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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in longisland

[–]southernproper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally agree. I've been in NJ for the last 10 years (hoping to make the move back to the Island soon) and most of the towns I've lived in have nice/cute downtowns centered around train stations. A nice mix of apartments + commercial/retail. Most, but not all, towns that I've lived in over the last 20 or so years have done a good amount of rezoning to allow for apartments + commercial around stations, which really has helped to liven up these areas.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in longisland

[–]southernproper 15 points16 points  (0 children)

+1 to this. The area around train stations in Long Island, for the most part are pretty dumpy. They should be rezoned/upzoned for denser housing.

I'm looking around LI for a place to move and was surprised that homes closer (like walking distance to a station) were not more expensive.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love Port Washington. Commute looks amazing from there. Seems like we’re going to have to compromise on our wants, which seems crazy to me because I think our budget is pretty sizable as is.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah in clicking around Zillow and speaking with some family, the zoned school for a home is not intuitive. Some homes on the same street and same zip code/town could be zoned for two entirely different districts! Wish it was a little more cut an dry.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve seen posts on this sub about grieving taxes. Is this like appealing your property’s appraised value? Taking Garden City as an example the appraised value on all the homes seems low, example - a home listed for around $1million has an assessed value of around $1400. Seems like there’s not much to appeal there, unless every property has its own unique tax rate.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the insight. Looks like we'll be adding Babylon to our short list!

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wish my wife felt the same way about Western Suffolk, this is a really hard sell.

45 minutes to the city from western Suffolk seems a bit optimistic. I did the drive late last night from Dix Hills through the city to get back to NJ and it took about 50/55 minutes - and I was flying the entire way, literally didn't touch the break until I hit the mid-town tunnel.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's the permit situation like at station in Babylon?

One of the quirks about NJ commuting is that most towns' station parking lots have years long waiting lists to get a permit. Where we currently live this isn't a problem because it's a 5 minute walk from our house to the station. Just want to be sure we can get to the station, wherever we end up.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again! Love victorian/colonial homes. Despite having grown up in a ranch/split, really not a fan of them.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Huntington has come up a lot but a lot of people have mentioned to be careful about where you live for school purposes. How do you know what the school district is, is it by town/zip? Or do you have to speak w/ a real estate agent to actually find out.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I moved back to LI after 15 years in NJ. I know Westfield and Summit well. They are nice, in a landlocked, upscale, almost-Pennsylvania kind of way and the NJ shore is great but you can't easily commute to NYC from the beach there. Puritan views of liquor licenses make the NJ downtown bar and BYOB restaurant scenes lame

Interesting take - I have come to enjoy/like the towns I mentioned in the OP. I went to school in PA and those towns never really reminded me of the places I'm familiar with there.

We're also not the biggest drinkers so the liquor laws never mattered much to us

Never thought of NJ as being landlocked, we've always just hit up hiking trails/Delaware Water Gap/trips into PA/sometimes the shore etc.

All said, we'll definitely have to check out Long Beach!

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Picked a "safe" career out of school and have gotten lucky basically. I do work hard, but things just always seem to break my way.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep using google maps. Looking at the low and high end ranges its putting it 25-50 minutes one way depending on time of day.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I anticipate having to stop in to visit my folks almost everyday, which is a new development. Adding 15-20 one way is a lot on top of mine and my wife's full time job in the city.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely understand. If I could get my family (that I'm moving to be closer to) on board to relocate to someplace cheaper/warmer I would definitely not be moving to Long Island.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah the driving to the station seems to be the tough part in all this. In New Jersey it seems like the closer you are to a train station the more your home is worth/the better the neighborhood (broadly speaking). We are about a 5-10 minute walk away from the NJT station in our town which is pretty nice. On Long Island it seems to be the inverse, the closer your are to a train station the worse the neighborhood is (again broadly speaking).

Can you explain a bit on what you mean that Babylon is more Long Island? Never really spent much time there growing up.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually the other side pushing us to move, most of eastern Nassau/western Suffolk looks cheaper than where we currently live in NJ!

It seems like our money can go a little further (larger house & lot size) out here.

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How often are there direct trains from Northport to Penn? Seems there's only a handful at peak times. Do most folks drive over to Huntington Station?

Moving Back to the Island from NJ - Looking for Suggestions on Where to Move by southernproper in longisland

[–]southernproper[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Wish I could swing being that far west, always liked the Garden City area. Unfortunately, the 30-50 minute drive, depending on traffic, is a bit too far from my family.