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Woodbridge is also a great suggestion. Beautiful town.
I like your "2 to 1" rule but who says the wife should be the "1"? These days women have as important and demanding jobs as their husbands so they may want to husband to be closer. When our kids were young, my job was closer than DW's (1.5 miles verses 18 miles) so I was usually the first responder for sick children. My company was flexible with this plus we liked our town, she worked only 4 days a week and had shorter hours. I offered to be closer to her job but she said no and never really regretted it. I did drop off in the morning at daycare/school bus and she picked them up because she was done earlier. Within a couple of years though she changed jobs so it did not matter. Jay
That's true, some families operate like that, but you know what I mean. OP will also figure it out.
I would base the decision on where you want to raise kids, but that's me. All towns mentioned are "nice" -- they do have different characteristics, though.
Funny about the 2 to 1 though - fiance makes more than my engineering salary (go her!) so I may be the one (only time will tell). The commute from Madison would probably take her 40-45mins and myself probably ~40 in the afternoon, maybe? I'm at work early (6-630AM) so the traffic is typically light I would suspect at 530AM (it is on 84 coming from Farmington).
My fiance also travels quite a bit and can work from home if need be as could I. I did look at Woodbridge although I think my fiance thinks it's a little too "woodsy" but I feel like inland Guilford and Madison are about the same. These are tough decisions and the point about work prospects west of New Haven is a really good point. I guess the question comes down to would we both be able to sacrifice commute time for a nice town for kids and to be relatively close to the shore.
Orange/Milford are also really nice but it would be more of commute for my fiance from these locations than it would be Guilford/Madison. Plus, I'd really like a decent sized yard and it doesn't seem like the zoning in these towns are that large, I could be wrong. Southington is kind of pushing the ~35 mile commute, it is a nice town with a decent school system. It's also tough when coming from the Farmington/Avon side because this area is just great.
Wallingford would not be a bad place either. Seems like you can get a really nice house in our price range and the yards are on pretty big lots. The only thing that deters us would be the school system as it doesn't seem to even compare to the other (3) towns..sacrifices.
I would scratch Madison and Guilford off the list on commute alone. Stratford to Guilford/Branford is the 2nd most congested roadway in CT. Summers bring vacation traffic to I-95, while winter brings snow. So a long commute on I-95 is not pretty.
But at that budget you are looking at a starter house in Madison, Guilford, Woodbridge, or Cheshire. So if you get a great deal in Guilford for example, you might bite.
Orange/Milford are also really nice but it would be more of commute for my fiance from these locations than it would be Guilford/Madison. Plus, I'd really like a decent sized yard and it doesn't seem like the zoning in these towns are that large, I could be wrong. Southington is kind of pushing the ~35 mile commute, it is a nice town with a decent school system. It's also tough when coming from the Farmington/Avon side because this area is just great.
Not so on commute to Southington:
Madison: 43 min (30.7 mi)
Guilford: 47 min (30.7 mi)
Orange: 34 min (32.8 mi)
Milford: 38 min (37.1 mi)
So while shorter, they are longer commutes. Consider that you'd be passing through a lot of backroads to get to work, which can be really dicey/dangerous in the winter. From the Milford/Orange area, you're just hopping on 15 and it's highway all the way to Southington.
Orange and north Milford have decent sized lots. 1-2 acres generally, with some 3-4 acre lots here and there.
In Guilford and Madison, lots are smaller by the water. That's true in almost any CT town. You'd be shopping north of 95 for larger lots, which takes you away from the coast obviously. They are big towns, so you could be considerably north from the coast and still be in Guilford/Madison.
So if you're going to be a little further from the water anyway, maybe north Orange or Woodbridge would be a smart option. Better commute for both of you, near great beaches/coastal areas in Milford (plus all the community events, parks, activities for kids it has), near more future job opportunities. Top rated schools.
Woodbridge: 32 min (21.6 mi)
From a commute standpoint and needs/wants, seems like a no brainer.
Since your future wife works in Southington, I would lean towards Cheshire, which is next town over. Cheshire is a great town, typical suburban, great for kids' activities. Besides families, Cheshire is popular with academia -- both from Yale and Quinnipiac, which some people like.
Cheshire has no highways running through it, seems they all seem to bypass it, so spillover traffic is non-existent. Real Estate and property taxes in Cheshire is also a little less than the others.
Schools are great, but maybe not at Woodbridge's or Madison's level, but I think the difference is a non-factor if you decide to help your kids along at school.
As several have pointed out, Madison and Guilford should really be out of the running from geography alone. Their beach amenities are not so much greater. Cheshire has also some nice community amenities, parks, etc.
Cheshire / Woodbridge are also advantageous in terms of congestion fatigue that Shoreline East towns will give you.
Thanks for all the post guys. I really appreciate it and will take people's suggestions into consideration. We may take a venture down into Woodbridge and Orange just to get a feel. Again, based on a lot of factors Cheshire would most likely be ideal. We both seem like we would be willing to sacrifice a commute to live in the Guilford/Madison area (a bit north of 95 and perhaps east or west of Durham Rd (79). We do have very flexible jobs in regards to being able to work from home and flex time so that is an advantage to our current situation (but may not always be the case). But, only time will tell. At the end of the day, a final decision will come with sacrifices and we have to do what feels right for us.
I poked through Woodbridge and Orange real estate last night and there doesn't seem to be much in the Woodbridge area (as of right now) in the say 350-425K range.We will have to just keep our eyes open. Woodbridge seems like they have high taxes, no? Just looking at the mill rate alone it's 38.54 (Real and Personal Property). That seems awfully high, no? This is incorporating house and automobile tax together, is this high?
Thanks for all the post guys. I really appreciate it and will take people's suggestions into consideration. We may take a venture down into Woodbridge and Orange just to get a feel. Again, based on a lot of factors Cheshire would most likely be ideal. We both seem like we would be willing to sacrifice a commute to live in the Guilford/Madison area (a bit north of 95 and perhaps east or west of Durham Rd (79). We do have very flexible jobs in regards to being able to work from home and flex time so that is an advantage to our current situation (but may not always be the case). But, only time will tell. At the end of the day, a final decision will come with sacrifices and we have to do what feels right for us.
I poked through Woodbridge and Orange real estate last night and there doesn't seem to be much in the Woodbridge area (as of right now) in the say 350-425K range.We will have to just keep our eyes open. Woodbridge seems like they have high taxes, no? Just looking at the mill rate alone it's 38.54 (Real and Personal Property). That seems awfully high, no? This is incorporating house and automobile tax together, is this high?
Thanks again!
You can't judge taxes based on mill rates alone. A lot depends on the house assessment as well. It would be better to look at actual taxes on homes in your price range instead. That said, Woodbridge does not have much commercial property to help offset residential properties. Jay
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