Living in Wheatley Heights

Wheatley Heights is home to two parks, a small commercial center and several civic groups, adds Kathleen Doerrie of Coach Realtors. Hermann Griem Park is between Brown Boulevard and Landscape Drive, while Kevin Ver Pault Memorial Park is off of Little East Neck Road.

Though the community is largely residential, there is access to a small shopping center, the post office and a gas station on Colonial Springs Road. The Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds and the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts are also on Colonial Springs Road. The community plaza, a beautification effort with decorative fencing and lighting, benches, landscaping and pathways, is there, too. It is a project of the Concerned Taxpayers of Wheatley Heights/Dix Hills Civic Association.

Thomas, who is president of the civic group, notes there are "various organizations doing positive things." She cites in part The Mothers Club of Wheatley Heights, Wheatley Heights Concerned Fathers Association and the Wyandanch Wheatley Heights Ambulance Corp.

As for housing, buyers can find Colonials, Capes and various ranch styles. There's a co-op complex on Main Avenue, too, where units "go quickly," says Doerrie.

Town: Babylon

Area: 1.4 square miles

ZIP code: 11798

Population: 5,523

Median age: 37.7

Median household income: $99,583

Median home value: $365,000

LIRR time to NYC: From Wyandanch, 49 minutes to 64 minutes at peak

Monthly ticket: $325

School districts: Most students attend Half Hollow Hills; others go to Wyandanch