[Lintu]

We're considering a variety of towns to move to: Monroe, Trumbull, Newtown, Oxford, and Shelton. Shelton by far has the lowest-rated schools, though they aren't poor. Does anyone have experience to share about them that might be helpful as we decide whether to keep Shelton on our list?

[kidyankee764]

I don't have personal experience with Shelton schools, but I did live in Shelton for a time. They definitely aren't poor performing. They're about average IMO, and the mediocrity is due to the eastern side of town being lower on the socioeconomic scale - two family homes and apartments. The other towns don't have this, so the schools will rank higher because the kids are more uniformly upper middle class. Newtown, IMO, has the best schools of the bunch, but Newtown is also probably the most expensive.

What kind of amenities are you looking for in a town (convenience to shopping, more rural/residential with larger lots, etc)?

All are great towns BTW and you can't really go wrong in any of them.

I would rank the towns in this order, overall:

Newtown
Oxford
Monroe
Trumbull
Shelton

[Lintu]

The main appeal for Shelton is that there's shopping in town and home prices and taxes are both so darn low. Oxford is nice in its prices and taxes, but I do wonder what you lose by having such low taxes, and it's kind of middle of nowhere. Trumbull I've always liked, but their taxes feel high, as do Monroe's.

[JayCT]

Shelton is a nice enough town but it always stuck me as a town that kind of does things on the cheap side. It still has some of that Naugatuck Valley/Old Yankee thinking that unless it is about to fall down, you don't do anything about it. Trumbull is a bit more upscale IMHO and you are paying for some of the conveniences it offers (very good schools and close to shopping and entertainment). Worth it in my humble opinion. Jay

[CathyJ1234]

Lintu, we looked at the same towns when we were looking to move a few years ago, although we included Seymour in our search. We ended up buying in Oxford.

When considering each town, we compared the schools very closely. Shelton's and Seymour's were solid, but at our price point we were able to buy in a more attractive town with lower taxes and schools that performed better. In the long run, although we sacrificed a little square footage, we will have saved money by buying here. Monroe and Trumbull were very appealing too, but their taxes seemed very, very high. Monroe also seems to always have budget issues plaguing the town and that forced us to look elsewhere. With Trumbull, you pay for convenience.

Oxford's taxes are low, and let me be the first to advise you, there is nothing we have to sacrifice. Don't fall into the tax and spend mindset that higher taxes equal better services. We've been extremely happy with the way the town manages money (with exception to the corrupt Town Clerk a few years back). Budgets that are put on the table are always fair and balanced, and usually pass very quickly. The schools perform very well here, there is a small town library (with plans to build a new one) and a plethora of family friendly neighborhoods. It is similar to Newtown in that there are a lot of newer homes with younger families and kids. It is most definitely a family friendly town. One thing you will have to be okay with is driving 10 to 15 minutes for shopping. We do our shopping at Big Y in Monroe, but some of our friends drive to Southbury or Seymour, depending on where they live. Everything we need can be found in a surrounding community. Oxford had a proposed grocery store, but residents fought it and won.

Wherever you end up, you will be happy. At this point, I would look more at what you can get for your money and commute to work.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about Oxford!

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Lintu

The main appeal for Shelton is that there's shopping in town and home prices and taxes are both so darn low. Oxford is nice in its prices and taxes, but I do wonder what you lose by having such low taxes, and it's kind of middle of nowhere. Trumbull I've always liked, but their taxes feel high, as do Monroe's.

I don't know that I would say housing in Shelton is darn low - but in comparison to Fairfield I guess it is. I agree that Trumbull and Monroe both have pretty high taxes for what you get.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Lintu

We're considering a variety of towns to move to: Monroe, Trumbull, Newtown, Oxford, and Shelton. Shelton by far has the lowest-rated schools, though they aren't poor. Does anyone have experience to share about them that might be helpful as we decide whether to keep Shelton on our list?

It wouldn't be my 1st choice out of that list(Newtown would be), but i do like Shelton. I've noted that the high school has made some impressive gains on their test scores the last few years, to the point where they're creeping up fast on Trumbull and Monroe. They've definitely separated themselves from the towns(Milford and Stratford) that they used to be more closely associated with on education quality.

Are you considering the move because your house is inadequate, or is it because of the schools?

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

Are you considering the move because your house is inadequate, or is it because of the schools?

IIRC, I think Lintu is moving to find a better school district. I remember them saying they would stay in Stratford if they could though. IMO, the closest town to Stratford with better schools would be Shelton.

Also Lintu, I personally would put Newtown at the top of the list, but if you think Oxford is "middle of nowhere", you might feel the same way about Newtown. It's pretty rural.

[AMSS]

We lived in Shelton when our kids were smaller. Because I was an at home mom at the time, we didn't buy our next home there since it's more expensive than where we now live. The schools there are very good, but as KidYankee pointed out, it's a socioeconomically diverse town now - so the test scores make the schools look far worse than they really are. They have a terrific Park & Rec department and the community center in Huntington is excellent. Amenities are plentiful, taxes are low, and the parks/ball fields are nice. The downtown area needs a good civil engineer though.

My thoughts on the other towns fwiw:
Trumbull - nice, good schools, traffic nightmares around the mall, good park and rec
Monroe - similar to Trumbull, though I find the traffic there worse at rush hour
Oxford - well managed, no amenities and not close to many (deal breaker for me), pretty, never see anyone out walking (bothers me for some reason)
Newtown - awesome if you can afford it

Good luck!

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by CathyJ1234

Lintu, you can look at AMSS' previous posts lambasting Oxford for being elitist toward other Valley towns.

Lintu doesn't have any interest in that. She's asking primarily for input from Shelton parents.

Take the gripe with AMSS to DM please.