[lazylghtng]

Re: Weston per NYT - http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/04/03...?referer=&_r=0

Unlike many communities in Fairfield County, Weston lacks a central town green...Also absent is a quaint village shopping district. Instead, a handful of basic businesses — a hardware store, dry cleaners and Peter’s Market, with a nice selection of meats and fish — are clustered in a compact red-brick plaza on Weston Road.

Not sure this is ideal for us.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by lazylghtng

Re: Weston per NYT - http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/04/03...?referer=&_r=0

Unlike many communities in Fairfield County, Weston lacks a central town green...Also absent is a quaint village shopping district. Instead, a handful of basic businesses — a hardware store, dry cleaners and Peter’s Market, with a nice selection of meats and fish — are clustered in a compact red-brick plaza on Weston Road.

Not sure this is ideal for us.

Agreed. Weston is nice, but it doesn't seem like it would work for you.

[fearlessly]

Originally Posted by lazylghtng

Staying inland as opposed to water is strong option which is why we first took a shine to Ridgefield. Slightly rural with a historic, bucolic vibe struck a chord. We'll do a deep dive into Weston while we're at it. We will also explore Lichtfield. What are the best towns around Candlewood Lake? I am assuming New Fairfield and New Milford? How far is the drive from water to village?

I have to caution you again to not refer to small towns in Connecticut as villages. There ARE a fair number of technical villages around Connecticut (and, more commonly, communities or sections of towns that one might otherwise call a village if it were 1902), but I don't think many actual villages have been mentioned yet - if you go to places like New Milford or New Fairfield and refer to the town itself or downtown as a village, it will be construed as a pejorative term, especially from a summer-home family. If you want to refer to the downtown area of a town, refer to it as such (or the green, if applicable).

Back to the post - there are five towns bordering Candlewood Lake: Danbury, New Milford, Brookfield, New Fairfield, and Sherman. Danbury is definitely not what you're looking for, way too big and not very nice. New Milford really runs the gamut from blue collar to NYC summer homers. Brookfield and New Fairfield are smaller and overall nicer than New Milford, with the exception of the Candlewood Lake communities in NM. I would say that of those three, New Milford has the best "downtown" area if you ignore everything on Route 7; i.e., they have a major roadway filled with box stores (Home Depot, Walmart, Stop & Shop, blah blah blah), BUT they also have a really beautiful, quaint, walkable "downtown" area around the town green, wherein there is nothing comparable in New Fairfield/Brookfield.

Sherman is also an option. It's more remote, but it's a gorgeous small (smallll) town. It's actually won Best Small Town in Connecticut several times by Connecticut Magazine. Also - though it's a bit further away than most of the other suggestions, Metro North's Harlem line DOES go to Pawling (toward Wassaic), which is only about a 15 minute's drive away from Sherman. Something to consider. You'd have to ask someone else what the downtown/town green area looks like though, I haven't been for a while.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by lazylghtng

Having been seaside in Sag Harbor, it sounds like Rowayton and Southport would be feel very comfortable for us. Of course, I am concerned about being just 45 min or so from NYC (i.e. Rowayton) as that qualifies as a commuter town which stands in contrast to a getaway refuge for us.

Guilford sounds pretty awesome and possibly worth going the extra mile(s).

The closet thing that would fit your bill in Fairfield County would be Rowayton. My aunt/uncle lived there and moved when they retired. That is an artist enclave also. The Rowayton I remember was awesome but my aunt and uncle moved over 10 years ago.

Here are the drawbacks. It is a small area and you will need to go out and interact with the surrounding areas which are:

Darien......the land of the wall street banker and about as keeping up with the Jonses as you can get. Sorry Darien residents, I'm keeping it real. I have had lots of relatives that have lived in Darien and my great uncle (and kids, grandkids) owned the horse farm across from the Ox Ridge Hunt Club for generations. I am not just casting aspersions, I know Darien very well.

Norwalk.....Rowayton is actually part of Norwalk which is a fairly big city.

Therefore you will be surrounded by things you want to get away from.

I would say Rowayton and Guilford would be comparible towns in Fairfield County and New Haven County. But in Guilford you will really feel like you are getting away and the architecture is awesome around the green. In the summer months you see people taking tours on those motorized segways.

Here is a video of the segway tour and you can see some of the historical houses on the green.

Welcome to Shoreline Segways, come take a guided segway tour of Connecticut

[Henry10]

Driving from Brooklyn to Guilford, on a summer Friday, 5 pm departure -- plan about 4 hours drive. Coming back, Sunday night -- it is better -- plan 2 hours. You can do it less, if you plan to not get to Stamford before 8 pm.

I have been doing it for almost two decades (UES to Madison) and has gotten progressively worse. It has become a chore, despite its big appeal of "nice and quiet in the country."

Sometimes, we just leave the car at the train station, and take the train. Friday afternoon/evening traffic is a nightmare.

That's why towns close to 684 are appealing. Nevertheless, Ridgefield is still 30 minutes to the train (Katonah), and it is a commuter town.

FFC towns below Bethel, are wealthy NY bedroom communities, yet OP does not like them.

Litchfield from Brooklyn on Friday 5 pm could still be 2.5-3 hours. It may take from 1.5-2 hours from Brooklyn to get to Danbury.

I am somewhat familiar with Sag Harbor, and yes a couple of FFC towns might fit the bill. So would some towns along Hudson. But of course you will pay more property tax than CT.

Have you checked out Cornwall-on-Hudson? About 50 miles from Manhattan. You use the Taconic for about 2/3 of the way, then cross over from Peekskill into Bear Mountain Park. Not a hedge Fund manager town.

Cornwall-on-Hudson will be 2 hours from Brooklyn, but it is not Westchester. Probably more walkable than most CT towns, and very nice. It actually has two downtowns -- village and town. Incredibly beautiful area and town.

[Henry10]

OP should also clarify which part of Brooklyn. It may take 45-60 minutes to get to the Bronx. Maybe even more.

[lazylghtng]

Thx again. I live in Brooklyn Heights. It took me roughly 1 hr 20 min to drive to Ridgefield off-peak.

Also, I will only be commuting on summer weekends and plan to take a 63 min express btw Goldens Bridge/Grand Central...so that adds 25 min trip to/from Golden's Bridge. No prob for me. During rest of year, we will drive to/from as a family, prob leaving Fri nights at 7pm from Brooklyn to avoid rush. Returning Sunday evenings.

We have since drilled down on Rowayton, Southport and Lichtfield. All are lovely. Rowayton seems a bit small and very expensive. Southport better. Lichtfield Hills prob best fit for our lifestyle but not sure we are prepared for distance and lack of train station.

Will def look into Cornwall.

Still feelin' Ridgefield has the right balance of historic, quaint, vibrant, beautiful, cultured and not too far away.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by lazylghtng

Thx again. I live in Brooklyn Heights. It took me roughly 1 hr 20 min to drive to Ridgefield off-peak.

Also, I will only be commuting on summer weekends and plan to take a 63 min express btw Goldens Bridge/Grand Central...so that adds 25 min trip to/from Golden's Bridge. No prob for me. During rest of year, we will drive to/from as a family, prob leaving Fri nights at 7pm from Brooklyn to avoid rush. Returning Sunday evenings.

We have since drilled down on Rowayton, Southport and Lichtfield. All are lovely. Rowayton seems a bit small and very expensive. Southport better. Lichtfield Hills prob best fit for our lifestyle but not sure we are prepared for distance and lack of train station.

Will def look into Cornwall.

Still feelin' Ridgefield has the right balance of historic, quaint, vibrant, beautiful, cultured and not too far away.

Can't speak for Litchfield but what do you mean by "Southport better", as in less expensive, larger? The area near the village is not less expensive, the less expensive part is on the other side of the Post Rd/I95 away from the water. Rowayton village road on the waterfront extends a few blocks whereas Southport village is a corner intersection so a little smaller. Both are very similar, with Rowayton further removed from the Post Rd/i95. Both are significantly smaller than the true downtown Ridgefield, however they would be preferred by seaside living types.

[lazylghtng]

Originally Posted by Raider111

Can't speak for Litchfield but what do you mean by "Southport better", as in less expensive, larger? The area near the village is not less expensive, the less expensive part is on the other side of the Post Rd/I95 away from the water. Rowayton village road on the waterfront extends a few blocks whereas Southport village is a corner intersection so a little smaller. Both are very similar, with Rowayton further removed from the Post Rd/i95. Both are significantly smaller than the true downtown Ridgefield, however they would be preferred by seaside living types.

My mistake! I was under impression that S'port is bigger than Rowayton. As for $, yes - not much variance.

[Henry10]

Ridgefield would definitely do. As I said I like it because it is not on the Merritt or the 95.

I also don't think that it is a NYC wealthy commuter town is an issue. You can obviously afford it, so why not?

I also agree with you that over 2 hours travel becomes problematic with kids. Bathroom breaks, snacks, grocery shopping on the way, it'll be 3-4 hours door-to-door.

For the money, you can get better property, less taxes further out, but you will pay in time.

BTW Litchfield is equidistant to trains as Ridgefield. Just the train ride is 2 hrs vs 1 hr to GCT.