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Old 11-01-2009, 11:23 AM
 
10 posts, read 35,763 times
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I've enjoyed cruising these forums for a few weeks now and would love to get input from you knowledgeable folks!

My husband and I are preparing to leave our hectic, cramped ratrace in Los Angeles with our 4-year-old and 1-year-old daughters for a new life back East. I grew up in Westchester County and he grew up in Syracuse, so we are eager to give our kids the kind of childhood that we enjoyed.

We're both writers who work for ourselves so we don't commute and can live anywhere. Ideally, we would like to be within a couple of hours of NYC because my parents have an apartment there, and no more than 4 hours from the Syracuse area where all of my husband's family lives. Beyond that, we just want to find a community that will feel like home. Here's our wish list:

--nice 4 bedroom homes in the area of $500K
--great school district and family oriented
--some artistic community
--a little diversity -- being in LA we have come to appreciate that not everyone we meet is of the same "genre". While we are politically "liberal" we also know how important it is to live among a healthy variety of opinions and attitudes. I also want to feel like most people in our community are down-to-earth and not obsessed with status (we get enough of that in Los Angeles!)

I've been looking at towns in the Candlewood Lake area and Newtown, New Milford, etc. I've also heard that many towns in Litchfield County might fit the bill but I don't know any specifics.

I would love information about these areas or any others, and some insights into the "flavor" of certain towns. Thank you so much!!!!

Jennifer
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Old 11-01-2009, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Fairfield, CT
6,981 posts, read 10,887,170 times
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I love Litchfield. It's a beautiful town that is pretty 'artsy' in its way. There are other towns in that general area of Litchfield County that are really nice. The downside to the area is that it's pretty remote from things, so that would be a radical change from LA, but maybe that's what you're looking for.

I'm not sure what you mean specifically by 'diversity,' but if it's ethnic/racial diversity, it's virtually impossible to find that in Connecticut while meeting your other specifications, so I think you're going to have to make a choice. I have a friend who grew up in LA and lives here now, and at the beginning, she was amazed at how much less 'diverse' Connecticut was than LA when you get down into the local areas. It's just one of those things.
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Old 11-01-2009, 06:43 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,642 posts, read 56,411,621 times
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I am pretty sure most of Connecticut is over 4 hours from Syracuse. Even the Danbury area which is probably the closest larger city is about 4 and a half hours away. You might be a little closer if you were to settle in the more rural northwestern corner of the state but I still think you will be over 4 hours.

The Candlewood Lake area or New Milford would be good. Newtown is a bit further. Brookfield and New Fairfield are very nice towns but they are not big and there is not a lot of diversity. Litchfield County is home to many artists so it may be a good option but it is fairly rural overall. Beautiful though. Jay
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Old 11-01-2009, 09:46 PM
 
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Thank you! Yes, we realize that we're not going to get a lot of diversity anywhere in CT, which is fine. Other issues are more important and we will be spending time regularly in NYC so hopefully that will balance things out.

Four and a half hours sounds about right. We just like being near 84 which makes it an easy shot to 87 or 81 which would take us to Syracuse.

Funny to think about the rural aspect. I'm not sure how removed from things we want to be...but we will probably check out Litchfield County just for comparison's sake.
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Old 11-02-2009, 10:10 AM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
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I love Kent, and if I could live anywhere in CT without worry for commute, I would look there. Also, areas down on the coast, like Stonington, however that would make your commute much longer to Syracuse.
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:14 PM
 
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Thank you! Kent looks lovely and I like that general area, around Millbrook.
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Old 11-02-2009, 03:30 PM
 
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Collinsville comes to mind (a section of Canton), it seems to have that artsy element to it, and just about 4 hours to Syracuse (I live in nearby Burlington and it takes us about 5 hours to get to my husband's family in Rochester - just did the trip this weekend).
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Old 11-02-2009, 05:15 PM
 
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Also consider the Northampton-area towns in Massachusetts. They definitely have an artistic bent and are "generally wonderful" although not very diverse. Plus it would be sub-4 hours to Syracuse.
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Old 11-10-2009, 02:17 PM
 
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Collinsville is a nice small town with a artsy feel - monthly art walks, farmers markets with live music, and an active local artist community. However, it is not very diverse except for a few same-sex couples in town. Also, despite a liberal community in Collinsville, Canton as a whole is not a liberal area -coming from LA, you would like likely Canton to be typical suburbia. I'd stick with the other commentators and look in the towns of Kent, Salisbury, or Litchfield - Salisbury is especially nice.
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Old 11-10-2009, 07:56 PM
 
Location: Bristol, CT
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One thing about Litchfield County though is that it's fairly expensive. A four bedroom home for around $500k may be hard to come by. There's not much inventory and a lot of the homes are vintage. Not sure if I'm allowed to post this on here, but I personally find the www.prudentialct.com website to be really easy to use.
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