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It would behoove you to avoid Fairfield County along the shoreline as it too has the high cost of living, traffic, and congestion. Are you a grade school teacher? forget it, you'll be lucky to get a call back. It's all about "who you know" and you're competing with younger cheaper recent grads who put in their student teaching time as well as the experienced personnel who took some time off to raise their own children looking to get back in.
These is good news though. The real estate market is crumbling. It's the buyer's market of all buyers' markets out there. The inventory of mid range to high end homes is at unprecedented levels. Some small pockets are trasnsacting well like lower Greenwich, the lower and mid range Stamford, Norwalk, a little Fairfield. In Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Westport, Weston it's GAME ON, make an offer!
The Real Estate Market in FFC that I am suggesting for the OP is not crumbling. In fact in my neighborhood in Trumbull the houses go fast. The houses in my area are about $350,000 to $500,000. I think there is kind of a split between the very high end and more more moderate towns like Trumbull, Fairfield, Monroe etc.
"The most active price point of the market moved up a price bracket this quarter, with the $300,000 - $500,000 group as the most lively with 2.33% more sales and a 4.27% decrease of days on market to 112. Average price rose slightly to $379,300. Towns with homes priced in this category have a higher volume of sales. Luxury homes sales, those priced over $2 million, continue to be lackluster. Average price is down 6.53% year over year and days on market is up 37 days with fewer homes sold."
Coming from NYC the cost of living and pace of western Fairfield County might be a good compromise wanting to be close to culture, music and the arts. In fact that is one of the things I am worried about if I move to the New Haven area on the eastern coastline......being to far away from culture, music and the arts and further away from all the culture NYC has to offer. As I am an artist and musician even my husband is a little worried I might be bored in the Branford/Guilford/Madison area. He however would be happy as a clam. He doesn't need as much culture like I do lol.
I also think that the New Haven area and especially along the eastern coastline would be good too. Here is the thing in CT. If you want charming and quiet you are going to further away from culture, art and music for the most part. For me personally it is a big deal and it seems like it is for the OP too.
The Real Estate Market in FFC that I am suggesting for the OP is not crumbling. In fact in my neighborhood in Trumbull the houses go fast. The houses in my area are about $350,000 to $500,000. I think there is kind of a split between the very high end and more more moderate towns like Trumbull, Fairfield, Monroe etc.
"The most active price point of the market moved up a price bracket this quarter, with the $300,000 - $500,000 group as the most lively with 2.33% more sales and a 4.27% decrease of days on market to 112. Average price rose slightly to $379,300. Towns with homes priced in this category have a higher volume of sales. Luxury homes sales, those priced over $2 million, continue to be lackluster. Average price is down 6.53% year over year and days on market is up 37 days with fewer homes sold."
Coming from NYC the cost of living and pace of western Fairfield County might be a good compromise wanting to be close to culture, music and the arts. In fact that is one of the things I am worried about if I move to the New Haven area on the eastern coastline......being to far away from culture, music and the arts and further away from all the culture NYC has to offer. As I am an artist and musician even my husband is a little worried I might be bored in the Branford/Guilford/Madison area. He however would be happy as a clam. He doesn't need as much culture like I do lol.
I also think that the New Haven area and especially along the eastern coastline would be good too. Here is the thing in CT. If you want charming and quiet you are going to further away from culture, art and music for the most part. For me personally it is a big deal and it seems like it is for the OP too.
You have to make the choice.....
Charming and quiet OR Let the good times roll!
Yes Artist, I agree, the lower end move in condition in County is transacting fairly well.
The Real Estate Market in FFC that I am suggesting for the OP is not crumbling. In fact in my neighborhood in Trumbull the houses go fast. The houses in my area are about $350,000 to $500,000. I think there is kind of a split between the very high end and more more moderate towns like Trumbull, Fairfield, Monroe etc.
"The most active price point of the market moved up a price bracket this quarter, with the $300,000 - $500,000 group as the most lively with 2.33% more sales and a 4.27% decrease of days on market to 112. Average price rose slightly to $379,300. Towns with homes priced in this category have a higher volume of sales. Luxury homes sales, those priced over $2 million, continue to be lackluster. Average price is down 6.53% year over year and days on market is up 37 days with fewer homes sold."
Coming from NYC the cost of living and pace of western Fairfield County might be a good compromise wanting to be close to culture, music and the arts. In fact that is one of the things I am worried about if I move to the New Haven area on the eastern coastline......being to far away from culture, music and the arts and further away from all the culture NYC has to offer. As I am an artist and musician even my husband is a little worried I might be bored in the Branford/Guilford/Madison area. He however would be happy as a clam. He doesn't need as much culture like I do lol.
I also think that the New Haven area and especially along the eastern coastline would be good too. Here is the thing in CT. If you want charming and quiet you are going to further away from culture, art and music for the most part. For me personally it is a big deal and it seems like it is for the OP too.
You have to make the choice.....
Charming and quiet OR Let the good times roll!
CTartist- The link you give in your post appears to be wrong. Please check and post the correct one. Thanks, Jay
The Real Estate Market in FFC that I am suggesting for the OP is not crumbling. In fact in my neighborhood in Trumbull the houses go fast. The houses in my area are about $350,000 to $500,000. I think there is kind of a split between the very high end and more more moderate towns like Trumbull, Fairfield, Monroe etc.
"The most active price point of the market moved up a price bracket this quarter, with the $300,000 - $500,000 group as the most lively with 2.33% more sales and a 4.27% decrease of days on market to 112. Average price rose slightly to $379,300. Towns with homes priced in this category have a higher volume of sales. Luxury homes sales, those priced over $2 million, continue to be lackluster. Average price is down 6.53% year over year and days on market is up 37 days with fewer homes sold."
Coming from NYC the cost of living and pace of western Fairfield County might be a good compromise wanting to be close to culture, music and the arts. In fact that is one of the things I am worried about if I move to the New Haven area on the eastern coastline......being to far away from culture, music and the arts and further away from all the culture NYC has to offer. As I am an artist and musician even my husband is a little worried I might be bored in the Branford/Guilford/Madison area. He however would be happy as a clam. He doesn't need as much culture like I do lol.
I also think that the New Haven area and especially along the eastern coastline would be good too. Here is the thing in CT. If you want charming and quiet you are going to further away from culture, art and music for the most part. For me personally it is a big deal and it seems like it is for the OP too.
You have to make the choice.....
Charming and quiet OR Let the good times roll!
Branford is 15 minutes or less to New Haven which has far more arts and culture than Stamford/Norwalk, easily the culture capital of CT.
The benefit of Stamford/Norwalk is more being close to NYC, which is one of the culture capitals of the world.
The population decline in CT is centred around the exurbs and rural areas, the cities and suburbs are still growing at an acceptable rate (thank goodness).
Of the ones you chose Guilford, Madison, Avon, Newtown, and Monroe have what you are looking for plus some... they are all excellent towns (Avon probably being the most "elite" of the choices but still fairly down to earth when I visited last, albeit several years ago).
If you are not commuting daily then you could easily add some southern CT towns as well such as Fairfield, Trumbull, and Easton. Out of that grouping Fairfield is the biggest with a wide variety of housing options and the most amenities, although Trumbull and Easton both have excellent amenities (just too isolated for myself, but that's a personal preference of my own).
I'm actually surprised I didn't see Southbury, Oxford, or Watertown brought up (my apologies if they were)... they are suburbs of Waterbury. It may not have the direct closeness of cultural amenities you listed but are pretty equidistant to Danbury, Hartford, New Haven, and Lower Fairfield County. Both of those towns abut other towns with a wide variety of locally owned and excellent restaurants.
Best thing to do is get a short list of more refined wishes (how urban/suburban/rural you'd like, which types of amenities, how close to the major City Centres) and explore a few options to get a feel for each.
Good luck!
The Waterbury area is one of the briskest housing markets in the state in the past year. It doesn't have the prestige of mid/lower Fairfield or the Farmington Valley, but it is a great area for families with plenty to do, very kid oriented, a variety of active religious communities, etc. Houses at the 600k+ price point here have very few compromises.. the typical family houses are under 500 with a tax bill of 10k or less, which creates a super nice quality of life for an upper middle income family. Teaching jobs are hard to come by though unless you are willing to work in an urban district.
Branford is 15 minutes or less to New Haven which has far more arts and culture than Stamford/Norwalk, easily the culture capital of CT.
The benefit of Stamford/Norwalk is more being close to NYC, which is one of the culture capitals of the world.
I know that Branford is close to New Haven and that is awesome. But if you add up all the areas along the coast of Fairfield County that you can have access to (and I include Milford in that) New Haven just can't compare to FFC.
My brother is a musician who is in four bands. He also does studio work on occasion in NYC. He rarely plays in New Haven and east of New Haven. The musicians don't make as much money up there. I will say he does play in Milford a lot.
Don't get me wrong, New Haven is great for music too but quality and quantity of bands in New Haven can't compare to all of FFC IMO.
Hear me out. If you live in Fairfield (the town) you can be in SONO/Norwalk in about 15-20 minutes in the evening. Depending on where you live in Fairfield you can be at the Acoustic in Black Rock Bridgeport in 5 or 10 minutes. You can be in downtown Stamford in about 30 minutes. You can also make it to Milford/New Haven in about 25-35 minutes. So now your choices of music is multiplied. Plus you have NYC in a much shorter tolerable drive or train ride. I know the times/minutes because I go see my brother in all these places from Trumbull.
Don't get me wrong, New Haven is great for music too but quality and quantity of bands in New Haven can't compare to all of FFC IMO.
Why not? don't local bands traverse the two areas. In the 90's I would see bands called Deep Banana Blackout and Simple Jim, among others, play at a place in SONO called Shenanigans and also in the New Haven area.
Where do you see live music in SONO anymore? seems to be all restaurants now
I know that Branford is close to New Haven and that is awesome. But if you add up all the areas along the coast of Fairfield County that you can have access to (and I include Milford in that) New Haven just can't compare to FFC.
My brother is a musician who is in four bands. He also does studio work on occasion in NYC. He rarely plays in New Haven and east of New Haven. The musicians don't make as much money up there. I will say he does play in Milford a lot.
Don't get me wrong, New Haven is great for music too but quality and quantity of bands in New Haven can't compare to all of FFC IMO.
Hear me out. If you live in Fairfield (the town) you can be in SONO/Norwalk in about 15-20 minutes in the evening. Depending on where you live in Fairfield you can be at the Acoustic in Black Rock Bridgeport in 5 or 10 minutes. You can be in downtown Stamford in about 30 minutes. You can also make it to Milford/New Haven in about 25-35 minutes. So now your choices of music is multiplied. Plus you have NYC in a much shorter tolerable drive or train ride. I know the times/minutes because I go see my brother in all these places from Trumbull.
Sorry, but I vehemently disagree with you on music. I go to shows all the time all over CT. Trust me, if there were more interesting music in FFC I would be there more often for shows.
In the New Haven area alone you have:
- College Street Music Hall - one of CT's few venues that get consistent national touring acts
- Toad's Place - legendary music venue, also gets national acts
- The State House - a new smaller venue that gets indie touring acts
- Space Ballroom - smaller venue in Hamden that gets national touring acts
- Firehouse 12 - gets touring jazz acts year round, lots of really interesting jazz
- Several small music clubs that have multiple shows a week with local bands: Cafe Nine, Three Sheets, Stella Blues, Pacific Standard Tavern
- Woolsey Hall - a grand concert hall that hosts concerts by Yale (often with renowned performers and conductors) and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. The Yale concerts are often cheap or free.
- Shubert Theater - consistent musicals and the occasional touring band
- Oakdale Theater - not far away in Wallingford, another spot to see national touring acts
- Other Yale music venues, such as Morse Recital Hall with free music
- There is another venue in the works under the Crown Street Garage that the Shubert/Long Wharf owners are working on.
Not to mention many free shows on the New Haven Green.
Manic Presents is the biggest booker of touring music acts in CT, and if you look at their site you'll see the large quantity of shows in the New Haven area.
Norwalk has the new Wall Street Theater, finally a spot for touring bands. But other than that, cover bands at bars, FTC, Acoustic Cafe, the arena in Bridgeport with a few shows a year... there isn't that much. The amphitheater in Bridgeport will be a nice addition but that's readily accessible by the New Haven area too.
Of course NYC has a bigger scene, but for CT... the New Haven area objectively has more music than any other area in CT, hands down.
Wow, thank you everyone for all of the great advice! I haven't had the chance to check back since I originally posted. I have read each response and will be looking into each suggestion. Fairfield seems wonderful. I see what everyone is saying, how most of CT will be a culture shock for us, coming from NYC. We definitely value culture, and exposure to various types of culture for our daughter. Right now, we are a 25 minute train ride to Manhattan and a 30 minute drive to ocean beaches. Perhaps FFC will allow us to still enjoy being semi close to those things, but away from the non stop congestion and traffic. Lots to think about. We are in the very beginning stages of researching a place to live, so we have time. As for the south, I know people who have moved to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and both Carolinas, and they have never looked back and would never return to the northeast. However, I am aware that every person and every family's definition of happiness can be very different. Just putting my feelers out there. Thank you, again!!
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