[brandeeno]

I have been looking at Greenwich real estate listings lately, and its seems like it can be quite doable in the 500-650k range. However, I have noticed that the houses in the range, appear to be grouped and isolated to a particular geographic region, which looks like the southern portion of the town, and a lot near the NY boarder. See the attached screenshot for where I am talking about.


I have not visited yet, so would like to know if anybody has any comments on these neighborhoods/areas? Are they trashy? How do they compare to the richer areas aside from the obvious bigger/pricer lots and houses? Are the people different? How so? etc...

Also, are the Cos Cob schools the same as the greenwich school system? (like would cos cobs be going to greenwich highschool?).

Thank you all.

[kidyankee764]

First, I'm not sure why Old Greenwich is excluded in that map because it's part of Greenwich as well.

Byram (the southwestern side of town) is cheapest, with modest homes on small lots. You can get a smaller home in that section of town for the 600's nowadays, maybe 500's with some TLC. Cos Cob is pricier though (south-central Greenwich).

All of the sections of Greenwich have their own elementary schools (Cos Cob, Riverside, Old Greenwich, etc), and there are two middle schools, but they all go to Greenwich High.

The wealthiest areas are mostly concentrated along the shoreline of Greenwich, and north of Route 1. These are some of the most powerful and affluent people in the world, and that being said, their kids generally will go to Brunswick, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country, or boarding schools like Choate, Canterbury, Gunnery, etc.

[brandeeno]

I see, thanks for the info.

So would it be safe to say, that the kids in the public school system, are more or less like those of other non-wealthy kids?

To be blunt, I am wondering if the parents and kids of the inexpensive areas are less snobby that are in the wealthier areas. And I don't mean to say all wealthy people are snobs... its just there are some of them who feel their tastes and ideas are superior then others.

thanks.

[kidyankee764]

I know what you mean.

Due to its diversity, many parts of Greenwich are less snobby than smaller towns like New Canaan and Darien. That doesn't mean you won't encounter very rich people/kids in the school system, but there are enough down to earth people in town to balance that out.

I know many great people who live in Greenwich and if you can afford to buy in town, I say go for it.

[Stylo]

The parts near Port Chester are older, dense and not particularly attractive. It's not a bad area though. Even there, for $500k you're going to be getting a house that needs a lot of work.

[jax12479]

The most affordable sections of Greenwich are the western neighborhoods of Byram and Glenville, which border Port Chester, NY. That is not to say they are "cheap." You'd still be looking at an old fixer-upper for $550k.

These neighborhoods are not in any way dangerous, seedy or trashy -- no part of Greenwich is "trashy." They are blue collar neighborhoods. People who live there are primarily cops/firefighters, postal and construction workers, etc. There are also a higher number of immigrants there, especially Hispanic and Italian residents. The homes are generally older, close together and a mix of single family and two family properties. If you're familiar with NYC, Byram reminds me of some neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, like Floral Park, Queens or Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. It's a close-knit community with a lot of delis, mom and pop shops, barbers, etc.

The main downside of the Western part of town is the schools. They are simply not as good as the schools in central and eastern Greenwich. I definitely wouldn't call them "bad" -- they're still far superior than schools in larger cities like Stamford and Norwalk, but they're not as good as other public schools in Greenwich. Check out schooldigger.com if you'd like to know more about specific schools.

[Kristin85]

I live in the Byram area of Greenwich near the Port Chester border. No smugness here at all. All of my surrounding neighbors are immigrants or retirees. People a few blocks away are young adults that can't afford million dollar homes. Once in a blue moon I get packages stolen from outside my apartment, but besides that crime is rare. The elementary schools-as Jax said-aren't as good as the schools in wealthier areas of town, but they are still better than most other suburbs' schools nonetheless. Most of the teenagers in town seem to socialize regards of whether they go to Greenwich High or private schools, so you don't need to worry about a class divide. For all of the perks you'd get living in Greenwich, it makes sense to live in Byram.

[brandeeno]

great, thanks all. that eases some of my fears.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Kristin85

Most of the teenagers in town seem to socialize regards of whether they go to Greenwich High or private schools, so you don't need to worry about a class divide.

This wasn't my experience growing up in New Canaan. In fact, most public school New Canaanites don't even know the private schoolers.

[howdydoody342]

I grew up there. Byram and glenville are areas where there is very heavy old italian neighborhoods with a lot of working class people. Greenwich was a different world 50 years ago, but once a lot of people from NYC started moving in it started to change into a very yuppy area. A lot of people are nice dont get me wrong but a lot live in fantasy. I think Greenwich has more diversity than smaller towns like Darien and New Cannan and also has 2 housing projects.