Huntinfton advice

We just started the home search! I'm a Nassau girl...DH is from Queens and we are thinking about starting our search in Suffolk....due to affordability and lot size compared to Nassau and Queens. Anything i should know about Huntington and Harborfield School District? Do any of you or your Dh commute to NYc for work? If so how is the commute? Which station do you leave from? Thank you in advance for your help.

Re: Huntinfton advice

I grew up in Northport, which is 2 stops after Huntington on the LIRR on the Port Jeff line. However, we grew up going into Huntington for the shopping, restaurants, etc. It is a lovely village with a lot of amenities. It has a decent school district.

Harborfields School District (for the towns of Centerport and Greenlawn, which is, between Huntington and Northport)is a FANTASTIC district. If you can afford it, I would recommend buying in that district before either Huntington or Northport (my own), to be honest.

You can buy in Harborfields and commute from Huntington (save a transfer) and have the best of both worlds!

Message edited 1/4/2009 12:13:05 AM.

Re: Huntinfton advice

I'm in Huntington Station and used to take the train into the city for work. It's about an hour with an express train. The best part is that the train originates in Huntington so you always get a seat (the train gets packed). You can get a parking pass for the lot, it's $30 or $35 for residents for a year. I was able to get a lot of reading done on the train!

It is a nice area - -good location and lots of shops and restaurants around. Most of the area isreally safe too.

I don't know much about the school districts.

Message edited 1/4/2009 12:29:09 AM.

Re: Huntinfton advice

I grew up un Huntington (went to HHS, my DH went to Walt Whitman.) It's a really great town -- great shopping, restaurants, parks. However, the schools are not what they used to be. My friends teach there and it's just not the same. I won't get into why. We moved OOS, but if I still lived there and did NOT commute to NYC, I'd move to Harborfields in a heartbeat. I HATED the commute from Hunt. As a mom, there is no way I'd want to be that far away from my DD. And i just never liked LIRR. It just took too much time away from my life. I did it for 8 years. If I had to work in NYC and commute from LI, i'd look into the port washington line or the south shore (rockville ctr., merrick, bellmore, wantagh, seaford or massapequa) Oh, and another thing about Huntington -- I commuted to Hofstra and it took FOREVER to get to the parkways/LIE. So annoying.

Good luck in your search.

Re: Huntinfton advice

Posted by SuzyQ

Oh, and another thing about Huntington -- I commuted to Hofstra and it took FOREVER to get to the parkways/LIE. So annoying.

Good luck in your search.

Re: Huntinfton advice

I'm in harborfields...there's really not a bad area of the district.

DH commutes to the Huntington train station, it's just under an hour train ride. trains run pretty frequently.

I agree the parkway situation is annoying, takes about 10-15 min to get to one for me.


if you have any questions let me know - plus we are just about to put our house on the market

Re: Huntinfton advice

I would look in harborfields sd

Re: Huntinfton advice

I commute from Huntington station. Like the other posters said, it's about an hour-hour 5 min. The parking at the station is not bad, there are alot of lots. It's $30 for a year's parking pass. I dont hate the commute but I dont love it either..I probably won't do it when I have kids.

I don't find it that hard to get to the Northern State, but I live in South Huntington so that might make a difference.

Harborfields is an excellent district but we couldn't afford it. We opted for South Huntington where I went to school and believe is a very good school district but always underrated by people for some reason. Also, the South Huntington Library is fantastic. But you cannot go wrong with Harborfields..and depending on where in the Harborfields district you are, you might be only about 10 min from the Huntington train station.

Re: Huntinfton advice

Message edited 1/4/2009 1:40:32 PM.

Re: Huntinfton advice

DH and I just recently moved to Greenlawn, which is between Huntington and Centerport/Northport. We LOVE IT! like yourself, I was a Nassau girl and wasn't sure about moving out here. but we got so much more for our money, it was worth it. DH grew up in St. James/Smithtown, so he doesn't think it's far. I work on LI in Nassau off the northern state... my commute is not that bad...about 30 minutes....45 min. to an hour with a lot of traffic. only negative it takes me about 10-15 minutes just to get to the Northern State. DH works in Queens and takes the train from Greenlawn. It's an express train that only stops once before Jamaica. he gets off at Jamaica and hops on the subway and only has about a 45 minute commute. very doable.

We bought in the Elwood school district. We have only heard great things about it and what's nice, it's a Small district. there are only about 100 kids per grade in the whole district.

Harborfields is a great district, but a bit pricey. We couldn't afford it. Elwood can be too, but we were lucky and found ourselves a steal of a house with sellers willing to lower their price. Northport/East Northport is another great district, but also a bit pricey. I don't know your budget, but I would look into Elwood..there are some deals there. Elwood SD is parts of Greenlawn and part of East Northport.

I don't know much about Huntington and the schools (there is more than one district), but we were told to stay away from Huntington Station.

GOOD LUCK!

Re: Huntinfton advice

Message edited 1/4/2009 3:15:13 PM.

Re: Huntinfton advice

I grew up in Centerport and went to Harborfields Schools. It was great when I went there, and a lot of my former classmates are moving back into the district, which I would take as a good sign about the schools. It is expensive there, both in terms of house prices and taxes, but it's a great place to live and for kids, a great place to grow up.

My dad commuted into the City when I was younger, and most of the time would take the train from Greenlawn, but you can get express trains to Penn from Huntington which is only a 7-10 min drive depending on where you are in the district. You'd be a good 15 min from the Northern State and abt 20 to the Sag.

I would also suggest looking into Elwood and Northport, and possibly Cold Spring Harbor. Elwood and CSH are of comparable size to Harborfields. Elwood and Northport might be a tad cheaper than Harborfields, and you may get lucky and find some stuff in CHS.

GL!

Re: Huntinfton advice

i'm in huntington, grew up in melville, went to whitman (s. huntington school district) and my kids now go to south huntington schools also. don't commute by train so don't know much there but it isn't too bad of a ride when i do go into the city. of course we would have preferred elwood school district just because i like that area but no matter where you go there is good and bad at each school. its long island and there really is no perfect school district anymore.

Re: Huntinfton advice

you aren't interested in the south shore?
it's easy to get to major roadways, and the babylon line is fantastic, there are tons of express trains...

Re: Huntinfton advice

Posted by anjerandunder

i'm in huntington, grew up in melville, went to whitman (s. huntington school district) and my kids now go to south huntington schools also. don't commute by train so don't know much there but it isn't too bad of a ride when i do go into the city. of course we would have preferred elwood school district just because i like that area but no matter where you go there is good and bad at each school. its long island and there really is no perfect school district anymore.