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.
I'm planning to purchase a house in nassau county. We have seen a couple of houses in S. Floral Park and Franklin Square. Which is better option when it comes to LIRR, Schools and overall neighborhood?
We are not very familiar with Nassau county that much. The real estate agent showed us a bunch of houses in Elmont, Franklin Square, and S. Floral Park. We basically like two houses out of all the ones we've seen so far. We haven't made any offer yet. I'm trying to gather more information about the neighborhoods before i make a decision.
For those who may not be familiar with South Floral Park
Quote:
Originally Posted by nybittman
We have seen a couple of houses in S. Floral Park and Franklin Square. ... Any information will be appreciated.
The Village of South Floral Park in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County is the smallest village in either Nassau or Suffolk counties in terms of acreage because it is also the smallest in New York State.
The Village of South Floral Park encompasses (this may be too powerful a verb to be using here) an area of only 64 acres!
According to my quick calculation, 64 acres = 0.1 square miles (yep, that's a 1/10th of a square mile). In other words, if the Village of South Floral Park was a perfect square, then each of its sides would be slightly less than 1/3rd of a mile (actually each side would be 0.316 miles and the perimeter of the village would be 1.265 miles).
(The Village of Dering Harbor in the Town of Shelter Island and the Village of Saltaire in the Town of Islip, both in Suffolk County, are the 1st and 2nd smallest in New York State in terms of population.)
For those who may not be familiar with South Floral Park:
South Floral Park is a village (incorporated in 1925 as the Village of Jamaica Square, but the name was changed to South Floral Park in 1931) in the northwest part of the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County.
Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of South Floral Park in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the west, north and east by the Village of Floral Park; and, on the south by the Hamlet of Elmont.
South Floral Park is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the village name in their mailing address: places in the Village of South Floral Park have a "Floral Park, NY 11001" mailing address.
We are not very familiar with Nassau county that much. The real estate agent showed us a bunch of houses in Elmont, Franklin Square, and S. Floral Park. We basically like two houses out of all the ones we've seen so far. We haven't made any offer yet. I'm trying to gather more information about the neighborhoods before i make a decision.
Thanks for your reply
Regarding the two houses you like, you need to tell us (a) which town each house is in and (b) which school district each house is in. Then we can give you some real information.
PS: I will give you a hint right now; do not buy anything in the Elmont School District. It has been recently named by Newsday as one of the 11 Long Island school districts that is rated as subpar. People will come on here and argue with me, but it's YOUR money. Elmont should shape itself up and only then would I encourage anyone to buy there. Remember, in Long Island, you do not get a "discount" for being in a bad school district. The taxes are just as high as in a good school district, so choose wisely where you live.
For those who may not be familiar with Franklin Square
For those who may not be familiar with Franklin Square:
Franklin Square is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the northwest section of the Town of Hempstead, in the west part of Nassau County.
Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Franklin Square in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Stewart Manor, the Village of Garden City and the Hamlet of South Garden City; on the east by the Hamlet of South Garden City and the Hamlet of West Hempstead; on the south by the Village of Malverne and the Hamlet of North Valley Stream; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Elmont.
The Hamlet of Franklin Square has a different border than does the "Franklin Square, NY 11010" ZIP Code postal zone (i.e., a place can have a "Franklin Square, NY 11010" mailing address and not be in Franklin Square and a place can be in the Hamlet of Franklin Square and have other than a "Franklin Square, NY 11010" mailing address): places with a "Franklin Square, NY 11010" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Franklin Square are in the Village of Stewart; and, at the same time, there are places in the Hamlet of Franklin Square that have a "Garden City, NY 11530" and "Elmont, NY 11003" mailing address.
Regarding the two houses you like, you need to tell us (a) which town each house is in and (b) which school district each house is in. Then we can give you some real information.
PS: I will give you a hint right now; do not buy anything in the Elmont School District. It has been recently named by Newsday as one of the 11 Long Island school districts that is rated as subpar. People will come on here and argue with me, but it's YOUR money. Elmont should shape itself up and only then would I encourage anyone to buy there. Remember, in Long Island, you do not get a "discount" for being in a bad school district. The taxes are just as high as in a good school district, so choose wisely where you live.
for the S. Floal park house:
SEC/AREA: Vill Of S.Fl.Pk
School District: Elmont
Stewart Manor Ele+Sewanhaka Hs
SEC/AREA: Vill Of S.Fl.Pk
School District: Elmont
Stewart Manor Ele+Sewanhaka Hs
for the Franklin Square house:
School District: 17 Franklin Square
Franklin Square house wins. Also, you should make any realtor who shows you houses aware that you are not interested in any home in any town that is located within the Elmont school district. They are counting on you being uninformed and making a quick buck that way.
I am being really serious here. For the taxes charged on Long Island to support school districts, NONE should be considered substandard. Those that are should be shunned until they improve themselves. It is a complete disgrace to charge the taxes they do and give such terrible performance.
Here are other school districts to avoid:
11 LI school districts tagged as substandard -- Schools, Long Island -- Newsday.com
Nassau County
Elmont
Freeport
Hempstead
Roosevelt
Suffolk County
Amityville*
Brentwood
Central Islip
Copiague
Little Flower**
Longwood
South Country
* Partly in Nassau County.
** Little Flower School District is run by a nonprofit charity and serves about 110 students with disabilities.
South Floral Park schools leave much to be desired and overall doesn't have as good of resale as FS would. I would say if you can get a house in the FS district, that is a MUCH better bet. I would do that if I were you, no doubt about it!
Are you interested in demographics at all? Just offering you the info, not meaning it in anyway other than to educate you so you can make the best choice for yourself.
Directly from Citidata
Races in South Floral Park:
Black (59.1%)
White Non-Hispanic (16.3%)
Hispanic (13.6%)
Two or more races (8.6%)
Other race (6.1%)
Asian Indian (3.4%)
American Indian (1.1%)
Races in Franklin Square:
White Non-Hispanic (87.1%)
Hispanic (6.9%)
Other race (1.7%)
Two or more races (1.4%)
Asian Indian (1.3%)
Chinese (1.0%)
Black (1.0%)
Filipino (0.7%)
Another note. SFP isn't the greatest in regards to safety overall, there are some issues with crime that is higher than in neighboring areas. FS is a much safer/desirable area and that is also why FS would be a better resale for you if you should have to sell.
Hope this helps you.
Last edited by Glad2BHere; 05-20-2008 at 09:45 PM..
11 LI school districts tagged as substandard -- Schools, Long Island -- Newsday.com
Franklin Square is a much better choice in every regard, but this list is totally ridiculous. If it wasn't, Roosevelt would have been on it EVERY time it's been compiled instead of just once, for the first time, this year. In the full article, the methodology given is completely vague so what value is having a list of names with "substandard" written on it if we don't even know what that's supposed to mean? Why keep posting this when there's much more cohesive data available for school districts across the island on the internet?
....
To the OP -- Elmont and Franklin Square are identical on paper (academically), but the Elmont District is not a place most people want to live within the boundaries of for whatever reason (with the notable exception of Stewart Manor, which has the added cachet of having a Garden City zip code). As such, the property values do not increase there at the rate they do in Franklin Square, however they are also identical economically. In my opinion, the disparity in property values is most likely due to one being 92% white and the other being 22% white.
If you want to look at some in depth information regarding the school districts, check out the links below. Franklin Square and Elmont are only elementary districts, after that both areas feed into the Sewanhaka Central HS District. Elmont High School and Frank Carey High School would be the two being looked at here.
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.
For those who may not be familiar with South Floral Park
Franklin Square Hands Down!
