[FindMeHome]

Hi:

I live in Westchester, NY currently. Got a job offer in Milford, CT. I am thinking of moving to CT, closer to Milford. I would appreciate your suggestion on where to move. I require a good school district as i have a 3rd grader. Also, my spouse works in NYC. So metro north needs to be accessible from the area. My budget is 450-500K for 1600+ sq ft house.

Thank you all in advance for your valuable suggestion.

[JayCT]

Well Fairfield would be a good place to move. It is convenient to Milford and somewhat convenient to New York. It has excellent schools and a lot of nice beaches and parks plus good stores and restaurants. You should be able to find a nice home in your price range there. I know a number of people that moved to Fairfield because they could afford a home there and then stayed when their fortunes improved because they liked it so much.

Milford is also nice. It would be even more convenient to your work but is further from New York (maybe 15 to 20 minutes more on the train). You will get more for you money there. Milford too has many nice neighborhoods witha lot of nice parks and beaches. It is also home of a regional mall and a lot of stores along Route 1, so shopping is excellent.

There are differences between Milford and Fairfield. Though it has a wide range of housing options (modest apartments to mansions) Fairfield is a bit more upscale than Milford. Depending on what you like, this could be good or it could be bad. Visit both towns and see which suits you best. Good luck, Jay

[toddb]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Milford is also nice. It would be even more convenient to your work but is further from New York (maybe 15 to 20 minutes more on the train).

Just to expand a bit on the commute from Fairfield, don't forget to factor in the distance to the train, whether or not you'd be dropping your spouse off @ the station (wait list for parking is 4.5+ years) or if he'd be parking in a day spot (these mostly fill up by the time the 6:40 train departs), and the distance from Grand Central to your spouse's office. I do the commute every day, and thankfully I'm only 2 blocks from Grand Central. My wife did the commute (up until this past Friday) all the way to Tribeca, and it added 40 minutes with 2 subways. She definitely did not last long doing that.

Door to door from my home in Fairfield is 7 min to the train, 5-10 minute wait, 62-75 mins on the train (depending on which train), then a <5 min walk...all in all 1h30m give or take. If your spouse is farther from Grand Central, or if you live farther from the train, then it would just go up from there. The extra 15-20 minutes from Milford doesn't sound like much, until you figure it's 30-40 minutes per day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year... that's a lot of extra time. Factor in the lost time with the cost difference of the homes in Milford vs. Fairfield. Im sure it would mean a lot to your spouse.

Another thing to think about is that the reverse commute from Westchester up to Milford might not be too bad -- try it out before you decide to relocate permanently just based on the commuting factor.

As far as the school's go, there are plenty of arguments over "which is better" or whatever...basically, there are some towns with not-so-good schools, but for the most part I believe that the CT public school systems are pretty damn good overall. Fairfield is usually rated among the top tier. My first is due in 4 weeks, so we have another few years to worry about it.

[NYC252]

DO NOT MOVE TO MILFORD. I BEG YOU. Milford is the worst town in the state. The people are horrible..CT makes me sick. Stay in new york and work their. CT has nothing to do. If you want to live and work in Milford or CT i hope you have a rocking chair because you will find yourself home every weekend wishing you stayed in NY

[CoolStrom]

Why such a misleading post? Like Jay Said both Fairfield and Milford are nice, just that in Milford your money goes long way because you could get bigger property for the same amount of money then in Fairfield. From the perspective of school they are both nice, shopping is excellent in Milford. you can't go wrong with either of them. Look at the top 5 most growing towns in CT, and you will see Milford there.

p.s- i am a Milford resident and love it here...good luck with your search.

[Uconn97]

Originally Posted by NYC252

DO NOT MOVE TO MILFORD. I BEG YOU. Milford is the worst town in the state. The people are horrible..CT makes me sick. Stay in new york and work their. CT has nothing to do. If you want to live and work in Milford or CT i hope you have a rocking chair because you will find yourself home every weekend wishing you stayed in NY

just another troll.....

[FindMeHome]

Thank you all for your time on replying to my thread. I did some research on schools (as this is very important to me). Most of the results indicate that Fairfield is better in terms of school, than Milford. However, Milford offers some good options for after school programs. As a FT working mom, i won't be able pick up my kid at 3-3.30 pm. I would need to rely on some after school activity. Does any one has insight on such program in fairfield SD?

I appreciate your valuable suggestions!

[FindMeHome]

Originally Posted by toddb

Just to expand a bit on the commute from Fairfield, don't forget to factor in the distance to the train, whether or not you'd be dropping your spouse off @ the station (wait list for parking is 4.5+ years) or if he'd be parking in a day spot (these mostly fill up by the time the 6:40 train departs), and the distance from Grand Central to your spouse's office. I do the commute every day, and thankfully I'm only 2 blocks from Grand Central. My wife did the commute (up until this past Friday) all the way to Tribeca, and it added 40 minutes with 2 subways. She definitely did not last long doing that.

Door to door from my home in Fairfield is 7 min to the train, 5-10 minute wait, 62-75 mins on the train (depending on which train), then a <5 min walk...all in all 1h30m give or take. If your spouse is farther from Grand Central, or if you live farther from the train, then it would just go up from there. The extra 15-20 minutes from Milford doesn't sound like much, until you figure it's 30-40 minutes per day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year... that's a lot of extra time. Factor in the lost time with the cost difference of the homes in Milford vs. Fairfield. Im sure it would mean a lot to your spouse.

Another thing to think about is that the reverse commute from Westchester up to Milford might not be too bad -- try it out before you decide to relocate permanently just based on the commuting factor.

As far as the school's go, there are plenty of arguments over "which is better" or whatever...basically, there are some towns with not-so-good schools, but for the most part I believe that the CT public school systems are pretty damn good overall. Fairfield is usually rated among the top tier. My first is due in 4 weeks, so we have another few years to worry about it.

This is very valuable to me. And good luck with your first baby.

My spouse works around mid-town area(west side). From GC, he has about 15mins walk to his work (or 2 subways to change).

The parking wait on the FF train station doesn't sound very optimistic.

What are other alternatives? Are their other garages, or gas stations where you could rent a spot for day time? If so, what would be the price range?

Thanks again!

[FindMeHome]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Well Fairfield would be a good place to move. It is convenient to Milford and somewhat convenient to New York. It has excellent schools and a lot of nice beaches and parks plus good stores and restaurants. You should be able to find a nice home in your price range there. I know a number of people that moved to Fairfield because they could afford a home there and then stayed when their fortunes improved because they liked it so much.

Milford is also nice. It would be even more convenient to your work but is further from New York (maybe 15 to 20 minutes more on the train). You will get more for you money there. Milford too has many nice neighborhoods witha lot of nice parks and beaches. It is also home of a regional mall and a lot of stores along Route 1, so shopping is excellent.

There are differences between Milford and Fairfield. Though it has a wide range of housing options (modest apartments to mansions) Fairfield is a bit more upscale than Milford. Depending on what you like, this could be good or it could be bad. Visit both towns and see which suits you best. Good luck, Jay

Thanks a lot Jay. That helps a lot.

As we know, there is a long queue for parking on the FF train station (about 4-5 years as Toddb quoted). Do you know if there is similar line on Milford as well? Is there a 'park and ride' on FairField? If so, how does it work?

Thanks

[JayCT]

Yes, parking is at a premium at Fairfield Station. There are currently about 3,600 people on the waiting list which according to the Town's web site is a 59 month wait. Keep in mind though that there is a new station being constructed off Black Rock Turnpike (it is going to be called Commerce Drive)which will have 1,500 parking spaces. That should significantly reduce the wait list at Fairfield Station and will most likely give people a lot of options for parking. There is a lot near the station at the Knights of Columbus Hall that people park at. Not sure what they charge or about availability. Another option is to travel to Bridgeport and park at one of the many garages near there.

According to the Milford Transit District's web site, the wait is for parking at Milford is about 3 1/2 years, better than Fairfield but still not great. There is daily parking there but I would assume that fills up fast and is expensive. Jay