Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's true that in 90% of cases, once towns on LI start to decline then they only get worse and worse....and worse.
But there are some exceptions like Bay Shore and Port Jefferson which have actually gotten better. This is b/c they have some major redeeming qualities like a big downtown, LIRR stop and waterfront real estate.
You forgot Patchogue.
It does seem like towns by the water have an easier time turning around, even after Hurricane Sandy they are still desirable. There are towns like Freeport that have those three qualities yet are still in decline. It is surprising especially since Freeport has good LIRR service and its own Municipal Electric.
Of course the part of Freeport by the water, the Miracle Mile, has success, but it doesn't seem to carry over to the rest of the town.
And as I wrote about earlier, I still feel the Village of Westbury hasn't turned around completely. While we lack the waterfront property, there is LIRR and a large downtown. The other asset is being close to one of the most major commercial/shopping areas on Long Island around Roosevelt Field,etc.
That asset has certainly helped Mineola grow (the Hospital has helped too), and its downtown while not as large as Westbury's has more shops and eateries (other than bodegas) to offer.
Westbury has go to to take the bull by the horns and turn the town around, and I already explained how the job is unfinished and the undesirable elements need to be removed, by strict code enforcement. The LIRR factor can easily be made better by adding more stops to trains in Westbury, something I have been asking for from all my elected officials and the LIRR.
While Westbury will never be upscale, I would be satisfied enough to see us become like Farmingdale or Mineola and the potential is surely there if people stand up against the bleeding hearts.
Behave,
They ALL come back! In some shape or form. Either by visiting or posting how sunny it is in their new state, while we have a foot of snow. As they try to convince themselves that they made the right move.
You're thinking of people who leave LI and try to recreate exactly what they had on LI in their new locale- and are thus never quite satisfied, because they never assimilate- but they remain Lawn Guylanders for life.
I haven't set foot in NY state since leaving, and by God's grace, i never will again.
It's true that in 90% of cases, once towns on LI start to decline then they only get worse and worse....and worse.
But there are some exceptions like Bay Shore and Port Jefferson which have actually gotten better. This is b/c they have some major redeeming qualities like a big downtown, LIRR stop and waterfront real estate.
Yeah, even some of the slum areas in da Bronx and Brooklyn regentrified...but a lot of times, those are also the first areas to regress to their former incarnations as soon as times get a little bad. Current Patchogue will be in that category. The new shoddily-built apartment buildings will go Section 8...the trendy new businesses will close....all that will be left will be the fancy lamposts and nice new sidewalks and insane taxes, with boarded-up buildings and crime. Some towns go through such cycles on a regular basis, because their gentrifications were not the result of free-market economics; but rather, the result of political schemes that pumped millions of dollars of taxpayer money into the pork projects of some politicians who think that they can just make it so by decree and by throwing your money at it.
So, you're saying that the areas that were going downhill 14 years ago, have gotten BETTER instead of worse? LOLLLLL!!!!!!!
Things don't get better on LI- they just get worse.
Like Islip Terrace. It was the grab-bag for nocturnal Central Islip residents in the mid-90's, with middle-class residents moving out, and more illegal immigrants and slum-dwellers moving in. And you would have me think that it has somehow gotten BETTER lately?
Soupy Sales is alive!
Just saw this about Islip Terrace and had to respond.
Islip Terrace is fine, especially the part east of the Southern State. It is part of the good East Islip school district, along with East Islip and Great River. Most people are middle class, the poverty rate is 2.5%. So Islip Terrace it is not overrun with "illegal aliens and slum-dwellers".
Part of the confusion is that part of North Great River (Central Islip SD) sometimes tries to attach itself to Islip Terrace.
Just saw this about Islip Terrace and had to respond.
Islip Terrace is fine, especially the part east of the Southern State. It is part of the good East Islip school district, along with East Islip and Great River. Most people are middle class, the poverty rate is 2.5%. So Islip Terrace it is not overrun with "illegal aliens and slum-dwellers".
Part of the confusion is that part of North Great River (Central Islip SD) sometimes tries to attach itself to Islip Terrace.
Yes, that one little section was still pretty decent (at least, back when I was still on the Island)- but the thing is, in places like that, you are so close to the slum sections, that you still get a lot of the crime, and passers-through....and you know it's just a matter of time till the whole other element comes to your little section.
I mean, I can't understand how someone would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house, and tens of thousands of dollars a year in property taxes, to live in a place, where if they walk more than 5 blocks, they are in the slums; and to send their kids to school with gang-bangers. Sick.
I knew someone who lived in the fancy newer (at the time...) part of Coram. Big expensive house; beautiful property. Every night, crack-heads from Gordon Heights are going through his and his neighbors back yards......
You're thinking of people who leave LI and try to recreate exactly what they had on LI in their new locale- and are thus never quite satisfied, because they never assimilate- but they remain Lawn Guylanders for life.
I haven't set foot in NY state since leaving, and by God's grace, i never will again.
Your first paragraph, you couldn't have said it better!
The second, well, as I said....they ALL come back in some way. Either by forums or visiting.
Of the places being considered, Holbrook is the best. No contest. I've lived in Holbrook and Ronkonkoma. Ronk. used to be great- but it seems to be on the skids lately- but then again, all of LI seems to be on the skids lately- and if the skids haven't come to your town yet...it's just a matter of time till they do.
Bohemia's decent too- but I've always thought that Bohemia lacked any real character- it's like: It's just some space between Sunrise and Vets that was available, so they plopped some houses down it. Spots of Holtsville are still decent- but it seems that North Patchogue and Medford are "getting closer and closer", and eating up the good ol' Holtsville.
Rocky Point and Miller Place have been sketchy for a long time. They could go either way...but on LI, you know there is only one way that any place ever goes...and that is: Down!
Please just stop talking, someone that left almost 2 decades ago really has no clue what he is talking about. Stick to worrying about your one traffic light town out on Mars.
Please just stop talking, someone that left almost 2 decades ago really has no clue what he is talking about. Stick to worrying about your one traffic light town out on Mars.
Oh, you are SO right! Long Island has only gotten better in the nearly decade-and-a-half since I escaped it. Those neighborhoods that used to be bad? Now they are all wonderful places! And the neighborhoods that were good, are now even better. All the crack-heads left and weren't replaced by meth-heads and heroine addicts! And I hear that the taxes went down and the LIRR has even been on-time a few times; and the trains can now keep running even when there is rain or leaves on the tracks- like they did in the 1870's! It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
Oh, and I hear that the traffic congestion has been cleared-up too!
Now, let us all celebrate this acceptance of [uh-hemmmmmm]reality, by the adding of chocolate to milk, and the singing of your theme song:
Oh, you are SO right! Long Island has only gotten better in the nearly decade-and-a-half since I escaped it. Those neighborhoods that used to be bad? Now they are all wonderful places! And the neighborhoods that were good, are now even better. All the crack-heads left and weren't replaced by meth-heads and heroine addicts! And I hear that the taxes went down and the LIRR has even been on-time a few times; and the trains can now keep running even when there is rain or leaves on the tracks- like they did in the 1870's! It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
Oh, and I hear that the traffic congestion has been cleared-up too!
Now, let us all celebrate this acceptance of [uh-hemmmmmm]reality, by the adding of chocolate to milk, and the singing of your theme song:
I can tell you one place LI certainly has improved: You left.
Now don't you have hogs to feed or a field to plow or something? Or is surfing the web spewing nonsense you know nothing about on the Long Island forum all there is to do in nowhere USA?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
