[imation99]

Hi! We are thinking about moving from Europe to Connecticut, since I have a job opening there.
Please give us some advice where to live in this area, not too far away from Shelton.
We are looking for a safe family area, good schools, but still with some shops, restaurants and cultural life.
We have discussed Milford, Stratford and Shelton.
Any recommendations on those 3 places, or any others would be great.
And what is the average house rental price for a 4 bedroom house in these areas?

[JayCT]

Welcome to the City-Data Forum and welcome to Connecticut. I am sure you will like it here. The three towns you mention (Shelton, Stratford and Milford) would be good places to start. All three are nice towns with a lot to offer and should meet your needs. I would check craigslist.com and the Connecticut Post web site for rental in these towns. Good luck and again welcome. Jay

[jumper]

A good friend lives in Shelton. LOVES IT!

[notjustamom]

You might also consider Monroe, which is nice family-oriented town that borders Shelton. It is smaller and a little more rural than the towns you mentioned, and has an excellent school system and wonderful family parks. It does have some shopping and several restaurants, but no large malls.

[sliver203]

Originally Posted by imation99

Hi! We are thinking about moving from Europe to Connecticut, since I have a job opening there.
Please give us some advice where to live in this area, not too far away from Shelton.
We are looking for a safe family area, good schools, but still with some shops, restaurants and cultural life.
We have discussed Milford, Stratford and Shelton.
Any recommendations on those 3 places, or any others would be great.
And what is the average house rental price for a 4 bedroom house in these areas?

Working in Shelton, you are very lucky because you have the ability to commute easily from a good portion of western Connecticut. Shelton is in Fairfield County, just north of Bridgeport, and is close to Metro North Railroad.

If you have the money, there are the wealthy and powerful suburbs near NYC - Westport, Fairfield, Easton, Weston, Redding - all within a 30 minute commute of Shelton. Home prices in these towns is rather high (Fairfield being the most reasonable) but the schools are excellent. Fairfield is the more diverse of the five towns and has a good deal of shopping. Easton, Weston and Redding are rural towns with very little in the way of shopping. Westport, IMO, has among the best school districts in the area and has very convenient shopping.

There are other very desirable communities in the Shelton area. Oxford, Orange, Trumbull, Woodbridge, Monroe, Milford and Newtown are all nice - and affordable for SW Connecticut. Oxford and Newtown are more rural, with residents traveling to neighboring towns (10 mins away) for their shopping needs. Monroe has a good deal of strip-malls on Route 25 with grocery stores, restaurants and other small shops. Orange and Milford, while both very nice towns, do have Route 1 cutting through down with a large mall and nearly any big box retailer you can think of.

If you're looking for a quaint, quiet town and don't mind driving 10 minutes for your shopping needs, I would highly suggest Oxford or Newtown. Home prices in these towns are lower than southern Fairfield County, but higher than Stratford and about on par with Shelton. Oxford is a mere 10-15 minute drive from northern Bridgeport Ave in Shelton and your shopping needs are met in Southbury (Gap, grocery, Victorias Secret, JoS. A. Bank, etc) and in Seymour (more grocery, Starbucks, Ocean State Job Lot, Entertainment Cinemas and plenty of Dunkin Donuts). Oxford also just opened up a state of the art high school for its students - it's a beautiful campus that any parent would be proud to send their child to.

Since you have so many options, conduct your research carefully on all towns. There are a few areas that you may want to stay away from - Bridgeport, Ansonia and Derby - these cities have under performing schools and I wouldn't suggest them for you unless you don't mind sending your kids to private school. That said, Ansonia and Derby are very safe communities.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask.

[yifferbanifur]

Try Trumbull I grew up there, lovely town, You might want to try the Nichols neighborhood of Trumbull which is agacent to Shelton, not so much happening though. I would give Stratford a miss, it is touch and go, and the bits near Bridgeport are not so nice. Fairfield is worth a look and the commute depending on where you live would be 15 minutes or so.

[Juliangel]

I grew up in the Stratford/Milford area, and loved the town. One of my favorite parts about the area was living near the water.

[scwmonroe]

Please consider our fine town of Monroe...houses have historically been higher then the towns mentionned, but it borders shelton tp the north and there are many bargains in Town. I AM NOT A REALITOR but i have friends who are and can tell you for the money you cannot beat Monroe. I have a close friend with a four bedroom, gorgious yard very safe neighborhood and 10 to 15 minutes to Shelton. Rental on this house is 3000/mnth and may be in the average range for available houses of 4 bedroom. If this is high then maybe condos are avialble for less, but i would guess not in Monroe. Schools are top notch!!