[gemnyc2015]

My family is considering a move to Westport from NYC (Upper West). We recently visited and really loved it. The housing stock is beautiful, love the nature and outdoor activities, and the commute is not an issue for us since I am a stay-at-home parent and my husband only needs to go to his office a couple of time a month. The one potential drawback I see is the total lack of diversity; I am Asian-American (born and raised here in NY, so completely Americanized), my husband is Caucasian.

1) Can someone speak to how welcoming the seemingly very homogeneous population is to people of other backgrounds? Will our children have a problem? Is there self-segregation that seems to go on with the students in the schools (i.e., do all the minority kids hang out together, and sit in the corner of the cafeteria together)?

2) Also, I am wonder if anyone who lives in Westport might be able to compare the vibe of Westport to the North Shore of Long Island, which is where I grew up in the 80's. It is obviously as affluent, but somehow I got the sense that it is less in-your-face flashy/materialistic than that area of Long Island. If anyone has any insights, I would greatly appreciate it, as I am trying to get a sense of the vibe there and whether we would fit in. We are a fairly typical UWS couple, but consider ourselves very laid-back and down-to-earth. Appreciate fine things and love to travel, but we are not very materialistic. (Husband is a Midwesterner so he is very unpretentious, humble, and friendly). Not too heavily into clothes/fashion.

3) Can someone set the record straight - is it a predominantly Jewish town? I have many Jewish friends, so I am more than fine with an active Jewish community, but we are Christian, and want to make sure there is enough diversity in religion.

Thank you in advance ~

[NewJeffCT]

The largest minority group in most of the upscale towns in Fairfield County is Asian, and I highly doubt any mixed children will have a problem fitting in at school because of their ethnicity. (Wikipedia has Westport as 92.6% white and 4% Asian, and people identifying with 2 or more races at 1.6%) The schools themselves are typically a bit more diverse than the town (Staples HS is "only" 89.6% white and 5% Asian...)

While there is a Jewish presence in town, it's definitely not the majority religion, AFAIK.

[JayCT]

Westport is not a particularly diverse town in the true sense of the word but it is more liberal in thinking and is more accepting of people of different races and nationalities than other super-affluent communities in this country. As NewJeffCT noted, the town has a Pacific Asian population of about 4% but is only a little more than 1% black. There is a very active Jewish community in town but like most of Connecticut, people here are not in your face with their religion.

I agree that Westport is a beautiful community with great schools, wonderful parks, great shopping and restaurants and a wonderful community spirit. It would be a great place to raise a family. That said being super-affluent with one of the better performing schools systems in the state, if not the country, you will find it to have a some "keeping up with the Jones". Then again given its affluence, it likely less than you would expect.

About the only problem with Westport is that it is a very expensive town to buy a home in. Modest homes can go for $1 million. Coming from New York City that may not seem bad but compared to other areas of the country that is pricey. I hope this helps. Jay

[jesse_f]

It's not going to be an issue. My wife (born and raised in Asia) had some concerns of moving from NYC to Fairfield County for the same reasons, but it's been a complete non-issue. We settled in Fairfield over Westport as we found it a bit more down to earth, but that's just us.

As far as the overall vibe, I grew up on the east end of LI in the 80's / early 90's, and think it's similar to that -- not really to the north shore on western LI though (in a good way). Westport has its version of Manhasset's "miracle mile", but that's just a few blocks.

The best thing to do is keep coming up as much as you can. Spend some weekends among the various towns and see what's best. Just don't fall into the trap of thinking your only options are Greenwich, Darian, and Westport though!

[mlassoff]

I'll just concur with what everyone has said.

1) I've never noticed any self-segregation. In my experience families of minority background are accepted. Don't expect to be "welcomed"-- No one is. You'll have to make an effort to get out an meet people, but, being Asian won't pose any particular challenge that isn't faced by others.

2) We have found that people in Westport are less "in-your-face" about wealth than Long Island folks. We've found LI folks to be much more "showy". (Of course these are stereotypes and there are a g'zillion exceptions on both sides of the sound).

3) Predominantly Jewish? Absolutely not. There is a sizable Jewish population here.... Maybe around 20%

[howdydoody342]

Originally Posted by gemnyc2015

My family is considering a move to Westport from NYC (Upper West). We recently visited and really loved it. The housing stock is beautiful, love the nature and outdoor activities, and the commute is not an issue for us since I am a stay-at-home parent and my husband only needs to go to his office a couple of time a month. The one potential drawback I see is the total lack of diversity; I am Asian-American (born and raised here in NY, so completely Americanized), my husband is Caucasian.

1) Can someone speak to how welcoming the seemingly very homogeneous population is to people of other backgrounds? Will our children have a problem? Is there self-segregation that seems to go on with the students in the schools (i.e., do all the minority kids hang out together, and sit in the corner of the cafeteria together)?

2) Also, I am wonder if anyone who lives in Westport might be able to compare the vibe of Westport to the North Shore of Long Island, which is where I grew up in the 80's. It is obviously as affluent, but somehow I got the sense that it is less in-your-face flashy/materialistic than that area of Long Island. If anyone has any insights, I would greatly appreciate it, as I am trying to get a sense of the vibe there and whether we would fit in. We are a fairly typical UWS couple, but consider ourselves very laid-back and down-to-earth. Appreciate fine things and love to travel, but we are not very materialistic. (Husband is a Midwesterner so he is very unpretentious, humble, and friendly). Not too heavily into clothes/fashion.

3) Can someone set the record straight - is it a predominantly Jewish town? I have many Jewish friends, so I am more than fine with an active Jewish community, but we are Christian, and want to make sure there is enough diversity in religion.

Thank you in advance ~

I would say the diversity of Westport will be similar to that of upper west side

[Raider111]

Westport was our favorite also, but out of our price range. It sits between the town we currently live in and the one I grew up in. Right, there is a sizable Jewish population and asians scattered about but no one cares either way. Growing up and over the years I've had many friends from Westport, and along with Wilton, they were the nicer, "cooler", more laid back types, in contrast to friends from the other two towns bordering Norwalk who were complete and raging lunatics - fun though.

[JayCT]

The OP may find this website to be interesting. It has a lot of great news on and events in Westport. It is one of the best local news websites I have seen. Jay

WestportNow.com - Westport, Connecticut's 24-hours News and Information Source

[gemnyc2015]

Thanks everyone for all the great information - all incredibly helpful.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by gemnyc2015

My family is considering a move to Westport from NYC (Upper West). We recently visited and really loved it. The housing stock is beautiful, love the nature and outdoor activities, and the commute is not an issue for us since I am a stay-at-home parent and my husband only needs to go to his office a couple of time a month. The one potential drawback I see is the total lack of diversity; I am Asian-American (born and raised here in NY, so completely Americanized), my husband is Caucasian.

1) Can someone speak to how welcoming the seemingly very homogeneous population is to people of other backgrounds? Will our children have a problem? Is there self-segregation that seems to go on with the students in the schools (i.e., do all the minority kids hang out together, and sit in the corner of the cafeteria together)?

2) Also, I am wonder if anyone who lives in Westport might be able to compare the vibe of Westport to the North Shore of Long Island, which is where I grew up in the 80's. It is obviously as affluent, but somehow I got the sense that it is less in-your-face flashy/materialistic than that area of Long Island. If anyone has any insights, I would greatly appreciate it, as I am trying to get a sense of the vibe there and whether we would fit in. We are a fairly typical UWS couple, but consider ourselves very laid-back and down-to-earth. Appreciate fine things and love to travel, but we are not very materialistic. (Husband is a Midwesterner so he is very unpretentious, humble, and friendly). Not too heavily into clothes/fashion.

3) Can someone set the record straight - is it a predominantly Jewish town? I have many Jewish friends, so I am more than fine with an active Jewish community, but we are Christian, and want to make sure there is enough diversity in religion.

Thank you in advance ~

Some of my closest friends live in Westport and IMO you don't have to worry about not being accepted or not fitting in. I would say you would not have a problem in CT in general as we are a pretty liberal "live & let live" state. I grew up in Stamford but I have always been a fan of Westport from when I was a teenager and young adult. Being an artist & musician I have many friends in the LGBT community. We used to come up to a place called the "the Brook" or the Cedar Brook Cafe in Westport and it was the only gay & lesbian bar I knew of. I always thought that Westport was very open minded and forward thinking because it was not a big deal. I will always have an affinity for the people of Westport because they had the Brook there.