long island

mostly suburban area. bedroom communities. life centers around your car and it's functioning properly. culturally distinct from NYC and upstate in various ways. usually if someone was born and raised on long island, they say "Long Island" as opposed to "New York" when someone asks them where they are from. can be extremely boring. real real boring. big box retail and malls, like everywhere else in the united states. once you get past riverhead, it's all very very rural and sparsely populated. The Hamptons are like colonies of sorts ruled over by foreigners. not really considered part of Long Island proper by people who live there, but many people like to go there and look at things, celebrity watch, go to the beaches etc. there are many, many, many nice beaches. everywhere. did I mention cars? cars are everything. a very big part of the culture. I'm sure the population's median income mirrors much of the rest of the country. one of the largest problems Long Island is experiencing is retaining it's young people. a lot of young people can't afford to live there because of the zoning codes and limited amount of affordable housing and apartments, so they end up having to move to the city or somewhere else, or they continue to live with their parents well into their twenties and then move somewhere else.