[beer belly]

My Wife and I looked at New Milford before buying in Bethel. Two things stood out about the areas that we looked, that were in our price range (400k in 2007).....any house that caught our eye, either had a house next door that looked beat up and property littered with junk, or the house was located on top of a big hill (no fun in the winter). New Milford does have some great areas, my Nephew has a house in the Washington Ridge area......but, you gotta go up a steeeeep hill to a great neighborhood. Have you looked into Bridgewater ??.

[brgunder1]

@ stylo I haven't looked at the towns you mentioned, however it appears that you can get 1-2 acres and newer construction in NM.

I am visiting the area in a few weeks and will look at properties then. Is the commute down 25 stop and go or does the traffic move? Right now it takes me 40 minutes to go 4 miles ( i live overseas).

[Lalalally]

Oh you will definitely get more and newer house for your money in New Milford than in the other towns mentioned, but there will be a trade off, most notably your commute. Your budget is doable in the other towns though -- just smaller scale and older homes. Definitely tune in for styles response regarding traffic on 25. I have no idea and can't offer any insight...

[andthentherewere3]

New Milford to Bridgeport would be a hellish commute. Traffic on 25 through Newtown and Monroe can be REALLY slow during rush hour. Traffic is very heavy, and if there is an accident it just stops altogether. You'd be better off looking in Bethel/Oxford/Newtown/Monroe.

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by beer belly

any house that caught our eye, either had a house next door that looked beat up and property littered with junk, or the house was located on top of a big hill (no fun in the winter).

This. There's definitely a lack of consistency/disconnect in the town. Many nice areas and many not so nice. I realize every town has a less desirable area -- I can think of that area in my town immediately and everyone from here knows exactly where it is -- New Milford has those areas sprinkled all over the place. But the nice homes really are nice, so I guess it's 6 of one.

[JayCT]

I agree with the others. It is about 40 miles from New Milford to Bridgeport and about an hour drive without traffic. Route 25 north of Trumbull is basically a 2 lane road with multiple traffic signals that will slow you down. During rush hour that could easily add another 15 to 20 minutes to your drive. Even though you are not doing this commute every day, it is not something I would want to do regularly. I am not sure what your budget is but you can find a nice home on a good sized lot in a nice town closer to your job. Monroe, Oxford, Newtown, Southbury, Brookfield and Bethel are good choices. Bridgewater may be another one to consider. Jay

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

New Milford to Bridgeport would be a hellish commute. Traffic on 25 through Newtown and Monroe can be REALLY slow during rush hour. Traffic is very heavy, and if there is an accident it just stops altogether.

What makes it worse is that there are few ways to bypass 25 if it's jammed. There is low 'connectivity' of roads in the area, so assembling an alternate route to the main roads is generally hard to do.

[SeaDoo342]

Between Brookfield and Bridgeport…..

Others have it nailed… you want to focus on the Monroe, Oxford, Newtown area. All of them are nice towns, great family oriented neighborhoods. Good schools.

Southbury is good to but the commute to Bridgeport is getting up there a bit...

[brgunder1]

Thank you for all of the information. How are the tax rates calculated? Are there substantial yearly increases?

[SeaDoo342]

Not sure how the tax rates are calculated but I know Oxford has a pretty low tax rate and Monroe/Newtown is pretty high (I think). One thing you get in Monroe that you don't get in Oxford is a lot of businesses…. Oxford is a pretty residential and woodsy town so you would have to travel 10 or so mins out of town for most of the things you need.