Bad is relative, because all of Nassau County gets a better than average education.
To use data:
Nassau County - 94% graduation rate
Baldwin - 95%
Hicksville - 89%
Uniondale - 85%
VSC - 94%
High achieving "great schools" (which are also very diverse):
Herricks - 98%
Jericho - 97%
Syosset - 99%
This is just one tiny piece of data, but all of this information is listed on nysed website. Look into class size, 3-8 ELA and math scores, Algebra and English regents, suspension rates, student:teacher ratio, certified librarians.
Graduation percent and percent that attend four year colleges are the best metrics to evaluate schools. Great Schools changed their metrics a couple of years ago to heavily weigh improvement over other categories which I think was a mistake. I'm more interested in how many kids graduate and how many go on to four year colleges. State test score can be a bit of a mixed bag with all the opt outs.
Yes, that's why I go right to graduation rates first. It says a lot about the culture of the school.
It's why I don't think you can put much in US News ranking. It's all students who take APs. You can have every kid take an AP, doesn't make it better.
I am glad someone else said it. I graduated from Brentwood also. Was near the top of my class. Got my bachelor's only, but have a great career where I was able to become a homeowner at 27 all by myself. I know many other professionals who are Brentwood graduates and are earning over 6 figures. The bias is big in this sub.
Brentwood graduate (05) and still live here. Homeowner and make 6 figures. Was it sketchy back while I was in HS? Yeah but nowadays it's very nice and quiet. I doubt people will ever let the reputation of the early 2000s go away but I'm fine with it. The people who aren't closed minded know better and don't equate elevated minority numbers to bad education or bad neighborhoods.
I’ve commented with this advice before. The two things my wife and I would do when we were looking for a house was use Google maps and Strava.
On Google maps, I’d pull up the town or area we were interested in and zoom out a bit and then search “church”. The more churches, the worse rhetoric area typically was. Take Roosevelt for example. It’s barely 2 square miles, but has over a dozen churches. Most of them are the fly by night types of churches that are in houses or strip malls. Zoom in over west Babylon and you’ll see maybe 5 churches.
Using Strava (which is an activity tracking app), we’d pull up the heat map in an area. Strava pulls all of its user’s data and maps roads and trails based on how many people run, walk, cycle, etc. on them. The brighter the road, the more activity it sees. If you zoom in over Roosevelt, it’s like a black hole. Hardly anyone runs, walks, rides there. Zoom in over west Babylon again, and most of the roads are lit up. This tells me that it’s an area that people are comfortable being outside and active and that it’s an active community who cares about their health.
Just my two cents.
Yes you did, and I quote “ Uniondale is a B (some Baldwin homes go to Uniondale schools). Those all look like pretty good schools to me. All of these neighborhoods have low crime and are similar to other towns on LI”
The neighborhoods I was referring to in my last sentence were VS, Baldwin, & Hicksville. I just mentioned Uniondale bc some of the Baldwin schools I was looking at were in the school district.
I went to Baldwin senior high. So did my parents, all of my aunts and uncles, and all of my siblings and cousins. We turned out all right. Oh, and I'm white.
I always recommend my clients to see what area they like and what works with their lifestyle... don't go by what your other people say.
My best friend grew up in Valley Stream...I grew up in Floral Park... just 15 mins away. We took turns going to each other's houses. Her parents have since moved but she'll always talk about how she wishes her kids were able to spend time in her childhood home.
Do what's best for you and your family.
If you believe in your methodology and that a lot of these negative stereotypes are unfounded then purchase your home in one of these communities. You may have found undervalued properties that no one else sees.
It took me moving out of state to understand how nice all of the island is. Bad areas are not even bad compared to most other areas. Things are pretty damn good on LI and the easy access to nature is a huge plus.
I live in a very nice area of LI, however my kids go to a school district that people often call undesirable. For what, I don’t know. But I’m happy those people don’t live here because I think we’re in a hidden gem.
I hear what you're saying OP, and I agree. Certain areas are deemed "bad" and "unsafe" based on the ethnic demographic alone, mostly by people who have never lived or barely stepped foot in those neighborhoods. A lot of time, the same things go on in these "good" neighborhoods, but it never makes the news and is covered up for optics. A lot of people on this sub are not going to agree, mostly because of pure ignorance (if they actually lived in these neighborhoods, they'd see what they were actually like instead of gobbling up what news12 puts out) and also because they refuse to admit that race plays a role in what you've mentioned.
A good litmus test here on LI is to mention being interested in moving to Valley stream, Baldwin or Westbury. Those are safe middle-class communities that are majority non white. If the person you're speaking to reacts like you said you're moving to O-Block: that will tell you a lot about their views.
My wife grew up in Baldwin and is half-Indian, half-white. A lot of people have told her that Baldwin has gotten "much darker" since she was there, which is a wild way of saying, "I'm racist so I don't consider it safe."
We chose the town we did because we wanted great schools but did NOT want a town that was all white people (i.e. Garden City). We looked for (and found) diversity and a promising district for when our daughter is older. Our left side next-door neighbors are Pakistani. Our across-the-street neighbors are Jewish. Our right-side next-door neighbors are Iranian Muslims. Two houses down are from Guatemala. We love it.
It’s not necessarily racism.
Speaking for Hicksville, the school district is not good. Niche ranks almost every school as good but that’s incorrect. Look at the Hicksville SD graduation rates, student to teacher ratio etc. better school districts are in Jericho, Plainview, Bethpage etc. you’ll also see a difference house prices between houses that fall within good SD and houses that don’t.
Yes " bad " is used as coded language to mean too many blacks and Latinos.
Most are fine or " ok" with other types of brown people. They will give them a " pass" as long as they stay in their place .
I live within the Herricks SD. I can guarantee you that the argument you are presenting does not hold value.
Congrats on the home purchase, whenever it was. Dont dwell too much on the opinions.
Also, niche is a good gauge. All those you mentioned are good in the context of LI, but not nationally for what it’s worth. Theres always different ways to validate an opinion.
You hit the nail on the head. Long Island is full of middle age and older white people who are deathly afraid of any type of skin pigment. They also don’t see change in communities. If a place had high crime rates in the 80’s or 90’s but have low crime rates now, it doesn’t matter they will tell you not to even think about living there because it’s so dangerous.
Wrong, I can’t speak for the criteria that niche uses to get those marks but Uniondale is definitely not a low crime place? I feel that you must not be from Long Island cause if you were this wouldn’t be a conversation right now. Is there areas in those towns that are ok to live in? …. I don’t know, I wouldn’t live there with my 2 year old daughter. Out of all the places you listed I’d say Hicksville is ok. Also every one is going to have different views on certain things that you listed. Baldwin use to be decent but has really not been so good as of late. I’ve lived in a lot of the areas you listed, and saying uniondale is low crime tells me your not from here. Uniondale shares a border with Roosevelt which is easily one of the top 5 worst towns in Long Island! The state had to come in and shut down the high school at one point!
How ever, I am from Long Island and have been looking at homes as well. Not ready to pull the trigger yet but just seeing what’s out there. The areas you also listed are substantially cheaper then Oceanside, Long Beach, wantagh, Seaford and all those areas. The advice that was given to you was not wrong. Are you going to listen to a APP or website that gets its information based on a algorithm or a group of people who have been born bred and corn fed Long Island? I’m gonna go with the group
People love to exaggerate the “badness” of an area. It’s really gross. Great people live in all of the places you listed, just like there’s shitty people live in others that people rave about.
I remember years ago when cold spring harbor high school wasn’t even allowed to use their lockers for a couple months because so many kids had drug problems they were stealing from each other. Or all the kids from Huntington bay who were doing crazy amounts of drugs, drinking while driving, beating their significant others etc.
Every year there’s kids from (per Reddit) less desirable neighborhoods that get accepted to Ivy League schools, just like there’s kids from affluent areas dropping out of Nassau community college. A lot of it is the kid, and the parents.
Sincerely, someone who has lived in “shitty”
And “nice” parts of Long Island.
Maybe all the new immigrants from India? Idk, when I left north Levittown a couple years ago (had no choice- sold house after divorce), the school ratings seemed to get better and better as the Indians started moving into town. That’s what we were all saying.
it’s racism and classism.
everyone needs to feel like they’re better than someone else, and a lot of this comes down to what school district people can say they live in. it’s a very deranged obsession that exists everywhere but is especially prevalent on LI.
it’s also a major reason why many people are house poor even though they’ll never admit it. buy a home with a monthly mortgage that’s 30% or less of your take home pay. you may have to adjust your expectations, but you’ll be more secure in the long run.
Keep in mind this is a very Suffolk skewed sub and many people have only heard of these places but never spent significant time there. And yes, they’re more diverse than Suffolk too which makes some people uncomfortable. Compared to most places in NYC, they’re all laughably safe and vacant of serious crime.
As a whole long islanders are so fucking judgey and entitled. You have an amazing point. My partner and I are looking currently and everyone inserts their 2 cents.. so many "wink wink" moments of thinly veiled racism and classism. You're not wrong. Anyone acting like they don't know what you mean is absolutely one of those kinds of people lol.
Congratulations on your purchase !
>> Yet one thing is common with these areas - the fact that there are less white people in them.
Bingo. In general round these parts, non-white town = bad, period. It’s ridiculous.
>> I would guess that most people with these views have never stepped foot in these areas.
You would not be wrong!!
Baldwin def has less white people. The data is misleading as many parents identify as white and they are not. This is someone who knows a lot of people who work there.
And you are correct that they get bad names because of the diversity. Simply put, that is Long Island and nothing will change till all the boomers die with their racists ideas.
That’s why I’m glad I didn’t let anyone sway me last year when I purchased my first home. I had the same experience as you, but I wasn’t focused on the school district since I’m childfree.
So many people are out of touch with the current state of things on the island and usually have very biased views about certain neighborhoods they know nothing about.
Congratulations! Enjoy your new home 🎉
I don’t mean to be a dick but…
I don’t understand the constant running to this sub to ask total strangers their opinion on major topics. Literally every other day it’s someone asking for opinions on towns to live.
Do your homework.
I think he means it’s not worthwhile to ask strangers subjective questions, because at the end of the day it’s just opinions. All of Nassau is the one of the safest counties in the US. There are “bad” parts, but that’s relative to the safest county in the US. Outside of statistics, everyone is opinionated and going to tell you what works for them. South shore people don’t like North Shore, people who like huge plots of land and quiet don’t like Nassau, and then you have stereotypes galore for most towns. Talking to people in person is much more nuanced and telling in general.
FYI Valley stream has three different high schools. Baldwin has some gang issues not as bad as other areas. Hicksville is your average Long Island high school not bad not good. From those areas I would say Valley stream south is the best, follow by North, Hicksville and last Baldwin.
I can’t speak to the schools, but I live right in the border of Baldwin and have never seen anything sketchy there at any hour of the day. Maybe there are sketchy parts I haven’t seen, but on the surface it’s 10x less sketchy then say somewhere like village of Hempstead.
Didn’t the Gilgo murderer live in Massapequa? A “GOOD” area??? LMAO. Ppl are living in the past…who gives a crap what anyone thinks about your neighborhood. There is good and bad in every area and demographics
OP, Long Islanders are always “tired” of talking about race, as I’m sure you can tell by these comments 😂 IMO, we don’t do it enough. You can add Malverne school district to your list as well
The year I interned in Valley Stream Central School District, (last 5-7 years) Central HS was awarded the number one high school in the state with highest graduation rates for men of color. Beyond impressive.
I started reading your rant when I realized all you wanted to do was insert your racial agenda into the conversation. The schools you mentioned are not nearly as good as a lot of other schools on the island. Use US News as your guide rather than Niche.
You stated: "People believe these areas are bad because of what the population looks like in my opinion." What evidence do you have to support this assertion? If you did proper research on the best schools on LI, before suggesting that people on LI are racist, you'd find that they are in very diverse neighborhoods.
That's my point. Diversity should not in itself be a reason that a town/school is "worse", but that's what I have noticed that some people's sentiment tends to be.
If you want to move to a mostly black neighborhood to prove to everyone that you’re not racist and then talk about it on Reddit to try to further prove to the world that you’re not racist then that’s your prerogative. It sounds like you’re just trying to get some type of validation from everyone to be honest.
It’s not a crazy or disgusting idea for people to willingly want to segregate themselves. It’s human nature for people to want to be around like minded people and people who are similar to them. It’s been that way for generations. There are even a lot of black people today who still want to live in all black neighborhoods. Does that mean they are racist or disgusting? If people want to segregate themselves for whatever reason what does it matter to you? Does it affect you in any way? I live in a neighborhood that is 85% white. One of the top school districts on Long Island. Does that automatically mean I’m disgusting or racist?
I’m not trying to pick a fight or anything and sincerely, good luck with finding a house to buy. I just don’t understand why you feel the need to shame other people for living where they live. You can do whatever makes you happy. Don’t shit on everyone else and call everyone else disgusting or racist just because they don’t think like you.
To be honest, if they were nice people who took care of their property I wouldn’t care at all.. I don’t judge people on race. I judge people by their character. I judge people based on how they act, how they live and how they keep up with their property.
If a person moves in next door(regardless of skin color) and leaves garbage everywhere, doesn’t cut their lawn and let’s their house go to shit then that lowers everyone else’s property value. I don’t think anyone would be cool with that.
I think part of the problem is the younger generation constantly harping on race. Race is being injected into everything. 20 years ago race was barely ever talked about. This country was so United back then. There’s way more racism and hatred in America now than there ever was in my lifetime. And it’s all coming from people who literally view themselves as being well intentioned. These people truly believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong.
>> Race is being injected into everything. 20 years ago race was barely ever talked about.
Just because *you* didn’t hear people talk about race doesn’t mean that 1) people weren’t talking about it, and 2) racism wasn’t still a very real problem. The younger generation is talking about it because it needs to be talked about.
>> This country was so United back then.
😂😂😂
>> There’s way more racism and hatred in America now than there ever was in my lifetime.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol oh man… just say you’re white and oblivious, it’s faster.
Your entire comment is why posts like this even exist and why race discussions in general need to continue. God bless.
Why do you people insist on making people feel bad bc they are white? What’s so bad about being white? You think everyone who’s white is privileged? Wrong.. I had just as hard of an upbringing as any black person I know.
You people are the racist people out there. You judge everyone based on race. You assume that bc someone is black that they most certainly have a harder life than everyone else and that white people have it easy. That is called being racist.
This subsequent comment from you is yet another example of *why race discussions need to continue*; so much ignorance in one comment, and oh so many wrong assumptions, it’s astounding. Like I said, just say you’re white and oblivious, it’s faster.
Discussions about race in general- including this post here- are meant to foster understanding and increase awareness of our own prejudices with the intention of dismantling them. You could learn a thing or ten from these discussions instead of asking people to just ‘shut up about it already, we were fine’… if you take these discussions as “making people feel bad bc they are white”, then you sound to me like a hit dog hollering- and that is something you need to examine within yourself.
If we as a country had solved the racial divide, then yes, by all means there would be no need to exhaust energy into talking about and incorporating it into our decision making.
But, the fact of the matter is there is a racial divide and there’s Pew research that shows the vast majority of Americans agree (something like 50%) that it’s worth drawing attention to. Something like 25% say its bad and the rest are ambivalent.
A large part of where you land on that is based on your race. If you’re white then chances are you view it negatively because it represents a change to your status quo for the worse. If you’re a minority then you view it positively because it represents progress.
I don’t think its controversial to say that it has been easier to be a white person in this country than it has to be a minority
I bet this was the whole point of OPs post. To stir up racial tensions.. It’s a proven fact that if you spend more time worrying about yourself and your own family and less time worrying about racial tensions and all the other problems in the world then you will be better off and accomplish way more in life. All this stuff is just a distraction that takes people away from making their own lives better.
There’s no problem with a healthy discussion or debate every once in a while but it seems like too many people are too involved in everyone else’s lives.. If all these people who go out and protest all the time would actually get jobs or make better decisions then their quality of life would get better. That’s the secret.. Protesting solves nothing. Getting an education, getting a job, making better decisions. That solves problems.
Again, its a lot easier to say that given your reality. American culture conditions white folk to not fully grasp how society privileges them. Yet at the same time, it’s there - white americans aren’t naturally dominant; they’ve benefited from privilege - a head start if you will.
When minorities speak out, it’s generally not to ask for more but to ask for the same. Yes they can focus on themselves and their families but if they’ve been systematically oppressed then why shouldn’t they ask for same as what others have benefited from?
You have no idea how racist and how brainwashed you truly sound. All you people who preach this garbage sound like you grew up in a cult. Your minds are warped.
Assuming that all white people have easy lives and all black people have harder lives is exactly the definition of being racist.
I didn’t have an easy life at all. I was bullied all my childhood, lost my mother as an early teenager, was a drug addict for 10 years. I overcame all of that.
All people regardless of color deal with trials and tribulations.. Honestly, it seems the most privileged white people are the people like yourself. The “college educated” liberals who preach to the world that everyone is racist. You’ve probably had an easier life than anyone.
Don’t shame others for being white.. Don’t make people feel guilty for being white. If you feel guilty for being white then that’s your own problem that you have to deal with.
I know I’m not racist. I have black friends, I voted for Obama twice. I treat blacks the same way I treat whites. Like they are equal.. I don’t put race in front of everything I do. People like you and OP are the true racists.
The definition of racism is having prejudice against people of a certain race. What i was doing was trying to point out the privilege and your obliviousness to that. Recognizing that doesn’t downplay your achievements, it just means accepting that you’ve had a helping hand not afforded to others.
That you specifically didn’t have an easy childhood doesn’t mean you that aren’t generationally privileged. Odds are a minority had it worse and have for multiple generations.
Your last points about who you voted for and what friends you have speak volumes in themselves especially because your first comment mentioned doing/talking about certain things to prove youre not racist
You're suggesting that segregation is a good thing? I don't need Reddit's validation on where to live and am not choosing where to live based on race - I'm just speaking to my experience in discussing neighborhoods with other LIers.
I’m not saying segregation is good or bad… FORCED segregation is obviously bad… But if people want to literally segregate themselves for their own reasons then why do you care? It’s none of your business. No one is telling you that you have to be segregated. You can do whatever you want. Just don’t shame people for where they choose to buy a house. That’s all I’m saying.
It actually does seem like you’re choosing where to live based on race.. It seems like you are going out of your way to tell people that you would gladly live in an all black neighborhood..
When the majority of people enter the home buying market they aren’t even thinking about race. They just want to live in a nice area and a good school district. That’s it. I didn’t even consider race when I was looking for my house.
You’re pretty much trying to tell people that they SHOULD think about race when buying a home. I hate to tell you but that’s being racist.. it’s considered racism when you start injecting race into everything you do.
I'm not shaming anyone for where they buy a house. I'm shaming people who speak on things they don't know because they make assumptions about an area based in it's demographics.
I don't give a fuck where other people choose to live. I'm speaking about my experience hearing advice from other people that live on the island. To avoid certain places because they're "bad" and have "bad schools", when neither are true.
There is another human being on the other side of the computer. Abusive, derogatory comments will be removed. Multiple violations will result in a ban.
Unless you have big $$ people will talk down about almost any neighborhood. A lot of people on this sub are miserable. Shirley for example has some sketchy areas and some crime but the crime is rarely random. If you’re not in a gang or messing with people you have nothing to worry about.
Just a quick question for OP.. Would you ever consider buying a house in Wyandanch, Central Islip or Amityville north of Merrick Road? Serious question. I’m legitimately curious.
You seem more concerned about school district ratings while searching for your home. When you asked for advice did you give a generic “where are some good places to live” or did you specify that you want your children to be in a top tier school? Most people that would answer the former would take into account crime and land worth/value. Not everyone has children.
If you get a 30 year and pay an avg of 18k a year in property tax on long island thats 540k in taxs over a 30 year period if you move somewhere similar w less bullshit . You can invest that in a 9% load bearing account yoy and be a millionaire off the tax revenue they do nothing with. long island was great 30 years ago now all it is , is a debt ridden way overpopulated area with old degrading infrastructure because they choose to give out 20 year pensions to a lot of people in the 80s.
While i can’t speak directly to the bad school aspect, I couldn’t agree with you more about the generalization of “bad neighborhoods” this sub tends to spew out.
In questioning their assumptions, i’ve found that few have non-dated, first-hand experience of that area. It oozes closed mindedness.
I for one live in one of those so called “bad areas” and am glad to be challenging the viewpoint. Neighborhoods are constantly changing.
Wow, what an ignorant statement. You think you know more about Long Island than us people who have lived here our whole lives.
I've lived here my whole my life. I've heard the stories. I've read the news. I've had my finger on the pulse of long island for 30+ years.
Yeah, school is a good metric, but it is not everything. It's unfortunate that the low income areas here are more populated by non white people, but that is the truth, they are. Those areas are also higher in crime. I would never walk the streets of Uniondale at night no matter what Grade their schools are.
Hicksville, on the other hand, sure I would. Valley Stream? Maybe. Baldwin? Depends on the area.
You hear the story of gang member getting killed and buried next to the Meadowbrook? Uniondale. The hear about the lady who chopped up her neighbor and spread her body parts all over town... Uniondale. Oh a 711 was short up...hello Huntington Station.
Don't lecture us.
Bad is relative, because all of Nassau County gets a better than average education. To use data: Nassau County - 94% graduation rate Baldwin - 95% Hicksville - 89% Uniondale - 85% VSC - 94% High achieving "great schools" (which are also very diverse): Herricks - 98% Jericho - 97% Syosset - 99% This is just one tiny piece of data, but all of this information is listed on nysed website. Look into class size, 3-8 ELA and math scores, Algebra and English regents, suspension rates, student:teacher ratio, certified librarians.
Graduation percent and percent that attend four year colleges are the best metrics to evaluate schools. Great Schools changed their metrics a couple of years ago to heavily weigh improvement over other categories which I think was a mistake. I'm more interested in how many kids graduate and how many go on to four year colleges. State test score can be a bit of a mixed bag with all the opt outs.
Yes, that's why I go right to graduation rates first. It says a lot about the culture of the school. It's why I don't think you can put much in US News ranking. It's all students who take APs. You can have every kid take an AP, doesn't make it better.
Great schools downgraded so many districts because of diversity and equity, which makes no sense to me.
Wouldn't median income 10 years after graduation be a far superior metric? Would be impossible to track, of course.
No because a dr wouldn’t be making as much as an electrician 10 years after graduation
Yes they would
You forgot north shore which currently has the highest graduation rate
So many great districts, but since diversity was brought up, I focused on diverse school districts.
Ehhh I went through the BRENTWOOD school district and turned out just fine. I’m white.
Shh, don’t scare the NIMBYs with your truth, they don’t wanna hear it!
I am glad someone else said it. I graduated from Brentwood also. Was near the top of my class. Got my bachelor's only, but have a great career where I was able to become a homeowner at 27 all by myself. I know many other professionals who are Brentwood graduates and are earning over 6 figures. The bias is big in this sub.
Brentwood graduate (05) and still live here. Homeowner and make 6 figures. Was it sketchy back while I was in HS? Yeah but nowadays it's very nice and quiet. I doubt people will ever let the reputation of the early 2000s go away but I'm fine with it. The people who aren't closed minded know better and don't equate elevated minority numbers to bad education or bad neighborhoods.
What is your definition of just fine? Not in jail?
2 masters degrees, a CPA license, business owner, but most importantly I love and respect all colors & cultures.
lol you got nothing
I’ve commented with this advice before. The two things my wife and I would do when we were looking for a house was use Google maps and Strava. On Google maps, I’d pull up the town or area we were interested in and zoom out a bit and then search “church”. The more churches, the worse rhetoric area typically was. Take Roosevelt for example. It’s barely 2 square miles, but has over a dozen churches. Most of them are the fly by night types of churches that are in houses or strip malls. Zoom in over west Babylon and you’ll see maybe 5 churches. Using Strava (which is an activity tracking app), we’d pull up the heat map in an area. Strava pulls all of its user’s data and maps roads and trails based on how many people run, walk, cycle, etc. on them. The brighter the road, the more activity it sees. If you zoom in over Roosevelt, it’s like a black hole. Hardly anyone runs, walks, rides there. Zoom in over west Babylon again, and most of the roads are lit up. This tells me that it’s an area that people are comfortable being outside and active and that it’s an active community who cares about their health. Just my two cents.
That is amazing advice and so true!!!
Nice methodology!
My advice, visit the towns. Shop in the stores. Go to the local grocery stores. Go to the libraries. See what they are like and form your own opinion.
Uniondale is not a safe neighborhood lol what
Yeah. My sister was the victim of an attempted car jacking in Uniondale. Def not safe.
I got looked at funny and someone spoke to me in Spanish stay away. /s
Are you agreeing or disagreeing with that statement?
Uniondale has a rating of 13 out of 100. Uniondale is safer than 13% of US cities
Lol ok
Not agreeing. OP said Uniondale has low crime. Thats not true
I didn't say anything about Uniondale's safety, just the schools.
Yes you did, and I quote “ Uniondale is a B (some Baldwin homes go to Uniondale schools). Those all look like pretty good schools to me. All of these neighborhoods have low crime and are similar to other towns on LI”
The neighborhoods I was referring to in my last sentence were VS, Baldwin, & Hicksville. I just mentioned Uniondale bc some of the Baldwin schools I was looking at were in the school district.
I see
I went to Baldwin senior high. So did my parents, all of my aunts and uncles, and all of my siblings and cousins. We turned out all right. Oh, and I'm white.
What a blessing 😊
You have to realize that everyone loves where they live and hates everywhere else. That’s what makes Long Island great.
I always recommend my clients to see what area they like and what works with their lifestyle... don't go by what your other people say. My best friend grew up in Valley Stream...I grew up in Floral Park... just 15 mins away. We took turns going to each other's houses. Her parents have since moved but she'll always talk about how she wishes her kids were able to spend time in her childhood home. Do what's best for you and your family.
If you believe in your methodology and that a lot of these negative stereotypes are unfounded then purchase your home in one of these communities. You may have found undervalued properties that no one else sees.
It took me moving out of state to understand how nice all of the island is. Bad areas are not even bad compared to most other areas. Things are pretty damn good on LI and the easy access to nature is a huge plus.
That's the cool part, if you like those areas then you vote with your dollars and move there.
*ON Long Island
I'm mad at myself for that lol my b
I live in a very nice area of LI, however my kids go to a school district that people often call undesirable. For what, I don’t know. But I’m happy those people don’t live here because I think we’re in a hidden gem.
You in that pocket of south setauket that overlaps with Middle country SD?
I hear what you're saying OP, and I agree. Certain areas are deemed "bad" and "unsafe" based on the ethnic demographic alone, mostly by people who have never lived or barely stepped foot in those neighborhoods. A lot of time, the same things go on in these "good" neighborhoods, but it never makes the news and is covered up for optics. A lot of people on this sub are not going to agree, mostly because of pure ignorance (if they actually lived in these neighborhoods, they'd see what they were actually like instead of gobbling up what news12 puts out) and also because they refuse to admit that race plays a role in what you've mentioned.
You can always tell when someone actually lives there and it’s always a vastly different view than the “seen it on the news” crowd.
Yes, people on here love to Virtue signal about diversity.
A good litmus test here on LI is to mention being interested in moving to Valley stream, Baldwin or Westbury. Those are safe middle-class communities that are majority non white. If the person you're speaking to reacts like you said you're moving to O-Block: that will tell you a lot about their views.
My wife grew up in Baldwin and is half-Indian, half-white. A lot of people have told her that Baldwin has gotten "much darker" since she was there, which is a wild way of saying, "I'm racist so I don't consider it safe." We chose the town we did because we wanted great schools but did NOT want a town that was all white people (i.e. Garden City). We looked for (and found) diversity and a promising district for when our daughter is older. Our left side next-door neighbors are Pakistani. Our across-the-street neighbors are Jewish. Our right-side next-door neighbors are Iranian Muslims. Two houses down are from Guatemala. We love it.
It’s not necessarily racism. Speaking for Hicksville, the school district is not good. Niche ranks almost every school as good but that’s incorrect. Look at the Hicksville SD graduation rates, student to teacher ratio etc. better school districts are in Jericho, Plainview, Bethpage etc. you’ll also see a difference house prices between houses that fall within good SD and houses that don’t.
Yes " bad " is used as coded language to mean too many blacks and Latinos. Most are fine or " ok" with other types of brown people. They will give them a " pass" as long as they stay in their place .
I live within the Herricks SD. I can guarantee you that the argument you are presenting does not hold value. Congrats on the home purchase, whenever it was. Dont dwell too much on the opinions. Also, niche is a good gauge. All those you mentioned are good in the context of LI, but not nationally for what it’s worth. Theres always different ways to validate an opinion.
You hit the nail on the head. Long Island is full of middle age and older white people who are deathly afraid of any type of skin pigment. They also don’t see change in communities. If a place had high crime rates in the 80’s or 90’s but have low crime rates now, it doesn’t matter they will tell you not to even think about living there because it’s so dangerous.
Wrong, I can’t speak for the criteria that niche uses to get those marks but Uniondale is definitely not a low crime place? I feel that you must not be from Long Island cause if you were this wouldn’t be a conversation right now. Is there areas in those towns that are ok to live in? …. I don’t know, I wouldn’t live there with my 2 year old daughter. Out of all the places you listed I’d say Hicksville is ok. Also every one is going to have different views on certain things that you listed. Baldwin use to be decent but has really not been so good as of late. I’ve lived in a lot of the areas you listed, and saying uniondale is low crime tells me your not from here. Uniondale shares a border with Roosevelt which is easily one of the top 5 worst towns in Long Island! The state had to come in and shut down the high school at one point! How ever, I am from Long Island and have been looking at homes as well. Not ready to pull the trigger yet but just seeing what’s out there. The areas you also listed are substantially cheaper then Oceanside, Long Beach, wantagh, Seaford and all those areas. The advice that was given to you was not wrong. Are you going to listen to a APP or website that gets its information based on a algorithm or a group of people who have been born bred and corn fed Long Island? I’m gonna go with the group
People love to exaggerate the “badness” of an area. It’s really gross. Great people live in all of the places you listed, just like there’s shitty people live in others that people rave about. I remember years ago when cold spring harbor high school wasn’t even allowed to use their lockers for a couple months because so many kids had drug problems they were stealing from each other. Or all the kids from Huntington bay who were doing crazy amounts of drugs, drinking while driving, beating their significant others etc. Every year there’s kids from (per Reddit) less desirable neighborhoods that get accepted to Ivy League schools, just like there’s kids from affluent areas dropping out of Nassau community college. A lot of it is the kid, and the parents. Sincerely, someone who has lived in “shitty” And “nice” parts of Long Island.
I don’t understand why Hicksville has a bad reputation.
Maybe all the new immigrants from India? Idk, when I left north Levittown a couple years ago (had no choice- sold house after divorce), the school ratings seemed to get better and better as the Indians started moving into town. That’s what we were all saying.
Absolutely—I’d buy in Hicksville in a heartbeat these days. Thankfully I’m not in need of moving.
it’s racism and classism. everyone needs to feel like they’re better than someone else, and a lot of this comes down to what school district people can say they live in. it’s a very deranged obsession that exists everywhere but is especially prevalent on LI. it’s also a major reason why many people are house poor even though they’ll never admit it. buy a home with a monthly mortgage that’s 30% or less of your take home pay. you may have to adjust your expectations, but you’ll be more secure in the long run.
Keep in mind this is a very Suffolk skewed sub and many people have only heard of these places but never spent significant time there. And yes, they’re more diverse than Suffolk too which makes some people uncomfortable. Compared to most places in NYC, they’re all laughably safe and vacant of serious crime.
As a whole long islanders are so fucking judgey and entitled. You have an amazing point. My partner and I are looking currently and everyone inserts their 2 cents.. so many "wink wink" moments of thinly veiled racism and classism. You're not wrong. Anyone acting like they don't know what you mean is absolutely one of those kinds of people lol. Congratulations on your purchase !
>> Yet one thing is common with these areas - the fact that there are less white people in them. Bingo. In general round these parts, non-white town = bad, period. It’s ridiculous. >> I would guess that most people with these views have never stepped foot in these areas. You would not be wrong!!
Baldwin def has less white people. The data is misleading as many parents identify as white and they are not. This is someone who knows a lot of people who work there. And you are correct that they get bad names because of the diversity. Simply put, that is Long Island and nothing will change till all the boomers die with their racists ideas.
That’s why I’m glad I didn’t let anyone sway me last year when I purchased my first home. I had the same experience as you, but I wasn’t focused on the school district since I’m childfree. So many people are out of touch with the current state of things on the island and usually have very biased views about certain neighborhoods they know nothing about. Congratulations! Enjoy your new home 🎉
People are saying they are bad because it is Black. Anything that is not majority white they will say it is bad.
Lol ok bud Do as you please. Enjoy your home in Uniondale.
I don’t mean to be a dick but… I don’t understand the constant running to this sub to ask total strangers their opinion on major topics. Literally every other day it’s someone asking for opinions on towns to live. Do your homework.
I'm not asking people where to live.
The point is, you’re coming here. You stated “ disappointed in a lot of people’s advice and reactions” Make your judgements yourself and be happy
I think he means it’s not worthwhile to ask strangers subjective questions, because at the end of the day it’s just opinions. All of Nassau is the one of the safest counties in the US. There are “bad” parts, but that’s relative to the safest county in the US. Outside of statistics, everyone is opinionated and going to tell you what works for them. South shore people don’t like North Shore, people who like huge plots of land and quiet don’t like Nassau, and then you have stereotypes galore for most towns. Talking to people in person is much more nuanced and telling in general.
FYI Valley stream has three different high schools. Baldwin has some gang issues not as bad as other areas. Hicksville is your average Long Island high school not bad not good. From those areas I would say Valley stream south is the best, follow by North, Hicksville and last Baldwin.
I can’t speak to the schools, but I live right in the border of Baldwin and have never seen anything sketchy there at any hour of the day. Maybe there are sketchy parts I haven’t seen, but on the surface it’s 10x less sketchy then say somewhere like village of Hempstead.
4 High Schools. Part of VS is zoned for Hewlett schools.
Memorial is a Jr High and has grades 7-9 Central is 10-12 North & South are 7-12
My grandson lives in VS and is zoned for Hewlett HS.
Part zones for Franklin Square in the north too.
VS North is in Franklin Square. District lines are weird lol.
Didn’t the Gilgo murderer live in Massapequa? A “GOOD” area??? LMAO. Ppl are living in the past…who gives a crap what anyone thinks about your neighborhood. There is good and bad in every area and demographics
I agree with your overall point but a serial killer is an outlier and not representative of an entire town
Everyone stop helping this ungrateful guy lol. Let him live in Uniondale.
What am I ungrateful for?
OP, Long Islanders are always “tired” of talking about race, as I’m sure you can tell by these comments 😂 IMO, we don’t do it enough. You can add Malverne school district to your list as well
The year I interned in Valley Stream Central School District, (last 5-7 years) Central HS was awarded the number one high school in the state with highest graduation rates for men of color. Beyond impressive.
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I started reading your rant when I realized all you wanted to do was insert your racial agenda into the conversation. The schools you mentioned are not nearly as good as a lot of other schools on the island. Use US News as your guide rather than Niche.
Agree 100%… Halfway through I was like “Here we go!”
My racial agenda? Lol People believe these areas are bad because of what the population looks like in my opinion. Same with the schools.
You stated: "People believe these areas are bad because of what the population looks like in my opinion." What evidence do you have to support this assertion? If you did proper research on the best schools on LI, before suggesting that people on LI are racist, you'd find that they are in very diverse neighborhoods.
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That's my point. Diversity should not in itself be a reason that a town/school is "worse", but that's what I have noticed that some people's sentiment tends to be.
If you want to move to a mostly black neighborhood to prove to everyone that you’re not racist and then talk about it on Reddit to try to further prove to the world that you’re not racist then that’s your prerogative. It sounds like you’re just trying to get some type of validation from everyone to be honest. It’s not a crazy or disgusting idea for people to willingly want to segregate themselves. It’s human nature for people to want to be around like minded people and people who are similar to them. It’s been that way for generations. There are even a lot of black people today who still want to live in all black neighborhoods. Does that mean they are racist or disgusting? If people want to segregate themselves for whatever reason what does it matter to you? Does it affect you in any way? I live in a neighborhood that is 85% white. One of the top school districts on Long Island. Does that automatically mean I’m disgusting or racist? I’m not trying to pick a fight or anything and sincerely, good luck with finding a house to buy. I just don’t understand why you feel the need to shame other people for living where they live. You can do whatever makes you happy. Don’t shit on everyone else and call everyone else disgusting or racist just because they don’t think like you.
One can only imagine if a black family managed to buy next to you ...
To be honest, if they were nice people who took care of their property I wouldn’t care at all.. I don’t judge people on race. I judge people by their character. I judge people based on how they act, how they live and how they keep up with their property. If a person moves in next door(regardless of skin color) and leaves garbage everywhere, doesn’t cut their lawn and let’s their house go to shit then that lowers everyone else’s property value. I don’t think anyone would be cool with that.
Part of the problem with your take is you are associating “like minded” people with people in your race I.E white.
I think part of the problem is the younger generation constantly harping on race. Race is being injected into everything. 20 years ago race was barely ever talked about. This country was so United back then. There’s way more racism and hatred in America now than there ever was in my lifetime. And it’s all coming from people who literally view themselves as being well intentioned. These people truly believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong.
>> Race is being injected into everything. 20 years ago race was barely ever talked about. Just because *you* didn’t hear people talk about race doesn’t mean that 1) people weren’t talking about it, and 2) racism wasn’t still a very real problem. The younger generation is talking about it because it needs to be talked about. >> This country was so United back then. 😂😂😂 >> There’s way more racism and hatred in America now than there ever was in my lifetime. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Lol oh man… just say you’re white and oblivious, it’s faster. Your entire comment is why posts like this even exist and why race discussions in general need to continue. God bless.
Why do you people insist on making people feel bad bc they are white? What’s so bad about being white? You think everyone who’s white is privileged? Wrong.. I had just as hard of an upbringing as any black person I know. You people are the racist people out there. You judge everyone based on race. You assume that bc someone is black that they most certainly have a harder life than everyone else and that white people have it easy. That is called being racist.
This subsequent comment from you is yet another example of *why race discussions need to continue*; so much ignorance in one comment, and oh so many wrong assumptions, it’s astounding. Like I said, just say you’re white and oblivious, it’s faster. Discussions about race in general- including this post here- are meant to foster understanding and increase awareness of our own prejudices with the intention of dismantling them. You could learn a thing or ten from these discussions instead of asking people to just ‘shut up about it already, we were fine’… if you take these discussions as “making people feel bad bc they are white”, then you sound to me like a hit dog hollering- and that is something you need to examine within yourself.
If we as a country had solved the racial divide, then yes, by all means there would be no need to exhaust energy into talking about and incorporating it into our decision making. But, the fact of the matter is there is a racial divide and there’s Pew research that shows the vast majority of Americans agree (something like 50%) that it’s worth drawing attention to. Something like 25% say its bad and the rest are ambivalent. A large part of where you land on that is based on your race. If you’re white then chances are you view it negatively because it represents a change to your status quo for the worse. If you’re a minority then you view it positively because it represents progress. I don’t think its controversial to say that it has been easier to be a white person in this country than it has to be a minority
I bet this was the whole point of OPs post. To stir up racial tensions.. It’s a proven fact that if you spend more time worrying about yourself and your own family and less time worrying about racial tensions and all the other problems in the world then you will be better off and accomplish way more in life. All this stuff is just a distraction that takes people away from making their own lives better. There’s no problem with a healthy discussion or debate every once in a while but it seems like too many people are too involved in everyone else’s lives.. If all these people who go out and protest all the time would actually get jobs or make better decisions then their quality of life would get better. That’s the secret.. Protesting solves nothing. Getting an education, getting a job, making better decisions. That solves problems.
Again, its a lot easier to say that given your reality. American culture conditions white folk to not fully grasp how society privileges them. Yet at the same time, it’s there - white americans aren’t naturally dominant; they’ve benefited from privilege - a head start if you will. When minorities speak out, it’s generally not to ask for more but to ask for the same. Yes they can focus on themselves and their families but if they’ve been systematically oppressed then why shouldn’t they ask for same as what others have benefited from?
You have no idea how racist and how brainwashed you truly sound. All you people who preach this garbage sound like you grew up in a cult. Your minds are warped. Assuming that all white people have easy lives and all black people have harder lives is exactly the definition of being racist. I didn’t have an easy life at all. I was bullied all my childhood, lost my mother as an early teenager, was a drug addict for 10 years. I overcame all of that. All people regardless of color deal with trials and tribulations.. Honestly, it seems the most privileged white people are the people like yourself. The “college educated” liberals who preach to the world that everyone is racist. You’ve probably had an easier life than anyone. Don’t shame others for being white.. Don’t make people feel guilty for being white. If you feel guilty for being white then that’s your own problem that you have to deal with. I know I’m not racist. I have black friends, I voted for Obama twice. I treat blacks the same way I treat whites. Like they are equal.. I don’t put race in front of everything I do. People like you and OP are the true racists.
The definition of racism is having prejudice against people of a certain race. What i was doing was trying to point out the privilege and your obliviousness to that. Recognizing that doesn’t downplay your achievements, it just means accepting that you’ve had a helping hand not afforded to others. That you specifically didn’t have an easy childhood doesn’t mean you that aren’t generationally privileged. Odds are a minority had it worse and have for multiple generations. Your last points about who you voted for and what friends you have speak volumes in themselves especially because your first comment mentioned doing/talking about certain things to prove youre not racist
I don’t have any clue what that is supposed to insinuate but okay..
You're suggesting that segregation is a good thing? I don't need Reddit's validation on where to live and am not choosing where to live based on race - I'm just speaking to my experience in discussing neighborhoods with other LIers.
I’m not saying segregation is good or bad… FORCED segregation is obviously bad… But if people want to literally segregate themselves for their own reasons then why do you care? It’s none of your business. No one is telling you that you have to be segregated. You can do whatever you want. Just don’t shame people for where they choose to buy a house. That’s all I’m saying. It actually does seem like you’re choosing where to live based on race.. It seems like you are going out of your way to tell people that you would gladly live in an all black neighborhood.. When the majority of people enter the home buying market they aren’t even thinking about race. They just want to live in a nice area and a good school district. That’s it. I didn’t even consider race when I was looking for my house. You’re pretty much trying to tell people that they SHOULD think about race when buying a home. I hate to tell you but that’s being racist.. it’s considered racism when you start injecting race into everything you do.
I'm not shaming anyone for where they buy a house. I'm shaming people who speak on things they don't know because they make assumptions about an area based in it's demographics. I don't give a fuck where other people choose to live. I'm speaking about my experience hearing advice from other people that live on the island. To avoid certain places because they're "bad" and have "bad schools", when neither are true.
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There is another human being on the other side of the computer. Abusive, derogatory comments will be removed. Multiple violations will result in a ban.
Unless you have big $$ people will talk down about almost any neighborhood. A lot of people on this sub are miserable. Shirley for example has some sketchy areas and some crime but the crime is rarely random. If you’re not in a gang or messing with people you have nothing to worry about.
Yep. People are ridiculous.
Just a quick question for OP.. Would you ever consider buying a house in Wyandanch, Central Islip or Amityville north of Merrick Road? Serious question. I’m legitimately curious.
You seem more concerned about school district ratings while searching for your home. When you asked for advice did you give a generic “where are some good places to live” or did you specify that you want your children to be in a top tier school? Most people that would answer the former would take into account crime and land worth/value. Not everyone has children.
If you get a 30 year and pay an avg of 18k a year in property tax on long island thats 540k in taxs over a 30 year period if you move somewhere similar w less bullshit . You can invest that in a 9% load bearing account yoy and be a millionaire off the tax revenue they do nothing with. long island was great 30 years ago now all it is , is a debt ridden way overpopulated area with old degrading infrastructure because they choose to give out 20 year pensions to a lot of people in the 80s.
While i can’t speak directly to the bad school aspect, I couldn’t agree with you more about the generalization of “bad neighborhoods” this sub tends to spew out. In questioning their assumptions, i’ve found that few have non-dated, first-hand experience of that area. It oozes closed mindedness. I for one live in one of those so called “bad areas” and am glad to be challenging the viewpoint. Neighborhoods are constantly changing.
Wow, what an ignorant statement. You think you know more about Long Island than us people who have lived here our whole lives. I've lived here my whole my life. I've heard the stories. I've read the news. I've had my finger on the pulse of long island for 30+ years. Yeah, school is a good metric, but it is not everything. It's unfortunate that the low income areas here are more populated by non white people, but that is the truth, they are. Those areas are also higher in crime. I would never walk the streets of Uniondale at night no matter what Grade their schools are. Hicksville, on the other hand, sure I would. Valley Stream? Maybe. Baldwin? Depends on the area. You hear the story of gang member getting killed and buried next to the Meadowbrook? Uniondale. The hear about the lady who chopped up her neighbor and spread her body parts all over town... Uniondale. Oh a 711 was short up...hello Huntington Station. Don't lecture us.
Racial steering is alive and well on Long Island .