From Newsday:
Long Islanders would trade houses for apartments
A third of Long Islanders are willing to trade their detached houses and yards for high-density condominiums or apartments within walking distance from a vibrant community center, according to the annual Long Island Index being released today.
From the time Long Island was settled by New York City residents moving east in search of more open space, detached single-family homes with cars in the driveway have been the region’s staple. But as gas and housing prices rise to unprecedented levels, the lifestyle — for many of the roughly 2.8 million people living here — is unsustainable, the Index says.
“Virtually every problem Long Island faces is caused or aggravated by single-family sprawl,” the report states. “In the face of these threats, there was always a simple answer: single family housing is what people want. Now, for hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders, that is no longer true.”
The study, commissioned by the Garden City-based Rauch Foundation and scheduled to be presented today at Farmingdale State College, found that 85 percent of Long Islanders live in single-family homes, but one-third would prefer an apartment, condominium or town house in a downtown area.
…
Nearly three in four people here said they could not afford to purchase their own home at today’s prices. About 78 percent said they would leave Long Island rather than purchase another house here. Just eight years ago, 62 percent of Long Island homes were worth less than $250,000. By 2006 that figure dropped to 4 percent, according to the Index.
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38 percent of Long Islanders said they could imagine themselves living in an apartment, condominium or town house near a downtown. Half said they could see a family member do so.61 percent support building high-density developments in local downtowns.
49 percent support increasing building height limits.
63 percent support an increase in the number of rental apartments in downtown areas near bus and train stations.
62 percent support building multilevel parking decks in their downtowns
56 percent back the adoption of state incentives to encourage greater housing density.
3 out of 4 people cannot afford their homes if buying today. Well that means prices have to coem down, simple as that.
Suburbs are not dead. What the article fails to mention is that the Long Island population has greatly aged over the past couple of decades. What the residents are seeking is a lifestyle change at an older stage of life. Who wants to cut grass and shovel sidewalks at 70?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A25757C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
61% of respondents support high-density developments in local downtowns…I call BS! I lived on Long Island for 27 years (except for 4 years at Rutgers) and every time higher density development was discussed, it was met with a firm NIMBY beatdown. The only high density projects ever approved on LI were either “The Projects” in lovely communities such as Hempstead, Roosevelt, or Wyandanch, or old-folks-homes like you see all over Monroe NJ (whoops, I’m in Jersey now…they are called Active Adult Communities here).
LI and apartments are like oil and water. 61% want them, but in someone else’s town, for someone else’s family.
Just another article with an agenda. Read it with a salt shaker.
Between the lines, I read something like: “You people with yards and open space are happy out there in Long Island, and WE just don’t think you should be”
Long Island is a bunch of racist bastards. Yeah white flight was in full effect cause they wanted to move away from n****s. So they left areas like Valley Stream, Rosedale and Hempstead. Oh now you wanna move back closer to city cause gas prices are too high. F.U. we dont want you back now. Go F yourselfs
Very articulate Deon! Your educated thoughts and analysis really advance constructive dialoge. You’re an asset to whom ever you represent.