reccomend whitestone to anyone!!! The houses are a little pricey, however taxes are very low.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Some great things...

*There is a great park on my cross street--playground, sprinkler, pond, boccie court, basketball, etc...

*Public transportation is so accessible. We're within a mile of the LIRR and at least 1 bus stops about 2 blocks away.

*Low taxes!

*Top school districts in the city--SD 25, 26.

*The houses around here are amazing--1920s colonials, etc. In fact, our neighborhood is designated an official "Historic District" and they're working on Landmark status. Our house is like the most embarassing one!

*Great bars/restaurants on Bell Blvd.

*My parents and ILs live within 1.5 miles in either direction of us and can babysit on short notice!

Message edited 7/13/2009 3:55:19 PM.

Re: Your Neighborhood

DH & I both grew up in Bay Shore and bought a house in Blue Point. We are south shore people.

Blue Point has a good school district (Bayport/Blue Point)
Nice, small quaint town
People love this town
Close to the water
We have our own town beach, Corey.
Flo's Luncheonette
There is a St. Patrick's parade in our town every year
most blocks have side walks
good restaurants
big property
low taxes

Re: Your Neighborhood

We just bought in South Farmingdale this past December, so I really don't know much.

I love the property. We're on 100x100!
The village is soo cute! It's quiet. I'm close to everything and yet I don't feel like I'm that far at all. Some people think I live sooo far away. I'm really glad we chose this town.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Re: Your Neighborhood

We are also in Wantagh but North (Levittown Schools)

PROS:
Close to LIRR
Quiet neighborhood
Close to Southern State or Seaford Oyster Bay
Shopping is within in 2 miles (Levittown)
Good schools
Great Parks (Wantagh Park, Cedar Creek)
Great food choices (Hemingway's, Umberto's, Jani, Wantagh Inn, Cherrywood Pizza)
Walking distance to CVS, Banks, Dunkin Donuts
Friendly Neighbors

CONS:
Taxes are on the high side
Most of the homes are on the small side, Levitt Houses expanded (with exception to my development where the houses are big)
Neighborhood is a little on the "older" side

Re: Your Neighborhood

This is a great idea!

We bought our house in 2004 in Ridge. It is pretty far east in Suffolk & on the north shore. Our specific neighborhood-Lake Panamoka- is unique because we have a homeowners asscociation-but not condos or townhouses. The association & the homeowners own the lake that is in the middle of the neighborhood.
It is a mile wide by 3/4 mile across & its a fresh water, spring fed lake that is filled with fish & its crystal clear. It used for swimming, catch & release fishing & non-power boating. The sunset pic I use for my avatar is our lake.
We have three private beaches, lifeguards, a bath house & a large clubhouse. We host events like beach parties & St Pats dinner on Saturday for $5.
There is a great sense of community because many of the people that live here year round had family summer bungelows on the lake dating back to 1940-1950. We also have a brand new fire dept station right in our neighborhood that only services us, lots of people including the teens volunteer & they have several events too. Ridge has a Memorial Day parade that we march in every year. All of my neighbors are friendly, everyone looks out for one another.
Our house looks out on the lake & our yard is private.
The school district is Longwood & I don't have kids that attend it but my neighbors are all very happy & the kids & families have great school pride.
We have exceptional sports teams & our budget always passes. We have an awesome public library.
Ridge itself doesn't have any major stores, just a few deli's, gas stations & pizza places, florists & farm stands.
Its pretty rural here. I shop mainly in riverhead, it takes me 12 minutes to get to the Tanger outlets.
We are right on the border of Wading River, in fact maps say we are in Wading River but thank god I don't have those taxes & WR has a nice shopping center that I go to alot also.
Technically we live IN the Pine Barrens, our neighborhood is surrounded by a few thousand acres of protected land, we hike in the forest every weekend.
The Pine Barrens are almost always 5 degrees colder than the rest of LI & occaisionally it will snow here & not anyplace else in Suffolk.
We still have mailboxes on one side of the street, the roads were only paved about 15 years ago, we all have cesspools, no natural gas line so everyone has oil or propane, they installed city water about 5 years ago but most people including us aren't hooked up, we still use our deep water well. Our neighborhood is very much blue collar & not about keeping up with the Jones' at all.
We are 5 minutes away from Long Island Sound Beaches & 10-15 minutes from the north fork wineries & the feeling that you're not even on LI anymore. We go to the movie theater in Mattituck rather than going west.
There are a few good restaurants around, not many. Sometimes we'll go to Port Jeff-20 minutes or to the Hamptons-25-30 minutes to try a new place to eat. We don't eat out much though.
I love our town because it is quaint & I feel like I live in a vacation home everyday.
I have lived in many towns north & south shore suffolk in my life & I can honestly say I love where I live.
The only thing I hate is the bad reputation this area has gotten....after living here 3 years I just don't get it.

Re: Your Neighborhood

We live in Bayside, Queens.

Pros- Great Coop Bldg. People are very nice and respectful of one another.

Great shopping and restaurants near by.

Home of the best school district in NYC.

Close to the highways and public transportation

Walking district to some great parks

have a parking space.
Cons

Very busy area

Not allowed to have dogs in my bldg
So Dh and I will not be able to rescue a dog, but we can rescue more cats .

Message edited 3/14/2007 8:48:09 AM.

Re: Your Neighborhood

DH & I have a house in West Babylon. LOVE IT!!!

-I feel like I am 5-10 minutes from everything (any store you can think of, supermarket, LIRR, movie theatre, bars, doctors, gym, etc). But I am in the cutest little neighborhood and everyone around us is SO nice and gets along so well!!!!! In the summertime the kids are running around all over or in someone's pool and all the adults (even the one's without kids) are at someone's house either BBQ'ing or drinking or just getting together. We are all in our late 20's or 30's. We have a blast together and it is just amazing that we found such a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood.

It is so weird because when DH & I were looking for houses I used to tell him about my childhood and explain to him that I wanted that for my kids. ALL the kids on the block when I was growing up used to play outside all day long (when I tell you I NEVER watched tv except for Friday night I watched T.G.I.F for 2 hours and then back outside, even in the winter - just not as late). We used to play man-hunt, cops and robbers, go in the pool, bike ride, play soccer or kickball in someone's backyard, etc, and all the parents would get together at one of their houses and drink all night in the backyard and listen to music and just talk. It was the most amazing times and that is all I want for my kids one day. No computers, no video games, no tv, but to go outside an enjoy being a kid and running around, playing and even getting dirty. My DH would tell me times are changed now and no one does that anymore, and I used to tell him that I will find it. I will find a cute neighborhood for our children. And when i tell you I feel like I found gold with this house. MY DH sees the kids playing outside and when all the adults get together he said to me once "this is what your childhood was like", and I told him yes, and he then said "that's amazing and now I know why you would want that for our kids". Last week when it was nice outside the kids across the street went outside with their scooters and I was so happy. I can't wait for everyone to get together outside with BBQ's and stuff. Although we still get together in the winter inside, to me their is nothing like being outside in the spring/summer.

Anyway as you can see I love my house, my neighborhood, my neighbors, and everything that we have experienced in WB so far. Also the school district is great from what I have heard.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Re: Your Neighborhood

Long Beach - we've rented here for 6 years.

Pros:

-You're never more than 4 or 5 blocks from the water
-Beach and boardwalk
-There's a real community of people - with lot of events, fairs, people who care about their community
-Town center with good shopping and restaurants
-Takes 1 hour to get from LB train station to Penn Station
-Has it's own police department
-Garbagemen pick up anything - even couches


Cons:

-So many people drive or take the train in in the summer, it gets very congested.
-My neighbors & landlord always complain that taxes are high
-Small plots of land - 60x100 if you're lucky.
-Houses are expensive and flood insurance is probably required
-There is one main road so traffic can be bad at peak times (or, God forbid, in the case of road construction)
-Speed limits range from 15 to 40 on the main road and have been policed heavily in recent months
-There are only three bridges off the island, spaced miles apart


Buying a house in LB has never been a consideration. But renting is wonderful.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Re: Your Neighborhood

Monroe, CT

Pros:

*Quiet and Peaceful
*not too country-not too city-
*Great School District!
*Close to shopping
*10 minutes from the Merritt Pkwy
*Near the fire department
*Good restaurants are close by
*Family oriented town

Cons:
*Windy roads are not good in the winter-they have a tendency to ice over
*Lots of deer that come out-you have to be cautious when driving
*not very diverse
*have to drive a bit to get to bars(not a problem for us really)

Message edited 3/14/2007 2:12:22 PM.

Re: Your Neighborhood

Posted by greenfreak

Long Beach - we've rented here for 6 years.

Buying a house in LB has never been a consideration. But renting is wonderful.