[Alwaysacubsfan]

These towns are beautiful to me... But, are these towns on the river or coastal....just small towns that people have their summer homes or do real people live here... ? Are there any somewhat young families that just want small , easy , simple life...good schools .without all the keeping up,with the Jones' BS.. Not interested in Greenwich, Westport, Weston.... . I have a young family .. It want an easy quiet life..in a beautiful coastal type setting but don't I don't want my children to be too affected.... We live in Dallas..I am from Chicago. And the kids are all about who has what , and who's dad is who .... I need real , regular , and down to earth.....please help . Is there any escaping this ... My husband travels and works from home... We really like CT , we can afford a house in Greenwich ....but I don't want all that anymore. Need to hear it straight ... Cause I gotta get out of here!

[NewJeffCT]

Welcome to Connecticut!

Old Lyme is coastal. Essex and Lyme are on the Connecticut River. All three are lovely towns. Real people do live in the towns. Lyme and Old Lyme share a school system, and have good schools overall. Essex shares their school system with nearby Deep River and Chester, and it is also very good. Deep River and Chester are also on the Connecticut River.

Some consider Essex the quintessential "New England" town. The young kids will love the Essex steam train, and Old Lyme has a nice arts scene for such a small town.

Yes, there are summer residents in all of those towns, but there are year-round residents. There are a good amount of older people in the town as year-round residents, but the quality of the schools does draw plenty of young families to the towns as well. Nearby East Lyme has a bigger school system that offers more choices (a pool and a good swim team, as well as a football team) and very good quality overall, but there is definitely a higher percentage of blue collar residents in East Lyme compared to Old Lyme, Lyme and Essex.

There is definitely wealth in the towns, but it's not "in your face" flaunting wealth. You won't see Ferrari's roaring up Boston Post Rd or tearing up Rte 156. That's not to say you won't run into snobbish people in any of the towns, but I also don't see people going out of their way to rub their wealth in your face, either.

The advantage Essex and Chester have is that they are on the West side of the river. If you do need to get to New Haven, or go up Route 9 into Hartford, you won't have to go over the bridge, which can really get backed up if there are accidents.

[JayCT]

To answer your question, yes, of course there are regular people living in these towns. They are beautiful and quiet and great places to raise a family. Just be aware that they are nothing like Chicago or Dallas so do not expect to have big city amenities nearby. Be aware though that even in small simple towns like these there will be some of that "keeping up with the jones" attitude but nothing like you would find in more affluent towns.

Also note that your husband's traveling options may be limited. I am not sure where he has to go but there is not a major airport nearby. He would have to go to either Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks about 45 miles north or TF Green Airport in Warwick RI about 65 miles to the east. Plus service from these airports is somewhat limited so he should check to be sure he can get where he needs to in a reasonable time. Jay