[StarlaJane]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

You make a good point no one has noted. Politics are not the be all and end all of where you live, but with some of these towns your political/social views may make you more or less comfortable.

I'm not a super-expert on this area, but I know that East Rock of New Haven and Westport are very socially/politically liberal (in Westport's case it's because a lot of Hollywood/TV stars have homes there, in East Rock it's that a lot of people are Yale grad students (and sometimes professors) who have kids), whereas some of the wealthier towns of Fairfield County (though mostly towns way to the west of New Haven like Greenwich and more so New Canaan) are quite conservative for this region (lots of "old money" and many conservative Wall Streeters.....also I believe Anne Coulter is originally from New Canaan).

From what I know (and again others can probably answer better than I), the other towns fall somewhere in-between, maybe even a mix of both. CT as a state is more liberal than conservative, but I also read somewhere it has one of the highest percentage of registered independents of any state.

I completely agree. For some people, it doesn't matter; for others, it can be a deal breaker. But I do think that particular neighborhoods do have political leanings, not just in CT, but everywhere. A lot of people don't think about it when they are moving, while others feel uncomfortable admitting that such divisions exist. But they do. And it can make a huge difference when making friends and joining social groups when you first move someplace.
I once heard CT described [in general] as socially liberal but financially conservative, which I think is pretty accurate. However, I also agree with your observations re: particular areas.
I went to school in Texas and was surprised that many people referred to it as a very independent state (many a joke was made that it considered itself a separate country) as I found CT's spirit to be MUCH more independent than TX's. Lieberman's move re: the Senate race didn't surprise me at all; in fact, I think that it was pretty typical of CT, which is something that I love about it.
Whether or not our digression helps the OP remains to be seen but I enjoyed reading your post.

[Lexismommy]

Well, we really don't lean to much to the left or the right, we are pretty moderate in our views. We are torn at looking in Fairfield county, we may look around a bit, but will probably focus our search in New Haven county. Anybody know anything about Shelton? I kinow it's in Fairfield county, but it seems close to New Haven and we saw a nice house for sale there in our price range.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by Lexismommy

Well, we really don't lean to much to the left or the right, we are pretty moderate in our views. We are torn at looking in Fairfield county, we may look around a bit, but will probably focus our search in New Haven county. Anybody know anything about Shelton? I know it's in Fairfield county, but it seems close to New Haven and we saw a nice house for sale there in our price range.

I believe the sentiment was "why move to lower Fairfield County if you don't have to?" If you can afford it and like it (Fairfield and/or Westport), then by all means do it. The real estate market there has consistently held its value.

As for Shelton, it's part of the All-American Valley towns along with Naugatuck, Oxford, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia, and Derby. Shelton's downtown shows its blue-collar, industrial roots although Shelton, more than the other six, has been quite successful in luring companies to relocate their headquarters there.

Southeast Fairfield County (Bridgeport, Stratford, and Shelton) has some of the cheapest real estate prices in the whole county.

[usmcfamily]

The Huntington and White Hills sections of Shelton are beautiful!

[MetsNY]

Shelton may have a blue collar feel in the downtown sections, but make no mistake about it, there corporate presence is booming. A developer named Robert Scinto is making large strides to bring alot of residental and commercial real estate development to that area. Shelton is bringing in more and more business yearly and it shows in the real-estate market. 10 years ago Shelton was a place that not many people wanted to move to. However it is starting to become alot more desirable. The Huntington and White Hills area are excellent. These areas I believe border the Trumbull and Monroe side, which are some other Fairfield County towns you might want to consider.

[andthentherewere3]

I agree that the Huntington and White Hill sections of Shelton are very nice, and with the OP's budget they could get a beautiful, large home. The only downside I see to Shelton is the high school; it doesn't rank quite as high as the high schools in many of the other upscale towns mentioned.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

I agree that the Huntington and White Hill sections of Shelton are very nice, and with the OP's budget they could get a beautiful, large home. The only downside I see to Shelton is the high school; it doesn't rank quite as high as the high schools in many of the other upscale towns mentioned.

I tend to agree with this. Up until about 20 years ago, Shelton had some of the worst schools in Fairfield County. It was a community that was known to NOT spend money on anything. Its roads, schools and public buildings were old and it was considered a "Valley" town which was not a compliment. once Route 8 was built though that all changed by connecting Shelton with its lower price land with pricey affluent Fairfield County. A lot of new commercial development was built and increasingly larger and more upscale homes got built. The new comers started pushing hard for improvements and now Shelton is a pretty nice place to live. Is it an upscale community like Fairfield or westport, no, but it is a very nice town. Jay

[Lexismommy]

Well, thank you everyone for all of your help. I think we have decided to focus on the shoreline towns of Guilford, Madison, Clinton, and Westbrook.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by Lexismommy

Well, thank you everyone for all of your help. I think we have decided to focus on the shoreline towns of Guilford, Madison, Clinton, and Westbrook.

Narrowing your search to just a few towns will make it more manageable. There are still a lot of properties on the market for those towns, especially Madison:

TOTAL SINGLE-FAMILY INVENTORY
219- Guilford
278- Madison
157- Clinton
89 - Westbrook

INVENTORY - COLONIALS w/ 4 bedrooms; 2 full baths
97 - Guilford
140- Madison
27 - Clinton
20 - Westbrook

[carlojohn101]

Look north and east of New Haven, not south or west. The commute from places like Westport (yes, even the reverse one), will suck the life out of you. I know, because I did it for five years.

Look at Guilford and Branford - Wallingford if you want more for your dollar.