Long Beach housing prices aren't so 'cool'

Often while speaking with a Long Beach local for any story I happen to be working on, they ask me, “Do you live in Long Beach?”

I tell them no, I live in Holbrook, which is about three miles from Islip MacArthur Airport. Often the local will either make a comment about how horrible my commute must be (an hour each way), or how I live in “the sticks” (yes, it’s out there, but I’m not exactly in farm territory).

And because people from Long Beach have a genuine passion for their town, they often tell me to move to Long Beach. I sigh and say that I wish I could.

For a beach bum like me, the idea of being minutes away from the ocean would be a dream come true. It also wouldn’t hurt that I would be 16 miles away from the office instead of 35.

I’ll admit, being from Suffolk, I really have no idea what it’s like to circle my block for a parking space. While the parking problems are a turn-off to living my dream life on the beach, the ultimate issue with moving to Long Beach, or any place in Nassau County is the cost of housing.

Long Beach, unlike many areas across the county, is rich with rental property, which is ideal for an unmarried woman in her mid-20s. I have the option of managed facilities like Crystal House on Shore Road or Ocean Club on Broadway, or private legal rentals throughout the city. The cost of these rentals vary depending on a number of factors, including whether the property is managed or private, proximity to the beach and shopping, and the number of bedrooms.

According to local realtor Karen Adamo, a studio apartment right now could run between $825 and $1,300 per month. A privately owned one-bedroom costs between $1,100 to $1,600, while a one bedroom in a managed facility starts at $1,600 and runs has high as $2,100.

Conservative budgeting says that one should allocate 35 percent of his or her salary to housing. So, to figure out how much of my paycheck should go toward rent each month, I got a nifty little worksheet from Chris Capece, who is co-chair of Action Long Island’s Housing and Development Task Force and a development director at AvalonBay Communities. I entered my annual salary and my tax bracket and through the magic of Microsoft Excel it calculates that my recommended monthly housing allowance is $694.