Plainview offers its residents ready access to an abundance of resources, including several shopping centers, eateries, houses of worship, medical offices, a hospital, hotels, a community park, a small industrial area and even a plush off-track betting facility.

Plainview and Old Bethpage are often treated as one community, with the two hamlets sharing a school district, senior citizen club, chamber of commerce, library and water district.

The recently expanded Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library on Old Country Road offers a family center, 237-seat auditorium, two conference rooms and an art gallery. Entertainment offerings include theatrical productions and concerts. "We fill the house every time," said library director Rhoda Orenstein.

Neighborhoods throughout the hamlet feature ranches, high-ranches, capes, split-levels, Colonials and a few contemporaries; prices range from $400,000 to $950,000, according to Jerry Silber, associate broker of Coldwell Banker Residential. As land has become scarce, builders have been buying small ranches, leveling them and constructing four- to five-bedroom Colonials that sell between $830,000 and $950,000, said Silber, adding, "It's a market we didn't have before. "Older Colonials on Washington Avenue command similar prices, though some may start at about $750,000.

The most expensive homes are located at The Hamlet on Olde Oyster Bay, a newer gated, luxury resort community just off Exit 48 of the Long Island Expressway in Plainview. The Hamlet features single-family homes, condominiums, an artificial pond and myriad amenities. House prices generally start at about $1.1 million.

- Lisa Doll Bruno (10/21/2005)