[JennieT]

I will be starting at Yale this fall and will be relocating from NYC. My husband and I are looking to buy a town home or condo within walking distance to a nice downtown area and no more than a 20 minute commute to Yale. We do not want to spend more than 200K. We have heard good things about Milford, Hamden and Westville.

Are there any new condo/townhome developments in these towns? Any other towns you might suggest?

Any advice about moving to CT would be appreciated!

[Slipperman]

"Are there any new condo/townhome developments in these towns? Any other towns you might suggest?"

if you don't mind living in New Haven, there are a few condo complexes right on the water (Quinnipiac river). i had a townhouse in a place called Hemingway Cove which is off 91 exit 8, rt 80 to Quinnipiac Ave. they are beautiful places and very spacious (mine was 1412 sq ft). i had a fireplace, a balcony and a garage. there was a sunken living room with wooden floors, a dining area, 2 bedrooms (the master having 2 huge walkin closets), an office (could also be crib room for baby) and 1.5 baths. and the washer and dryer were in the upstairs bathroom not down cellar. there was also plenty of storage area in the cellar area next to the garage.
not all the units were as big as mine but they were all nice inside and all had garages.

[KH02]

My sister used to live on Quinnipiac ave and i found it to be quite intimidating at nighttime.
You should be able to find a condo for 200K or less.
Try Realtor.com then you can ask around about the street to see how safe it is.

[Slipperman]

"My sister used to live on Quinnipiac ave and i found it to be quite intimidating at nighttime."

have to admit the neighborhood is not the best but i was there for 4 years without incident. the places are nice though - particularly the outside. very unique looking architecturally speaking.

[JayCT]

It may be hard to find what you are looking for in your price range but you could look and see what is available in the towns you mentioned by checking Realtor.com. That will give you an idea of what condos are going for. Other towns to consider would be West Haven and East Haven which are affordable waterfront towns. Also consider Branford which has a lot of condos and a very nice small downtown area. Good luck, Jay

[socialite]

I used to live in Milford (Woodmont section) and I highly recommend it. It's a lovely waterfront town and has a nice green (aka downtown) with plenty of activities in the summer. There are a couple of new construction condos in Milford. I also lived in Westville for a year while I worked at Yale. It was very convenient to get to work, and also was walking distance to Whalley Avenue which has nice restaurants. It was also a very convenient location to walk to the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale Bowl. It will probably be hard to find new (built 2000+) condos or townhouses under $200k in the radius of towns around New Haven. If you open your search to condos and townhouses built 1980+, you will find significantly more homes available.

[MK2009]

I'm also moving to New Haven to attend Yale this fall. However, I'm looking to rent rather than buy, at least for the first year or two. I've found good looking apartments/condos in downtown New Haven and East Rock. I know most other graduate students live in East Rock, but I'll be at the medical campus so the ability to walk 5-10 minutes from a downtown apartment to campus seems very nice.

Assuming I can find something in my price range downtown (and I'm pretty sure I can, based on some preliminary searching), is there going to be too much of a downside?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MK2009

I'm also moving to New Haven to attend Yale this fall. However, I'm looking to rent rather than buy, at least for the first year or two. I've found good looking apartments/condos in downtown New Haven and East Rock. I know most other graduate students live in East Rock, but I'll be at the medical campus so the ability to walk 5-10 minutes from a downtown apartment to campus seems very nice.

Assuming I can find something in my price range downtown (and I'm pretty sure I can, based on some preliminary searching), is there going to be too much of a downside?

The only downside to living downtown would be the somewhat limited shopping and dealing with parking if you have a car. Even shopping is not much of an issue since there are a lot of stores and bus service is very good. Jay

[Silli]

Another vote to consider West Haven, which will be getting a train station of its own shortly and is inexpensive.