Nassau County

[nbres]

Nassau isn't that white. True, most of the money areas are white, but Nassau has alot of ghettos, Freeport, Hempstead, parts of Westbury look more like Mexico than the USAJohninwestbury
Member

True. I'm not going to pass judgement, but just state some demographic facts about Nassau.

According to the Census Bureau's latest 2006 estimates Nassau is only 69.4% non-Hispanic White. I would say that now in 2008 Nassau is already under 69% non-Hispanic White and that when we get the 2010 census numbers in Nassau will be revealed to be less than 68% non-Hispanic White.

Many formerly all White neighborhoods are becoming increasingly non-White. If you look at the school district numbers the only areas that are still 90%+ White are Massapequa, Wantagh, Bellmore, Merrick (according to the numbers North Merrick and possibly North Bellmore are starting to slip away), Plainedge (North Massapequa), Bethpage, North Shore (Sea Cliff), and Garden City. That is it.

Even such places as Levittown are changing. There is a growing Latino in Levittown. Mostly Puerto Ricans with city civil service jobs. The Latino population has and is growing also in East Meadow, Hicksville, Glen Cove, Port Washington and Oyster Bay. Plainview, Syosset, Herricks, Jericho all attract affluent Asians and Middle Easterners. Their less affluent cousins are going to Hicksville, New Hyde Park, Floral Park and some are going to Levittown. African-Americans seem to be heading to Valley Stream, Baldwin, Westbury and Elmont.

I'd bet that Nassau's under 18 years of age population is already half or majority non-White. This implies that future political power is likely to be held by Democrats in Nassau and it may also mean that there could be a serious effort to bring about school consolidation in the county.

[libloze]

if you consider yourself middle class then you cannot afford to live in nassau, unless you live in the hempstead or freeport ghettos. for half a million dollars you will get a small three bedroom with less than half an acre of property. you will find nothing to do here but shop and go out to eat. property taxes are criminal. you'll not pay less than 8k. i think that is the county's way of keeping it segregated.

when we had our house on the market, an african american couple came to our open house and our neighbors were up in arms. this one lady was furious, telling my wife that this "will only encourage more to move in and lower our property value". so if you aren't white, you're not welcome in the nice areas. keep that in mind.

most of the people who like nassau are either rich or live with their parents (c'mon, let's be honest now people) in either case, those that love nassau have never lived anywhere else. they likely went to high school here, graduated, went to hoffstra, post, or adelphi, got a job here and moved back in with their parents or bought a home (with their help) a few blocks away. many of these folks are unaware of the rest of ny let alone the united states. it's as if long guyland is it's own continent.

i recently moved away (i got lucky and found a sucker to buy my 3 bedroom ranch for 475k!). i put down a huge down payment using this sucker's money and found myself saving money like i was never able to before. 1 have a 4 bedroom house on 1.5 acres for 250k and less than 2 grand for taxes. i took a 5k pay cut, but that's made up for with the decrease in tax. life couldn't be better.

i ESCAPED, but not without taking a huge financial hit. but hey, there's no teacher like experience and now i enjoy sunshine, mountain views and nice friendly people. my nassau years seem like nothing more than a materialistic bad dream.

look, to each his own. if you like this place, more power to ya. but don't kid yourself. if you feel that finances may be an issue, you will be cleaned out within 3 years, and like another poster mentioned - trapped. we have a child also and do not want him going to school with children that have this insane sense of entitlement and provincial ignorance, the likes of which are inconceivable, until you meet their parents. the long island housewife makes for an interesting character study and will likely make a fine reality tv show. they will complain bitterly about the laziness of minorities as they get there nails done while nannies watch their kids. i wanna be one so badly.

but good luck. if you make in nassau you can make it anywhere. but if you came here for advice on where to move, i'd rule out nassau altogether and maybe look at suffolk. i think people actually cut their own grass there.

[sean sean sean sean]

libloze - Check MLSLI.com, prices have come down a lot. You can get a nice (albeit small) home in a great area for under $350k throughout most of Nassau nowadays. Yes, the taxes are high but they are everywhere in New York, including Suffolk. There aren't any mountains but it does have plenty to offer....proximity to NYC, beaches, great schools, etc. The vast majority of Nassau County is still middle class, not everyone lives in a Gold Coast estate or bought their home during the boom....and I don't think you catch the snob attitude you mentioned in the more traditional middle class neighborhoods, I haven't at least. I have been around (NY and elsewhere) and I've encountered stuck up jerks everywhere....even upstate! It's not for everyone, obviously, but 1.4 million people are either satisfied or too lazy to get up and leave.

I do agree with you that people can be embarrassingly racist, but there's more brown folks moving out from the city every day so hopefully we see that change in our lifetimes. Me personally? I can't afford to own a home here, so I live with my parents in their Levitt ranch that they pay ~$7k in taxes on....I can afford to rent though, like the original poster in this thread was asking about!! Renting is no more expensive than anywhere else in the NYC metro area.

[LI/Queens]

I grew up in Lynbrook and will be looking to move back to western Nassau (probably S. Shore - more affordable). After living in Northern Queens(Middle Village) for nearly five years I have come to appreciate the diversity Queens has to offer. I enjoy the vegetable /fruit stands, real bakeries and the pizza. For the most part people seem a little more real. I also enjoy not having to pay the LIRR to get into Manhattan If you do not have kids, a place like Middle Village is great - why bother with the school taxes.

The downside is if you have kids and live in the city, you more than likely will send them to private school which costs a lot of $$$$$$$$. If you are sending two kids to private school you might as well live on LI. Also if you have a special needs child, the public school services on LI are better. I'm not the type of person who needs a new car every four years, needs to go away on vacation every year or get the latest and greatest in granite countertops. I might have a good chance of survining on LI

[taraclass]

Just from my experience, I want to move back to Queens rather than live here in Nassau County. As a home owner the expense is astronomical and after 20 years of living here and paying my bills I am told that I need permits for fences and awnings that I bought the house with 20 years ago. I also had to go to court and pay fines for being accused of renting illegally when I have a legal 2 family with a rental permit etc. treated like a criminal. Have a tenant who is turning out to be from hell and will probably lose the house by the time I am through dealing with that and the TONH with their unfair treatment. The blogs here may be a bit bitter at some points, but there is truth to them, for sure.

Although I have been a good landlord, asking only that the rent agreed upon is paid on time, and keep up with ensuring a nice quality for the tenant, there are others that don't. And no matter which side of the fence you are on, it is all political at the end in this county. So, choose wisely.