[Ladybug316]

Hello All,

As the title reads, I would love some help from you fine folks as we ponder a move to Connecticut.

Some background: My husband and I are 50 and 60 and and have a daughter that will attend UConn in a few weeks. My husband works remotely but I don't believe my company would allow that luxury, so I'd probably be looking for administrative work at some point.

We would like to downsize from our home on Staten Island to a nice town with some space and a decent downtown area and I have been overwhelmed with what seems an abundance of great choices. Our budget would be max $600,000. but I'd love to find something less expensive.

I have led a spoiled suburban lifestyle with nearby shopping, street lights and natural gas hook-ups (oil heat just freaks me out for some reason). In my dream of a wonderful town, I would find all of that but in a park-like setting where I'm near enough to a neighbor that I can wave but far enough that I don't have to smell their dinner.

The following towns have piqued my interest and I wonder if I can get some insight:

West Hartford: Seems to have it all but since I haven't any children in school, is it lunacy to pay those high taxes? This also seems as far east in CT that I'm comfortable exploring.

Cheshire: Is there anything happening there or is it just a sleepy town? Does the prison put it on the "heck no" list?

Woodbury and Woodbridge: Would you consider these towns "the sticks"?

Fairfield County (in general): Trumbull and Monroe seems to tick most of my boxes also. Any thoughts?

I know I've rambled quite a bit; it's just a whole bunch to consider.

Thanks in advance!

[mdovell]

What uconn campus is your daughter going to?

[Ladybug316]

Storrs

[Reilly1017]

If your kids are not in school and you are not doing activities that require you to be a town resident, then sure, in theory, you might be foolish to pay the taxes needed to live there. However, if you like the town, like the house, and know that towns with great schools retain value better, might be safer, etc, then that difference in taxes may be worth it.
One town might be taxed heavy but have public utilities versus another with oil, well and septic. Any one thing isn’t the deal breaker.

[missionhill]

Don’t be afraid of going farther east, the Red Sox and pats fans don’t bite. Glastonbury, only a tiny bit further east, is very nice, somewhat walkable, loaded with amenities and convenient to Hartford jobs. A place like Woodbury might seem like the sticks after Staten Island but no real sticks in Conn except by some measures the northeast but the countryside there is so beautiful you’d get to appreciate sticks.

[Ladybug316]

Thank you for your quick responses!

I am, of course, factoring in great school systems for my search as I understand their importance (just trying to balance what it is I'm getting for my tax dollars).

My aversion to going too far east has to do with trekking back to NY to see family, though I suppose another 20 minutes east would not kill me. I will look into Glastonbury.

Thank you.

[Stylo]

Obligatory Milford plug. Live here and love it (after being in other parts of state), incredibly well balanced town that’s got every convenience, great downtown, train access to NYC, coastline, parks, low stable taxes, etc. This site is a good overview.

I think you’d really like West Hartford too. It is another really well rounded town. Taxes a smidge high but doable. I agree Glastonbury would be a good option in that area, also Southington.

Both Milford and WH have the walkable centers which give them more of a bustling community feel. The other towns you’ve mentioned are a bit more suburban in nature. Taxes tend to be a little higher in those (30+ mill rate).

Woodbridge is not “the sticks” as it’s very close to both New Haven and Milford/Orange areas. The area of New Haven near Woodbridge, Westville, has a walkable center with great restaurants and an arty feel. New Haven in general is our best city for an overall urban experience: dining, culture, museums, entertainment, etc. If considering Woodbridge, I’d consider Orange too.

Woodbury might feel isolated to you. While there’s plenty of convenience nearby it’s also a more rural area in general.

One more I would throw out is Bethel. Nice downtown, affordable, good schools. Well located by 84 for NY access.

Anything closer to NYC, you start paying a commuter premium which sounds like you don’t need.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Ladybug316

Storrs

I just saw your second post that says you want to be close to NYC too. Now that I see that Trumbull or Monroe would be a good choice.

Just to give you an idea of price of the towns you mentioned. Here are the median prices. It seems you want to live on about an acre of land so you are not too close not your neighbors.
West Hartford.......$389,000
Cheshire..............$460,000
Woodbury.............$417,000
Woodbridge..........$495,000
Trumbull...............$510,000
Monroe.................$510,00.

I live in Trumbull and my mom lives in Monroe so I can tell you about those towns. Other posters know the other towns better so I will let them tell you about them. One poster lives in Woodbury so hopefully she will see this. Jay who is one of the administrators lives up near Hartford and he has a wealth of knowledge about the Hartford area. He has a lot of knowledge about the entire state really because he used to live in Fairfield (the town).


Trumbull.......Here is the good. We have two sections of town with 1 acre plus zoning. One is Tashua and it has the golf course with a pool, tennis courts etc. There is also Nichols which is a historic area with it's own community Center. I have never been to Staten Island but my next door neighbor was from SI and she really likes it here. We have a mall and a few other shopping areas. In my town we have Kohl's, JC Penny, Macys. But all the shopping is not in one downtown area. We even have two targets. Trumbull has lots of parks and also a walking/bike trail that goes all the way to Wolf Park in Monroe. I would say Trumbull is really suburban. Half of the town is 1 acre lots and half of the town is 1/2 acres lots in Long Hill where I live. Trumbull has good access to jobs in the Stamford/Norwalk area (which is really growing) and to New Haven also. I have a lot of neighbors that work for Yale University or Yale New Haven Hospital.

Here is the bad for you. Trumbull has very good schools and that makes the taxes high.
Tashua...the taxes on this house $10,453 and this is on 1 acre.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...e/pid_42814250
Nichols....the taxes on this house are $7,755 (not so bad for Nichols) on 1.3 acre
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_42749419/
Long Hill.....here is a house on 1/2 acre with taxes of $8,303.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_42120420/

Monroe is more rural and it seems most of the town is on 1 acre+ lots. It would take you about 15 minutes from the middle of Monroe to get to the mall in Trumbull. Monroe has Wolfe Park with a lake and a little beach. There is a nice walking path around the lake also. It also has a pool and ball fields etc. Monroe is calm and serene. There is shopping on the two main roads in town but it's not a lot. Monroe has great schools.

The bad is the taxes are high like Trumbull.
.9 acre and the taxes are $9,881.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_41932522
Taxes of $8,827 on 1 acre.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_42351059

You can get so much more house/land out of Fairfield County and your taxes should be a lot lower too but other posters can tell you about that. I like Trumbull because we have good access to Metro North for an affordable price. Monroe and Trumbull has a connector that get us down to Metro north in about 15 minutes from Trumbull and 20/25 minutes from the south and middle portions of Monroe.



For Cheshire prices
https://www.coldwellbanker.com/for-s...-market-trends
All the other towns
https://www.williampitt.com/communit.../market-report

[Ladybug316]

Wow! That's a bunch to sort through and I appreciate all of it.

I had looked into Bethel as Stylo suggests but thought it might not be great to be near Danbury. (Not sure why I have that bias; I could be way off base).

We are going to try to hit some of these towns on our way home from seeing my daughter off to school.

Thank you all very much.

[hvexpatinct]

If access to NY by car is a priority, you want to be closer to 84 than to 95, so inland vs on the coast. In addition to West Hartford, Bethel is a good choice for conveniences, municipal services (natural gas/public water/sewer)/access to NY, although the taxes are high.

Woodbury is nearly entirely oil/well/septic. I believe Woodbridge is as well. Woodbury has a large empty nester population and definitely has more going on than Woodbridge, but Woodbridge is closer to New Haven which opens up another world of social opportunities.