[TCJ]

I grew up in Queens, lived in Manhattan for 10 years and lived in Huntington LI for 4 1/2 years. I did not like Huntington (beautiful place but a lot strange people-not too down to earth, not too great a sense of humor, very mall oriented) We are moving ( my husband, my 5 year old and myself) and are torn between Mattituck and Fairfield. We have spent a lot of time on the East End and love it, but wonder how it would be to actually live there (too extreme a change?) I've heard that Fairfield is a great place to live, but don't want to run into another Huntington. My husband will be commuting to Manhattan and if we choose Mattituck he will have to stay in the city 2 nights a week (we think we can deal with that) We know that the schools are good in each place so we are not worried about that. We have already started our house hunting in both places and it seems so far that in our price range (500k-600k) we are looking at more beautiful area (Mattituck) vs. better houses (Fairfield) Any input would be helpful especially if I am lucky enough to find someone who is familiar with both areas!

[ctgal21]

I grew up on LI and my grandparents lived in Southhold for many years so I'm somewhat familiar with Mattituck. I live about a 1/2 hour east of Fairfield but have visited the town a few times. Fairfield is very different then the north fork of LI. When I drove around Fairfield, it seemed like a very family oriented town, right in the middle of things in Fairfield County. You didn't have to drive too far for many amenties. You have to back track to Riverhead for a good variety of big box stores. It really depends on what type of enviroment and amenties you are looking for.

[JayCT]

I looked up where Mattiruck is located and boy it is pretty far out. I don't know the area but do know that eastern Long Island is beautiful. My question to you though is why would you want to be so far from your husband's job in New York. Fairfield may not be as scenic but it is still a beautiful town with a lot of great amenities and beautiful area. Fairfield has a wide range of housing options so you will find people to be a little more down to earth than some of the lower Fairfield County towns. The schools are excellent and pretty much everything you will need is nearby, plus the train into New York wil get you there in an hour and 15 mintues or so. Mattituck appears to have limited service, is over two hours by train and requires multiple transfers. Not my idea of a reasonable commute. If your husband is willing to do that, then I would recommend looking into some of the towns east of New Haven. I hope this helps. Jay