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My husband is considering applying for a position located in Shelton (transferring within his company). We currently live in northern Florida (hate it and always have) and would love to move to New England. Will someone share some information about the area, please? We have two children (8 yo son and 15 yo daughter). We will need to rent and would like to keep the rent for a 3 BR/2BA detached house with a fenced backyard no higher than $1500/mo. Ideally, we would love small town life with a bigger city nearby for shopping, entertainment, etc. I am in LOVE with the New England fall foliage (only seen it via pictures) and suburban somewhat rural environment. Quality public school systems are extremely important to us, as well as a safe neighborhood. We would love to live in a neighborhood/area that you can feel safe to trick-or-treat, ride bikes, play outside, etc. My children are both heavily involved in sports and other activities such as Boy Scouts and church youth groups, so we would also hope for the same where we would move. We are a primarily a Baptist family, but from what I can gather, it looks like Baptist churches are in the minority up there. LOL. How high is the cost of living? Utilities? Cable? Groceries? Sales Tax? Vehicle registrations? Tag renewals? Driver's license?
I know I am asking for a lot of information, but it comes from moving away from Florida and finding some nasty financial surprises in the new area, regardless of all the "research" we thought we had done. Information on this and recommended areas would be great! Thanks so much!
Well you should know that you are moving to one of the more expensive parts of the country so expect your costs to increase. There are a number of cost-of-living calculators that will give you an idea of what the approximate differences are. As for rents, it would be hard to find a home like you describe for $1,500 per month is a nice area wth good schools. Check realtor.com or craigslist.com for a better idea of what you would get for your budget. Good luck, Jay
Unfortunately, your budget is very low for that area. Finding a rental with all that you wish for in a town with "Quality public school systems" will be extremely difficult if not impossible to find. Some of the neighboring towns with very good school systems are Monroe and Shelton, but there are only a small handful of home rentals in that price range, and they only have one bathroom. (I was looking at realtor.com) You could also try Milford or Stratford, although their school systems aren't quite as "quality" as Monroe/Newtown. Still, there are many who are satisfied with the school systems there. You'll also need to carefully research neighborhoods in Milford and Stratford. You'll find you might need to make some sacrifices in what you are looking for. Good luck!
The OP could look there, but it will be a reach. Even still, the OP won't find a "somewhat rural" environment at that price point. I'm thinking upper Valley(i.e.: Seymour/Prospect/Beacon Falls) would be a better area to focus on.
Wow, I had no idea. Things are MUCH different in Florida, I see. What is the average price of what I described for Connecticut? As an outsider, I see New England as a beautiful place with gorgeous falls and winters. The history is also a big draw for me. I have heard of higher taxes and higher heating costs but I still really have no real idea of what that entails. We lived in Rapid City, South Dakota for six years, so I am accustomed to long, hard winters, but the cost of living really wasn't that god-awful high; however, the pay sucked, so it seemed like the cost of living was higher.
Jay, when you said I would be moving to one of the more expensive places in the country, did you mean Shelton and surrounding areas, Connecticut, or New England in general? If he doesn't apply for this job, we would look in New Hampshire or Vermont, as these are the real desired destinations. His company is just offering a position in Connecticut.
Wow, I had no idea. Things are MUCH different in Florida, I see. What is the average price of what I described for Connecticut? As an outsider, I see New England as a beautiful place with gorgeous falls and winters. The history is also a big draw for me. I have heard of higher taxes and higher heating costs but I still really have no real idea of what that entails. We lived in Rapid City, South Dakota for six years, so I am accustomed to long, hard winters, but the cost of living really wasn't that god-awful high; however, the pay sucked, so it seemed like the cost of living was higher.
Jay, when you said I would be moving to one of the more expensive places in the country, did you mean Shelton and surrounding areas, Connecticut, or New England in general? If he doesn't apply for this job, we would look in New Hampshire or Vermont, as these are the real desired destinations. His company is just offering a position in Connecticut.
Connecticut in general compared to both South Dakota and Florida will be rather expensive. Shelton is located in Fairfield County, but on the eastern side, a little bit further away from the extremely, extremely expensive areas of Greenwich, Darien and other wealthy NYC suburbs.
The Shelton area is quite expensive, but there is a wide range of towns and housing options you can choose from. Shelton itself has areas such as Huntington and White Hills that are much more desirable than the downtown area. In Shelton houses can vary from the 250,000 for a starter home up to and well over $1,000,000+.
In New England, and like anywhere else for that matter, your school systems will be more desirable where housing prices are more expensive. From what I understand, anything in CT however, outside of the state's urban areas, will be alot better then Northern FL schools. I'm not bashing, just from what I understand CT's educational system is top top notch.
With all of this in mind, here are some towns and details for you.
Shelton: Could have been considered a your typical Naugatuck valley middle-class town a few years ago but there has been an expansion in alot of down-county residents moving up to this area to save on the cost of living. Shelton has been developing a big corporate presence and numerous coperations have relocated. It's a great town, schools sytem is fine from what I understand and you are located a short drive to everything. Malls in Trumbull, grocery shopping in Shelton and surrounding towns.
Trumbull: Beautiful town. Ranked numerous times as one of the best places to live in America. School system is great, close to the Merritt Parkway which can bring you to cultural attractions throughout Fairfield County and NYC. Housing is more expensive then Shelton but you get what you pay for. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Trumbull. Average home price I believe is around $500,000.
Monroe: Pretty town, that is if you stay of Route 25 and 111. Traffic Nightmare. Renting in Monroe will be much harder than in Shelton and Trumbull as housing options in Monroe aren't as readily available. Schools are excellent. Wolfe Park is great, they are building a new pool there on top of having an indoor pool at Masuk, the town's high school. Numerous baseball field, football fields, tennis, walking trails, lake. As I stated 25 and 111 are traffic nightmares because they are 2 lane roads, and there is alot of strip malls on these two roadways. Great town for families, sports oriented. Football, Baseball, Soccer and Lacrosse are the biggest sports. Home prices vary. In this market you can find a starter home such as a split level or ranch for $300,000+ but it might need some work. Houses like in Shelton and Trumbull can exceed a million.
Newtown: Extremely similar to Monroe, but has become rather upscale in recent years. Housing will be the most expensive here, schools are great. Nice town feel near the flagpole (a huge flagpole in the middle of the street) with offices, the Inn at Newtown, town hall, etc. Beautiful houses. Close to 84.
I don't know alot about renting, but I hope this helps. All of the towns mentioned are great and you won't have to worry about a thing. Schools are excellent, lots of activities, not too rural but all have pockets of ruralness where you can feel you millions of miles from the city.
Cheaper alternatives would be the Naugatuck Valley towns of Oxford, Ansonia, Derby, Beacon Falls, Prospect. Be aware schools are not nearly as good in these towns and some of these towns are rather rural far away from certain ammenities as well.
As explained above, Shelton is located in affluent Fairfield County. This is one of the wealthiest and most expensive parts of the country. Shelton though is in eastern Fairfield County so it is less expensive but it is still pricey. I agree it might be better to look to the north where home prices are cheaper. You may need to check out towns near or north of Waterbury where home prices are more reasonable. The towns mentioned above would be a start. Also check Naugatuck, Watertown, Plymouth or Thomaston. Jay
Shelton: Could have been considered a your typical Naugatuck valley middle-class town a few years ago but there has been an expansion in alot of down-county residents moving up to this area to save on the cost of living. Shelton has been developing a big corporate presence and numerous coperations have relocated. It's a great town, schools sytem is fine from what I understand and you are located a short drive to everything. Malls in Trumbull, grocery shopping in Shelton and surrounding towns.
Trumbull: Beautiful town. Ranked numerous times as one of the best places to live in America. School system is great, close to the Merritt Parkway which can bring you to cultural attractions throughout Fairfield County and NYC. Housing is more expensive then Shelton but you get what you pay for. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Trumbull. Average home price I believe is around $500,000.
Monroe: Pretty town, that is if you stay of Route 25 and 111. Traffic Nightmare. Renting in Monroe will be much harder than in Shelton and Trumbull as housing options in Monroe aren't as readily available. Schools are excellent. Wolfe Park is great, they are building a new pool there on top of having an indoor pool at Masuk, the town's high school. Numerous baseball field, football fields, tennis, walking trails, lake. As I stated 25 and 111 are traffic nightmares because they are 2 lane roads, and there is alot of strip malls on these two roadways. Great town for families, sports oriented. Football, Baseball, Soccer and Lacrosse are the biggest sports. Home prices vary. In this market you can find a starter home such as a split level or ranch for $300,000+ but it might need some work. Houses like in Shelton and Trumbull can exceed a million.
Newtown: Extremely similar to Monroe, but has become rather upscale in recent years. Housing will be the most expensive here, schools are great. Nice town feel near the flagpole (a huge flagpole in the middle of the street) with offices, the Inn at Newtown, town hall, etc. Beautiful houses. Close to 84.
Since I live in that area, I keep up on current home values in those towns. Your numbers are way off. I was confused by the bolded, did you mean that Shelton was more expensive than Monroe? That actually isn't the case, should the OP want to consider buying in Shelton. And Monroe is just slightly lower than Trumbull. And Newtown is actually more affordable than Trumbull and Monroe, not more expensive. But the home values in those towns do fluctuate slightly from year to year. Due to the current market they have probably all dropped in 2008-2009. But all four towns/city are considered desirable. Shelton's school system is the lower ranked of the four.
Here are the 2007 median home values according to City-data:
Shelton:Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $393,591
Trumbull: Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $489,777
Monroe: Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $477,165
Newtown: Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $466,060
As SCR mentioned earlier, some of the upper valley towns would be much more affordable. The schools are not of the same quality as those mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but are still better than many school systems you would find around the country.
All of CT is more expensive then florida. To get the kind of home your looking for you would need to spend about 2000 a month or more in that area of CT.
But ANYWHERE in CT with "great" schools is going to cost you around that number or higher. The only towns where you could find a rental that cheap would be a more city type town where schools are not very desirable..
As I stated 25 and 111 are traffic nightmares because they are 2 lane roads, and there is alot of strip malls on these two roadways.
I drive 25 almost daily and frequently on 111 and strongly disagree that these routes are traffic nightmares. At peak times, there is a lot of volume but the traffic flows steadily.
During non peak times, there is nothing to label these routes traffic nightmares.
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