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After months of debate, we have decided to relocate to CT. We have done some research on Middlesex, New London, and New Haven counties and have narrowed our choices down to Madison and East Lyme.
We visited Madison last weekend and were awed by the beach! It was so clean and there were tons of families. However, we will not get much bang for our buck there.
It seems like we could get more value in East Lyme - and most important to my husband, new construction.
Of primary importance to us is the school systems and community activities for the kids. And the beach is nice too
Also, I'd like to have the option of working part-time and would like to be near a decent hospital (I'm an RN). I think it would be an easy commute to New Haven from Madison, but I'm not sure how doable that would be from East Lyme.
Any thoughts on the quality of life in these towns? TIA!
Last edited by elizabethgrace; 08-15-2007 at 11:27 PM..
Reason: sp
Have you considered the towns of Clinton, Guilford, or Branford-?
All are fine towns- and have a more earthy appeal then Madison.
The schools in the other towns are also just as good.
East Lyme is a bit further to the the east-closer to New London.
Middlesex county is a very good choice as well- plus it has cheaper housing.
Towns like Portland, Cromwell and East Hampton are nice- with easy travel time into Middletown. Essex and Chester go beyond New England charm on the lower CT river. Over into New London county there is Marlborough and Hebron- excellent towns with easy access to both New London and Hartford.
I understand your desire to me near the beach however- but do consider the towns I mentioned above.
Both are nice towns, I don't think you can really go wrong with either. As you can tell from the housing prices, Madison is the more affluent of the two. If you are thinking of working in a hospital, it would be much easier and shorter to commute from East Lyme to one the hospitals in New London (Lawrence & Memorial) or Norwich (Backus) rather than going all of the way to New Haven, unless you are stuck on Yale or St. Raphaels for some reason.
The two towns you are considering are not exactly the same. Madison is an upscale suburb of New Haven. It is a highly desirable town and the schools are considered excellent. East Lyme is a small town that is kind of geared to the beach and if anything is a suburb of New London. The schools in East Lyme are very good with small class sizes and good Connecticut Mastery Test scores. The town though is having problems getting a budget passed this year and there has been significant cuts made in the school budget.
Which town to choose is really up to you. Both are very nice. Good luck, Jay
JAyCT- I'm glad to hear both have good schools. That's really what we are looking for. Since East Lyme is more of a beach town, is it more tourist-y?
Mels - The affluence of Madison does scare us a little. There are some negatives that come with living in a wealthy town in my opinion. I'm not hell-bent on working in New Haven, but it does offer the services that I specialize in - if I work in New London I may need to reinvent myself, not an idea I'm crazy about (right now, anyway).
skytrekker - Guilford does seem like a good place for us to look. Are the schools really as good as the ones in MAdison and East Lyme? I have heard some negative things about the schools in Clinton (from my husband's coworkers) so we did not consider it. We love Essex and Chester, but since they are smaller towns there is not much to chose from on the market right now that is in our price range. We found some cute neighborhoods in Essex but couldn't find anything for sale there Also a little concerned about the quality of schools there, the NCLB scores are what seem to be significantly lower than Madison, Guilford, and East Lyme.
I find it very difficult to gauge the quality of the schools, even with all the published info available on test scores and such. I have a friend who taught in CT who told me all the public schools in CT are excellent , but that the test scores are not indicative of how could a school is. My kids certainly don't need to go to the absolute best school in the world, I just want to give them a good start!
Some of the Parents in Madison have developed a rather 'autocratic' attitude with the school board.
The towns wealth- so it seems has emboldened some in town to act as 'bullies' to have their agenda's, pet projects initiated. This can be both good or bad- outside interference can sometimes hinder an organization from being objective, and doing what is best for the educational community.
Since you are an RN - the best Hospitals along the shoreline will be of course in New Haven-so the towns just to the east would be great- but the traffic west bound into the city can be a pain.
New London, has Lawrence and Memorial Hospital-
I would consider some of the towns adjacent; which would include East Lyme, which would be a easier commute.
When looking at school system I generally look at a couple of things. First would be the Connecticut Mastery Test Scores. These tests are taken by all 4th, 6th and 8th grade students in the state and as long as they meet or exceed the State average for each of the curriculum (reading, math and writing), I believe the system to be good.
Generally the state average for 8th grade is 65% above goals for reading; 56% for math; and 61% for writing. Madison's scores are pretty consistant (84% reading, 85% math, 85% writing) for each test which to me means that they put a pretty consistant emphasis on each class. Because the scores are well above the state average, I would classify the schools in Madison as excellent.
Guilford's scores are 89% reading (which is excellent); 75% math (which is just good) and 82% Writing. So you can see overall Madison scores are better.
East Lyme's scores are 88% reading; 79% math; and 77% writing. Essex scores are 87% reading; 77% math; and 86% writing. Clinton's scores are 79% reading; 70% math; and 87% writing. Comparing these results you can see why Madison is so highly rated. It is consistantly very good in all areas.
Another thing I look at is class size. I believe keeping class sizes low is important for the student to learn effectively. I generally like the class size to be as close to 20 students or less. Madison high school classes are 23.4 students; Guilford 19.5; East Lyme 18.7; Essex 14.4 and Clinton 16.1. I should note however that class size does not take into account whether the school system employees teacher's assistants to help out in larger classes.
I guess my point here is that all of the towns here are very good and you can't go wrong with any of them. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Madison is a town with a very high percentage of college educated households so you would expect their scores to be higher (parents there will do what they have to to educate their children and assure higher test scores). That doesn't necessarily mean that the schools in other towns are not good. Hope this helps a little. Jay
Skytrekker - thanks for the info. It does seem to make more sense to live closer to New Haven for us. I get what you are saying about the towns wealth affecting the schools - I have many friends who are teachers and the ones who work in wealthier districts have much lower job satisfaction than the ones who work in not so wealthy districts.
Jay CT - Thanks so much for looking up all those stats for me! I really appreciate it! I'm embarrassed to admit it tooklme a good 20 minutes to find the web site that listed these scores - thanks for doing the work for me!Interesting that Essex seems to be the closest to Madison regarding test scores - we may have to look there again. It really is a beautiful town.
Any thoughts on Killingworth? It doesn't seem too far from Madison and it seems we could get alot of bang for our buck there.
Killingworth is a beautiful small town (under 7,000) that is located west of North Madison. It is an affordable alternative to Madison and the other more expensive coastal communities. Killingworth students go to Region 17 schools which are shared with Haddam to the north. The regions Connecticut Mastery Test scores are reading 79%, math 67% and writing 69%. Average high school class sizes are 20.3 students, which is not bad. The one thing about Killingworth you should know is that there is very little shopping in town and you would have to travel a bit to neighboring communities for most things you need.
I agree that Essex is beautiful and would agree that you should consider it first. However, if you can not find a home that suits your needs and budget, other towns are still excellent choices. Good luck. Jay
After months of debate, we have decided to relocate to CT. We have done some research on Middlesex, New London, and New Haven counties and have narrowed our choices down to Madison and East Lyme.
We visited Madison last weekend and were awed by the beach! It was so clean and there were tons of families. However, we will not get much bang for our buck there.
It seems like we could get more value in East Lyme - and most important to my husband, new construction.
Of primary importance to us is the school systems and community activities for the kids. And the beach is nice too
Also, I'd like to have the option of working part-time and would like to be near a decent hospital (I'm an RN). I think it would be an easy commute to New Haven from Madison, but I'm not sure how doable that would be from East Lyme.
Any thoughts on the quality of life in these towns? TIA!
I grew up in Madison and now live in Guilford. You are right, Madison is very expensive, but a fabulous place to raise your children. My husband and I are now living in Guilford (right next to Madison) and we wouldn't have it any other way. Schools are great.
East Lyme is great too. It is a much smaller community and is developing rapidly. Madison is probably a better commute to the hospital for you, but traffic can be a bear with consruction on the highway. You could always look into Middlesex hospital in Middletown and look in areas more like Old Saybrook and Westbrook which also have fabulous beaches, great schools and are centrally located to East Lyme and Middlesex. Commuting to New Haven from there could be long. Any town along Route 9 (look on a map and you'll see what I mean) would be a good choice. Haddam, East Haddam and Chester are also GORGEOUS!! They are not shore towns, but right along the CT river, plenty of lakes and your dollar will go much farther. Best of luck.
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Also a little concerned about the quality of schools there, the NCLB scores are what seem to be significantly lower than Madison, Guilford, and East Lyme.
