[da52672]

Hello. My wife and I are moving to Fairfield County in a few months. We have a 3-year old son and another boy on the way in the fall. I will be working in Stamford and we are looking to find the right town to move to. At this point, we are focused on Wesport, Fairfield, Wilton, Weston, and Ridgefield. Here are the key criteria:

1) Budget : no more than $800K for at least a 4BR home
2) Great public schools (this is very important with 2 kids)
3) Jewish community: we would like a town that has synagogue(s) and a decent jewish population (i.e., we don't want to be the only Jews in town)
4) commutable to Stamford during the work week (less than 45 minutes)
5) Nice community feel (looking for nice down-to-earth people and not snobs -- ideally, a more Democrat-leaning town as we are on the left)

We have heard that Darien and New Canaan are nice, but I don't believe either town has much of a Jewish population.

Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

THANKS!!!!

[MetsNY]

A four bedroom home for less than 800K in Westport, Weston, Wilton and Ridgefield is going to be hard. I mean, in this economy you can definitely find houses that fit your needs for less than $800,000 but they are going to be fixer-upers, smaller, older, etc. If you are looking for new construction, or somewhat new, in these towns its going to be about 800K and up.

As soon as I read your price range, commute and the fact that you are looking for a Jewish community, I would suggest Fairfield and Trumbull. You have Fairfield on your list, which is a great community, but def. give Trumbull a look. You can find a very nice home for 800K and the schools are great with a good community feel. There are wealthy people there, but the town as a whole is not full or the snobbery that you might see in the other towns you mentioned. Good amount of Jewish people as well.

[seymourct]

Trumbull would be good for your family, but will be a tough commute for you if you like to cut it close. Leave early and allow enough time, you should be fine.

[NJ987654]

I vote Ridgefield of the towns listed. I don't know about the Jewish part, but I do know that they have a diverse religious population. If you need an agent in Fairfield county, I would be happy to recommend who we used but please direct message me for it. I think you could get a good home for $800,000 although there are plenty more expensive too.

[Appias]

All the towns on your list have great public schools. Have you visited any of them yet? Some food for thought questions:
1.Do you want to drive or would you prefer to take the train to work? 2.What kinds of things do you want in your town? For example, do you want shops and restaurants and walkable downtown? Or would you rather have a smaller, quieter property with more land but a bit of a drive to get to the grocery store or a movie theatre?

[renovating]

Westport has 2 very welcoming and active synagogues: Beth Israel and Temple Israel.

Westport also has excellent schools.

I have no idea about political affiliations in the town and frankly that would be last on my list for consideration of quality of life when picking a town...but I am sure you can google it!

I would live as close to Stamford as you can....unless you are going to commute off hours...it won't be fun.

I agree with the above posters regarding Trumbull...fantastic town. I suggest when househunting you drive the commute to see how far away you want to live. Good luck!

[trooper638]

In the towns that you mentioned you will not have a problem with finding a 4BR home $800k and under, except New Canaan. Fairfield, and Stamford have about the largest Jewish population in Fairfield county. Stamford has the largest of the two, plus the Jewish Community Center on Newfield Ave is a very large center. Having been a commuter to Stamford I can tell you summer time you'll probably not have a problem getting to Stamford in 45 mins, but beware that traffic backs up between Westport and Fairfield. Once school is in session it could take close to 1 hour from Fairfield. Fairfield also has a train station, and depending on where you are working, they might have a shuttle service. Trains run from Fairfield to Stamford 20 - 40 mins depending on the train you take. See MTA Home Page for train details. I hope this information helps you...

[FLASHcard]

Fairfield sounds ideal, if you can take the train. The 95 can be pretty bad, like Los Angeles bad.

We have some friends who are liberal, Jewish, and have 2 school age children. They just moved to Fairfield, and they are loving it. They live near the college, but closer to the beach. There is a ton of fun stuff to do around there: the beaches, a walkable downtown area, fun shops and places to eat. It is a very lovely town, and more diverse than other areas of Fairfield County. 800,000k will go very far there, too. Or, very far in comparison to Westport...

Ridgefield is also a very nice town. It is a bit more rural feeling in comparison, so it depends what you like.

Wilton seems pretty much just like New Canaan and Darien, to me. (Uh-oh, I know someone is bound to disagree with that.)

Parts of Stamford are very nice. There are some good schools there, too. I would not rule it out, if I were you.

Good luck!

[Tubulus]

Commute will be somewhat easier from Westport, obviously. I average 25 minutes in the morning and 35-40 in the afternoon from downton Westport to Exit 6 (West edge of stamford). Figure an extra 5 (no traffic) to 20 (traffic) to Fairfield. The traffic is slow but rarely horrendous, you always have two options (Merrit or I-95), and you can just take the train if the traffic maps look really bad. Westport has a few shuttles to the train that are convenient if you live along the route. Traffic is also heavily concentrated in the afternoon from 5-6:30 or so, so if you come home earlier/later it'll be even faster.

You'll certainly get more house for your money in Fairfied, but there some 4+ bedrooms for sale for <800 in Westport too.

[arielmina]

just FYI the commute from Ridgefield to Stamford is really actually great because you can avoid the highways altogether. If you are in southern Ridgefield, you can get to downtown Stamford in 30-40 mins even during rush hour. If you're north of town, it can be 45-55 depending on where you are going and where you live. You take route 124 to 137 and right down High Ridge Rd into Stamford.