Where We Were Born (and how that mattered)
Around World War I, commuting had become more feasible, and a number of city residents had relocated to Hicksville. Even so, before the stunning population growth that began around 1945, the village's population was only a fraction of what it would be by the time we began school.
1950s newspapers reported that throughout the county, the population was swelling, and that a large majority of the new-home buyers had come from New York. Indeed, as elsewhere in Nassau, well over 50% of Hicksville High's Class of 1964 was city-born. So many families' moving to Hicksville in a few years overwhelmed and changed it. Population density was only part of the story. Newcomers brought with them their city values, customs, and expectations. Although their neighborhood was new, people quickly turned it into something familiar, because at heart, they were New Yorkers, and they needed lots of city things, like pizza, and bagels.
By the way, whether you were born in a truly rural area or in Nassau County, you got lots of fresh air in Hicksville. But of course, that was possible in the city, too - provided that you and your mother were up for it, and provided that the pigeons and mosquitoes stayed away:
Just don't tell your grandmother about this, OK?
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