Relocating from Pacific Northwest to Long Island, NY.

I LOVE Long Island! Love the people, love the proximity to NYC, love the large lots and (mostly) pretty houses. Love Dunkin'. Love that I can throw a rock out of my car window and hit about 10 places where I can get decent salami. What's not to like?!

Drawback: the snow. Yuck. Cabin fever in the winter. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, year round, consider that carefully. I'm Calif born and raised, and the weather is the only reason why I will never be a New Yorker. If that doesn't bother you, I say go for it.

I live on L.I. Lots to like about it - sunny days, moderate weather, the beach, the beach, the beach, proximity to NYC, proximity to ferries up to New England. Oh, and some extremely good schools (unfortunately, not so much where I live). However, as someone pointed out,the cost of living is very high, higher than the Pacific Northwest. Also, commuting to NYC can be hell for your spouse - something to consider when looking at places to live. You want to be near an express station and figure in the cost of that monthly train ticket! Ouch!

As for family - plane tickets into JFK can be inexpensive compared to other airports. People love to come visit when you're close to NYC.

The move will only be worth it if the compensation is significantly higher - I'm talking at least $20K a year more, if not higher.

Best of luck!

Can you go there and visit first? It is nothing like where you live now. The winters are cold,damp and dreary. I know there are some nice areas on Long Island but I am not sure which ones.

I grew up on long Island in a very nice community with great schools. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Commuting to New York city is easy in most areas. But the housing costs and cost of living is pretty high. I can maybe help you as to what towns are nice and have good schools but I think a realator may be able to check a lot of that info too if you decide to move. Leaving family may be hard but you will have to make that call. I was unhappy far away from family so I moved back to the NY area after grad school. For me the higher cost of living was worth having my whole extended family nearby.

Hi, I live in Hicksville, Long Island. It is about a 40 minute train ride from Manhattan. It's a great town in many ways. We're 20 minutes from several north and south shore beaches, so we can swim either on the Long Island sound or in the ocean. We are near a TON of kid activities (15 min from the Long Island Childrens musem, and many playgrounds and parks etc).

I am happy to share more about our area, house prices, our schools etc, if you PM me.

One positive part of the economy is housing prices have crashed and there are definite house steals out there.

I have no idea why Jackie P said our winters are "cold damp and dreary". That's not true - we have cold weather, but it is usually pretty sunny. We had almost no snow this year which was VERY unusual. Last year we had a ton of snow.

Anyways, I have lived in this area all my life and can fill you in quite a bit.

That's a big move and a big decision to make!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I think you should take this opportunity to experience all that the east coast has to offer. LI is close to NYC and not far at all from New England, Philly, DC. I would love to live there if I could. Extremely expensive though but you may be used to that depending on where you live.

Sounds like the cards line up nicely. With skype, no one is that far nowadays.

congrats to hubs for being headhunted in this fashion.
good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I'm from Long Island and I live in LA now. I would move back tomorrow if I could get my husband to move! LI is a great place to live and raise a family. You do want to live in a good school district - local taxes go right to the schools - so good neighborhoods generally have good schools. Check greatschools.com so you know which areas to look in. However, it is more expensive than other places and there is a lot of traffic. Property taxes are high but again some of that goes to the schools. For you to move, the pay and compensation have to be so good that you can't turn them down. There is a lot to be said for having your family close by to help out with the kids. Good luck!