South Shore (Long Island)
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The South Shore of Long Island is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to the Long Island coastline in Nassau County and Suffolk County. It is often used as a generic name for the entire southern half of Long Island rather than just the area immediately adjacent to the coastline.
In contrast to the North Shore's reputation of elegance, gentility and "old money," the South Shore is percieved as middle class, ethnic and more densely populated, with pockets of "old money" in a few affluent areas, mainly south of Merrick Road / Montauk Highway. Blue-collar communities such as Valley Stream, Island Park, Copiague, Lindenhurst, Central Islip, and Mastic Beach are considered to be typical in this perception of the South Shore. One affluent section is Hewlett Bay Park, the richest place in New York State, a tiny village of 484 residents located in the Five Towns, which ranks number 18 on the list of highest-income places in the United States, based upon per capita income.
Though the western stretch of the North Shore is considered by most locals to be the more fashionable of Long Island's coasts, once the island splits into two forks at its east end, the South Fork and its tony Hamptons is much more affluent and contains some of the most expensive property in the world.
[edit] South Shore neighborhoods
- Amityville
- Atlantic Beach
- Babylon
- Baldwin
- Bayshore
- Bayport
- Bellmore
- Bellport
- Blue Point
- Bohemia
- Brentwood
- Brightwaters
- Center Moriches
- Central Islip
- Copiague
- Copiague Harbor
- Deer Park
- Five Towns
- East Islip
- East Moriches
- East Patchogue
- East Rockaway
- Freeport
- Great River
- Holbrook
- Island Park
- Islip
- Islip Terrace
- Levittown
- Lido Beach
- Lindenhurst
- Long Beach
- Lynbrook
- Malverne
- Massapequa
- Massapequa Park
- Mastic
- Mastic Beach
- Merrick
- Moriches
- North Amityville
- North Babylon
- North Bellmore
- North Bellport
- North Lindenhurst
- North Massapequa
- North Merrick
- North Valley Stream
- Oakdale
- Oceanside
- Patchogue
- Point Lookout
- Rockville Centre
- Roosevelt
- Sayville
- Seaford
- Shirley
- Valley Stream
- Wantagh
- West Babylon
- West Islip
- West Sayville
- Wyandanch
[edit] Affluent South Shore Communities
- Atlantic Beach
- Babylon Village
- Bayberry Point
- Bayport
- O'co'nee (Bay Shore)
- Bellport
- Brightwaters
- Copiague Harbor
- East Islip
- Great River
- Hewlett Bay Park
- Hewlett Harbor
- Hewlett Neck
- The Hamptons
- Hewlett Neck
- Lido Beach
- The Moorings
- West Islip
With its waterfront location, beaches can be found along the entire South Shore, offering a mix of beaches open to the public and others that offer limited public access, requiring beach passes or limited parking availability. The sands of the South Shore beaches are exceptionally pristine, with finer, white sand and somewhat clearer waters than those of the North Shore beaches. Beaches on the North Shore tend to be extremely rocky and met with murky water.
[edit] Beaches
In approximate west to east order:
- Atlantic Beach
- Lido Beach
- Long Beach
- Jones Beach State Park
- Robert Moses State Park
- Fire Island
- West Hampton Dunes
- Quogue
- Southampton
- East Hampton
- Montauk Point State Park
- Smith Point

