[dzona]

Please give advice on relocating to Connecticut for commute to NYC, schools (particularly for a teen with ADHD!!), and Catholic Communities. I have 3 girls aged 15, 13 and 6, I'm a stay home Mom with a husband taking an investment banking job in Manhattan. We currently live in Charlotte, NC. Home price around $1.5 (?)

Thanks!

[Whalehead]

I commuted from Ridgefield to lower Manhattan by car for 5 years, and to midtown by train for 5 more.
Towns that are along the New Haven line have homes that are generally more expensive for myriad reasons (commute to NYC, schools and geographic location). Trains to midtown run regularly, are crowded and take an hour give or take 10 minutes. At little further North and East, home are expensive as well, but general you'd get a bit more land for the money. Schools are well thought of, and the commute can run to 1.5 hours.
Many commute from Ridgefield, Wilton and New Canaan to NYC.
These are well developed towns with all the amenities. Others, like Redding and Weston have residents who commute, but there isn't a defined town center in either.
Fairfield County is part of the Diocese of Bridgeport, and Catholic churches can be found in each town. Several have grammar schools, and there 3 or 4 high schools as well. They are spread out though.
In my town, there are men and women who work at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Bear Stearns, Merrill, JP Morgan, Citigroup, AG Edwards, Goldman and a few others. I am acquainted with them through my church, children's schools and Wall Street career.
Hope this helps. You can PM me with any more questions, and I'm sure they'll be more.
Dan

[JayCT]

You have a lot of choices of towns in your price range including (starting at the NY border and going out) Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Westport, Wilton, Weston, Fairfield and Easton. All are upscale suburbs (actually considered among the best in the country) with great school systems (also considered amoung the best in the country) that should meet most any student's needs. The closer in you are the shorter the commute to Manhatten and the higher the price of a home. $1.5 million buys just a modest home in Greenwich (which is closest to Manhatten), while in Fairfield (the furthest out) would by a nice home but certainly no mansion. All of these communities have Catholic churches with good-sized congregations. It is more of a matter of what you want in a home (size, neighborhood and amount of land) and community (suburban or rural) verses how far you want to be from the city. Good luck. Jay

[uconn99]

Some catholic high schools would be St. Joseph's in Trumbull, Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport, Fairfield Prep (all boys Jesuit high), Notre Dame High in Fairfield, Notre Dame High in West Haven, and Trinity Catholic in Stamford.



Here is a link for others as well. http://www.catholiclinks.org/schoolsconnecticut.htm

[davidlindland]

Try Fairfield CT, as that is a great active town for young couples. Feel free to contact me if you need any other info.

Best,

David Lindland

Stamford, Ct.

[Friendship-Properties]

Sounds like Fairfield county is what your looking for. Little expensive, but nuthing compared to an NYC apt.

[espinal]

I am moving from Puerto Rico. I will like to rent before buying. I will work with the Federal gov at the Federal Plaza. I am a parent of twins. Any suggestion.

[JayCT]

Federal Plaza is downtown so it would be a subway ride from Grand Central where the trains from Connecticut end. Since I am sure you would like to be closer to the city, Stamford has a lot of rentals. Jay

[espinal]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Federal Plaza is downtown so it would be a subway ride from Grand Central where the trains from Connecticut end. Since I am sure you would like to be closer to the city, Stamford has a lot of rentals. Jay

I got twins. How are schools?

[JayCT]

Stamford is a city, so the schools there are mixed. A lot of people send their kids to private schools particularly when they get to high school age. Jay