[Athena18]

I will be moving with my family to new haven for work. I have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartener by summer. I have found horror stories from 2010ish but how is ti now? Please any information is helpful TIA.

[JayCT]

New Haven is a large city so like every major city in this country there are "horror" stories to be told. Keep in mind that New Haven is generally small in area and represents the dense urban core of a larger metropolitan area. Surrounding New Haven are a number of fiercely independent towns that serve as New Haven's suburbs. You might be better off looking to live in one of them instead of the city itself. Of course if you want a more urban lifestyle, then you will most likely have to stick to New Haven. Jay

[clutchrider]

Head north from New Haven if you want a more suburban setup and better schools. Cheshire, North Haven, Wallingford are all great options. You will have to skip over a town going E and W of NH in order to get to better areas. I would avoid East Haven, West Haven, and Hamden.

[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by clutchrider

Head north from New Haven if you want a more suburban setup and better schools. Cheshire, North Haven, Wallingford are all great options. You will have to skip over a town going E and W of NH in order to get to better areas. I would avoid East Haven, West Haven, and Hamden.

Good advice (though I do live in East Haven) - one plus for Wallingford is that the town has it's own electric utility with lower rates than surrounding towns, and also it's own water system.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by clutchrider

Head north from New Haven if you want a more suburban setup and better schools. Cheshire, North Haven, Wallingford are all great options. You will have to skip over a town going E and W of NH in order to get to better areas. I would avoid East Haven, West Haven, and Hamden.

Hamden is nice town expect dixwell ave area that border New Haven

[RiskReturn]

I can vouch for Cheshire, went to public school there for the latter half of my pre-college years. If you have any specific questions regarding schools, sports, extra-curriculars, etc., feel free to DM me. You should be within 30 minutes commuting time to New Haven from most parts of Cheshire.

[smarcus]

New Haven is a great small city and should be the focus of your search.... The issue is New Haven is small and so (coupled w suburban fears and racial innuendo) any car-break-ins, muggings, crimes, often get sent in email blasts and can make the news, and similar situations in larger cities don't make the news. Then fears get dramatized and you hear about horror stories.... New Haven is safe, thought it is a city so street smarts count. I say start your search in the Westville or East Rock areas and you'll be fine. There are very good public schools right through high school. There are excellent magnet public schools, the largest magnet program in CT, and in high demand with the magnets holding lotteries so you can attend certain ones even if not in your neighborhood. Good luck.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by Athena18

I will be moving with my family to new haven for work. I have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartener by summer. I have found horror stories from 2010ish but how is ti now? Please any information is helpful TIA.

In terms of square miles, New Haven is pretty small - it's only 20 square miles. So, you could live 2 or 3 towns away and still have a short commute.

Depending on your budget, North Haven, Wallingford and Cheshire are still close to New Haven and offer very safe environments with good schools. East of New Haven, you have Branford, which is a nice town and offers a very short commute. Guilford and Madison offer outstanding schools near to New Haven, but are also pricier. West of New Haven, you have Woodbridge and Orange offers excellent schools and a shared middle school and high school. Milford also offers good schools and is more affordable than Woodbridge or Orange.

[Stylo]

I worked in New Haven for over 2 years. Was all over the city constantly for lunch, work outings, bar after work. Add to that weekend trips to restaurants and museums for the last 7 years very regularly. Never felt unsafe once. None of my 40 coworkers were ever the victim of a crime. Not saying bad things can't happen, but if the hysteria were true, would I be able to make that sort of statement?

Crime tends to be concentrated in some poorer neighborhoods where you'd have no reason to go to if working there, or if living in Downtown, East Rock, Wooster Square, Westville, or any other decent New Haven neighborhood.

As others have said, suburbs do have better public schools (with the exception of exceptional magnet schools in New Haven).

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

Milford also offers good schools and is more affordable than Woodbridge or Orange.

Actually in most cases, same house vs. same house, it's a bit more. That said, there's a lot more affordable stock in Milford, and it has a wider range of housing... from smaller capes and condos, to million dollar+ homes on the water. And taxes are lower.