Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

What do we know about these areas?? Some beautiful new houses there but my real estate agent is not thrilled about the location
I cant believe I grew up on Long Island and I know so little about it

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

Your best bet would be to go to mlsli.com and map them, the 'beautiful new houses' that is. Then drive through the neighborhoods. I have friends who live in all 4 towns you mentioned and they live in great neighborhoods, with great neighbors. I'm not a fan of realtors...they are looking for the most expensive house in your price range in the best neighborhood to get their biggest commission. that's just my HO.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I grew up in Copiague and remember thinking that I was lucky to get out of the high school when I did. Amityville south of Montauk is gorgeous but the school district is eh. West Babylon definately has decent schools and some beautiful parts. Bay Shore has a great school district-a teacher friend of mine went there and always says how great the schools were. But, if I were going to move to the Bay Shore area-I would move to Brightwaters instead! It's such a nice area!!! All these towns are so close to me-maybe we can be neighbors!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

My sister is a teacher in West Babylon. She taught in the High School and is now in one of their many elementary schools. It's a really good school district.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I live in the WB. I really like the schools and compared to where some of my friends' kids go to school, I think they are getting a lot for our tax dollars.

Also, everyone here knows everyone. When you have kids this is a blessing because there is very little they can pull over you.

The next best I would say is Bay Shore schools over the other two, good luck!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

bay shore is a great school district with a very mixed and arguably tough population. the zoning includes everything from ultrarich waterfront property, to upper-middle class brightwaters, to blue collar neighborhoods north of sunrise hwy, to poverty-stricken areas on the lower east side. i went there, and i always felt safe. as far as i know, school violence is not a problem. they get a lot of federal money because of the revival program that's been happening for the last decade, and they get title 1 benefits from the state because of poverty. this means that you get a lot of interesting programs without the sky-high taxes.

west babylon is mostly white blue collar. i did 2 months of observation hours there, and I thought they had some really great teachers at the high school. discipline was under control. I would feel comfortable sending my children there.

try looking up school report cards on the new york ed dept. good luck house hunting!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

---

Posted by beram63

bay shore is a great school district with a very mixed and arguably tough population. the zoning includes everything from ultrarich waterfront property, to upper-middle class brightwaters, to blue collar neighborhoods north of sunrise hwy, to poverty-stricken areas on the lower east side. i went there, and i always felt safe. as far as i know, school violence is not a problem. they get a lot of federal money because of the revival program that's been happening for the last decade, and they get title 1 benefits from the state because of poverty. this means that you get a lot of interesting programs without the sky-high taxes.

west babylon is mostly white blue collar. i did 2 months of observation hours there, and I thought they had some really great teachers at the high school. discipline was under control. I would feel comfortable sending my children there.

try looking up school report cards on the new york ed dept. good luck house hunting!

---

oh, so sorry for posting, girls i thought i was on a different board...

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

Thank you sooooo much girls. I have a lot of learning to do about Long Island. I think I will drive by theses houses. I really appreciate all you help!!! Marie our doggies can be friends!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I wouldn't go for Amityville...school district and that area isn't all that great....Bay Shore is very good and so is West Babylon...another area to check out is North Babylon. I lived there for 7 years (until I got married this past summer) and it;s a nice area, 5 minutes from Babylon Village.
I teach in Copiague If you'd like some info about the schools feel free to FM me!!!!!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

Some of those areas I would not live in. North Babylon and South or West Bayshore is good but I would go with Babylon Village or Brightwaters. If you are looking on LI...around these areas...Massepequa park, Wantagh, Bellmore and Merrick are nice. Also Bethpage, Syosset, plainview and Garden City.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I grew up in WB and taught in one of the elem. schools for a year. The district has greatly improved. My family still lives there and all of my nieces and nephews go to school there. Every town has good and bad areas. I miss living there. DH and I are looking to move back.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

West Bayshore is probably the nicest of those areas - the Brightwaters part of Bayshore is really nice - it's a cute little town near the water.
Amityville has nice parts - but about 99% of people in those nicer parts send their kids to private school. My brother taught in the public schools for a while - he said it was tough, and he's a big guy, not a pushover at all.

Don't know much about the other areas. Good luck!

Edited for spelling.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I currently live in that area. This is my take on it:

If you want to live in Copaigue or Amityville (and Amity Harbor is beautiful), plan on sending your kids to private school. IMO, to live in either of those towns, you really need to be south of Montauk.

West Babylon is okay. There are some really nice homes for sale in Babylon Village that are in the W. Babylon school district so they are more affordable. I would look in those neighborhoods but W. Babylon, generally speaking, is fine.

N. Babylon is a no go. There has been a drastic change in element there over the past 10-15 years and they have some significant issues with violence and corruption in the high school. I know a number of teachers and administration in that district. My SD was in that district and we were really pressured to get her out of there.

Bayshore...I think it's great. Like a PP said, they get lots of federal funding. The village has really been cleaned up and it's a nice place to go. Brightwaters is beautiful.

West Islip is nice too.

Good luck in your house hunt.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

your best bet is to research the school districts online -- taking a look at their average scores on tests, how the kids do w/ regents exams, the percentage of kids that grad with a regents diploma and the amount that go on to college - especially four year schools.

now, as far as the area is concerned... you should take a ride one day through the streets of the different towns in question. see how you feel.

i know newsday has all the school ratings.

personally, i want a district that is rated in the top five on long island for my kids to go to -- i don't want to settle for anything less b/c their educational experience is very important to me and DH. so, it will have to be number five or higher... and i'll sacrifice for it too - you know the saying: i'd rather have the worst piece of crap house on the best block than have the best house on the worst block? that is my thinking... not to say these areas are representative of that -- it is just how i am going to look at things when i start house hunting. i'm very picky w/ school districts. even though it would be nice to live in a newer, prettier house - i want my kids to go to the best school and live in the best community, first and foremost. hope that helps and good luck!!

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

i currently live in bay shore (right on the boarder of west islip & about .5 mile from brightwaters) and i love the area!! i know there are some 'not so great' area of bay shore, but there are a lot of not so great areas everywhere - but the area we live in is great!

i also lived in west babylon which was good too... we had some not so great experiences with the neighborhood that if you want more info you can FM me

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

Live in Bay Shore & a product of Bay Shore schools... Teach in Amityville... Best friend teaches in West Babylon...


FM me for details

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

I grew up in Copiague. At that time, Copiague and Amityville were not good school districts.

Re: Amityville, Copaige, W Babylon and bay shore??

DH and I live in Bay Shore right now (renting) and we love the area because we are so close to everything. When we buy we want to look on the south shore...Babylon (the Village) is our top choice and also Sayville, Islip and East Islip. Definitely do some research- even though a lot of these girls gave you excellent information!!

Stay away from Amityville schools and North Babylon...not as good of areas from my research.