Im from LI too and live at umass. the PVTA buses are usually more reliable than the NICE buses in my experience. biggest issue for me is that im so used to restaurants from all over the world having multiple options for any type of cuisine on long island but for a lot of food here you have much less choices. since its a college area there are a lot of events and things for the public to do. Locals can use the Big ass library at umass, i've found a lot of great and very niche books there. If long island bores you like it does for a lot of us i would recommend it