[HouseHuntingAgain]

We simply love downtown Stamford, just the right size and appears to be quite safe. The question is are there a lot of families (we have two kids 5 and 2 yrs) living in downtown Stamford or should we just consider the north surburbs. What about the public schools are they an option in the downtown area? What about the whole re-districting on the schools, any inputs on the schools would be great. Nice Parks and Play areas and reccomendations on buildings that have rentals. Our budget is around 1700 per month. Looking forward to your replies.

[jjbradleynyc]

Good afternoon! Downtown Stamford is super safe with excellent proximity to the train and easy access to I-95 and not too far from the Merritt Parkway (about 4 miles). There is a lot to do, with downtown Stamford constantly changing and building bigger and better infrastructure, stores, offices, residential, cultural, etc.
The elementary-level public schools are better than the high schools and middle, but neither are terrible, just on the decline over the past few years.
As for the budget, it's a bit on the lower side for rentals, but one can most likely be found in that range now, due to the recession. Check out craigslist for apartment options...
Good luck!

[socialite]

There are many professional families living in downtown Stamford who have children. It's my experience that they love downtown Stamford and prefer to stay there or close by. As for the schools, the school assignment varies by street. You can check out the school assignments at Official Website Stamford Public School System - Stamford, CT - Board of Education: School Redistricting Information. You can also check out the school ratings at Great Schools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community (here is the Stamford link: Greatschools.net Search: stamford). As for apartment rentals, there are condo rentals available in your price range. Some of the apartment complexes will also have rentals available in your price range but most of them are extremely high priced. Most of the downtown complexes do not have play areas. Fountain Terrace (condo complex) has a small play area as does the 700 Summer St condos. 70 Strawberry Hill (condo complex) also has 2 courtyards where children can play and Woodside Green also has a very large courtyard. Scalzi park is nearby which has all sorts of amenities including playground, tennis courts, softball fields and more. Hope this helps!

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by socialite

As for apartment rentals, there are condo rentals available in your price range. Some of the apartment complexes will also have rentals available in your price range but most of them are extremely high priced. Most of the downtown complexes do not have play areas. Fountain Terrace (condo complex) has a small play area as does the 700 Summer St condos. 70 Strawberry Hill (condo complex) also has 2 courtyards where children can play and Woodside Green also has a very large courtyard. Scalzi park is nearby which has all sorts of amenities including playground, tennis courts, softball fields and more. Hope this helps!

With the exception of Fountain Terrace, the rest of them are old run down dumps. Fountain Terrace is predominantly composed of residents who hail from India. I don't recommend any of the above complexes, quite honestly.