[ambarstone]

Originally Posted by trebein

Thanks everyone for your reply. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Ambar371, unfoutunately we did buy here in Stratford. And while I love having more living space than we did in the Bronx I can't help but worry that I am compromising my children's education by living here. My then 1st grader was already learning on 2nd and 3rd grade level while my then 2nd grader was learning in the 4th grade level back in their former school. But now they are in 2nd and 3rd grade respectively what they are learning is bascally 1st grade curriculum. Most days they come home with no homeworks and when they do it is only spelling. What happenned to science, language, arts, phonics, social studies etc? They don't even come home with textbooks only a piece of paper. My Kindergartener is only coloring things everyday, whereas when my older kids were in kindergarten back in the Bronx, they were already reading proficiently and making sentences with new words etc. I have been full of regrets on our move here when I saw their quality of education and service. I can't help but wonder where people are getting the notion that Stratford schools are top notch.

Stratford Resident: I spoke to the supritendent about it before my kids were even placed in this school. Originally I wanted them to be placed in Stratford Academy (magnet school) but they said it was full and my kids will have to be placed on waiting list. Now we have to wait and see if they will even get in next year.

As it stands now I am thinking of putting the house back on the market and see if we can at least break even and then move back to the Bronx before next school year. Please let everyone not get me wrong, Stratford is ok for some people but certainly not for me. I don't think I can wait 1-2 years. The job situation here is even worse. They only want to offer me $10/hr job a far cry from what I am currently earning in NY.

I have been looking around in the Bronx for another house and I am seeing many reasonably priced homes now, but the banks I have gone to ask for mortgage advised that it'll be better I sell this house first to avoid putting 20% down since they consider it an investment propert.y If no sale from now until June I may have to rent it out (which I dread so much since I don't want to be an out-of-town landlord). What to do? I only pray that we can get out now with minimal loss or none at all.

___
Hi Trebien,
If you bought your home within the last year, you won't be able to sell it without incurring in a loss-most likely a painful one. It is a double ended problem: quick loss if you sell, slow loss if you rent and prices do not bottom soon. Thought decision.
To soften your worries about the education your kids are getting, I'd suggest you study with them for an hour a day. I know you have long commute, but doing this might help you cope with your concerns while you decide what is the best permanent solution. You might want to explore various learning softwares- I saw an interesting one at Costco for young children that seemed to cover several core areas such as math and social studies. There are many learning opportunities out there to make up for the faulty school curriculum.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

For the record, the following topics are no-no's: providing list of properties within a certain distance of a particular church, making statements about the quality of schools, identifying prisons as such, identifying which ethnicity occupies a certain house, speculating on a property's future value.

Why do those rules exist? Whose interests do they serve?

Ethnicity is probably illegal to talk about, and speculation on future value of a property seems wrong for an agent but most of the others are certainly things a buyer wants to know about a potential purchase.

[weesy68]

Hi,

It seems like you've pretty much decided to leave, but I'd like to share our experience with you all the same. We moved here from the Bronx a month ago. Yes, my daughter does get less homework. But she is now in a class of sixteen students, in comparison to 25 in the Bronx, she gets to play in a grassy playground every day and she has already made more friends than last year due to the classroom dynamics. Her recess in the Bronx was to put her head down on the desk and rest for 30 minutes as there was no outdoor space to play. She reads at second grade level already, and we read to her daily. I feel her quality of life is equally as important as her education, and we will always be hands on in her education in such a way that we will fill up any potential gaps that occur.

We have already met all the neighbors on our street in the houses around us, several came over and introduced themselves, we also made a point of going for evening walks with the kids and introducing ourselves to others, and inviting their kids to our house to play. Our street has several immigrant families, I tend to find we have a "all in the same boat" attitude and we are all willing to find new friends, as we don't have the luxury of having long term ties here. I've found just about every single interaction I've had here has left me smiling, people have been extremely friendly and welcoming, and polite too. I've only come across one surly check out woman, who instantly reminded me of the Bronx, total attitude. The lack of attitude here in general has been very refreshing. I'm English, and it's much more like the area where I grew up.

Please don't take this as a criticism, but making new friends takes a little effort. I've made a real point of going out to meet new families as we have two kids, I wanted to make the transition as smooth for them as possible, and with kids making friends fast is key. How about organizing a Halloween party? Or sending home notes with your child's classmates for a casual get together. Hang out in front of your house in the evenings with the kids sometimes. Meeting people in the suburbs is a whole different vibe than in the city.

Good luck with your decision, whether you decide to stay or leave.

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Let me ask you New Yorkers something: when deciding where to live in New York, do you take in consideration the school's performance on the Regents exam like we look for the grades on the CAPT and CMT? Are the Regents a good determinant of which school system has the best schools?

I gotta make a side comment about the child receiving less homework. In Connecticut, there is a hugh implication of the child doing work more and more at home. This will grow throughout middle and high school where the child will probably receive less homework but the tests will get more and more difficult.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

Why do those rules exist? Whose interests do they serve?

Ethnicity is probably illegal to talk about, and speculation on future value of a property seems wrong for an agent but most of the others are certainly things a buyer wants to know about a potential purchase.

The state has determined that those areas are beyond the agent's scope. The agent 1) is supposed to assist the buyer in finding the right property to suit your stated needs (within time and financial constraints) and 2) helps you acquire the property for the right price based upon analysis of recent trends.

Some grey areas do creep into the initial conversation like when the buyers state that they want a "nice" neighborhood, diverse town, white-collar town, quiet vs. busy street, etc.

These again require the agent to speculate, and what one agent might consider a "nice" neighborhood might be different from what the buyer had in mind.

Whenever statistics can be provided, that's the way to go. I always reference www.cerc.com to save myself from a trouble down the road (lawsuit).

In the case of distance from a church/temple/mosque, it is OK for an agent to look these up, highlight them on a map, draw a circle with the given radius, and then ask the buyer to tell the agent which streets those would be.

As you can see, they actually do serve the buyers' interests.

[seymourct]

Originally Posted by trebein

Coming from NY has taught me not to bother anyone who does not want to be bothered. And frankly I could care less whether you say hello to me or not.

If you really could care less, and NYC has taught you that people shouldn't be bothered, then possibly your putting off a vibe that says leave me alone? I'm not saying you are doing that, just consider it?

Originally Posted by trebein

When I said that people are rude and snobish , it is usaually the ones I met in the grocery stores and the cashiers( don't know what 's their problem but I now go to Milford for shopping, which reminds me of shopping in Cross County in Yonkers NY). Some of the drivers drive like maniacs they tailgate like crazy even in residential areas and school zones.One even cut me off on the stop sign in a school zone the other day . Thank God the kids were still in school at that time. And I thought NYers are very impatient.

Try shopping in Stratford grocery stores mid-week or late sunday night or early saturday mornings when things are quieter, I think you'll get more of a small town friendly vibe from everyone in the stores at those times. The Shaws, StopNShop plazas are packed to the hilt with rude customers who think that they are the only ones that have shopping to do, that get the employees on their very last nerve. How do I know? I lived in Stratford for nearly 7 years.

Lastly, I've said it before and will repeat myself now.
One word greetings like "Hi" only get one word answers from other person who'll say "Hi" and generally walk away.
If you want to start a conversation then you need to start a conversation. Say something like, "Hi. My name is blank____ . We just moved here and we were wondering__________" or anything else that comes to mind. Just don't say "Hi" by itself. You'll be disappointed every time.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

The state has determined that those areas are beyond the agent's scope.

Of course, the Connecticut nanny state.

[superk]

Originally Posted by Juniper5

Ever gone to school in the south? Anyone? Now those schools are an issue.

That comment is uncalled for and absolutely not true.