[Lexismommy]

Hi there,
My husband will be starting a new job at Yale-New Haven this fall, which means we have to leave our Long Island home. We are a young couple, I am irish, my husband is italian. We have two daughters, ages 2 yrs and 3 months. We are looking for a nice, upper middle to upper class neighborhood with great schools, family friendly, decent commute to New Haven, and houses in our price range of $700,000-1.5 million. How are the following neighborhoods? Excuse the amount, we know NOTHING about CT!

Milford
Orange
Ansonia
East Haven
West Haven
North Haven
Hamden
Branford
North Branford
Guilford
Madison
Clinton
Westbrook
Killingworth
Woodbridge
Wallingford

Also, if anyone knows any good day cares in these areas, that would be great!!

[whome224]

With your budget, I would scratch off quite a few of those towns already (ie. Ansonia, West Haven, etc.) They're not as upscale, although nothing is wrong with them. Not sure you'd be able to even find something in your budget in those towns. Might I recommend the towns of Fairfield or Westport? Both are reverse commutes to New Haven on I-95. Many people I know live on the eastern side of Fairfield and commute to Yale-New Haven.

[usmcfamily]

Originally Posted by Lexismommy

Hi there,
My husband will be starting a new job at Yale-New Haven this fall, which means we have to leave our Long Island home. We are a young couple, I am irish, my husband is italian. We have two daughters, ages 2 yrs and 3 months. We are looking for a nice, upper middle to upper class neighborhood with great schools, family friendly, decent commute to New Haven, and houses in our price range of $700,000-1.5 million. How are the following neighborhoods? Excuse the amount, we know NOTHING about CT!

Milford
Orange
Ansonia
East Haven
West Haven
North Haven
Hamden
Branford
North Branford
Guilford
Madison
Clinton
Westbrook
Killingworth
Woodbridge
Wallingford

Also, if anyone knows any good day cares in these areas, that would be great!!

I agree to scratch off Hamden, East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia, Milford, Wallingford.

For your budget and top schools look at Westbrook, Clinton, Guilford, Madison, Orange, and Woodbridge. With the exception of Woodbridge and Orange, these towns are beautiful coastal New England towns. Woodbridge and Orange are not on the water.

I also agree Westport and Fairfield are fantastic places to live with great schools. Commute from Westport to New Haven would be a half hour.

[MikefromCT]

If you can afford a house between $700k and $1.5 million, and you're looking for family-friendly communities with good schools, then I STRONGLY advise you to look into Fairfield and Westport. They're more in the tri-state area, and you may even encounter a few ex-NYres and LI'ers from those towns as well. Both towns have nice town centers and good public amenities.

[Rich Lee]

Hi Lexismommy,

I've provided the low, median, and high list prices for each of these towns based on single-family properties currently on the market:

$80,000 / 369,900 / 2,595,000 Milford (308 properties)
239,900 / 442,450 / 2,900,000 Orange (78 properties)
139,900 / 269,900 / $ 849,000 Ansonia (52 properties)
$99,900 / 249,900 / 1,089,000 East Haven (142 properties)
$64,900 / 224,900 / $ 997,000 West Haven (245 properties)
144,900 / 339,900 / 1,950,000 North Haven (137 properties)
$49,900 / 262,900 / 1,495,000 Hamden (249 properties)
$19,000 / 489,000 / 7,775,000 Branford (145 properties)
$47,500 / 339,900 / $ 669,900 North Branford (63 properties)
224,900 / 591,750 / 6,750,000 Guilford (222 properties)
$49,000 / 619,900 / 7,875,000 Madison (279 properties)
$25,000 / 365,000 / 2,795,000 Clinton (155 properties)
$35,000 / 468,750 / 4,750,000 Westbrook (89 properties)
$27,500 / 464,950 / 2,250,000 Killingworth (80 properties)
219,900 / 519,000 / 2,775,000 Woodbridge (91 properties)
$38,900 / 337,000 / $ 995,000 Wallingford (197 properties)

Westbrook, Clinton, and Killingworth are a bit of a distance to New Haven.

[MetsNY]

The most upscale on that town would be Woodbridge which is a great town and extremely close to New Haven. (the town borders NH actually.) Woodbridge shares a high school with Orange and Bethany which are also great towns. I would recommend Woodbridge but wouldn't rule out Orange either. Milford has some great areas and nightlife as well as the beach, but some of the schools I've heard are questionable.

Madison is also very nice. Alot of expensive waterfront property there which makes it desirable and upscale. The schools are great in Madison but it would be more of a commute than say Woodbridge or Orange.

I agree with most however in Fairfield or Westport. Top, top notch schools in both towns, great shopping, dining, services etc. The reverse commute wouldn't be that bad either since most people in these two towns commute to the Norwalk/Stamford/New York City area. The only problem is you will get less house for your money in these two towns than in the other towns you mentioned.

[Lexismommy]

Thanks everyone!! I will discuss Westport and Fairfield with my husband, they sound like they are worth looking into. My husband is willing to commute up to 45 minutes, are Killingworth and Westbrook/Clinton more than that? I have also crossed off Ansonia and West Haven. We want strong schools for our daughters.

[Audry524]

I'm in Clinton and I would definitely recommend it. House prices have gone down considerably and you could get a very nice home in your price range. I would also definitely recommend Guilford. Beautiful green, close to New Haven, etc. I know little about Woodbridge (that others recommended) outside of driving through it. To me I don't get it. It's too close to New Haven and I don't care for it. I prefer the shoreline towns that offer town beaches to their residents. And like others, I would stay away from West Haven, East Haven, Hamden and IMO Milford.

To clarify your commute time (did the New Haven to Clinton for many many years and my husband currently does it). With no traffic it can take as little as 20 minutes (to the naysayers, yes 20 minutes) but up to an hour with traffic. On average it would take me (and now my husband) about 35 minutes to commute in morning traffic. Really it's not that long at all, many here do it. If you desire, he can also take the Shore Line East train into New Haven. They run about every 20 minutes and the train station is in the center of town.

Best of luck!

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

In your situation, i absolutely don't agree with the recommendations of Westport and Fairfield. IMHO, it's absurd to consider purchasing in Fairfield County if you don't have a regular need to reach the city. Your focus should be on upscale towns that are located in New Haven County, as that is where the position is located and you will get a much better home for your money than you would in FFC.

It's difficult to give a specific recommendation considering how wide your proposed $$$$ range is, and whether or not you require a coastal(beach) community. If you can narrow things down a bit, i'm sure many of us can give you some great suggestions.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

In your situation, i absolutely don't agree with the recommendations of Westport and Fairfield. IMHO, it's absurd to consider purchasing in Fairfield County if you don't have a regular need to reach the city. Your focus should be on upscale towns that are located in New Haven County, as that is where the position is located and you will get a much better home for your money than you would in FFC.

It's difficult to give a specific recommendation considering how wide your proposed $$$$ range is, and whether or not you require a coastal(beach) community. If you can narrow things down a bit, i'm sure many of us can give you some great suggestions.

I completely agree.

If you don't have to be in Fairfield County (one of the most expensive areas in the nation), I wouldn't recommend moving there. It's a great place to live with excellent schools, but is very expensive - plus the commute on 95 south of New Haven can be very stressful - there is really no such thing as a reverse commute anymore.

If you like the beach, I would check out the towns of Madison and Guilford as traffic is lighter east of New Haven. Branford is decent too with good schools. A few towns inland and west of New Haven I'd check out Woodbridge, Bethany or Orange. You can get into New Haven without going on the highway from these communities, instead on two lane country roads. The Amity Schools are excellent.

You might want to add Oxford and Cheshire to your list. They are a relatively easy commute to New Haven as well.