[mnmfree]

My husband and I are considering moving from Raleigh, NC to the Fairfield Cty, CT area. What is the best city to live in to be able to get into New York City by train, has good, quality high schools, and in general a safe, clean place to live? We like towns that seem "old time Americana" with good restaurants and Mom and Pop shops.

[mlassoff]

What's your price range?

It seems to me that Westport, Greenwich, and Fairfield itself would all meet your requirements. Fairfield has a nice, walkable downtown. Greenwich is closet to NYC by train and Westport, has one of the best public high schools in the country. (Others might argue that Greenwich HS is just as good.)

[renovating]

Originally Posted by mnmfree

My husband and I are considering moving from Raleigh, NC to the Fairfield Cty, CT area. What is the best city to live in to be able to get into New York City by train, has good, quality high schools, and in general a safe, clean place to live? We like towns that seem "old time Americana" with good restaurants and Mom and Pop shops.

Darien and New Canaan fit the bill. Close to train, top schools in the state, lovely downtowns.

I am not sure what you mean by "old time Americana"? If you mean clapboard houses, white picket fences, a lot of antiques and beautiful preserved historic homes, then yes!

I would also recommend Ridgefield, as well as the towns the pp recommended.

Really, you can't go wrong in Ffld County. With the exception of Norwalk and Bridgeport, the area is one great town after another. Your price range will be the deciding factor.

[kidyankee764]

I agree that we need to know how much you can afford. That definitely matters in southwestern CT.

[recovering yank]

I spent a lot of time in FF, but I personally prefer the upper parts of Redding/Fairfield/Newtown, simply from the sense that there is less congestion. The downsides, obviously, is that it isn't as convenient as other towns, but you can probably find better deals there than in the frenzy around Route 1.

[specter612]

Fairfield, Darien, and New Canaan are great. Expect to pay a lot for that "americana" as you put it. Greenwich maintains the status of being the Bluest of the Blood and WASPiest enclave, but they all are pretty old monied and WASPy. Aside from the parvenu mcmansions springing up in parts of the county. As for the schools, Fairfield prep is a great one, and there is always Choate and Rosemary Hall (alma mater of JFK).

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by specter612

Fairfield, Darien, and New Canaan are great. Expect to pay a lot for that "americana" as you put it. Greenwich maintains the status of being the Bluest of the Blood and WASPiest enclave, but they all are pretty old monied and WASPy. Aside from the parvenu mcmansions springing up in parts of the county. As for the schools, Fairfield prep is a great one, and there is always Choate and Rosemary Hall (alma mater of JFK).

All excellent schools, however, keep in mind this area has among the best public schools in the country and private school is hardly a necessity for an excellent education. Greenwich High School, New Cannan HS, Staples High School in Westport and Darien High School all have national reputations and send a large number of students to ivy league colleges and over 95% of their graduates to some type of post graduate training.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Greenwich High School, New Cannan HS, Staples High School in Westport and Darien High School all have national reputations and send a large number of students to ivy league colleges

I saw the list of NCHS '09 grads a few weeks ago and was shocked at how very, very few were heading off to Ivy-League schools. IIRC, no '09 students were enrolling in Yale or Dartmouth for the coming semester. The largest number of students will be attending, surprise...........................UConn.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by specter612

Fairfield, Darien, and New Canaan are great. Expect to pay a lot for that "americana" as you put it. Greenwich maintains the status of being the Bluest of the Blood and WASPiest enclave

I have to disagree with you. I would characterize New Canaan, followed closely by Darien, as being the most Wasp. I'd probably consider Greenwich to rank 4th, behind Westport, for "waspyness".

[mlassoff]

I think the term "waspyness" is pretty derogatory.

There is a lot of undeserved and unnecessary negativity on these boards to the Fairfield - Greenwich area. Ironically, the cities (Bridgeport, Norwalk, Waterbury, Hartford) on this board are frequently reamed as well. I guess people don't like areas where people on average have more or less money than they do.

As for "waspyness" I can speak only from my experience in Westport-- The town has two synagogues and a sizable Jewish population. There are also Hindus, Catholics and everything else when it comes to religion. Racially Westport certainly could be more diverse, however, on this board I feel like "waspy" is another word for "snooty" which many will tell you isn't necessarily true.

Some would say that Westport, New Cannan , Darien, and Greenwich are among the most desireable towns in country.

As far as college admissions goes, UCONN will be the most popular choice for many schools... however looking at the college list for Staples Grads saw quite a few Yale's, Harvards and other top tier schools.