[kidyankee764]

Madison, Guilford, Westbrook, Old Lyme. Beautiful towns along the water. Most of the "well groomed" shore towns west of New Haven will be prohibitively expensive where your price range will get you a small fixer upper or a condo.

[nep321]

I am gay and have lived in CT all my life (I'm 26 yo). Every single town in the entire state is accepting of gays, no matter what. However, I wouldn't recommend living in a new development subdivision style neighborhood that looks like it was designed for traditional families. As accepting as people may be, they still judge and talk behind your back. Typical parents don't prefer their young children to see homosexual presence in the neighboorhood. Sounds harsh, but that's just reality. My recommendation is to buy a house in an urban area (a "non family town"), or if you want to live in a family town, just avoid having close neighbors with children. I wouldn't risk it, because buying a home is a huge, serious committment.

[jchoeffler]

Hi Nep

That is good advice. Are there any towns you would suggest? Affordability, and a nice "downtown" would be a plus.

thx!

[iypoon]

Being 'near water' almost always means 'expensive' :P

But yeah, i second Milford. It's a gorgeous town, affordable, great shopping, great beaches, safe, etc. etc.

It's not greenwich, but still, i love the town, i almost bought a house there, but the deal fell through.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by jchoeffler

Hi Nep

That is good advice. Are there any towns you would suggest? Affordability, and a nice "downtown" would be a plus.

thx!

You're very welcome.

Well, based on your criteria, there are numerous choices for having an up to $400K home by the beach with a a downtown and nearby entertainment options. But, if it is to be on the more upscale side, I would recommend Fairfield, Branford, Guilford or Old Saybrook. But, I would say Branford or Guilford is the best among those. They definitely have an upscale feel, numerous homes on the coast, and quite a few gay men in the area of various ages (that I know of, lol). It happens to be close to New Haven, which is the gay mecca of CT. In fact, I know a 47-year old gay man who just built his own home in a neigborhood in Branford, and he says he has absolutely no problems with acceptance from his neighbors. It has a walkable downtown with plenty of shops, restaurants, etc. Even so, New Haven and North Haven are nearby and have plenty more conveniences and entertainment offerings.

[renovating]

Originally Posted by nep321

As accepting as people may be, they still judge and talk behind your back. Typical parents don't prefer their young children to see homosexual presence in the neighboorhood. Sounds harsh, but that's just reality. My recommendation is to buy a house in an urban area (a "non family town"), or if you want to live in a family town, just avoid having close neighbors with children. I wouldn't risk it, because buying a home is a huge, serious committment.

Seriously?? Uh no, this is 2010...seems like you have no idea what typical parents prefer. We could care less whether or not our childrens friends have two mommies or two daddies..what is important to us is good character...period. Judge and talk behind their backs?....Please, get a grip.

OP, upscale towns tend to have residents with higher eduction levels and the higher the education level, the higher the acceptance level. You don't need to avoid living near families in these towns. You would be very welcome.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by renovating

Seriously?? Uh no, this is 2010...seems like you have no idea what typical parents prefer. We could care less whether or not our childrens friends have two mommies or two daddies..what is important to us is good character...period. Judge and talk behind their backs?....Please, get a grip. :

nep321 and renovating...I think this is a case of the law of averages (typical population - 90% straight/10% gay). I think the 10 percent of the population that is gay has encountered a wide range of acceptance by 90 percent of the population that is straight. Even if half of the straight population looks to character vs. orientation in a neighbor, that leaves the other half (45% of the total population) that doesn't. For simplicity's sake, I'm ignoring the "children" aspect.

[JayCT]

I think they may run into a few people who will take issue with their lifestyle but they would probably be people they would not want to assoicate with anyway. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I think they may run into a few people who will take issue with their lifestyle but they would probably be people they would not want to assoicate with anyway. Jay

Very well put and I agree 100%.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by renovating

Seriously?? Uh no, this is 2010...seems like you have no idea what typical parents prefer. We could care less whether or not our childrens friends have two mommies or two daddies..what is important to us is good character...period. Judge and talk behind their backs?....Please, get a grip.

OP, upscale towns tend to have residents with higher eduction levels and the higher the education level, the higher the acceptance level. You don't need to avoid living near families in these towns. You would be very welcome.

I agree about the educated towns having higher acceptance, but let's say that a gay couple decided to move into a new subdivision that attracts families with children. I'm sure no one is going to kill them or whatever, but there is a good chance that the other families in the neighborhood would have preferred to have a traditional family in the gay couple's household. That's all I'm saying. And I'm speaking from what I've been told by other gay men. I know one gay man who owned a house in a "family" neighborhood in North Stonington and he had issues with children in the neighborhood vandalizing his property because he was gay. It may be 2010, and we have made great progress over the decades, but we still have a ways to go if we truly want to see 100.00% acceptance of gay couples living in the middle of a "family" neighborhood.