[Ben5755]

I’m thinking of relocating to Southbury CT. My wife has got a new job in Bristol CT and myself I have to commute to Manhattan. I have to do this for three years. I know it will be difficult. Can anyone tell me a little bit more about Southbury?
How is the community?
How are the schools (I have to little kids)?
Does it snow a lot in the winter?
And most importantly how difficult would be for me to commute? I’m thinking to alternate between driving into the city and driving to the nearest train station and then take the train. My job involves a lot studding so I’ll use that time to get some work done.
I would greatly appreciate any inputs.

[KH02]

Your wife's commute to Bristol will likely take about 45 min during rush hour. If you are driving to NYC it will likely take you about 2 hours I would assume. Taking the train may save you some time though.
Southbury is a very nice community and the schools are good so you should have no problem there!!

It snows quite a bit in the winter, yes. But how much adjustment it will take will depend on where you're coming from. If you are coming from CA or the south or something it will take some time to get used to the snow, especially driving in it.

[JayCT]

Southbury is a beautiful town with very good schools (check links below). It is kind of rural in character though it has most of the shopping you will need. The commute to Bristol will be 45 minutes without traffic but possibly longer with traffic. The trip into Manhattan though will be long. You could drive into New York and catch a train into the city from Southeast Station in Brewster. The drive will be about 30 to 45 minutes and then the train trip is just under 90 minutes. That can be haul everyday. Good luck, Jay

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[aroundthecorner059]

You may like Fairfield. Very nice suburb with easier commute into NYC, and not a bad drive to Bristol (mostly rt 8).

[wavehunter007]

I used to work in Southbury back in the early 1990’s. It is a nice town though quite small. If you are used to a big metro area (NYC, DC…etc), it might seem pretty dull. It is a safe and nice area with big open spaces. I would not recommend a daily commute to Manhattan from Southbury. Most (certainly not all) of the people who commute into NYC from Connecticut live along the I-95/Route 15 corridor deep in southern CT. The have trains along the Connecticut coast that run every hour into NYC (Metro North). However, I don’t know about up around Southbury. Perhaps Waterbury or Danbury has a commuter train to NYC. I don’t know. Still, it would seem like a hike to get into NYC every day from that area of Connecticut. Forget driving. I don’t know where your coming from…but the NYC metro area (NYC/Northwestern NJ/Southern CT)…is the largest metro area in the USA (50% bigger than the LA or Chicago metro areas). There are 24-million people in this area. Driving into NYC everyday will only add stress and shorten your life (lol).

As far as the winter/snow it will depend on where you’re coming from. If you’re coming from the subtropical South Atlantic or Gulf States or the Southwest/West Coast , then winters will seem snowy and cold. If your coming from the Midwest/Great Lakes, Northern New England, or the Mountain West…winters may seem mild. This year was pretty typical: The first snowstorm was on December 19th across the Tri-State area. We had about 6 inches, then it completely melted in 1 week. Then in January it was terrible, no real heavy snow, but many smaller snows, sleet, freezing rain, and rainstorms. Then February was bone dry with little or no snow…then we had a good snowstorm on March 2 (more than 10-inches in some areas), but 4 days later it was 60 F and every trace of the snow was gone. Since March 2nd no snow has fallen and now winter is basically over. So I guess it depends on what you’re used to.

[ctgirl36]

My husband and I moved here from NY (Westchester) ten years ago. My husband still works in Manhattan. His building is right in the heart of Times Square. He drives in every day and it takes him an hour and a half. He does not mind it at all.

Southbury is a beautiful town with GREAT schools. My daughter is in elementary school. We could not be happier with the quality of education she is receiving. We have lived here ten years and I have not heard one negative thing about the schools.... except from certain taxpayers who debate the budgets of course! We built a new large beautiful library as well that is always holding community events, courses, etc. You shoudl check out their website.

Southbury also has two golf courses if you like to play?

We love Southbury because the town has such New England charm. Any new buildings that go up keep up with the consistency of a New England town. They don't just throw up any old strip mall or brick buildings. The Southbury Green is just one of the shopping areas that have stores such as Shaws, Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, Victorias Secret, Pier One, etc. etc.

On the other side of Southbury you have Borders, Stop and Shop, KMart, and many other stores in between. You definately don't have to leave Southbury too much to go shopping. For the person who says Southbury is a little dull well that is just fine with me! You will not find loud college bars and other type of establishments. It is a family town. If you want night life you can drive into New Haven, Waterbury, Danbury, etc. OR Manhattan for that matter.

Southbury also MANY beautiful parks. The Audobon Nature Trails are also here in Southbury.

You can't go wrong with the wonderful quality of life in here!
Although we will always love NY since we grew up there, Southbury and CT in general is a wonderful place to live.

Please feel free to ask me any other questions. It is hard to mention everything here. GOOD LUCK!!

[Ben5755]

Thank you very much for your responses. I currently live in Westchester NY and as I previously mention I have to relocate to CT.
It seems very tough to commute to Manhattan from Southbury but I am willing to try it.

Some friends of my wife recommended Southbury as good community with good schools but the downfall for me is that it doesn’t have a train to commute to Manhattan.
I don’t know if there is a similar town with good schools and good community that is in a 30 miles away from Bristol CT from where I can get the train. Or is there another alternative like driving to a train station and then taking the train? When it comes to the snow I’m hopping that we’ll get use to it since here at NY we get a fair amount of snow in the winter.

Thank you all,
Ben

[ctgirl36]

Originally Posted by Ben5755

Thank you very much for your responses. I currently live in Westchester NY and as I previously mention I have to relocate to CT.
It seems very tough to commute to Manhattan from Southbury but I am willing to try it.

Some friends of my wife recommended Southbury as good community with good schools but the downfall for me is that it doesn’t have a train to commute to Manhattan.
I don’t know if there is a similar town with good schools and good community that is in a 30 miles away from Bristol CT from where I can get the train. Or is there another alternative like driving to a train station and then taking the train? When it comes to the snow I’m hopping that we’ll get use to it since here at NY we get a fair amount of snow in the winter.

Thank you all,
Ben

Hey again...

As I mentioned in my post, I grew up in Westchester. The weather is the same as Southbury. I still go down to NY alot since I still have family there and there is no difference. One thing I notice is their trees stay greener longer but temp./snowfall is the same. CT is the most temperate state in New England. Although this winter was a bit colder and snowier than normal. The past several years there was not alot of snow. Again, there is no diiference to Westchester so I would not even worry about that.

I know many people take the train from Southeast (Brewster/Carmel line) in NY. The station is very convenient off the highway. I used to teach in Carmel which is the same exit (exit 19/off 84 west) and it took me 25-30 minutes TOPS to the train station. On that note, Putnam County NY is a pretty area to live in If you were thinking of that area too. However, the taxes are much higher than Southbury. My sister lives in Carmel and the taxes are 17,000 a year. YIKES!!

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[mnrosen]

ctGirl36 - Hi! My wife and I were actually in Southbury today looking at a house. We live on Long Island (Nassau County) and are strongly considering a move to Southbury. Curious to learn more about your husband's commute to NYC as I may have to do the same commute for a bit. You say it takes an hour and half? What time does he leave in the morning and what time does he return? Without traffic, I could see it taking about that time, but I'm not familiar with the weekday rush hour traffic up there as I've really only been there on weekends or after/before rush hour. Any further insights you/he could provide on his commute would be appreciated. Thanks!

[ctgirl36]

Hi!

I answered your message through the internal message system link. I am not sure if it actually got sent . Please let me know if you received it!

Thanks!