Single mom moving to Ridgefield area (Danbury, Fairfield: apartment complexes, rentals, condo)

Rainbow66 · 11-22-2010, 08:00 PM

I am a single mom with a 10 year old son who will be moving to Ridgefield for a new job starting January 2011. Since I have a son so school is important for me. I need help to find:

1) Are all the area within Ridgefield good for school since it is an expensive area?
2) Do you have suggestions on which apartment to rent for a 2-bedroom (1-bedroom also ok) for under $2000 per month? I would like the newer apartment to exchange the size(smaller) of the apartment.

Thanks for your reply in advance.

Rainbow66 · 11-23-2010, 02:23 AM

I am 40-ish single mom with a 10 year old son from midwest. I just secured a job in Ridgefield CT(yes!!!). I have a few questions that I need your help:

1) Is the Ridgefield CT area friendly for a single mom, and also a minority?

2) I want to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in an area with a nice or above average public elementary school. Could you help narrow down the areas that I should focused on looking? My budget for renting is $1800/month. Of course the cheaper the better.

3) I would also prefer to have shorter commute considering I am coming from midwest and will be relatively busy for a single parent. Is Danbury a good choice? Which areas should I avoid in Danbury in terms of school? Should I stay in Ridgefield if I can afford it? Are there other area that I can consider too?

4) If you could give me the list of apartment rental, that would be great as I may not be able to fly there to check the apartments.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Rainbow66 · 11-23-2010, 02:34 AM

I just checked my company's location is at I-84/Saw Mill Road. It seems it is very close to Danbury, but still within Ridgefield, and a little farther from downtown Ridgefield.

JayCT · 11-23-2010, 07:24 AM

Ridgefield is an upscale suburban town with excellent schools. It is however mostly a town with single fasmily homes that are very pricey. Most of the rental properties in this area are in Danbury which is a small city whose schools do not perform well on state standardized tests. That said I would look for places in towns such as Brookfield, Bethel, New Fairfield and Newtown. There are not many, if any, large scale apartment complexes in this area (this is true for most of Connecticut actually) so you may have to look at apartments that are not that new. Location (in a town with good schools) to me is much more important than having a newer apartment. Check with a realtor for listings. Good luck, Jay

Rainbow66 · 11-23-2010, 10:21 AM

Thanks Jay for the reply. That is helpful. Yes I would prefer a good school to a newer apartment. I hope it will not look odd for me and my son if I rent an apartment in Ridgefield with all the rich family in the neiborhood.

JayCT · 11-23-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainbow66

Thanks Jay for the reply. That is helpful. Yes I would prefer a good school to a newer apartment. I hope it will not look odd for me and my son if I rent an apartment in Ridgefield with all the rich family in the neiborhood.

Though it is known for its wealth, there are many people of more modest means as well. You might have a tough time finding a good apartment though since there are few and they move quickly. Jay

peanut24 · 11-23-2010, 11:57 AM

if your going to be traveling for work to Danbury from Ridgefield just be warned about the construction on RT 7. It gets very slow/backed up around rush hours but the project is supposed to be done next winter. You might want to focus your search north of the downtown Ridgefield as that strip on Main st is also busy at rush hour. I believe all the schools here are good, you really can't go wrong. I looked in the MLS and found a few for under $2000, there is a beautiful 2bed in a complex here called CASAGMO for $1700. Its just north of main st but you can still walk downtown. There are a lot of multifamily homes that have places instead of a apartment complex. Good luck! I am also from the midwest PM me if you have any questions, I live in Ridgefield.

yankeemom · 11-23-2010, 12:08 PM

There are not that many rental complexes, but there are some condo/townhouses that private owners rent out. A quick google search took me to Caldwell Banker in Ridgefield with several options under $2250. I also thought of Avalon Green in Wilton, but that is the other side of Ridgefield from where your job is located, so that would make your commute a bit tougher.
The schools and community in Ridgefield are so strong, I would look for housing there first, before expanding to outlying communities. There is a complex on Ridgefield road, on the way toward Danbury that has a few units on the Caldwell Banker site, but I would not recommend that with kids. The units are new and look nice, but it is not walkable to anything! Call a realtor and ask for someone who knows the rental market and can forward you listings that meet your criteria! Welcome to CT

arielmina · 11-23-2010, 01:31 PM

all the schools in within Ridgefield's borders are excellent so find a place to live first and you'll be fine. There are two condo complexes, Fox Hill and Casagmo where you will likely find plenty of rentals. There are some apartments behind Main Street too no idea what they are like. There are plenty of single parents and working moms, it's not the most diverse town but very accepting of othe ethnicities.