[Kate12345]

Hello,

We are a couple in our mid-late 20's and are relocating to CT. I'll be working in Darien and we're looking to rent a single-family house in a safe neighborhood for under/around $2500. We've primarily been considering Stamford and Norwalk. Any information you may have on different neighborhoods to seek out or avoid as well as average commuting times to the White Plains area or NYC would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

[Currency Pair Crocodile]

How safe? There's been some wildlife in Connecticut lately

[Stylo]

Norwalk has mixed neighborhoods. Some great, some not. The area around and south of the South Norwalk station is especially sketchy. There are areas of west Stamford near 95 that are not great. Most of Stamford is very safe, but also very expensive.

You should consider Westport and Fairfield too if you can take the train to Darien for work. You'll get more for your money in Fairfield especially and it's a great, safe town.

Commuting to White Plains from any of these towns sucks due to traffic and the lack of a train option. You'd have to leave really early to avoid traffic.

You can find NYC travel times from all CT stations at the following site: MNR Schedules

[JayCT]

I agree. Getting to White Plains from anywhere east of Stamford gets difficult due to traffic. IT would not be bad if you lived in Stamford which seems to be what you are considering. You might want to check out the Springdale and Glenbrook sections of Stamford. These are nice neighborhoods with stations on the New Canaan branch of Metro North for access to New York, plus you could easily get to the Merritt Parkway for access to White Plains. Jay

[Tubulus]

For $2500 you'll have plenty of options. I currently pay less than that for a nice little house in Westport (2bed/1bath). My landlord owns a bunch of houses in town...pm me if you want his info. There are a lot of rentals around though, many people who haven't been able to sell are renting their houses out, though personally I'd rather go with a 100% rental house so I'm not worried about having to show the house/getting kicked out if it's sold/etc. Darien is at most 25 minutes in rush hour traffic. We really like westport - having the beach, sailing, etc is awesome. The one thing to note is that there are very few people in their 20s (not sure if you have kids) - although this is probably the case in any single-family house neighborhood.

[Kate12345]

Thanks so much for the information! How is the Cove area of Stamford?

[Currency Pair Crocodile]

Originally Posted by Kate12345

Thanks so much for the information! How is the Cove area of Stamford?

It has nice parts and sketchy parts. Lately sketchy parts have been on the rise. My GPS got stolen here and car vandalized in the cove area. But there are parts of the cove close to Darien and Shippan avenue, they are nice, but they are just walking distances away from the sketchy areas.

Another of my problems is the presence of large numbers of Mexicans who do not speak English. It's okay but a constant chatter of Spanish wherever you go is annoying