[ianwaters]

My wife is a social worker and I am a graphic designer - we want a better life (or at least one that doesn't come with $12k year in property taxes) what are a few towns in CT that would be no more than 2 hours from NYC, have some level of shopping (Walmart and such are fine) and the schools are decent? We see a lot of stuff throughout CT but don't know where to start. We are Jewish so a synagogue would be a major influence on our decision. thanks all!

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by ianwaters

My wife is a social worker and I am a graphic designer - we want a better life (or at least one that doesn't come with $12k year in property taxes) what are a few towns in CT that would be no more than 2 hours from NYC, have some level of shopping (Walmart and such are fine) and the schools are decent? We see a lot of stuff throughout CT but don't know where to start. We are Jewish so a synagogue would be a major influence on our decision. thanks all!

Hi Ian,

There's a few towns that come to mind in terms of what you're looking for. Farmington is a nice suburban town of about 25,000 or so, and though there's not a whole lot there in terms of shopping, the property taxes aren't too high since there's a few Fortune 500 companies here. Also top-notch schools and a sizable Jewish population. There's also lots of nearby towns that could provide you with large stores such as WalMart (in Avon) and Target (in New Britain just past the WestFarms mall).

Check out West Hartford as well. It's about 2 hours from NYC, has excellent schools and a large downtown (with big-box stores in surrounding towns). WH is a bigger town and property taxes can be high, but unless you bought a Tudor estate in town I doubt you'll be taxed at $12k a year. There's also a large, longstanding Jewish population here as well - largest in the state, in fact. I've been living here for a few years now and it's been a great town. OK, that's all I'm gonna say, I sound like an endorsement now.

If you'd like something closer to New York, you might want to look into Hamden, just north of New Haven. I don't know about the schools here, but it's a decent town and I think there's a pair of synogauges in town here. It's very suburban in nature, a small downtown area and other shopping plazas, and generally safe. The southernmost areas that abut the NH border can be a bit rough, but it's a small area to be concerned about.

Even closer to New York is Fairfield. It's a 1hour 15 minute train ride to New York City. It would fit all the criteria you're seeking, but it's much more expensive here. You could find a house w/o taxes being too high, but it would likely be a smaller house (like a split level or colonial) if that's an issue. Still, it's a really nice town and the quality of life is very good. I never lived here but a good friendof mine did for a few years and it's just overall a great town - nice, well-kept neighborhoods, a small downtown (which includes the Metro North station) and very safe.

Hope that helps!

[YAZ]

Moosup.

I'm a big fan....

[toddb]

Originally Posted by ianwaters

My wife is a social worker and I am a graphic designer - we want a better life (or at least one that doesn't come with $12k year in property taxes) what are a few towns in CT that would be no more than 2 hours from NYC, have some level of shopping (Walmart and such are fine) and the schools are decent? We see a lot of stuff throughout CT but don't know where to start. We are Jewish so a synagogue would be a major influence on our decision. thanks all!

Depends on your budget and where you'll be working. If your job takes you into NYC often, I wouldn't recommend living much further up the coast than Fairfield. The train commute from there can be kind of long on a daily basis (I know - I do it every day ). Forget driving to NYC any time between 6:15 and 10 AM. Property taxes are much better than what you'd find in LI, Westchester and most of NJ. Schools are top notch. Not sure about the focus on Jewish population, as I haven't been to temple in 15+ years.

[7 Wishes]

Not a perfect expert on this, but regarding the Jewish population I would say these places:

1) Fairfield County: Westport, Greenwich, Stamford (Joe Lieberman is from the "nice" parts of Stamford). I think most towns from Greenwich to New Haven have some sort of Jewish population (or at least school workers who live nearby who are Jewish) as like NY metro, virtually every school district in that stretch closes for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In most other areas, that only happens in the "Jewish" suburb (i.e. West Hartford, see below......Williamsville near Buffalo, etc.).

2) New Haven Area: Don't know much about this except that I hear it has a significant Jewish population in general. Two places I've heard of in that sense are Hamden (as someone else noted here) and the East Rock section of New Haven (a lot of Yale grad students and some professors live there). I know a Jewish guy who lives in Woodbridge and he says he has some Jewish neighbors if that helps any.

3) Hartford Area: West Hartford not only has a significant Jewish population (at one time but I think it's not true anymore it had the highest Jewish % of the total population for any city over 50,000 people NOT in the greater NY, LA or South Florida areas), but unlike other parts of the area it has a significant Orthodox population. But as someone else noted, it also spreads just beyond into Farmington, Avon and Simsbury to some extent if you're looking for something a little more "outer suburban". I've heard that the Vernon area to the east has some pockets of Jewish population (and Vernon has a great deli called Rein's run by a transplant from NJ). Don't know as much about the suburbs to the south like Glastonbury or Rocky Hill or due north like Windsor Locks or Enfield.

Also heard (see Wikipedia) that Waterbury has a growing Jewish community, but I think it's mostly a new Hasidic outpost a la parts of Rockland/Orange County, NY

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

I think most towns from Greenwich to New Haven have some sort of Jewish population (or at least school workers who live nearby who are Jewish) as like NY metro, virtually every school district in that stretch closes for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In most other areas, that only happens in the "Jewish" suburb (i.e. West Hartford, see below......Williamsville near Buffalo, etc.).

Cheshire schools are closed for Jewish holidays as well.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

2) New Haven Area: Don't know much about this except that I hear it has a significant Jewish population in general. Two places I've heard of in that sense are Hamden (as someone else noted here) and the East Rock section of New Haven (a lot of Yale grad students and some professors live there). I know a Jewish guy who lives in Woodbridge and he says he has some Jewish neighbors if that helps any.

Woodbridge and Orange both have very large Jewish populations. Woodbridge, especially.

[renovating]

Where is everyone getting these statistics? Would love to learn more...can you post links with numbers?

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by renovating

Where is everyone getting these statistics? Would love to learn more...can you post links with numbers?

Which statistics specifically?

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Cheshire schools are closed for Jewish holidays as well.

As are the schools in Simsbury and Avon. I know because I used to have family in Simsbury and a co-worker of mine from Avon once told me they close schools on Yom Kippur. These towns have a sizeable Jewish population (albeit smaller than WH). The only downside to these two towns is there's no highway access to either of these and are further north from New York. Not that WH and Farmington are right outside the city, but at least one can get on I-84 in either of these and then get on 91 southbound.

Ian - If you plan to commute every day to the city, I would not suggest either of these, because the daily commute would be horrible. I thought maybe you just wanted to be close to family in the city. If you're not commuting into Manhattan these are worth a look. If you are, then Fairfield would probably work best. You could take the MetroNorth right there into Grand Central, and it might be the best choice in terms of affordability and good schools - because at least real estate here is a bit less expensive. Almost every other town in that county has an average home price of over $1 million and the property taxes are insane. Fairfield isn't quite as bad. I don't know off hand if there's any synogauges in town but you would not be the only Jewish family in town.

Re: 7 Wishes - I know Glastonbury has a fairly new synogauge. Someone I know mentioned this in passing. So there's at least one. Where it is, though, I really don't know. You said you've been in WH for business, is that right? Next time you're on Farmington Ave going toward Hartford you should see the Beth Israel Temple. It's a domed building that's been around for almost 80 years, it's now a landmark and it's really nice.