[Superocean]

The train is the only way. Many people are on the train in the morning at NH who commute to NYC. You always get a good seat and don't have to worry about missing your stop if you fall asleep coming back as it is the last stop. So there are some advantages, lol!
Commuters usually go to sleep and like a quieter train. The trains that stop in Stamford are noisy since they are full of commuters within Connecticut who like to chat with people they know or work with; but they mostly get off in Stamford. Also matinee days [ Wed.] can have kids/parents commuting which can be a pain.
Hamden is a great place to live and much more affordable than Fairfield County.
The schools get a bad rap and are not that bad. The middle school is brand new and has great teachers/programs etc. The high school too. Just be aware of the neighborhood. Church Street Elementary school gets many minority kids from down Dixwell Ave and has a large black population- and not so much working/middle class blacks either. So there are discipline problems.
Also there are some very good Catholic schools in Hamden.
I have lived in Hamden for about 5 years- moved from NYC. Thought I would spend a lot of time in New Haven but that has to be one of the most impossible to park in cities in the U.S. Makes the city not an option for the most part. But Hamden I found is just fine. Great place for sushi on Dixwell, Sushi Palace. Near great big box shoping in North Haven, Sleeping Giant park, etc.

[CTNYCT]

It won't be any less than two hours each way whether you drive or take the train. I know someone who lived in North Haven on the Hamden line and worked in Greenwich... he drove and it was almost two hours each way - never mind summer shore traffic, bad weather and accidents.

[DreamworksSKG]

Why not just commute via train you could live virtually anywhere within an hour of NYC..- or hour and a half --and get in and out via rail easily---compared to getting stuck in 2+ hours of traffic depending on the circmstances, weather, etc.

I would highly recommend locating a town with good school system with train stops in town or nearby

[Faithi]

What about magnet schools? I have friends who live in Hamden and their children are in magnet schools. They are doing very well.