Do you love where you live?

My house is sold and we have to be out by 9/15. Problem...we don't have a house yet! We are searching high and low - mainly in Wantagh, Merrick (anything north of Sunrise), Bellmore (anything north of Sunrise) and Farmingdale (near Main Street).

If you live in one of those towns - talk to me. What do you love...what do you not love? Talk to me about schools...anything. I appreciate it very much.

Wish me luck! I have a daughter starting Kindergarten in September. The clock is ticking!

Do you love where you live?

I am in Farmingdale. We didn’t think we’d live it but we do. Great neighborhood, ice the schools so far and the town has a lot of activities. Great village area. And it’s dead middle of the island so we are close to all the highways. I’m town of Babylon so I still get the beaches I love.

Do you love where you live?

I lived near there in East Meadow and I liked it. It was a nice neighborhood, good schools, and close to Eisenhower. The only downside was that there wasn't a cute "downtown" area that was vibrant.

Re: Do you love where you live?

We live in wantagh. Levit house and schools. We love it here. Everyone gets along well. There are a ton of houses for sale on our block

Do you love where you live?

I live smack dab in one of the areas you mentioned. Where are you moving from?

ETA I ask because where you lived previously can color how you view somewhere else. I’m from Queens and every time I hear someone mention “Bellmore town” I crack up because the “town” is 3 restaurants and 47 nail salons. Everyone told me the commute to the city would be great but to me it was terrible because I wasn’t used to the mess that is the LIRR. Had I moved from eastern Suffolk, it would be a breeze. It’s all perspective. People can say anything is “great” but it doesn’t mean anything.

Message edited 7/3/2018 9:48:24 AM.

Do you love where you live?

I'm in Massapequa Park but Farmingdale schools. I love love love my neighborhood. We are super close to all shopping, close to the beaches. Our community is close knit and offers some great programs. The schools have amazing music and art programs and every single teacher/counselor we have encountered so far is great.

Farmingdale also has a great Main Street with awesome restaurants.

ETA: We get a TOBAY beach pass every summer and love it. The beach is so nice and if you have kids they have a great sprinkler area.

Message edited 7/3/2018 9:24:49 AM.

Re: Do you love where you live?

We lived for 3.5 years in East Meadow and never loved it. Our neighbors were terrible, so we sold.

We wanted to live in either Merrick or Bellmore. We didn't find anything we liked on the short timeline we had to be out, so we decided to rent in Bellmore (south Bellmore) while we continued to look. We liked Bellmore much better than East Meadow. But, Bellmore and North Bellmore have a lot of different pockets in the neighborhoods, some nicer than others. If we found a house in Bellmore, I had a few stipulations: I did not want to be too close to the train station or Bedford Ave because parking is terrible there and I didn't want to live in a congested area or hear the train from our house.

For Merrick, again, there are a lot of different neighborhoods with VERY different feels. We did not want to be anywhere near the train station or Merrick Ave for congestion reasons. I also wanted to avoid the Meadowbrook area as it's just not as nice.

In either town, I wanted a "neighborhood" feel and i did not want main streets.

We wound up finding a house in South Merrick (but not in a flood zone!) and we LOVE it! We took 2.5 months doing construction and fixing it up. We've met a few neighbors and can just tell we will love it there for a long time. We spent A LOT of time driving around various neighborhoods at different times of the year. When we liked a house, we drove past it at night, during the day, weekdays, and weekends. The Merrick/Bellmore schools are all great, so you really can't go wrong there.

Re: Do you love where you live?

I grew up in North Merrick (25+ years) and now live in North Bellmore (13 years). I LOVE the schools in the Merrick-Bellmore school district, speaking form experience going (granted years ago) and now my sons go.

In Merrcik we lived on Potter Avenue which I now realize was the PERFECT area to grow up. It was close enough to the train for when you need to get to NYC, close to the highways and had a great suburban feel. The streets weren't busy so it was perfect for bike riding and trick-or-treating. Our neighbors were incredible, but that's always a gamble.

In Bellmore where I currently live, I love my house, but not necessarily the neighborhood. We're on a short cut-through street and there are so many speeding cars I won't let my kids play out front. Luckily we have a large back yard but it's tough to ride bikes. We didn't realize how much traffic was present until we moved in. I miss the neighborhood feel of Merrick but moving for us isn't in the cards right now.

Good luck!

Re: Do you love where you live?

I live in North Bellmore (way north, in Old Britton Estates area). I grew up in Seaford, and when I moved back to LI after living in the city, we looked for houses in the Merrick to Massapequa area.

We just happened to find a house in N. Bellmore. I love it here, though. I find it to be a very nice community, and I'm happy with the schools (I volunteer a lot at school, I'm on the PTA board). My son plays a lot of sports, and we've made a lot of friends through North Bellmore/North Merrick Little League and the travel team he's on through the league. I find the people to be friendly and down to earth.

My particular block has a ton of kids on it, and they all play outside together (which isn't true of every block in the area). We have a fun block party every year.

More generally speaking, my neighborhood is well maintained and it's convenient to lots of things - parkways, shopping, parks/beaches.

I work a lot of a realtor in the areas you are looking. Not sure if you have an agent, but if I can help, let me know (even if just to answer questions about a particular area).

Have you considered Seaford? A lot of people who look in Bellmore, Wantagh, etc., also look in Seaford.

Also, why are you limiting to north of Sunrise? There are many areas even south of Merrick Rd where flood insurance isn't required, but certainly north of Merrick Rd., flooding is not a concern. Just fyi that in Merrick and Bellmore, you can be north of Sunrise and still zoned for Bellmore and Merrick schools (not North Merrick or North Bellmore), in case you have any preference. Lots of people don't realize that.

Do you love where you live?

If you are looking within the Bellmore School District, I really like they divide up the elementary schools by age. So there is a Prek to 2nd grade school, 3rd and 4th, and 5/6. I know you said your daughter is starting K in the fall, but if you are thinking of having another child, Bellmore has Universal Pre-K, which I don't think any of the other districts have. It is offered to all students. Half day is available to every one, and right now full day is a lottery.

Do you love where you live?

Merrick here. North of sunrise, south of SSP. Love it here. Great neighborhood. Can walk to town and train. Schools from what I hear (no kids) are great. We bought 2 years ago and our house is up over $100K since we purchased. Very hot area right now.

Do you love where you live?

We live in Wantagh and my kids go to Levittown Schools. We love our neighborhood and LOVE the schools. My DD is at East Broadway. Since she started we have met so many people in our neighborhood. There are a ton of houses for sale in my area. The neighborhoods are split up in letter sections. We live in the "T" section but have also lived in the "R" section.

Re: Do you love where you live?

We used to live in Wantagh and moved to the north shore (Nassau county) two years ago. We liked Wantagh very much and before choosing the north shore, we heavily considered south bellmore and Merrick and looked at homes there for a while. If I were to stay on the south shore, those are the towns I’d live. Good schools, decent commute to the city, very accessible to malls, stores, restaurants... Everone I know who lives in those towns are happy living there.

That said, the one downside I can see is that it seems to me that everyone knows everyone. Every friend of mine who lives in bellmore or merrick is Facebook friends with every other person I know in bellmore or merrick lol. Now, that wouldn’t dissuade me from living there, it’s just ONE thing I can say would bug me. You can easily pose the argument that it’s like that in any LI town, but I notice it more in those towns specifically than any other. Many people also wouldn’t see that as a downside.

Re: Do you love where you live?

Do you love where you live?

We have been in Farmingdale for just about 3 years, near Allen Park. We love it here. Close to Main Street and highways (to get to work). DH takes the train to Penn 3 days a week, and it isn’t a terribly long ride. Neighborhood is great (we hang out with one set of our neighbors on a regular basis) and close to the Bethpage bike way (we walk the dog there and DH runs there.

Message edited 7/4/2018 7:46:14 AM.