Joseph, The Queen: My grandparents first moved here in the 60s. The community was very small, though not nearly as small as it had been 20 years before, when it started to become a year-round community and not just “the first stop to the country.” (So I guess I’m third-generation…? But my grandparents don’t live here anymore.)
There were small groups- though few large enough to be considered their own community- of many different types of Jews. The biggest school- still not that big- was YSV, which had a huge mix, from the chassidish kids to the girls who wore pants. I believe that Bais Rochel and Bais Dovid existed then as well (though I could be wrong), as well as ASHAR. There was one pizza store, a fleishig catering store, a bunch of shuls, and that was about it. It was very diverse- chassidish, yeshivish, MO, the whole gamut. And some of all of them were in my mom’s BY Monsey class.
So, Joe, you’re right- there have been chassidim here for a long time. But people have been emphasizing a chassidic majority, which did not exist until relatively recently (though when I say relatively, I may well mean the 80s). The rest of the community, such as on the other side of Viola, has also been growing exponentially.
The Queen: I agree with you, though I do like my block with its single-family homes with yards. The people who choose to live near me, though, I welcome no matter what their hashkafa. I think that there is an infrastructure problem, though, in a general sense.