[BespokeHedge]

Hello,

We are looking at a home in the "Black Rock" area. It is near Ellsworth Park on Ellsworth Street.

The home is beautiful but we read a lot of old posts to stay 1) south of Fairfield avenue and 2) west of Ellsworth Street. This meets requirement #1 but it is actually on Ellsworth vs being west of it.

Is there a lot of crime nearby? It looks pretty close to the train station, whole foods, etc.

We are a young family - 2yo boy and newborn girl. I will be commuting to Stamford, CT btw the merritt and 95.

[dazzleman]

Black Rock is Bridgeport. It's one of the better sections of Bridgeport, but it still has Bridgeport schools, which would be a major concern with young children. No way I'd send my kids to Bridgeport schools.

Ellsworth Street is generally considered the dividing line between the better part of Black Rock, and the beginning of the west end, which is a much worse neighborhood.

I don't know how bad the crime is. I think it's probably OK as long as you don't go too far to the east, but I'll defer to others who know the area better. I would consider it a marginal area -- not terrible, but not great either.

[Mike 75]

I would not recommend it for the commute alone. 45 mins to an hour most days each way. Throw in the crappy schools and insane property taxes, I would stay away.

If you're willing to consider Bridgeport, why not Norwalk or Stamford? The shorter commute alone would be worth it. Schools are better too.

[Stylo]

Is your work near the train station, or does it have a train shuttle?

If not, I would seriously reconsider. Traffic will be brutal.

Also, as mentioned, Bridgeport has the lowest performing schools in the state.

[Goose-boy]

Strongly discourage this for all the reasons mentioned. What is your budget?

[JayCT]

Ellsworth Street is generally considered okay but as you go east of it the neighborhood starts to get rough. There are better parts of Black Rock but if you like the house and are fine with living in an area like that then go for it. Jay

[BlackRocker]

First off, that commute is not too fun man. If you can take the train, ok. But driving is going to suck unless you go in at like 6 am. The train is close, and you can get parking easy or walk, go for that if possible.

As for the neighborhood, Black Rock is awesome and it is getting better. Black Rock day was big this past weekend and the Farmers Market is in its second year (google "Black Rock Farmers Market")

Black Rock elementary goes to 8th grade but my kids and most of my neighbor's kids go to St Thomas's (Ffld) or St Ann's (right next to Black Rock Elementary). These are Catholic Schools but you don't have to be Catholic to attend. St Paul's (Episcopal church but not a religious pre school) is great for PreK.

Do you like a beach community? Well, price out homes over by Penfield and Jennings. A turn key colonial 1500 sqft over there is like 700k or more. It is absolutely crazy. Taxes are lower sure, but the appraised value is way higher. You live there and you can send your kids to the public school that's true, cheaper to go to the beach also, but it only costs 120 bucks for a summer pass for both penfield and jennings. For me, I want to live by the coast, my mortgage plus taxes plus non resident beach pass plus private school is still way cheaper than buying a similar house in Ffld that is close to the beach.

Now, if you dont want to live in a seaside community, that's great. You can get a bigger house and yard in trumbull, shelton or the parts of Ffld away from the coast. A lot of people do this.

People that live in Black Rock love it. You can walk St Mary's, walk to good restaurants, a short drive to downtown Ffld (shorter than a lot of people that live in Ffld), walk or drive to the train. The house you are talking about has Seabright beach right around the corner. I mean, how dangerous can it be, you are going to live a 2 minute walk from Dave Walker's house (United States Comptroller General under G.W. Bush)

In a lot of ways in day to day life I live more in Ffld than Bridgeport, but I don't want to talk bad about Bport because I am a Bport supporter.

You can check out this facebook group to get a sense of the community:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/blac...urricanesandy/

[Raider111]

SO lived in BR for 14 years, I was there for the last 2 and a half of it. We were on the opposite end though off of Courtland. She never had a problem with safety the entire time. One domestic issue occurred when I was there with a PR couple across the street, the lady came out of the house with just a bra and underwear and a towel wrapped around her head like she just got out of the shower chasing after the boyfriend with a rolling pin, he got in the car sped away and never saw him again. At the end of the day though, for families, it comes down to the schools, many families we knew there used the catholic ones.

[Suzsilk]

Originally Posted by BespokeHedge

Hello,

We are looking at a home in the "Black Rock" area. It is near Ellsworth Park on Ellsworth Street.

The home is beautiful but we read a lot of old posts to stay 1) south of Fairfield avenue and 2) west of Ellsworth Street. This meets requirement #1 but it is actually on Ellsworth vs being west of it.

Is there a lot of crime nearby? It looks pretty close to the train station, whole foods, etc.

We are a young family - 2yo boy and newborn girl. I will be commuting to Stamford, CT btw the merritt and 95.

Ah, no one in the 60's called it Ellsworth Park....to us it was Ellsworth Field. It's where we had our Black Rock School Field Day The church of my early years was on Ellsworth Street. It's long gone now and an apartment building stands on it's footprint. Growing up in Black Rock in the 60's and 70's, and no longer living in the state, I feel sad when I hear about the deterioration of the schools. I have an affection for this part of Bridgeport. Black Rock School, where my father attended in the 1920's and 30's, and I and my sisters attended in the 60s and 70s, equipped many successful people back in the day. Personally speaking, I went on to love and do well in high school (Bassick). Bassick equipped me for college and after that grad school. Black Rock classmates are Dr.'s, lawyers, teachers, school administrators, nurses, entrepreneurs, computer analysts, scientists, and one friend went on to become a Colonel in the Marine Corps. I'm sure many more have done amazing things. Black Rock was a small K-8 school in that day. Since there were two classes of each grade, we grew up as a close knit bunch: we knew where each other lived; we knew each other's birthdays; we even knew what each other's parents did for a living. This little community has a beautiful drive and walk around the seascape called, "St. Mary's by the Sea". At one time there was a church there. Black Rock is rich in history and has a book published about the roots.

There's a small beach where we spent many a summer day listening to our transistor radios, while we baked in the sun. The quaint "Avenue", as we called it, had small superette called, "Nick's", where we got our candy and ice cream. "Pat's Drug Store", "Collins", a pharmacy was another well-known place. If you're from Black Rock you knew where Beverly Pizza was, The Beverly Theater, Harborview Market, Bullard Hill, and "United", which was short for "United Stationary". The card store was Helen Antoniaks...where everyone bought their birthday cards. Small town in a big city gave it a village charm. Because Black Rock hugs Long Island Sound, it has a nautical feel to it. There are marinas and waterfront homes---we had a home on a creek off the sound, where water glistening like diamonds was the view out of our family room on a sunny day. We carefully fed the swans when they appeared. All I need is to get a whiff of salt water and I'm transported back to my youth. I could write a book about our rich experiences in Black Rock.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Suzsilk

Ah, no one in the 60's called it Ellsworth Park....to us it was Ellsworth Field. It's where we had our Black Rock School Field Day The church of my early years was on Ellsworth Street. It's long gone now and an apartment building stands on it's footprint. Growing up in Black Rock in the 60's and 70's, and no longer living in the state, I feel sad when I hear about the deterioration of the schools. I have an affection for this part of Bridgeport. Black Rock School, where my father attended in the 1920's and 30's, and I and my sisters attended in the 60s and 70s, equipped many successful people back in the day. Personally speaking, I went on to love and do well in high school (Bassick). Bassick equipped me for college and after that grad school. Black Rock classmates are Dr.'s, lawyers, teachers, school administrators, nurses, entrepreneurs, computer analysts, scientists, and one friend went on to become a Colonel in the Marine Corps. I'm sure many more have done amazing things. Black Rock was a small K-8 school in that day. Since there were two classes of each grade, we grew up as a close knit bunch: we knew where each other lived; we knew each other's birthdays; we even knew what each other's parents did for a living. This little community has a beautiful drive and walk around the seascape called, "St. Mary's by the Sea". At one time there was a church there. Black Rock is rich in history and has a book published about the roots.

There's a small beach where we spent many a summer day listening to our transistor radios, while we baked in the sun. The quaint "Avenue", as we called it, had small superette called, "Nick's", where we got our candy and ice cream. "Pat's Drug Store", "Collins", a pharmacy was another well-known place. If you're from Black Rock you knew where Beverly Pizza was, The Beverly Theater, Harborview Market, Bullard Hill, and "United", which was short for "United Stationary". The card store was Helen Antoniaks...where everyone bought their birthday cards. Small town in a big city gave it a village charm. Because Black Rock hugs Long Island Sound, it has a nautical feel to it. There are marinas and waterfront homes---we had a home on a creek off the sound, where water glistening like diamonds was the view out of our family room on a sunny day. We carefully fed the swans when they appeared. All I need is to get a whiff of salt water and I'm transported back to my youth. I could write a book about our rich experiences in Black Rock.

You did not have to live in Black Rock to know the Beverly Theater or Beverly Pizza. I loved both of those. As a kid we would go to the Beverly Theater for Saturday matinees. I saw a lot of movies there. We also would buy Beverly pizza which had a great deal, if you bought 5 pizzas, you got the 6th free. We would buy their individual pizzas which were great. They were pan pizzas which was different than most of the other places in the area. It is still in business but I have not been there in a couple of years now. I am assuming it is still the same. Jay