[jumper]

In an earlier post I suggested Ridgefield...from the condo area I suggested, you can walk to the dog park or some open space...on 9/30 we are having our first annual ROAR (Ridgefield Organization for Animal Rescue) dog walk.
Walk the dog, see the town, meet some people..That might be a good time to visit, as your time horizon is extended...BTW, the condo are in town has a very good resale market due to it's location..

[LI_Shells]

Thanks Jumper, I don't think we have any plans that weekend, may be a good weekend to come up and check things out and our little Maddie (blk lab) can meet some doggie friends, lol. Also I forgot to mention if my husband decides to go to the private market there is a good chance he will work in a CT city rather than have to commute to NY, so that would help with his commute.

Good to know about the resale market too!

[JayCT]

The market for condos in Connecticut is still pretty good as long as you have a good location. It is hard to recommend what you should do. Only you and your husband can make that decision. I believe that until he decides on his job, you should wait to move. Once that decision is made, it may make it easier to decide where to move to.

If he has a choice of places in work in Connecticut, may I suggest Hartford. It is a great small city with a lot of wonderful suburbs. Few of the big city hassles and it is fairly affordable. You can be less than two hours from New York or Boston. Good lluck, Jay

[LI_Shells]

Thanks Jay, I agree and the insight you all have provided is helping us get to that deciesion. He just need to figure out if he is saying or leaving and then that will tell us what we can spend if we do want to make the move sooner rather than later. I should of mentioned if he goes private and works in CT he will be in Lower Fairfield, Greenwich/Stamford. We are going to spend a few weekends in the fall taking a "tour" of some of the areas and when we get a bit closer I will check back in, hope all if you are still online, hehe.

Thanks again for all of your help, really.

[JayCT]

We will be here. If Stamford/Greenwich is where he will work, he should try to find a job downtown so he can be near the train station. Traffic into and out of Stamford is pretty bad during rush hour.

If you are driving around the area, I would suggest checking out the Town of Fairfield. Excellent schools, great shopping, good restaurants, wonderful parks and beaches. There will be a new train station on the east end of town with 1500 parking spaces that will help make the commute easier. Plus it is more affordable than the western Fairfield County towns. I highly recommend it. Jay

[ronson]

If you don't mind tacking on another 10 mins to the commute take a look at Stratford. It will fit your price range and has some very quant areas. I would look into the Paradise Green area near Longbrook Park. You could look in the Putney area but the price will be above 500K. Lordship near the water would have some in your range as well. I would still recommend Fairfield but for an up and coming community within your price range you may want to look at the areas I mentioned above. You will have the train, I-95, and the Merritt as your commuting options but adding extra time to the commute is never fun.

Good luck!