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I'm looking at Farmingdale, Floral Park, Massapequa, and Glen Cove to buy a single family house. Please tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about these parts of LI. I'm looking for good schools, space and decent commute to NYC. I don't want to spend more than 600K. THANKS
Of these, it has to be Massapeqau..location, neighborhood, schools, etc. are all better than the rest I would say. Just be careful what SD the house you look at is in. If it's too cheap, you may be going to Amityville. Be careful. On mlsli.com, search on the SD, too, and not only the town.
It has a real village, with a real downtown. You can park your car and walk around and shop. There's a nice selection of cafes and restaurants (not chains, either) where it's conceivable you could go to on a regular basis, be known, and blithely order 'the usual' and not get a blank stare. Sometimes, the local high school band has little performances in the park on the main village drag...they're not bad.
I do not know how it is now, but I walked back and forth to the train station at all hours, and never felt remotely threatened.
It has, in short, a bit of small town feel that's getting rarer these days.
I'm looking at Farmingdale, Floral Park, Massapequa, and Glen Cove to buy a single family house. Please tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about these parts of LI. I'm looking for good schools, space and decent commute to NYC. I don't want to spend more than 600K. THANKS
Farmingdale - Nice areas but I hear mixed things as well. I have a co-worker that lives in Farmingdale and loves it there. He says the schools have a nice mix of students but also has heard items of gangs etc. Either way he loves it and would not move..
Floral Park - from what I know pretty expensive and maybe over the 600 range for a larger house.
Massapequa - I used to live there and loved it. Massapequa homes fall into a number of school districts. Amityville (sd6), Massapequa (sd23), Farmingdale SD and I think some parts may even fall into Plainedge. I loved it there. Great schools and great parks all over. You are close to everything but the properties are much smaller and if you want to put a nice size pool in, it would not meet the zoning restrictions. You can get a nice starter home in SD23 for 450K.
Let me give you my two cents on what I know of the areas you mentioned. It is actually an interesting area that can be misleading.
I grew up in Floral Park and thought it was a great town to grow up in. I would live there if I had a chance to get a house I liked that I could afford. Its very family oriented with lots of kids if you have a family and are considering that as a deal breaker. Both my parents worked in the town. My father was NYPD and transferred to Floral Park PD where he retired from a few years ago and my mother worked in the court offices. I went to parochial school, but my fiancee graduated from Floral Park memorial hs. The school probably has changed a bit since she graduated (1996)--my opinion not for the better but it could be a lot worse. Friends and relatives still live in the town. It has a little main street type downtown and is very walkable all around with an easy commute to NYC by LIRR or even if you had to take a quick walk to grab a bus. It is right on the NYC border so there are a few buses to catch. Be careful what houses you look at. There are houses on the southeastern end of town that are actually Elmont with an Elmont school district but are called "Floral Park Crest" or just referred to as Floral park in the MLS listings. These are mostly nice blocks in a nicer part of Elmont but a few blocks off the Floral Park jurisdiction, hence the FP reference. This is important to know if school district or police/emergency response is important to you. There is a big difference in response time for Floral Park Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Rescue) compared to Nassau County EMS. It will be reflected in the price--you pay for what you get and the local police, fire rescue is a good asset to have. Another thing to note is on the northeastern end of town, heading towards New Hyde Park, there are houses for sale that are in a hamlet known as "Floral Park Centre". They will also be marketed as Floral Park but are not part of the incorporated village of Floral Park. To the north, years ago Floral Park actually once was part of Queens county, so some of the houses listed as Floral Park may actually be part of the borough of Queens in NYC. These houses traditionally have lower taxes and therefore are much more expensive. The area actually blends with the town of Glen Oaks, also a part of NYC, but I have never been able to distinguish exactly where the border lines are. I rented in this area, and I referred to it as "Floral Park Queens" as did neighbors who had lived there for a long time, yet some of my mail came with a Floral Park address and some came with a Glen Oaks address. The zip code was 11004, which is Glen Oaks so I don't know why--I guess its just reference. Floral Park's zip is 11001. For people moving to the area, the demographic of the area is increasingly people from India and that part fo the world but it is still pretty diverse. The indian presence is reflected in the store fronts along Hillside Ave but from what I see, they are hard working family oriented people just like everyone else. PM me if you have any specific questions or roads or details of the area and want to know. It could be quite misleading.
The town has not changed much since I left...at least for what I would look at. My brother is in contract to buy a house in Floral Park and his fiancee's family still lives there.
As for the other towns you mentioned, I have friends who live in both Farmingdale and Massapequa but those towns are quite spread out, and I am not an expert on the areas too well. From what I know, there are some areas that are hit or miss. My college roommate's family home was in a nice area of Farmingdale, I beleive referred to as Lennox Hills. It was within walking distance to LIRR. His girlfriend's mother lived in Massapequa off Broadway I beleive. They both, however, rent in an area of Massapequa that borders Amityville. I do not like the area at all. It is dumpy IMO. When I think Massapequa, this area does not come to my mind but each person's interperetation is different. A friend of my fiancees lives in an area of Massapequa off of Merritt's Rd I beleive that is called Viceroy Estates...something like that....nice area.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me or post any other questions you may have.
For those who may not be familiar with Farmingdale
For those who may not be familiar with Farmingdale:
Farmingdale is a village (incorporated in 1904) in the southeast part of the Town of Oyster Bay, in the east part of Nassau County (along the Oyster Bay/Babylon town line and the Nassau/Suffolk County line).
Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Farmingdale in the Town of Oyster Bay is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Old Bethpage; on the east by the Hamlet of East Farmingdale, Town of Babylon, Suffolk County (the Oyster Bay/Babylon Town line and the Nassau/Suffolk County line); on the south by the Hamlet of South Farmingdale; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Plainedge and the Hamlet of Bethpage.
Farmingdale is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where the majority of the places with the community name as part of their mailing address are not in the village: places that have a "Farmingdale, NY 11735" mailing address that are not in the Village of Farmingdale are in the Hamlet of South Farmingdale and in the Hamlet of Plainedge in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County and in the Hamlet of East Farmingdale and the Hamlet of Wyandanch in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County. In fact, the majority of places with a "Farmingdale, NY 11735" mailing address are in Suffolk County.
For those who may not be familiar with Floral Park
For those who may not be familiar with Floral Park:
Originally called Hinsdale, Floral Park is a village (incorporated in 1908) partly in the southwest part of the Town of North Hempstead and partly in the northwest part of the Town of Hempstead, in the west part of Nassau County, along the Nassau/NYC border.
Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Floral Park in the Towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead is bordered on the north by New York City (Queens County) and the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park in the Town of North Hempstead; on the east by the Village of New Hyde Park in the Towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead and the Village of Stewart Manor in the Town of Hempstead; on the south by the Hamlet of Elmont and the Village of South Floral Park in the Town of Hempstead; and, on the west by the Village of Bellerose in the Town of Hempstead.
Floral Park is one of those villages and hamlets on Long Island where many of the places with the community's name as part of their mailing address are not in the village: places that have a "Floral Park, NY 11002" mailing address that are not in the Village of Floral Park are in the Village of South Floral Park, the Village of Bellerose, the Hamlet of Bellerose Terrace or the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park.
Wow good post, Samrai, lots of info in there! I've actually never heard of the Floral Park Crest/Floral Park Centre neighborhoods, but I am a little bit familiar with the Queens side....which I know of as everything east of Little Neck Parkway and south of Union Turnpike. I'm a fan of the whole area too, the Nassau County side is definitely unique - it's kind of congested and the houses are on top of each other but I find it's got a very "small town" feel to it. I know Floral Park is named as such because it was the former home of a mail order seed warehouse, and the older developments off Tulip Avenue still have some gorgeous landscaping and a nice tree canopy through the streets...not sure if it's a coincidence or not!
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Farmingdale
