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My wife and I are considering moving to Fairfield, Ct. We have visited a few times in the last month and like the town and neighborhoods (specifically we are looking at the Stratfied area). The one factor I am grappling with is the commute. Realistically to where I work in Manhattan I think door to door the commute will be 1hr 45min each way. Having a seven month old daughter, however, I am excited about the prospect of owning a house with yard, etc., in a good place to raise a family, and Fairfield seems to offer decent value in the housing market with nice neighborhoods, good school system and down to earth people from what I can tell. That said, I think I could get used to the commute, but it still makes me a little nervous at this point. Any thoughs from people who do this commute or long commutes in general? Thanks
Get a wireless card for your laptop, or a 3G iPad. It's a very long commute, especially if you're used to a short one. I've never made a long train commute like that, but I have by car and it can be very wearing after a while.
I do Fairfield to Wall St. everyday. I take the 6:43 out of Fairfield, and I'm at my office by 8:10. It's not short, but combining express Metro North trains (though i use the term liberally), and an express subway, you can pretty much be door to door anywhere in Manhattan in under 1:45.
I'm not a family man, but we like it a lot. Nice downtown area, decent amenities. It does have some of the best schools in the area, and it's probably one of the best values, as long as you are ok with the commute. The only downside is the folks tend to be a bit backward and anti-progress. But that's pretty common in New England.
Thanks for the feedback. The area we are considering in Westchester is Ctroton-on-Hudson. Any thoughts? We are visting this weekend. I am have never been but have read good things in terms of the housing values, natural surroundings and down to earth feel. I visited Mamoroneck once. Relative to Croton, it seems the dollar does not go as far for housing, and the feel is much more urban. Fairfield impresses us with the nice neiborhoods, small town feel and how much home you can get in the $400,000 range, but the tradeoff is the longer commute.
Thanks for the feedback. The area we are considering in Westchester is Ctroton-on-Hudson. Any thoughts? We are visting this weekend. I am have never been but have read good things in terms of the housing values, natural surroundings and down to earth feel. I visited Mamoroneck once. Relative to Croton, it seems the dollar does not go as far for housing, and the feel is much more urban. Fairfield impresses us with the nice neiborhoods, small town feel and how much home you can get in the $400,000 range, but the tradeoff is the longer commute.
Croton is nice. $400k in Mamoroneck won't get you much at all. Westchester taxes are definitely higher than Fairfield, but you'll have a much shorter commute in many towns. To get a similar commute in CT, it would cost you much more in a town like Greenwich or Darien.
Have you considered Ossining too? That's a nice town and a little closer.
I really like Irvington a lot, but it might be out of your price range.
Why not live in the Mamaroneck area? Basically gives you the suburban type of feel as Farfield, but with WAY less commute time.
Probably because the property taxes are 10X what they are in Fairfield. You're paying one way or another. Also, the 2 towns aren't even comparable when it comes to schools.
I'm in the Fairfield Woods area of Fairfield (a couple of minutes closer to the train than Stratfield). I do the commute every day - same train as SVTJayC. I walk 3 blocks to my office from Grand Central, and am at my desk at 8 or 5 after (if I stop for coffee or something). We moved to Fairfield almost 5 yrs ago after living in Manhattan and Hoboken, for the same reasons you are doing it now - having a yard, good schools, mostly normal people ().
The commute isn't easy in general, and even more so if you have young kids, especially if you are going to catch a train later than the 5:43 express home... but I guess that depends when your daughter goes to bed. My 3 yr old and 9 month old go to bed at 7, so most nights I am lucky to spend 30 seconds with them before helping to get them ready for bed.
As for your budget, 400k will get you a smaller home (typically 3br 1.5ba cape on a small-ish plot), even in Stratfield. You can save a bit if you get one that needs a lot of updating, and don't mind getting your hands dirty. Unfortunately you won't be able to find much else that's closer, except in some areas of Westchester but the higher taxes might make it a wash financially.
Feel free to DM me with any specific questions if you don't want to ask them publicly.
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