[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by RomanInSF

Paul Newman has always been one of my favorite actors, yet he never embraced all the Hollywood glitter and pretense. Living on the west coast, I never hear about him, except the occasional story about his racing or his products such as "Newman's Own." I've always been intrigued why he settled on CT? Can any of you long-time CT residents shed some light on the reasons he chose CT over other places such as CA? He of course could've lived anywhere. I'm thinking that over the years, he has expressed in various forms locally.

Reason I ask, is because I am grappling with my own reasons for being in CA, and comtemplating a move. My daughter may be attending Yale, and the idea of moving has crossed our minds more than a few times.

Thanks for your insights.

Hey there. Have you ever been to Westport, CT? It is quaint, charming, high-end boutique-filled, its downtown is reminiscent of a 1920s or 1930s era downtown--yet filled with high end retailers and specialty shops. The homes in and around Westport are some of the most magnificent in the state of CT. Plus, the train to NYC puts you in Manhattan in an hour. There are 4 seasons, the ocean is 10 minutes away, and all of the excitement of NYC is right down the road. There are no earthquakes, forest fires, paparazzi, crazy fast sprawl, and the zoning is very strict (prohibiting big box stores).

Check it out and you'll see the quality of life in Fairfield County, CT is some of the best I've seen.

[jumper]

Too true about former CA residents and the cold. My wife and I were walking through
town with our friends (formerly of CA) on Friday night. The Holiday Stroll in Ridgefield is
a big night. In and out of stores and offices, we finally stopped for a while at mine,
(Keller Williams) because they needed to warm up, and hot apple cider was something
they had never experienced!

[skytrekker]

Winters in Connecticut last from early/mid December to mid to late March. During this time you will experience varying amounts of cold and snow or ice.

Being very familiar with the SF Bay area with its very temperate climate in 4 seasons, this will take some adjustment. Remember the average high temperture in San Jose in January is 60, in New Haven it is 39.

Summers here can be rather warm to hot- with at times unpleasant levels of humidity will make you sweat. Though hot periods only occur from late June to late August, and there are many periods of pleasant warm summer weather.

Spring is perhaps the shortest season, and Autumn the longest. With winter and summer in between.

[sliver203]

There are many celebrities in Connecticut - we hardly mentioned a fraction of them. As others have said, we don't have the paparazzi here and the famous don't venture out looking like they're going to a photo shoot. I saw Letterman in the Ridgefield Gap a few summers ago - he was wearing sweatpants and a New Canaan High School hoodie. Nobody surrounded him - he was noticed but folks kept doing what they were doing. It was a funny sight.

What kind of town are you looking to reside in *if* you were to move? Rural? Suburban? Urban? As others have said, the cities with a good deal of crime in Connecticut are parts of Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury. The small towns are very very safe. Negatives include the weather (of course) but it's really not all that bad. Winters are very mild compared to upstate NY and the Midwest. We have a few very cold days each winter (subzero) and a few very hot days in the summer (95+) but in my opinion, there's nothing like cold weather on Christmas Eve and hot weather on the Fourth of July. You might like the four seasons. As for traffic here - it's bad but NOTHING like California. On 95 in Fairfield County will be particularly bad, as is Route 7 between Danbury and Norwalk during the rush hour. If you live in the southern Litchfield Hills, chances are you will be taking Route 67 into New Haven - this can get congested between Southbury and Seymour during the rush hour. Other than that, I can't think of any other negatives one will face coming from CA.

I have lived in Westport and the town is beautiful. The boutiques downtown are fabulous and the homes range from quaint to stunning. Prices here will be similar to San Francisco whereas if you were to check out a suburb east of New Haven (Guilford, Madison, Old Saybrook, Branford) the prices will be much lower because NYC is over an hour away.

I know many people who are software engineers in the Norwalk/Stamford area. They are making good money and love the people they work with.

[JayCT]

I remember seeing Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward shopping in Barkers, a discount department store on the Post Road years ago. That was really odd. I think he was looking at stationary or something. I also drove some friends by their home one summer and he was out in the driveway in just shorts. The girls went wild. Jay

[gomet]

Like someone said before, Limerock has something to do with it. That is a beautiful race course nestled around some beautiful scenery.

And he is still racing.

[reason180]

The area has produced many talented actors including:

Bridgeport - Kevin Nealon from Saturday Night Live and Weeds
Richard Belzer from Law & Order(he plays John Munch)
John Ratzenberger(Cliff from Cheers).

Fairfield - Meg Ryan - You've Got Mail
Michael Weatherly - NCIS
Justin Long - plays the Mac computer in those commercials

[sliver203]

Originally Posted by reason180

The area has produced many talented actors including:

Bridgeport - Kevin Nealon from Saturday Night Live and Weeds
Richard Belzer from Law & Order(he plays John Munch)
John Ratzenberger(Cliff from Cheers).

Fairfield - Meg Ryan - You've Got Mail
Michael Weatherly - NCIS
Justin Long - plays the Mac computer in those commercials

Meg Ryan - I believe she's from and her family still lives in Bethel.

[notjustamom]

We saw Topher Grace at the New Canaan fireworks a few years ago, I think he is from the New Canaan area, maybe Darien. Kate Bosworth is also from Darien.

Martha Stewart had a home in Westport for many years...

My dh works in New Canaan, he sees celebs all the time there. He once worked in Diana Ross's home in Greenwich, too. He used to see David Letterman a lot, although I think DL moved. He did have that wacky stalker bothering him for awhile, I don't know if that influenced his move or not.

The more I think of it, the more celebrities pop into my head. Didn't Demi Moore and Bruce Willis have a home in Newtown for awhile?

This could turn into a celebrity sighting thread.

[sliver203]

Originally Posted by notjustamom

Didn't Demi Moore and Bruce Willis have a home in Newtown for awhile?

This could turn into a celebrity sighting thread.

Yes I've heard this on many occasions, though I've never seen them around town.

I also heard Derek Jeter bought a home in Oxford near the airport.