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What exactly is wrong with Oceanside these days?
Could somebody more familiar with the area make a list?
By "wrong", I don't mean at the level of Wyandanch or Roosevelt of course.
Just, what's wrong with it? Why wouldn't a middle class or upper middle class family want to buy a house in the area?
There's drugs in every town in America, and I would dare say the more "money" there is in a town, the more drugs, it will just be hidden better. A friend of mine from high school became a drug dealer later in life (didn't end well for him), and his clients were from places like Hewlett and Syosset. These kids had money, nice cars and were still bored to tears. Oceanside doesn't have more than anyone else sorry.
Traffic is also a nationwide issue. It is a natural outgrowth of our dependence on cars. Cities and especially suburbs across the county were designed around the automobile. The problem is, every person having their own automobile is not a sustainable way of life for a mature population. Spend some time anywhere near the Hamptons during rush hour (one main road in the entire town) and you wish you were back in Oceanside where you will get home in 15 minutes as opposed to 1 hour to go from one side of town to the other.
I've lived in 3 towns on the south Shore and Oceanside has been the safest place I've lived. My neighbors watch out for each other and have the keys to my house. Some even leave their cars and doors unlocked although that is probably not the case anymore due to the break-ins that have become an issue across Long Island.
We really like it here and my friends who have grown children are all attending good colleges (many math & science majors), but I attribute some of that to their involvement with their kids - they are all good people.
I will say this about both Long Beach and Oceanside. They are very poorly designed for foot travel and public transportation (but so are 80% of the towns in the country.) A lot of the housing stock in Oceanside is on heavily trafficed roads and I would be careful about that. But if you can buy in one of the quieter neighborhoods its a great place if you love the beach, the quick commute to the city. It is also very easy for us to jump onto the Meadowbrook from where we live and go to Roosevelt Field, Museum Row or to Riverhead/Hampton/Montauk. There's also a lot of really great parks nearby in Long Beach, Lido, Island Park, and Baldwin. I play paddleball AND have a toddler, so I'm in these parks 2-3 times a week!
There's drugs in every town in America, and I would dare say the more "money" there is in a town, the more drugs, it will just be hidden better. A friend of mine from high school became a drug dealer later in life (didn't end well for him), and his clients were from places like Hewlett and Syosset. These kids had money, nice cars and were still bored to tears. Oceanside doesn't have more than anyone else sorry.
Traffic is also a nationwide issue. It is a natural outgrowth of our dependence on cars. Cities and especially suburbs across the county were designed around the automobile. The problem is, every person having their own automobile is not a sustainable way of life for a mature population. Spend some time anywhere near the Hamptons during rush hour (one main road in the entire town) and you wish you were back in Oceanside where you will get home in 15 minutes as opposed to 1 hour to go from one side of town to the other.
I've lived in 3 towns on the south Shore and Oceanside has been the safest place I've lived. My neighbors watch out for each other and have the keys to my house. Some even leave their cars and doors unlocked although that is probably not the case anymore due to the break-ins that have become an issue across Long Island.
We really like it here and my friends who have grown children are all attending good colleges (many math & science majors), but I attribute some of that to their involvement with their kids - they are all good people.
I will say this about both Long Beach and Oceanside. They are very poorly designed for foot travel and public transportation (but so are 80% of the towns in the country.) A lot of the housing stock in Oceanside is on heavily trafficed roads and I would be careful about that. But if you can buy in one of the quieter neighborhoods its a great place if you love the beach, the quick commute to the city. It is also very easy for us to jump onto the Meadowbrook from where we live and go to Roosevelt Field, Museum Row or to Riverhead/Hampton/Montauk. There's also a lot of really great parks nearby in Long Beach, Lido, Island Park, and Baldwin. I play paddleball AND have a toddler, so I'm in these parks 2-3 times a week!
Yeah I totally agree with all of that. There is nothing wrong with Oceanside at all.
Moderator cut: please do not discuss other posters by name here of the many people on LI who suffer from this strange syndrome where it almost sounds like they want their town to be a piece of crap, just so they can ***** and moan about it or talk about the good old days....much like a few generations back had legitimate gripes about having to leave NYC. Long Island is not NYC in 1965....
If you're pretty close to the Meadowbrook you've gotta be fairly far north or east in Oceanside, though. In my experience, it can be a pain in the neck to get to and from a lot of Oceanside....especially because in so many neighborhoods the street grid is cut off from surrounding areas. That's the only big negative, IMO.
Last edited by nancy thereader; 11-16-2009 at 10:44 AM..
If you're pretty close to the Meadowbrook you've gotta be fairly far north or east in Oceanside, though. In my experience, it can be a pain in the neck to get to and from a lot of Oceanside....especially because in so many neighborhoods the street grid is cut off from surrounding areas. That's the only big negative, IMO.
Yes I am somewhat near the border with Baldwin, so taking Sunrise Highway to the Meadowbrook is only about 5 minutes for me. Also, when I was working in the city I preferred to use the Baldwin LIRR station. The total commute is 40min on the nose - the only issue is parking because the non-residential parking gets filled fast.
Keep in mind Oceanside is very large and parts of it border Rockville Centre, (which I consider to be fairly centrally located). So I would look in those parts of Oceanside if that was a concern.
Keep in mind, I came from Long Beach, so getting to anything other than the Meadowbrook was a 20 minute affair. We feel like we have better access than we did in LB, but are still able to live in nice secluded neighborhood.
I grew up in valley stream. I now live in Long Beach, but I've been in Oceanside a billion times. I'm gonna take a stab at this topic. The biggest problem is Long Beach Road. It's overdeveloped.
Oceanside should of had it's nice downtown near the train station with all the stores, but instead we have a countless number of strip malls on one of the only major roads. Too many cars going in, out, making left turns - clogging up the left lane. I feel like driving in Oceanside is nothing, but a lot of annoyance. That being said, I think it's a nice neighborhood and it does seem like it's improving with the Wild By Nature and new Walgreens.
It isn't a bad area at all. I personally don't love it because of the traffic situation and it has a bit of a Queens feel to it. You won't go wrong living there though.
There's drugs in every town in America, and I would dare say the more "money" there is in a town, the more drugs, it will just be hidden better. A friend of mine from high school became a drug dealer later in life (didn't end well for him), and his clients were from places like Hewlett and Syosset. These kids had money, nice cars and were still bored to tears. Oceanside doesn't have more than anyone else sorry.
Traffic is also a nationwide issue. It is a natural outgrowth of our dependence on cars. Cities and especially suburbs across the county were designed around the automobile. The problem is, every person having their own automobile is not a sustainable way of life for a mature population. Spend some time anywhere near the Hamptons during rush hour (one main road in the entire town) and you wish you were back in Oceanside where you will get home in 15 minutes as opposed to 1 hour to go from one side of town to the other.
I've lived in 3 towns on the south Shore and Oceanside has been the safest place I've lived. My neighbors watch out for each other and have the keys to my house. Some even leave their cars and doors unlocked although that is probably not the case anymore due to the break-ins that have become an issue across Long Island.
We really like it here and my friends who have grown children are all attending good colleges (many math & science majors), but I attribute some of that to their involvement with their kids - they are all good people.
I will say this about both Long Beach and Oceanside. They are very poorly designed for foot traveland public transportation (but so are 80% of the towns in the country.) A lot of the housing stock in Oceanside is on heavily trafficed roads and I would be careful about that. But if you can buy in one of the quieter neighborhoods its a great place if you love the beach, the quick commute to the city. It is also very easy for us to jump onto the Meadowbrook from where we live and go to Roosevelt Field, Museum Row or to Riverhead/Hampton/Montauk. There's also a lot of really great parks nearby in Long Beach, Lido, Island Park, and Baldwin. I play paddleball AND have a toddler, so I'm in these parks 2-3 times a week!
What are you talking about? Long Beach is a walking city and the buses there run every 15 minutes and there are seperate buses for east & west end. It is very efficient!
Yes I am somewhat near the border with Baldwin, so taking Sunrise Highway to the Meadowbrook is only about 5 minutes for me. Also, when I was working in the city I preferred to use the Baldwin LIRR station. The total commute is 40min on the nose - the only issue is parking because the non-residential parking gets filled fast.
Keep in mind Oceanside is very large and parts of it border Rockville Centre, (which I consider to be fairly centrally located). So I would look in those parts of Oceanside if that was a concern.
Keep in mind, I came from Long Beach, so getting to anything other than the Meadowbrook was a 20 minute affair. We feel like we have better access than we did in LB, but are still able to live in nice secluded neighborhood.
Essentially. LB is a pain in the arse to get in and out of...and takes twice the amount of time. 25 mins to the southern state? Awful.
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