The Rise and Fall of America's Richest Suburb: Long Island, New York

Comments · 637

• SK

  @skitraindance · 2 months ago

  I grew up on Long Island . My Father bought a Levittown like home in Franklin Square in 1950. There were still farms and even a poultry store that would kill and dress a chicken that you selected. It was an amazing place to grow up in. Our school district was rated in the top 90% in the state. We had recreation and shopping bar none. We had massive amounts of public beaches that you paid a small price per carload to use. In the late 60’s we had a nightclub scene that featured the biggest rock stars of the day. But all things come to an end. During the 70’s and 80’s developers built something on every square inch of open land. When the open land was gone they &nbsp;began building on the parking lots. Soon it became impossible to find any place to park. Traffic became intolerable most of the day. Leaving the Island for the day became impossible expensive even if you could brave the bumper to bumper traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Belt Parkway. As soon as our kids graduated from High School we bailed out to Morris County in New Jersey, <br>Things were great in Morris County for 20 years until the developers were given permission to ignore all local zoning laws as long as 10% of the housing was “affordable” . It took me weeks of research to find out what the definition of affordable was. It turns out to be 20% less than the market rate. So you could build 300 units of high density luxury housing for $900,000 &nbsp;as long as 30 of them sold for only $720,000. Morris County looks more like Nassau County every month as huge condo complexes are built on every square inch of available land with no plans for highway expansion or development of public transportation alternatives. It was fun while it lasted .

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• TO

  @tomdarragh8692 · 2 months ago

  Still very expensive. Traffic is getting worse.

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• GE

  @geraldbrienza4474 · 2 months ago

  Long Island real estate is one of the only sellers markets in the country.

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• BP

  @bpapso · 2 months ago

  I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island in the 60’s it was a great place to be a kid.

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• 95

  @9546aw · 2 months ago

  I live in Huntington, NY and reports of its demise are wildly exagerated.

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• RO

  @rogero8791 · 2 months ago

  65 years on Long Island. Clamming, scalloping, surf casting, &nbsp;deli ,pizza, are just a few things I love about this little sandbar I live on. My father threw me in the sound when I was 4 years old and said , we live on an island ,you better learn to swim.

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• CP

  @CPAndy-x5x · 2 months ago (edited)

  The mistake was becoming a &quot;company town.&quot; When the company goes, most residents are out of work. Happened to Flint,MI.

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• UN

  @UntangledTreasures · 2 months ago

  Moved to Bay Shore Long Island from Queens a long time ago. Raised our kids here. Will never move! Our kids love it here too.

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• PA

  @Patricia-sn9ln · 2 months ago

  My Dad bought a house &nbsp;in Levitown Long Island. <br>Beautiful &nbsp;corner lot. Paid 16 grand in 1965<br>It sold for 800,000 in 2025

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• TV

  @tvbtvb5124 · 2 months ago

  My family and I moved to Long Island from New York City in <br>1970 to 2001. My children went to school there as it was one of<br>the safest and cleanest places to raise a family. I have since visited <br>the Island every time I return for a visit and couldn’t miss it’s steady<br>and precipitous decline. The high cost of living there and taxes have<br>driven most retirees away, leaving behind homes that were too pricey <br>for the younger generation to afford. County’s leaders failed to address <br>that problem for too long, but is still is not a bad place to live.

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• LI

  @LindaWatkin-y1u · 1 month ago

  55 years living on Long Island.It is still a lovely place to live.It takes 1 hour into the city on theL.I.R.R.

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• JI

  @jimsannerud6254 · 2 months ago

  I grew up in Bellmore in the 960s. We used to ride our bikes to Jones Beach. It was a great place to grow up.

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