[manniecole]

I currently live on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama. Yes.. I said redneck Alabama and it is miserable! The sweltering heat and humidity, toothless hillbillies, nothing to do and overpriced hurricane ravicked homes. I am originally from Detroit, MI and LOVE the cooler weather and population's over 2500. I travel to NYC several times and year but have not really checked out some of the surronding suburban areas. I heard Danbury and Stamford, CT were nice medium sized cities with all of the amenities. I want somewhere that is a sizeable place with lots to do and close to the major markets (NYC, Boston, Hartford, ect). Any suggestions??

[Dragondog]

Central CT- is a nice place to live- generally there is a very high quality of life.
Cost of living is higher then the national average- especially for real estate taxes and energy, but not prohibitively high.

Hartford metro area east- into Tolland county is a bargain. NYC metro- Northern NJ, LI and SW CT are very $$$$- Boston is less expensive then NYC Metro but still not cheap. Southern New Hampshire and southern Maine are other options.

Southeastern and eastern Connecticut offer much- decent job growth, culture and affordable housing, with easy access to beaches, cities and culture.

[jdhall1]

Manniecole,
Both Stamford and Danbury are nice growing cities with a good amount of amenties. I would give the edge to Danbury for a number of reasons. In my career of relocating people to the area (I am a realtor), they are amazed on how many amenties of about 80,000 people have. There are 2 state parks, a state university, a municipal airport (if flying is your thing), a top 25 public golf course, a private country club and a 370 bed teaching hospital. There are other great amenties such as the college-sized public library downtown, a 250 store mall, an ice arena, access to 5 major interstate within 30 miles of downtown, a 700 acre city-owned nature preserve within 10 minutes walking distance from city hall, 2 large lakes (Kenosia on the west side of town, Candlewood on the Northeast Side is one of the largest manmade lakes in the east) as well as stores selling products from all over the world downtown on Main Street.
There are a wide variety of housing options in Danbury. They range from a 400 square foot studio for about $85,000 all the way up to $3.5 million waterfront homes on Candlewood Lake. A typical 4 bedroom, 2 bath Raised Ranch on abou a acre will be about a $400,000 investment. An older (1980s) 2 bedroom 1 to 1 1/2 bath 1025 square foot condo will from $210-255k investment, depending on the individual condition of the unit as well as the amenties of the complex. Similiar single family homes (4 bed/2 bath 1 acre) will be about $350,000 MORE in Stamford and condos would be about $100-150k more down there.

Jonathan Hall

[Dragondog]

A NEW raised ranch in Ellington CT- east of Hartford 15 miles 1800 square feet, 3 bedrooms 2 baths 1 acre lot, fireplace double garage $290K.

Housing prices are much cheaper- by at least a third in the metro Hartford area compared to Danbury.

[mels]

Besides what has already been mentioned, I would also look into West Hartford, it is a great small city right next to Hartford and a couple hours from Boston or NYC.