Plugging the Brain Drain

The continuing exodus

Young people are leaving L.I. for more affordable areas

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Part two in a series, “Plugging the brain drain.”

The lack of affordable housing on Long Island is forcing young adults to leave the area in droves. And as their population decreases and the cost of living keeps increasing, businesses are also taking part in the exodus, damaging the Long Island economy.

According to a poll conducted by the Long Island Index, 69 percent of people 18 to 34 are “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to leave Long Island within the next five years. According to Maritza Silva-Farrell, a community organizer for the Long Island Progressive Coalition, what young people want, more and more, is to live in an area like Huntington Village — an area with shops, restaurants and bars in a walkable area.

The best places to develop more areas like that are in the downtowns that already exist in many Nassau communities. “When you see the sea of parking we have on Long Island, isn’t that a possibility?” said Ann Golob, director of the Long Island Index. “If people would be a little less scared of the possibility of multi-level parking structures — which are ubiquitous throughout the country, but pretty rare on Long Island — there might be some exciting possibilities.”

But restrictions placed by villages and towns on building height and density means that anyone who wants to build an affordable housing complex in a downtown area—or even add on to an existing structure — must apply for a zoning variance, which can be a long, expensive and ultimately futile process.

White-bread Long Island

Keeping communities limited to mainly single-family homes restricts the people who can live in the area, creating homogeneous communities.

In 2000, 62 percent of the homes sold on the Island were priced under $250,000. Just six years later, only 4 percent of homes were. “So while we used to talk about starter homes, now we talk about starter castles on Long Island,” Golob said. “Because the size of the homes, the cost of the homes is completely out of league with what an average person can afford.”

The dearth of affordable housing helps creates homogenous communities. But what many young people want is diversity.

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