[dougnaie]

In considering a move to CT from CA, I am wondering about the amount of young families in these towns. When we have visited, I do not see a lot of children running around. Are these areas known to be family friendly? I am leaning towards Essex, but worry that perhaps it is too small. Does anyone have any perspective on what makes one the above towns better than the other? I have read the CT Magazine article on towns, but am looking for first hand information. Also, I have looked in to area Catholic schools, and it seems like St. John's in Old Saybrook is the closest - is anyone familiar with this school? Thanks in advance!

[Viralmd]

Lyme, Old Lyme (especially) and Saybrook are very posh for the most part. Incredibly beautiful. But expensive. Katherine Hepburn lived in Old Lyme, right on the sound.

[RegionAire]

I spent many summers in that area and would live there in a second, if I could afford it. All of the towns are small, but Saybook is the largest and most "commercial" with a small mall area. The entire LI Sound coast is sort of similar, but not overgrown. I-95 keeps you in touch with both NYC and Boston/Providence and all of their attendant congestions. IMO, Essex is the way to go because it is both beautiful and apparently cheaper (farther from the Sound). By the way, Katherine Hepburn lived in Old Saybrook (Fenwick) not Old Lyme).

[dougnaie]

Thanks to both of you for responding! I have also spent lots of time in the area in the summer, but vacation is always different than "real life", so I appreciate the perspectives you offer. I also think that Essex is a great spot and would be a lovely change of pace for our family. We are pretty tired of the CA craziness, although the weather is certainly nice. Price wise, I think it is very similar to Long Beach, so that shouldn't be too much of a shock. Thanks again!

[Caroline St. John]

The Essex-Old Lyme area is a particularly beautiful part of CT. I have lived my entire life a little farther west on the shoreline, but have always said if I were to relocate, that's where I'd want to be. I have worked with people from that area, and understand it to be a very "kid friendly" place with very good school systems. Old Saybrook is a lovely town as well, but not as pricey as Essex. Deep River is up and coming, and you might want to investigate that for better real estate prices, too. The whole area is very nice with a rural feel, but still within easy access to New York City and Boston. I sound like a realtor, but I'm not! Good luck - welcome.

[POAlover]

The whole Connecticut River Valley is beautiful with lots to do. Essex is very hoity toity..lol But anywhere between Higganum (that is where I live) down to Chester, Essex, Hadlyme, Lyme are all beautiful.
The are all adjacent to the CT. River. You have the Goodspeed Opera house.

[jcampbell05]

Have lived in Old Lyme a dozen years. Lived in Essex ten. Essex is a tourist destination, has a lot of NYC weekend people, and is ostentatious. Its Main Street is all boutiques, restaurants, and real estate storefronts, whereas Old Lyme has a Main Street (Halls Road) that actually has a hardward store, market, liquour store, bookstore, etc. Old Lyme is an actual community of all the social classes (electricians as well as Pfizer executives). The schools in Old Lyme are very small and more intimate than what is availble in Essex (three towns share a high school). If you're into status, move to Essex. If you love nature, move to Old Lyme. Old Saybrook is a toilet.

[M_C_B]

In response to Viralmd . Lyme-Old Lyme are beautiful and posh. However, Catherine helburn never lived in Old Lyme. She lived in Fenwick, which is a part of Old Saybrook on the Sound. You can see her house when you play golf over there.

[kristin1]

I'm sure you've seen my previous thread on Essex, but just to add, I really like Essex as well. In fact, we almost put a bid on 2 homes, until we realized they were both closer than 300ft from high voltage power lines . You'd think they'd need to put that in a disclosure or something.

There is a newly renovated Children's library in Essex, that has a train table, doll houses, blocks, and lots of other toys. While we were there, we saw lots of moms with their kids, many of them talking about the Halloween parade that was going on that week. Many of my husband's coworkers live in Essex and love it. Also, Thomas the Train visits the Essex steam train yard a few times each year - we are planning on going this Sunday. And they have a "Polar Express" during the Christmas season.

We are going to visit East Lyme during our next visit because it seems to have more neighborhoods, which is what we are used to. Also, there seems to be alot of open land available for sale, as we may want to build our own house. And the schools are supposed to be very good as well.

Good Luck!

[uconn99]

East Lyme is nice. It has a bigger school system (High School around 1300 kids or so) and all the stores you would need. It isn't as quaint as Essex.