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We are from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and looking to get out! We have decided that Connecticut is the best fit for our family. I have two boys 11 and 13. We are a very active family... Into soccer and really love the water .. We love boating /fishing. My husband owns his own company and would be able to relocate it, however, his needs to be able to tap into an decent employee pool ( mostly engineers), so he would like about a 20 minute commute to a bigger town( easton-trumball etc...) The areas that appeal to us are Easton , Fairfield, and the Old Lyme /Lyme... Just not sure though....Im a little concerned about the highschool in Easton ..only in that it is large and my children have only attended Private schools here in Baton Rouge (also concerned they will be behind...but that's one of the reasons we want to leave the state... Even in private schools in Louisiana I'm concerned) so that's why I was looking at the old lyme area... Because the schools seems a little smaller and the teacher /student ratio is more of what they are used to. However old Lyme/lyme seems like a really small town with not much around..yet it has the water.. So what is the bigger town you would go to? What are some of the opinions. We would lease a house for a year or so to get used to things..then look to buy a property. Curious to know if people have any other suggestions.
there is a lot to do in the old lyme east lyme saybrook westbrook Clinton shoreline area you are close to many public and private beaches. you have to huge outlets to shop at clinton crossing in clinton and tanger outlets in westbrook. there is a mall not to far about 20 minutes away in waterford, waterford has a lot of shopping and restaurants you are also close to mystic which has a really nice downtown and mystic village shops, mystic aquarium and mystic seaport, the famous mystic pizza move was based on the mystic pizza restaurant in mystic. schools are decent out that way and you are about an hour and a half or less to the hartford area.
i live in the center of the state ( new britain) we have some nice areas here farmington, avon simsbury west Hartford all have great public school systems west hartford has a walkable down town with shops restaurants bars and things to do. avon simsbury might be higher end rent wise west hartford and farmington are in the middle rent wise newington and berlin are very affordable towns as well they have a vast amount of shopping on whats called the berlin turnpike great parks and schools
Branford and Guilford are on the water and only minutes from New Haven, the train station, Yale, museums and theatres not to mention a train ride to NYC. The schools are highly rated and there are many private schools. The towns are right on the Long Island Sound with homes that have direct waterfront. Good luck in your search.
Old Lyme has a vibrant arts community with the Florence Griswold Museum, the Lyme Academy of Arts, etc. They have the Point O Woods beach there, and you're right next door to East Lyme and Rocky Neck Beach. There are a few good restaurants in town, but most likely you'd go over to Old Saybrook or into East Lyme or Waterford if you went out to eat.
All of the big box stores are 10-15 minutes away in Waterford, and you do have a large grocery store in town in Big Y. As for a pool of engineers, there is the naval sub base and General Dynamics/Electric Boat nearby. Pfizer employs some people in engineering, and there are also engineers at the nuclear power plant in Waterford. There is also Ortronics (a division of LeGrand) in New London that employs a good amount of engineers and just made a big acquisition. There will also be smaller support companies that deal with EB, Pfizer, Ortronics, etc.
If you want schools with a better athletic program, nearby East Lyme has some very good athletic programs, including a good swim team with their own pool. The academics are as good as Old Lyme, and you'll also have 3x more options for AP classes once your kids get to high school.
Probably a good idea to rent for a year, and $5000/month should get you a pretty nice place in Old Lyme
This is a 5 bed, 4 bath home right on the water:
Also - depending on the size of your husband's company, you may want to contact the state department of economic development. They seem to be giving out money to people to relocate to Connecticut if they promise to hire X number of people over a certain number of years.
(Not debating the merits of the programs, but it's there, so might as well take advantage if you can)
Yes.....it truly is random I guess...but there are some reasons ... I think we are torn between land and sea. Part of me is wanting the country life ....with some acreage ( I grew up riding hunters/jumpers) so I thought Easton would be a good place to have a antique farm/country house with a 5 or more acres so I thought that might work without being too outrageously priced. .. but my husband and boys really love anything to do with water... They love boating/fishing etc... And the water... Old Lyme came to mind. My neighbor in Baton Rouge who moved back to Old Lyme from Baton Rouge..... She raved about it! As for Fairfiield ... It's just kind of a smaller kind of town ... You can have a house on some acres ... But are close to a town with shops and things nearby. I mean I live in Baton Rouge in the city.... We have crime , and its the city ... I like being close to things but need a break from city life and private school tuitions ( for what we pay ..what I'm getting is questionable). So yes... I'm all over the place.
I think with Old Lyme and Fairfield, you have access to the beach, which they seem to want. However, after that, other than being upscale towns, you're right about them being completely different - Old Lyme is 8,000 people, Fairfield is 58,000.
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where to go in CT
