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and looking for suitable places to live. Would want to rent for the first year or so. Single professional guy here. Can someone provide feedback on rentals available in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport? Especially interested in the areas around/surrounding St. Mary's By the Sea, Grovers and Courtland Avenue, Fayerweather Yacht Club, and St. Ann's Church. Is this area convenient to Metro North?
Also interested in perhaps exploring downtown Stamford, Springdale, downtown Norwalk. Really anything cosmopolitan which would fit in with single lifestyle. Not into suburban. Thanks for the feedback!
To access Metro North from Black Rock you would either have to go to downtown Bridgeport or Fairfield. Next year, a new station will open just over the line in Fairfield so you will have a station very close by. The section of Black Rock west of Ellsworth Street is best. I hope this helps. Jay
Springdale is more of a family oriented suburban neighborhood. The young couples living there tend to be starting a family. If you're looking for a lot of singles, scratch Springdale.
Robhere,
Where will you be commuting to? The best is always to check it out in person, but my top three choices for young professionals would be:
1. Stamford
2. South Norwalk (aka "SONO")
3. Black Rock section of Bridgeport
As Jay noted, the train station for Black Rock isn't done yet so you'd have to go to either downtown Bridgeport or downtown Fairfield until then (sometime early next year I think).
Springdale in Stamford is convenient to Metro-North - there's a station right in the middle of the neighborhood. But it's on the New Canaan branch which means service is not frequent and often replaced by a bus. It's really a family neighborhood, primarily Italian-American.
As far as Black Rock in Bridgeport is concerned - yes, they are building a station that will be called Fairfield Metro Center, but there's no opening date yet announced which means it won't be anytime soon. I would NOT move to Black Rock in anticipation of a train station with an uncertain date of entry into operation.
Also, "downtown Norwalk" is not on Metro-North. It's actually a neighborhood where they have the library and the courthouse and such, but the real entertainment district in Norwalk is SoNo (South Norwalk), right on Metro-North. You should bear in mind though, that outside that one street with all the restaurants and the aquarium, South Norwalk is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS area with many crimes against persons taking place on a frequent basis.
and looking for suitable places to live. Would want to rent for the first year or so. Single professional guy here. Can someone provide feedback on rentals available in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport? Especially interested in the areas around/surrounding St. Mary's By the Sea, Grovers and Courtland Avenue, Fayerweather Yacht Club, and St. Ann's Church. Is this area convenient to Metro North?
Also interested in perhaps exploring downtown Stamford, Springdale, downtown Norwalk. Really anything cosmopolitan which would fit in with single lifestyle. Not into suburban. Thanks for the feedback!
I think Black Rock is a great choice for a single guy. There are a number of nice bars and restaurants along the nice part of Fairfield Avenue in Black Rock, and if you go further down Fairfield Avenue to the seedier part, there are, dare I say it, some strip clubs.... So you've got it all covered.
Seriously though, it's a great spot. There is a good section of Black Rock, and a section that is more marginal. Generally, the closer to the water you are, the nicer it is, though there are probably fewer rentals near the water.
You just need to go there and look at places. As JayCT said, there will be a station within walking distance of Black Rock opening next year, and that should really make the area boom even more. It's a very good area.
The new station in Fairfield is not being called Metro Center. That is the name of the office development adjacent to it. It will be called Black Rock Turnpike Station. The First Selectman did not want it called Black Rock since it was not in the Black Rock section. He wanted it called Commerce Drive but the state said it was not close enough to that street so they compromised and called Black Rock Turnpike station which is the street the station will be off of. Jay
Thank you all for your replies with advice and suggestions! I'm taking a ride up to CT today and will be scouting several areas. I'm a district sales manager and would be taking over a region covering Western Connecticut and part of Westchester County. Thus, I'd prefer to live along the I-95 corridor and on the Metro North line. I love Black Rock and I'm sure I would be happy there. I can be patient and wait for the new Metro North station, although I'm not confident that will be up and running early next year as has been forecast. Downtown Stamford I think would be great too, although rents there appear to run higher. I've heard from several other sources that SONO is sketchy and wouldn't be the best choice.
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So you've got it all covered.
