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We have narrowed down our search to these two areas as they seem to be have the type of houses we are looking for in our price range. Can anyone tell me the difference in the two, if any. I believe they are in the same school district. We are renting for a year and want to find a place where we will potentially buy so that we don't have to transfer schools. I'm not sure how it works in CT as far as whether you can change schools if you are not in the area for a particular school. My son will be in 8th grade in the fall so in our case high schools.
Any insight would be great as far as schools, proximity to shopping, safety,etc. Thanks!
Fairfield Woods is theoretically the "nicer" area, in that the housing stock is probably a bit more upscale. But you can't go wrong with either. Just find a place you like and don't stress it too much. I believe you'd have the same high school either way. My biggest piece of advice, given your previous threads, is to prioritize being near one of the train stations - preferably walking distance!
I don't think I agree with Stylo about the housing stock being more upscale in Fairfield Woods than Stratfield.
Stratfield has a few different neighborhoods, and while there are sections where the houses are more modest, there are some sections that are seriously upscale. I think it's more accurate to say that the Stratfield section is older than Fairfield Woods. Stratfield is most pre-war houses (1920s and 30s) while Fairfield Woods is mostly postwar, with a lot of ranches and split levels.
Either section is fine, and there's really no difference betwee, the two other than location and different types of houses. It's all about finding a house you like and then determining how convenient it is.
I don't think I agree with Stylo about the housing stock being more upscale in Fairfield Woods than Stratfield.
Stratfield has a few different neighborhoods, and while there are sections where the houses are more modest, there are some sections that are seriously upscale. I think it's more accurate to say that the Stratfield section is older than Fairfield Woods. Stratfield is most pre-war houses (1920s and 30s) while Fairfield Woods is mostly postwar, with a lot of ranches and split levels.
Either section is fine, and there's really no difference betwee, the two other than location and different types of houses. It's all about finding a house you like and then determining how convenient it is.
I agree with dazzleman. In my opinon, the Stratfield homes have far more character than the Fairfield Woods section. The homes in FW tend to be more 50's-80's, while the Stratfield homes are primarily nicely detailed post war (WWI) homes as noted by Dazzleman.
With regard to schools, your house will be districted to one of each high school, middle school, and elementary school. It is always possible that the Board of Education would decide to redistrict, as they have in the past. Also, just because you are NEAR a school, does not mean that is the one you are disctricted to. If you really want to know, once you are looking at a house, go to the Board of Ed's website and look up the street on their master street list: http://www.fairfieldschools.org/down...-2011_WIDE.pdf
(fyi-the reason two middle schools are listed, is because they just redistricted and grandfathered kids that had already started).
As for shopping (forgot to address that); whether you are in Stratfield or FW, both are convenient to Black Rock Turnpike, one of two major shopping areas in Fairfield. From Stratfield, you would be closer to Trumbull which has a mall and an area of some big box stores (target, best buy). honestly, I think Stratfield has one of, if not the strongest community in town...although I am biased, I hear far more about neighborhood block parties and the like in our section of town.
As for the high schools, I think they are both pretty good. Warde used to be Fairfield High. When it got too crowded, they turned the old Ludlowe Middle School into a new Ludlowe High School and built a new Ludlowe Middle School next to it.
Thank you for such great info. I am really leaning toward Stratfield, mostly because I like the more traditional houses. We will be relocating the end of August and won't be able to make it back before then so I want to know more or less what area we will find the type of house we want in our price range. All this information definitely helps!
As for shopping (forgot to address that); whether you are in Stratfield or FW, both are convenient to Black Rock Turnpike, one of two major shopping areas in Fairfield. From Stratfield, you would be closer to Trumbull which has a mall and an area of some big box stores (target, best buy). honestly, I think Stratfield has one of, if not the strongest community in town...although I am biased, I hear far more about neighborhood block parties and the like in our section of town.
As for the high schools, I think they are both pretty good. Warde used to be Fairfield High. When it got too crowded, they turned the old Ludlowe Middle School into a new Ludlowe High School and built a new Ludlowe Middle School next to it.
Actually, Warde was originally built as a second high school in Fairfield. It was named Andrew Warde after one of the other founders of the town (Roger Ludlowe being another). Tomlinson Middle School was originally built as Roger Ludowe High School (sometimes called Fairfield High) back in the 1920's. The current Ludlowe was originally built as an elementary school. When they built Warde is was obvious that they needed to upgrade Ludlowe to be as modern as Warde so they rebuilt and expand the elementary school building to make it into a high school. For years Fairfield had two high schools, then in the 80's the number of high school students dropped and to save money the town closed Ludlowe and changed the name of Warde to Fairfield High. This turned out to be very shortsighted since they did have to go back to two high schools a number of years later, each time they changed it cost millions to renovate the buildings. At the time they went back to two high schools it was felt by some that the name Fairfield High School meant something so that is why the high schools are Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde. To me it is just stupid. Jay
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