Enhanced Suburban Quality of Life

“Tom Suozzi is still unchallenged in his ability to articulate a vision for a New Suburbia. Suozzi's willingness to take risks and challenge conventional thinking helped get the project get this far.”

-Newsday

"Years from now, when historians write the history of Nassau County and America's other mature suburbs, they will note today's presentation by County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi as a turning point and milestone in the effort to preserve the suburbs"

-Robert D. Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association

Tom loves Nassau County and its suburban lifestyle- single family homes, the park down the street with the baseball field, low crime, low unemployment, high performing schools, good healthcare, and its proximity to New York City. However, Tom recognizes that Nassau has its challenges- including high property taxes, traffic, lack of affordable housing, and pockets of poverty that have been ignored for generations- so he crafted an unprecedented vision for the future to make Nassau an even better place to live.

Introduced by Suozzi in 2005, "New Suburbia" has become a common term among policy organizations that advocate for smart growth and sustainable development. New Suburbia is not just a single program, but a new model that addresses the challenges facing Nassau County and maintains what Long Islanders love about suburbia. When he first introduced the program, Suozzi said: "These projects and my vision are not as much about new buildings and new construction, as it is about stabilizing and reducing property taxes and preserving the quality of life for the long-term".

Suozzi's imagination and determination has brought New Suburbia from vision to implementation. His comprehensive approach focuses on creating "cool downtowns" or exciting places near train stations to live and work, encouraging investment in emerging minority commercial districts, and recycling Brownfields. He is concentrating on implementing two "megaprojects" - a transit system for the redevelopment of the Nassau Coliseum area and the creation of high-technology campus at 101-acre former Grumman property in Bethpage.