[CTartist]

Originally Posted by East of the River

As mentioned the river towns may work (Essex Deep river Chester). They are about 10-20 minutes to a railroad station but still only 45 minutes to Bradley airport. Longer to NY but fine for daytrips. Again my main concern would be how often your husband would need to drive thru NY. From my experience the only 2 other areas of this country that can come close to driving thru NY traffic are LA and Chicago it really is a different level then most of the country.

I just want to say something about driving around NYC. When my husband and I go into NYC for the day we drive in. This is what we do. We leave by 6:00 am, no later. We can make it to the Henry Hudson near the George Washington Bridge (the bridge into NJ) into Manhattan in about an hour and 15 minutes from Trumbull. We are going about the speed limit. We make sure we leave Manhattan by 2:00 pm and we are fine coming home too.

We don't take I-95, we take the Parkway to the Hutch to the Cross County? to the Henry Hudson. The Henry Hudson goes into Manhattan and also to the GW bridge. It is really not that bad if you leave at 6:00 and you don't have to do it every day.

[RunD1987]

I had family live in the King of Prussia area years ago. Spent many summers and holidays being just a mile or so from Valley Forge. It wasn't that far of a drive to Philly either. Do recall housing is bit pricey do to being a suburb of Philly. They have a huge mall and Conference Center in King of Prussia area.

[hvexpatinct]

Originally Posted by East of the River

As mentioned the river towns may work (Essex Deep river Chester). They are about 10-20 minutes to a railroad station but still only 45 minutes to Bradley airport. Longer to NY but fine for daytrips. Again my main concern would be how often your husband would need to drive thru NY. From my experience the only 2 other areas of this country that can come close to driving thru NY traffic are LA and Chicago it really is a different level then most of the country.

This really depends on how you are approaching the city. 95 and the Merritt are problematic but 684 isn't bad. I have driven from Danbury to LGA during rush hour and arrived 30 minutes ahead of when I thought I'd get there. It takes me about an hour to get to the GWB from here too.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by hvexpatinct

This really depends on how you are approaching the city. 95 and the Merritt are problematic but 684 isn't bad. I have driven from Danbury to LGA during rush hour and arrived 30 minutes ahead of when I thought I'd get there. It takes me about an hour to get to the GWB from here too.

I drove down 684 during rush hour Thursday morning. It was smooth sailing.

[NewJeffCT]

They live in Houston now (in Houston proper, or one of the suburbs like Sugar Land?) and previously lived in Southern California... so, I think they know traffic.

Houston is huge in terms of square miles - it's sprawling and is 3/4 as big as all of Fairfield County combined in terms of area. Towns and cities in Connecticut tend to be fairly small in terms of area, so it's not uncommon for people to travel to the next town over for some amenities, as it could still be a 5-10 minute drive. (When I lived in western Avon, CT, it was faster for me to go to CVS in Unionville than it was to go to the CVS in Avon...)

Fairfield County has a lot of great areas for arts and theater (Ridgefield Play House, Westport, etc) , and you also have a quick drive or train ride to NYC for Broadway shows. A lot of schools also have strong arts and theater programs and Fairfield County has some of the top public schools in the country. The schools can be pretty competitive for the top students, but Staples HS in Westport sent 25 kids to Ivy League schools last year and another 30 or so to schools that are Ivy League level (MIT, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, etc)

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by Raider111

Why if WFH and there is no need to be in an office location everyday? outrageous prop taxes, the budget for the Stamford area is peanuts and where it will take you hours to get to work everyday from the towns people on here will inevitably recommend, the mexican food sucks (even the authentic Mexican sucks), they even charge you to dispose of your mattress if you buy a new one (even if you don't have an old one).
Look in the Mid-Atlantic area with lower COL if you need to be on the East coast.

Easy with the Haterade.

[jax12479]

Unless your husband's territory is primarily NYC and New England, CT is really not the best location for you. I'd check out Bucks County, PA, southern NJ and the Dc suburbs of Maryland. All great, northeast locations that are more affordable than southern CT. I'd start researching towns like Doylestown, PA, Germantown, MD and Princeton, NJ.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by jax12479

Unless your husband's territory is primarily NYC and New England, CT is really not the best location for you. I'd check out Bucks County, PA, southern NJ and the Dc suburbs of Maryland. All great, northeast locations that are more affordable than southern CT. I'd start researching towns like Doylestown, PA, Germantown, MD and Princeton, NJ.

Don't know the cost of living in PA, but Princeton NJ is not exactly cheap, either. I know a few families that moved from Princeton to Avon CT and they loved how much cheaper it was in Avon. Granted, Avon is cheaper than Fairfield County, but it's not exactly cheap.

Also, Houston area property taxes where there are good schools are not exactly low. In a few ratings in recent years, the property tax rate in Texas come out a bit higher than in Connecticut. Granted, there is no income tax in Texas and utility costs are lower there, so it's cheaper to live - especially if you don't care about school quality. Then, it's much cheaper to live.

A year back or so on here, I compared a home in the Bellaire section of Houston to a home in Westport, and the home in Westport was newer and had significantly lower property taxes. The Bellaire home was about the same square footage, but did not have a basement.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

Don't know the cost of living in PA, but Princeton NJ is not exactly cheap, either. I know a few families that moved from Princeton to Avon CT and they loved how much cheaper it was in Avon. Granted, Avon is cheaper than Fairfield County, but it's not exactly cheap.

Also, Houston area property taxes where there are good schools are not exactly low. In a few ratings in recent years, the property tax rate in Texas come out a bit higher than in Connecticut. Granted, there is no income tax in Texas and utility costs are lower there, so it's cheaper to live - especially if you don't care about school quality. Then, it's much cheaper to live.

A year back or so on here, I compared a home in the Bellaire section of Houston to a home in Westport, and the home in Westport was newer and had significantly lower property taxes. The Bellaire home was about the same square footage, but did not have a basement.

Sorry but anywhere in Texas is more affordable than Westport. Tax rates are higher in TX, but market and assessed values are far lower, meaning tax amount paid on two similar homes is still much less in TX. Comparing one home to another home is a LOT different than overall cost of living in each place. You looked on Zillow (or realtor, or trulia). That's hardly an accurate comparison.

Just for the sake of giving the OP an accurate picture, see below.

Cost of living index where 100 is US average:

Bellaire, TX, 183
Westport, CT, 275

Price per square foot:

Bellaire, TX, $284
Westport, CT, $461

As you can see, Westport is significantly more expensive than Bellaire.

[hvexpatinct]

Originally Posted by jax12479

Unless your husband's territory is primarily NYC and New England, CT is really not the best location for you. I'd check out Bucks County, PA, southern NJ and the Dc suburbs of Maryland. All great, northeast locations that are more affordable than southern CT. I'd start researching towns like Doylestown, PA, Germantown, MD and Princeton, NJ.

While Bucks County is a good strategic location for someone who has to cover the mid Atlantic, Montgomery County MD is a big hike from NYC and not what I'd consider affordable. And the Princeton area towns are very expensive.