[vik876]

Hi guys,

I am currently scheduled to move to CT for 8 months in a company(BIC) located in Shelton. Thus I was looking for cities around Shelton where I could stay for 8 months.

Something about myself : 24 year old Indian, recently graduated in business studies, was staying in Paris for last 2 years. Love sports specially soccer.

I have a couple of basic criteria which I am looking for in a city where I would stay. Would be wonderful if someone could help me out. Since this is my first ever visit to the States, I have no clue about CT or any city there.

- Within 30 min driving distance to Shelton
- Preferably having young crowd and decent number of bars and pubs.
- Having grocery stores at walkable distances.
- Some sports facilities nearby
- Ease of finding a furnished studio/1 br rental
- Safety

I zoomed in on New Haven/West haven or Milford. Could you please suggest one of them or any other city which would be better suited for me.
I tried searching a bit in forum for a query similar to mine to avoid redundancy but couldn't find anything on similar lines.

Thanks for the help
Vikram

[MikefromCT]

Hi Vikram,

You sound like you're off to a good start of your search. Milford and New Haven are both great places for a young person, but they can also be expensive too. Lately NH has made the news alot for its crime, but this is in areas isolated from main streets that have the nightlife you're looking for. Downtown NH is a great place. Many young people find it very desireable and as such it isn't cheap. Milford will probably be less expensive, but I have no idea what's out there for rentals. Milford is a suburb and though it's smaller they have a downtown as well and it's really nice. Overall it's a low-crime community, I can't think of any areas to avoid here (though others who live nearby can probably give more details.) Either of these will provide a fairly short commute to Shelton & they both have what you're looking for, so check 'em out!

[Stylo]

Hmm, what is your budget?

Milford definitely fits all your criteria if you live downtown. There's about 7-8 popular bars within walking distance of each other with a mostly younger crowd. Good restaurants too, and Shop Rite and some small specialty stores are within walking distance. It's extremely safe. There's a public park (Wilcox Park) with basketball courts, baseball fields, and tennis courts. There's also fields near the government buildings. Both high schools have a track and football/soccer fields. There are also a few indoor sports complexes in town and a few large gyms (LA Fitness, The Edge, and Planet Fitness). I believe there are indoor soccer leagues in the area.

Black Rock in Bridgeport might not be a bad option either. I won't say it's got quite the variety of amenities walkable as downtown Milford, but there are some pretty decent bars and nightlife scene. Might be slightly cheaper too.

New Haven is really pushing your 30 minute commute to BIC, but if you want to check it out, here are the safe/walkable neighborhoods: Downtown (anything near the Yale Campus, just about), East Rock, Wooster Square. They do come at a price. Westville is nice and safe and has a couple good bars, but I question just how walkable it is. New Haven has the best nightlife scene in CT by far, but I'm not sure it's the best place for you to live given your work location. The nice thing about Milford is you're 10-15 minutes to downtown New Haven and can even take the train. I live in Milford and the bars are a little quieter in the winter (they're hopping in the warmer months) so I've been splitting my time at about 1/3 local nightlife and 2/3 New Haven. It's great to have that convenience.

Furnished might be tough anywhere around here, you might have to invest in some cheap furniture. Luckily there's some great inexpensive furniture stores in the area, Ikea, Bob's, etc.

Spinnaker manages most of the apartment complexes in downtown Milford. There's also lots of single and multi-family homes to rent. Spinnaker is opening 2 beautiful new complexes you might want to check out: Harbor Point, which is right in the heart of the bar scene and overlooks the harbor, and Prospect Falls, which is closer to Shop Rite, but still easily walkable to downtown and the train. Spinnaker Apartments

I'd personally avoid West Haven, unless you have a low budget. It's not particularly dangerous or anything, just doesn't have much going for it except its beaches.

Btw - Anna Liffey's in New Haven is a pretty cool Irish pub that is soccer themed.

[seymourct]

Nice , young, exciting, all findable .. Walking distance to supermarket gets tricky - most stores are in suburban neighborhoods that require a car. New Haven has a supermarket, but I wouldn't live in walking distance of it.
Furnished gets more difficult still.

Good luck.. You might want to get a cheap car while here, stay in shelton, and drive to NHaven for the nightlife.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by seymourct

Nice , young, exciting, all findable .. Walking distance to supermarket gets tricky - most stores are in suburban neighborhoods that require a car. New Haven has a supermarket, but I wouldn't live in walking distance of it.
Furnished gets more difficult still.

Good luck.. You might want to get a cheap car while here, stay in shelton, and drive to NHaven for the nightlife.

Sounds like the OP intends to have a car but wants something in walking distance for convenience.

FWIW 360 State Street in New Haven has a good co-op supermarket. Expensive apartment building too.

The new Prospect Falls apartment building in downtown Milford is a short half mile walk to ShopRite:

25 Prospect St, Milford, CT 06460 to Cherry St - Google Maps

[seymourct]

Whelp.. I wouldnt want to walk that with a load of groceries, and does the building by shoprite have an elevator? Dragging stuff up stairs after walking is not fun. I had a third floor condo yrs ago & would come home from store only to find elevator had died ... Walk to store then stairs ... Nah

[anon860]

New Haven is by far your best bet. I know literally dozens of young single people and international expatriates who work in the Shelton/Milford/Bridgeport area but choose to live in central New Haven. Westville would be a bit closer to work, perhaps, than areas like East Rock and is also slightly less expensive. Here is a list of other areas you might consider: http://www.city-data.com/forum/22295790-post11.html , more detail at http://www.city-data.com/forum/22298226-post17.html. Downtown New Haven or the southernmost section of East Rock (around Orange Street, south of Edwards or so) are probably the most walkable of these areas I listed. From these areas you can walk to about 200 different bars and restaurants, and at least a dozen grocers.

Proximity wise, you might also consider the Black Rock area of Bridgeport or central Milford, but in my opinion, they aren't even a tenth as vibrant, interesting or walkable - you'll mostly be relying on a car if you do that. Downtown Stamford and West Hartford (the only cities in the state of CT that are walkable, other than New Haven) may also be to your liking but they are definitely farther away.

[Stylo]

Yes, Stamford is too far away (45 minute drive) and West Hartford is well over an hour. Stamford isn't bad, but it can't beat New Haven on amount of nightlife and lively city feel.

Black Rock and Milford are pretty vibrant for their size. Milford especially is very alive during the warmer months. The downtown is quite bustling and it has more outdoors sports options in short walking distance than most parts of New Haven. It's a good choice in that it's a very safe community and many essentials are a short walk. But New Haven isn't a bad option either. It'll just be a bit pricier for the most desirable areas. And I don't really see Westville as very walkable. You'd still need a car to get to the good stuff downtown, or rely heavily on the bus. He'll have a car to commute to Shelton anyway so I don't see the problem using it a bit.

[gibsonzero]

New Haven pushes it with the commute. BIC isn't like borderline shelton. You have to go a ways into shelton to get there and the corporate park early morning traffic is no joke.(I mean not nearly as bad as 95 south in the AM but traffic is traffic). I wouldn't live in New Haven unless you really do not might the commute in the morning. Its a pain getting out of the NH and a pain getting in. I recommend perhaps milford or what about Shelton itself?

Black Rock is nice and you will get a decent nightlife there with all of the bars on fairfield ave. Its a very nice strip. I like to consider what is around me when pickng places. you will have BPT and Fairfield next door.

[vik876]

Sorry for being absent guys. Was traveling with no access to net.

Thanks a lot for so many inputs. I am getting better idea regarding the cities.

Regarding furnished rentals, I understood that concept of furnished rentals isn't really popular In the states and thus buying in cheap furniture seems the best bet.

Company would be paying me 1500$ for housing in which I am trying to fit in house rental (1br) + furniture rental ( I heard about companies renting furniture on per month charges)

Milford seems to be a nice little city. But I understand it is not as vibrant and active as New Haven. Where do most of the expats, young professionals, students live? I guess I would hate to drive down to another city every time I need to meet up with some friend. (It is just that I don't really like driving often in a day) Is there any public transportation to New Haven ?

New Haven appears to be a big lively city. What do you think would be the commuting times in the evening (BIC people start off really early morning, 8 am, so traffic should be fine during that time)? how safe is the city in general ? (that's the remark I hear from everyone. I mean is it safe to walk or cycle down to my home after late night in the bar ?)

Could you also tell bit about average rental rates for a 1 br in both these cities?

Thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate you helping me out here and providing your inputs.