US-NY-Long Island - Designer Drafter SolidWorks 40-60K

Look before you leap at $60,000. This person had this to say about Long Island:

Most are moving away. Taxes, insurance & home prices are outrageously high. You need to make close to $200,000 a year to survive & to qualify to buy a home.

Great Neck or the North Shore (north or LIE) is really the best. Everything else is trashy.

You won't find a decent starter home for less than $500,000.

Annual taxes are 1.25% - 1.5% of purchase ..

Everything centers around the mall and the consumerist attitude more so than in the rest of the country.

kids in their 30's live at home until they inherit their parents house so they can shop for designer clothes & drive BMW's while living rent free.

Island:

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As someone who is living there (here) working as the above, let me give you a first hand account to the above....

afford to stay are, but there seems to be no lack of replacements wanting to come..

You need to make close to $200,000 a year to survive & to

more affordable it gets - I own 1/2 acre out east I built a house on - I'll just say my houshold income is not anywhere near 200K

rather affluent area all around - Yes, we have our "armpit" areas, but overall, "trashy" is not a word I'd use to describe it. I guess the Hampton's (Hollywood east) on the south shore, is considered trashy.

NYC, NOT TRUE further east...Prices drop considerably as you head from west to east until they bottom out around $250-280 about 3/4 of the way out...Then they begin to rise as you get towards the east end...

area - Property taxes are the biggest problems...Mine are about 7K for 1/2 acre, but I know there are pockets of areas where taxes are anywhere fom $10-20K per year for 1/4 acre with modest house. The biggest culprits are the School districts acconting for 75% of your taxes. Teachers starting salaries here are around 50K and will rise close to 6 figures within 5 years after starting. (Not a bad gig for working 180 days and summers off at the beach, eh?)

people are here for some of the best beahes in the world, great wine country out east, boating, great food!! etc.....

TRUE & FALSE - I'd say that it's hard or impossible to get started now with a house unless you have someone that can help (spouse as 2nd income or such). And yes, there are spoiled kids that meet the above statement, but generally,it's not like that. I'm in my 30's as well as many of my friends, and I don't know anyone who fits that bill, but you do see them around...You wonder why is that 18 year old driving a Hummer? How the hell can he afford that??!?

Now for my own take: While the above looks like I'm defending Long Island, as I have lived here my whole life, I'm not really - I am probably one of those that will be leaving within the next 5-10 years. Why, because if you can make it here and hang in for about 10 years after buying a home, you can sell and go almost anywhere to have a much easier life. It is much harder to come here from somewhere than the other way around just because of the cost of living. We've figured that if we sell our house now and move to say, NC, one of us wouldn't have to work and we could buy a house outright, or get practically a mansion for what we pay now in mortgage. That said, if your young - starting out in a career and want to tough it out for a few years, like access to a great Metro area and great beaches, don't mind traffic too bad - give it a shot - It could be your foot up. But I wouldn't recommed it to someone in their later years in their careers unless the offer was exceptional.

Hope this helps anyone...If anyone has any particular questions about the area, let me know and I'll be glad to try and answer them for you...

Scott