Long Island Quality of Life Survey: While most feel safe, many are pessimistic about aging in place

Editor's note — This is the second in a series of stories that will explore the results of a Newsday/Siena Research Institute survey on how Long Islanders view their life satisfaction. Today's story focuses on issues of livability. A future story will explore opportunity on Long Island.

Long Islanders overwhelmingly believe they have a high quality of life on Long Island, but they have doubts about how long they’ll be able to afford to live here, according to the results of a Newsday/Siena Research Institute Quality of Life survey.

Long Island performed well on many measures of livability, such as public safety, high-performing schools, access to nutritious food and quality health care.

Most Long Islanders reported positive views on the quality of public education, with 69% responding positively to 27% who offered a negative response. Similarly, survey participants had a favorable view of the availability of health care with a 68% to 30% margin of positive-to-negative responses. 

"Long Island is a fantastic place for raising a family," said Daniel Gonzalez, 30, who lives in East Meadow. "There's access to so many things for a family, and the education system is incredible."

But some Long Islanders questioned whether they will be able to stay here long term.

The majority of respondents rated their ability to age in place on Long Island as either fair or poor, outnumbering those who rated their ability “excellent” or “good” by a margin of 54% to 42%.

“You see a majority questioning whether that’s something they’re going to succeed at,” said Siena pollster Don Levy. “It raises questions of affordability, social services, perhaps the weather, and housing. Is Long Island adequately planning and developing the appropriate housing that would facilitate folks who have lived [here] their whole lives to successfully age in place?”

Aging in place is typically defined as the ability for seniors to stay in their homes as they get older. But some younger respondents interviewed by Newsday said they interpreted the question as a referendum on whether they could advance through stages of life here from finding a job to starting a family.

The survey polled 802 respondents between May 27 and June 16 on questions about their quality of life on Long Island. It had a margin of error of 4.3 points.

Catherine Krueger, 75, of Bay Shore, said she rated the quality of life on Long Island as “only fair” primarily because of the cost of living. Krueger, a special education teacher, said it’s hard to keep up with expenses for costs, such as her Medicare Advantage premiums and car repairs, as a single person on Long Island.

Krueger, who rents a basement apartment, said she's daunted by paying for housing as she gets older and as she might need more help at home.

“I’m very thankful that I am still able to work and hope to continue doing that for some time,” she said, “but it can be difficult, especially if you’re alone.”

Seniors weren’t the most pessimistic about aging in place. Respondents ages 35 to 54 were more likely to respond negatively about aging in place, at a margin of 59% to 39%. That compares with 49% of those ages 55 or older who doubted they could age in place. 

Renters were the group most likely to doubt their ability to age in place, at 69%.

Gwen O’Shea, CEO at Community Development Long Island, said she wasn’t surprised that middle-age Long Islanders had such a pessimistic view given the high cost of living, which raises the stakes for anyone suffering a setback, such as a medical emergency or a layoff. 

“You’re spending so much of your income on your monthly costs. A big piece of that may be a mortgage or may be rent,” she said. “There’s no room for a misstep or a loss in income for the majority of Long Islanders.”

CDLI, a Melville-based affordable housing nonprofit, offers several programs that can help people stay in their homes, including foreclosure prevention counseling and grants to make repairs or accessibility modifications.

O’Shea said she was struck that it was no t just low-income Long Islanders, but those whose households earn $100,000 or more who felt pessimistic about aging  in place.

“The affordability crisis is hitting everyone right now,” she said.

Martha McKenzie, a 37-year-old lawyer, said she and her husband have appreciated the friendliness of their neighbors and the quality of health care since moving to Kings Park from Brooklyn in 2022. But as they look to buy a house, they’re considering options in Texas where she believes they will get more for their money and pay lower property taxes.

“Our experience here has been wonderful. We love the people and the scenery,” said McKenzie, “but why does a house that’s basically a gut renovation cost $650,000?”

Long Islanders were also critical of the responsiveness of local government, with 63% responding that it does an "only fair" or "poor" job of responding to the needs of residents. 

Althea Denegall said she would prefer to live in a more walkable community. Denegall, a Valley Stream resident in her late 50s, said she plans to look for job opportunities in other states when she finishes her studies in health care management at St. John’s University.

Denegall said she doesn’t like how much she needs to drive on Long Island and that she often needs to go to big-box stores to find the best prices on groceries.

“I have to drive everywhere. I can’t really walk to any store,” Denegall said. “So I don’t think I’m going to stay here. Once I finish my degree program, I’ll be looking for another state to live in or another city.” 

Strong marks for safety 

 

Long Islanders overwhelming feel safe in their communities. Of respondents, 95% said it is “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that a typical person in their community would feel safe and secure at home.

“That is almost an unheard of score in polling,” Levy said.

That held true across most demographics and political affiliations. Hispanic residents said people were likely to feel safe at a slightly lower rate, 90%. People who rented their homes had the lowest positive response rate, at 89%.

The majority of Long Islanders also responded that police do an "excellent" or "good" job keeping residents safe, by a margin of 73% to 27%.

Those responses differed across racial lines. Of white respondents, 82% said police were doing an "excellent" or "good" job compared with 60% of Hispanic respondents and 59% of Black respondents.

Gonzalez said he was recently impressed when police showed up within minutes of his call to report a car crash in his neighborhood. He said he feels safe here and believes he got a high-quality education at East Meadow High School, where he played the trumpet in its award-winning marching band.

Gonzalez, a mechanical engineer, said he would be willing to continue to endure Long Island’s traffic if he can eventually afford to buy his own home. He is living with his parents while he saves to buy a house or condo rather than spending money on rent.

“The only unfortunate thing in terms of living on Long Island is the cost of living has continued to go up over the years,” Gonzalez said. “That would be the only driving factor to have me move away from Long Island, should I move away.”