[AEB52006]

Hello everyone,
I am a 30 yr. old married woman with a 2 year old little girl. We are currently living in a lovely Brownstone in the West Village in NYC. We love it here, but we would like to move to a more "family" type community for our daughter. We are looking in CT., PA., NJ, RI, MASS, and Long Island and Westchester in NY.
My husband is a surgeon, and I am a kindergarten teacher, so as long as there are good hospitals and schools nearby, we are not very limited on where we go. Now, for what we are looking for:

- We would like to limit our search to Fairfield and New Haven Counties. We want to be close to the beach, we are big beach people.
- A clean, safe neighborhood with a low crime rate and great public schools.
- A fun place to raise kids. ie; a nice library, maybe a nice neighborhood pool, community events, nice parks
- a fairly affluent community. We are not snooty people, but we would like to live in an upper middle to upper class neighborhood where people take good care of their homes and lawns, are well educated, and are involved in their community.

Is there anything in Fairfield or New Haven counties that would fit the bill? TIA!

[JayCT]

Well certainly there are a lot of towns in Fairfield County that fit your description. And there are a number of towns in New Haven County as well.

Towns in Fairfield County include Greenwich, Darien, Westport and Fairfield. In New Haven I would guess only Madison and Guilford meet your requirements. If you do not need to be in a town on the water, you could consider New Canaan, Wilton, Ridgefield, Weston, Wilton, Trumbull, Woodbridge and Orange. Sorry there are so many but your description fits a lot of towns here. What is your price range? It may eliminate a few. Do you need to be within commuting distance of New York. That might also eliminate a few of the towns. Hope this helps. Jay

[JViello]

Originally Posted by AEB52006

Hello everyone,
I am a 30 yr. old married woman with a 2 year old little girl. We are currently living in a lovely Brownstone in the West Village in NYC. We love it here, but we would like to move to a more "family" type community for our daughter. We are looking in CT., PA., NJ, RI, MASS, and Long Island and Westchester in NY.

- We would like to limit our search to Fairfield and New Haven Counties. We want to be close to the beach, we are big beach people.

You should pull out PA then and/or add the Hartford region in. I get to SE CT shore in under 45 minutes via a nice backroad drive. It's MUCH closer than anyplace in PA will be to a beach for sure.

Just some insight as we are a small state.

[AEB52006]

Thanks for the advice! We think PA is beautiful, and we assumed the sections close to NJ would be near the beach. Guess not though! We may eliminate it, for that reason, as well as the proximity to NY.

[HelloSam]

If you're not attached to Fairfield County or need regular access to New York City, don't start getting attached now!

I'd go with Madison or Guilford. They are exactly what you describe without the crowding, traffic, and aggravation of Fairfield County.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by HelloSam

If you're not attached to Fairfield County or need regular access to New York City, don't start getting attached now!

I'd go with Madison or Guilford. They are exactly what you describe without the crowding, traffic, and aggravation of Fairfield County.

I agree. Many of the doctors and surgeons at Yale Medical Center live in these towns. They really are beautiful with excellent schools and pretty affordable in comparison to Fairfield County towns. Jay

[tstetinin]

I live in Madison and the shoreline towns including Guilford and Branford allow for a great lifestyle, good schools and proximity to New Haven hospitals. These towns attract many New Yorkers and are a perfect alternative to busy Fairfield county. Check out the Madison and Guilford town web sites for information about the beaches, community, library (Scranton library in Madison), Hammonassett state park, newcomer clubs, etc.

[brattpowered]

I would say Westport is the closest match to the West Village culturally. Or rather, it's more like a spread-out Upper West Side that has been plopped down in Connecticut, but with more families. It is also right on the coast, and affluent. Check it out.

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by AEB52006

Hello everyone,
I am a 30 yr. old married woman with a 2 year old little girl. We are currently living in a lovely Brownstone in the West Village in NYC. We love it here, but we would like to move to a more "family" type community for our daughter. We are looking in CT., PA., NJ, RI, MASS, and Long Island and Westchester in NY.
My husband is a surgeon, and I am a kindergarten teacher, so as long as there are good hospitals and schools nearby, we are not very limited on where we go. Now, for what we are looking for:

- We would like to limit our search to Fairfield and New Haven Counties. We want to be close to the beach, we are big beach people.
- A clean, safe neighborhood with a low crime rate and great public schools.
- A fun place to raise kids. ie; a nice library, maybe a nice neighborhood pool, community events, nice parks
- a fairly affluent community. We are not snooty people, but we would like to live in an upper middle to upper class neighborhood where people take good care of their homes and lawns, are well educated, and are involved in their community.

Is there anything in Fairfield or New Haven counties that would fit the bill? TIA!

Hi there! Pretty much everywhere in Fairfield County would "fit the bill" for what you are looking for, except Bridgeport.
My top pick for you would be here in Stamford, CT. The only negative being the public schools--not bad at all--but they have certainly declined since the new superintendent took over 3 yrs ago--Josh Starr. The high schools in Stamford are losing wonderful teachers, and the quality is plummeting. Stamford is almost a perfect city in every other sense, however, with the beach 10-20 mins away, super wealthy to upper crust neighborhoods, tremendous shopping, well-educated, 45 mins to the city, and undergoing a mini-boom downtown.
My second choice for you would be Fairfield, CT--just outside of Bridgeport. Fairfield has some of the best schools in the country, and my daughter is enrolled there in 1st grade--so I speak from direct experience. Fairfield is a lovely quiet, and super safe community. The beach is very close, as is shopping, community, and other services.

[yankeemom]

I think despite the fact that you say "as long there as hospitals near by" may be being a bit premature. I live in lower Fairfield county which fits the bill as far as upper middle class, educated, good schools etc, BUT many of these don't have their own hospitals. All are close to hospitals, but the kinds of hospitals vary, and you may want the surgeon in the family to investigate which hospital he wants to be affiliated with (or at least what kind) and then figure out what kind of commute.
I have worked in both teaching hospitals and community hospitals, and while some community hospitals provide good care, if they don't offer the area of surgery i.e not all have cardiac surgery, many aren't trauma centers, that your husband is interested in, you may be spinning your wheels. Some just like the pace/stimulus of a teaching hospital also. In my town residents choose to go to different hospitals for different things. Some go to Yale-New Haven, some to down to Stamford, some go into NYC depending on what is needed and their perception of of quality. Others are fine going to Norwalk Hosp, Greenwich Hospital, Danbury etc.

Regarding "the beach", I think you need to decide if you want to be in a town on the water or near the water (and how close). In PA the closest to the beach is probably an hour and a half (give or take), which if you only want to go on weekends, summers is very doable.