Musings: We just live in a nice place
The Fire Island ferry is just one of the many ways to travel to a variety of places that Long Island has to offer residents and tourists. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Can we please stop talking about rising home prices and an unaffordability problem on Long Island? We live on an island, near water, and anywhere in the world land that is near water is expensive. This should come as no surprise to anyone.
Consequently, we have plenty of beaches around our island. That’s a nice thing. We live by train (from many towns) within one hour of arguably the most dynamic city in the world. A couple of hours east are the Hamptons and Montauk, vineyards and farms, and a few hours north, we have the Adirondack region. Then, farther north, skiing in the winters.
Ferries can take us to Block Island and Fire Island or Connecticut, which offers a short trip to places like Boston and Newport, Rhode Island. We have some of the nation’s top public schools, and for a non-city, we have the Long Island Rail Road, which snakes its tracks close enough for anyone to jump on for a ride.
Scattered across the Island are great restaurants and quaint towns, plus plenty of parks and trails for walking, biking, and hiking.
So, please let’s stop framing this issue of rising prices as some sort of evil problem that has a fix. We just live in a nice place.
— Darren Sheehan, Huntington
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