Good Neighborhoods in LI

Malverne is fine if you are in the Valley Stream North school district. VS North is a good school district. I agree Malverne SD is bad. I have family in Malverne and the area is beautiful, they are in the good SD.

The Westwood area of Valley Stream is beautiful too.

We live in Mass Park and it is great and has great schools. As much as I love it, IMO if you find something is Massapequa you will not pay a village tax and have less restrictions.


All these areas have good schools too:
Merrick, North is less expensive than South but is beautiful
Bellmore
Wantagh
Seaford
Bethpage is nice but you're near the powerlines

Rockville Center is nice but really expensive.

I hear you can find stuff in Levittown, but I dont know about the schools.

I wouldnt personally look in Baldwin or Freeport.

Those are my opinions on Nassau's South Shore (and a few Mid Island) areas.


Hope this helps.

A lot goes into what is considered a good neighborhood. I think a lot of people mentioned a lot of good neighborhoods - but there is also what you like. Manhasset and Jeicho on paper are great neighborhoods. Dh and I loved what we saw on paper but when I went looking in that area and other areas on the North Shore - I realized they weren't for me.

I had heard a lot of good things about Baldwin and Oceanside but I have a feeling these were very good neighborhoods that may be going thru some changes. But I think there are nice parts of both.

For me I learned a lot just by driving around (randomly) the neighborhoods that looked good on paper and from word of mouth. Also, going to random open houses. This helped me get a feel for them.

I am in South Bellmore. DH and I liked South Bellmore/South Merrick the most. We also liked Bellmore, Merrick, Garden City, Massapequea and Syosset. Mass and Syosset - were just further east than we wanted to go. (We both work in NYC - so commute to NYC was a huge factor for us!).

On a side note - I went to a training class and met a woman from Garden City - who was a mother of teenage children. She was saying if she had to do it all over again she wouldn't raise her children in Garden City. She said the schools are excellent but she feels like her kids are becoming snobs because of the people they hang out with and she was really upset by this. She also said that drugs and alcohol were becoming too prevalent wit the hs kids and she read so much about that in her community. It was interesting to hear. I guess it is all relevant, huh?

On a side note - I went to a training class and met a woman from Garden City - who was a mother of teenage children. She was saying if she had to do it all over again she wouldn't raise her children in Garden City. She said the schools are excellent but she feels like her kids are becoming snobs because of the people they hang out with and she was really upset by this. She also said that drugs and alcohol were becoming too prevalent wit the hs kids and she read so much about that in her community. It was interesting to hear. I guess it is all relevant, huh?


Wow Niecey....I had no idea about that stuff in GArden city...snobs really? and the drugs ....geez i didnt think there...

I grew up in Massapequa - SD #23 and agree it is a wonderful place to live and raise a family......my parents still live there. The only drawback is the taxes - especially in the village of Mass Park - very high.

ETA: there are snobs everywhere in LI - it cant be avoided!

I really think you can run into snobs in just about any town now on LI now...unfortunately.

Every town is going to have it's problems. In areas where you have more money, you're going to see more problems with expensive drugs, parties (since their parents are always traveling), expensive cars, etc. But in the more middle class towns you're going to see a different set a problems...no town will be perfect.

I grew up on the North Shore and at the time hated the attitude of so many kids who had it all, but looking back, I'm glad I was so fortunate to have some of the things my parents were able to give me. Being in a good SD gives you a better opportunity to do new things sometimes as well. (I compare this to my DH who didn't go to the best district and had to fight for certain things that we got automatically)

I'd personally rather have those problems for my children than those of others in the towns we're forced to look at because everything is so damn expensive!

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Posted by Teri

I really think you can run into snobs in just about any town now on LI now...unfortunately.

Every town is going to have it's problems. In areas where you have more money, you're going to see more problems with expensive drugs, parties (since their parents are always traveling), expensive cars, etc. But in the more middle class towns you're going to see a different set a problems...no town will be perfect.

...

I'd personally rather have those problems for my children than those of others in the towns we're forced to look at because everything is so damn expensive!

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That's what I meant by it is all relevant. You want all the best things, of course, but yet even neighborhoods like Garden City which have a great rep for being a good neighborhood - you will have different issues. And I found it interesting to see someone who lived there saying that.

Also, funny when I was looking in South Bellmore I was very concerned about it's snobby attitude which I heard about (didn't see it myself then but heard about that esp. when kids get to hs level). I called my aunt who lives on LI and has 4 children - three of which are hs aged (and in a hs that is not known on paper to be the best) and she said exactly what you said 'I'd personally rather have those problems for my children than those of others in the towns'. Luckily, although her children aren't in the best school district all 3 hs aged children are brainiacs!!! And on to great colleges on scholarships even!

It is a difficult choice and balance.

garden city.....hmmmmm..... well from going there i can say the majority of the kids are snobby, if you plan to have kids be prepared to buy an extensive wardrobe of expensive clothing....or some of the girls use to buy the clothing wear it to school with the tags tucked in then return it.... and yes there is lots of drinking, if you drive around at night youll see teens walking around, they at least walk to the house parties when they decide to get drunk instead of drive....house prices are now like 500,000minimum....
but there are good features to the town, nice houses,their own police, we have nice friendly neighbors, very good schools, and its not really comericialized trucks arent alowed to go through most of the town....

what makes a town 'good' I believe what you mean is 'DESIREABLE' and what dictates this is the school dist. You can check what school dist. rate (The higher the number the better) by going to www.MLSLI.com selecting a town (some towns have more then one dist.) or by selecting the dist. and seeing what they rate.

Dont mistake this with Expensive neighborhoods which is different, for example Half Hollow Hills is mostly Dix Hills Schools with some wheatley heights and deer park townships attending the HHH dist.... DIX Hills is a more expensive area then deer park...
and deer park schools didnt rank as high, although i think its a nice school (its just an example)...and Wheatly Heights has a few real nice sections (homes 450+) and more areas which are less desirable due to cleanliness, safety, drugs being sold in daylight infront of everyone,etc.,

Lastly, when you see a home you like, drive around the neighborhood in the morning, afternoon and at night. Go on a weekend as well as a Fri. night, go to the stores and supermarkets near there and see if its a place that you want to live in. look at the surronding blocks, I would also suggest looking up the schools website just to get an idea of what you will be a part of if you plan to have childern.