[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by BeyondtheHorizon

The difference in crime rates between most small suburban towns is negligible. The difference between a lot of cities and towns is huge.

I apologize, but maybe you can elucidate what is meant by "American European values"?

Couldn't tell ya - I'm not the OP.

What I got was the OP was concerned with being near a larger city with a higher crime rate. Spillover crime is real and is an issue in most towns surrounding a crime ridden city.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by SmalltownguyCT

Low crime, high trust societies, protestant work ethic, high value placed on education, low time preference economics, high value placed on the arts/classical music, wildlife and land preservation, small government politics. Every culture is different. To each their own but I prefer living among European Americans. I am surprised you aren't familiar with European American values since they are what made the US so great.

What about Newtown. Hattertown section in the SW part of town would be same commute or even better than most of Monroe. Very picturesque area with farms, large lots, beautiful homes, no main roads. Poverty Hollow Rd to 58/136 to Merritt Exit 42 in Westport to Stamford - 1 hour 10 minutes. Elementarys are Middle Gate or Head o Meadow.

[SmalltownguyCT]

Originally Posted by Raider111

What about Newtown. Hattertown section in the SW part of town would be same commute or even better than most of Monroe. Very picturesque area with farms, large lots, beautiful homes, no main roads. Poverty Hollow Rd to 58/136 to Merritt Exit 42 in Westport to Stamford - 1 hour 10 minutes. Elementarys are Middle Gate or Head o Meadow.

From what I have read Newtown is similar but I got the feeling that Monroe is much more community oriented.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Raider111

What about Newtown. Hattertown section in the SW part of town would be same commute or even better than most of Monroe. Very picturesque area with farms, large lots, beautiful homes, no main roads. Poverty Hollow Rd to 58/136 to Merritt Exit 42 in Westport to Stamford - 1 hour 10 minutes. Elementarys are Middle Gate or Head o Meadow.

Very true, and close to whatever you need down the road in Monroe.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by SmalltownguyCT

From what I have read Newtown is similar but I got the feeling that Monroe is much more community oriented.

Not sure why you got that feeling - if anything, since the incident 4 years ago, Newtown is as close knit as a community can be.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by SmalltownguyCT

From what I have read Newtown is similar but I got the feeling that Monroe is much more community oriented.

Cant speak for Monroe but I lived in Newtown for 3 years - pre Sandy Hook, and it was very community oriented. The youth academy, sports, tree lighting at Rams Head Pasture, Halloween on Main St., Labor Day Parade - we still go, the best farm ice cream parlor around, and surprisingly a few great restaurants in town, and a much nicer center area than Monroe.

[HeadedWest]

The southwestern part of Newtown would be just about as good for commuting as much of Monroe. You can make your way down to the Merritt or even all the way to Stamford by back roads. Not fast, but less prone to huge backups and traffic issues. If you're work site is down toward I-95, that's additional time on Stamford streets. One hour would be about the least you'd want to budget for the trip. As others have noted, it's easy for that time to double in bad weather or with a wreck ahead of you if you use the Merritt for part of the trip.

The only drawback of living in the southwestern part of Newtown is it's kind of far from the shopping plazas in town, and (a few years down the road) it's similarly far from the middle/junior/senior high schools. Not a major problem, but you have to budget more time for things located near I-84.

I think $325 is a tough number to hit in Monroe, generally, for a nice house on a nice road/street. Easier in Newtown. Maybe prices in Monroe have declined since I moved away.

[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by Raider111

No way in hell Orange to Stamford is only 1 hour, maybe when it freezes over.

Even for avg scoring schools, $300K is low, you're SOL.

Commuting on the train it is-- which is what I said.

[SmalltownguyCT]

Let's see here I was looking at some of the trains and it appears that there is a train out of Stratford that would get to Stamford in 35 minutes. That sounds good. That's a 22-30 minute drive from Monroe. This is a shorter and less congested route. Similar to Monroe to Fairfield. I would want to avoid the Bridgeport train however, since I have seen that parking there is a bad idea. If the Stratford station is a safe place to be and park a car then that might be a little bit better.

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by SmalltownguyCT

Let's see here I was looking at some of the trains and it appears that there is a train out of Stratford that would get to Stamford in 35 minutes. That sounds good. That's a 22-30 minute drive from Monroe. This is a shorter and less congested route. Similar to Monroe to Fairfield. I would want to avoid the Bridgeport train however, since I have seen that parking there is a bad idea. If the Stratford station is a safe place to be and park a car then that might be a little bit better.

The Stratford train station has a multi year waiting list for permits, so you'll have to get there before all the daily spots are taken. By 7 am if you want to be safe. Other than that, the Stratford station is perfectly safe.

But the reality is you're better off going to Bridgeport. Much more parking than Stratford. And I've never heard of anyone having issues parking in the garage there.