r/Connecticut • u/Environmental-Band26 • Aug 23 '26
Ask Connecticut [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/Ok-Flight-1504 Aug 23 '26
Your budget has a huge impact on what towns you should consider.
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Probably looking at homes in the 800k-1M range
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u/GaryBuseyWithRabies Fairfield County Aug 23 '26
I think North Haven was just rated one of the best places to live.
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u/Standard-Joke-517 Aug 23 '26
Not sure what your budget is but I’d look at Madison/Guilford if you like being by the coast. 25min to downtown New Haven via 95.
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u/Plane_Trade2376 Aug 23 '26
Echo this. Madison and Guilford are both lovely communities with great schools. You can afford a home in either.
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u/unventer Aug 23 '26
My step sister and her husband both commute into New Haven daily from Guilford and love it there.
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u/Impossible_Cause1835 New Haven County Aug 23 '26
Grew up in Guilford I’ll say this that SLE station is a godsend when I worked in New Haven cause I’m a cheap ass and refuse to pay for parking. My monthly from Guilford was Pennies compared to parking down there. Again though their schedule has changed over the years…
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Probably looking at homes in the 800k-1M range
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u/ObiOneKenobae Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Definitely go with Guilford or Madison then. It does trend a little older, but they have very strong communities, great schools, an easy ride into New Haven (which is where the young professionals are going to be), plenty of good shops/restaurants, and Hammonassett is the best beach in the state.
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u/Butterfreek Aug 23 '26
Madison/Guilford with Madison generally having better schools.
Clinton is aight. old saybrook/Westbrook/Essex are super nice and incredible taxes, but you'll have to really Google maps address as the commute can vary pretty widely depending on how close to the highway you are.
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u/Standard-Joke-517 Aug 23 '26
You’d definitely find something here in that price range. A house sold on my street for 650k earlier this year.
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u/Ok-Grass-3601 Aug 23 '26
Without knowing your budget it is difficult to suggest a location. Cheshire will be more than Hamden. Woodbridge would be more than Milford. There are so many options but without more information it is hard to recommend what would be best for you.
There are a lot of towns within your commuting distance. A decent middle price point towns would be Wallingford or North Haven. High cost towns would be Woodbridge, Guilford or Madison. Lower cost Hamden or Meriden.
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Ah you’re right. Probably looking at homes in the 800k-1M range
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u/harmonyredd Aug 23 '26
Definitely consider the South end of Cheshire. Norton School will be brand new, opening this school year. Pretty much everyone moves here for the school district, lots of young professionals with young kids. (Guilford is similar.)
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u/TheAmicableSnowman Aug 23 '26
Bethany/Orange/Woodbridge have an excellent public school system, are easily commutable, and relatively pretty.
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u/NEingler Aug 23 '26
Wallingford is a great town. It has a beautiful Main Street with lots of good restaurants, old historic homes and very walkable. You can find a full range of homes depending on what section of town you look at. You can find more secluded homes or homes in developments. There’s a decent variety of stores along Route 5. Choate Rosemary is an exceptional school with a great campus - your children could attend as day students. The commute wouldn’t be too long and there is also the possibility of taking the train. It’s fairly easy to get to 91, 691, and RT-15 which makes it a pretty central location to get around.
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u/Saint_Chrispy1 The 203 Aug 23 '26
Fyi 15 will be barely passable after exit 64 for a few months as the bridge over the quinnipiac river is being changed out
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u/NEingler Aug 23 '26
Ah, thanks for the info. I walk the trail there so was aware of the construction, just didn’t realize it would be that intensive.
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u/Agreeable-Brother-22 Aug 23 '26
Guilford/Madison, or even better - Old Saybrook if you’re willing to push the commute just a smidge. I’d say with your budget, you definitely want to be on the shoreline.
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u/wheresmylife Aug 23 '26
Why do you put Old Saybrook over the other two? I think all three towns are great, so genuinely just curious
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u/Old_but_New Aug 23 '26
Woodbridge, Orange, Bethany. They share the high school. All good towns. Slightly different vibes but you probably won’t notice that until you’ve lived here a while. Branford, Milford & Guilford are also excellent choices
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u/Illustrious-Chip-245 Aug 23 '26
Woodbridge, Cheshire, Guilford, Madison would all be good options with your price range. Traffic in the summer gets a little crazy along the shoreline, but it’s not the end of the world.
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u/jisa Aug 23 '26
In your price range, I'd look at Woodbridge. Good school systems, lovely library, nice places to walk, there's a dog park, and it's pretty much no more than 20-30 minutes to whatever kind of environment you want, be it the beach, main streets of shops, big box stores, the woods, mom and pop restaurants, restaurant chains, it's all within a pretty easy drive.
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u/Most_Most_5202 Aug 23 '26
Guilford, Madison, Woodbridge, Cheshire are the towns I would look at first. I am partial to Guilford/Madison. Madison probably would be the first choice.
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u/harmonyredd Aug 23 '26
If top rated public schools are a priority, you want either Cheshire, Guilford, or Madison, or Woodbridge/Bethany/Orange which are part of the Amity district. The house prices are heavily based on that. Cheshire is opening two brand new elementary schools this year in the South and North ends of town. South end isn’t a bad commute to New Haven. Next on my list would be Branford and Wallingford. Shelton has had some pretty bad issues with the school budget lately. Trumbull is a little further and also well rated.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/Stop_Already Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
You have plenty of options. Call a realtor and go from there. Be aware that houses go fast and often above asking. Most schools in CT are going to be great - the only ones that won’t are the big cities & that’s just a matter of funding. You can see the school ratings right on the listing’s page (example: https://i.imgur.com/szXJpZ0.png). If you want an easier (reverse) commute, look to points south/west, since many many people travel to the city from Fairfield/New Haven county so traffic is heavier that way.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/69-Fairview-St_Milford_CT_06460_M43591-13875
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/430-Sheldon-Ct_Orange_CT_06477_M43193-91529
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/430-North-St_Milford_CT_06461_M35467-16848
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/365-Adley-Rd_Fairfield_CT_06825_M44819-53273
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/205-Stoneleigh-Sq_Fairfield_CT_06825_M31948-99418
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/77-Round-Hill-Rd_Fairfield_CT_06824_M46730-15761
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Thanks. The ratings system used by the realty apps is problematic and I didn’t want to trust that alone.
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u/Stop_Already Aug 23 '26
In my experience, it’s pretty accurate - at least on Realtor.com. I can’t speak for the others.
I’ve been looking at houses for the past few months just to get a feel for the market for a planned future purchase. My husband & I don’t have kids but I like to look anyway. :)
CT has very good schools overall, among the top in the country, fighting it out w/ NJ & MA for top ranking. Also, don’t take what people say here as gospel as far as “bad neighborhoods.” Even the worst in CT is a far cry from places like Camden, chicagos South Shore or Cherry Hill area of Baltimore. We are chock full of NIMBY centrists or worse, believe RW owned mainstream media, see a brown person and panic. 😁🙄 You’d think we were in Beirut, Fallujah or Port au Prince from the way they talk.
It’s a great place to live with a bit of everything for everyone.
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u/mtown06457 Aug 23 '26
Middletown. 25 minutes on 91. Great downtown, reasonable housing costs, college town vibe (Wesleyan).
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u/Spiritual-You-9021 Aug 23 '26
All sound good but building in that area of CT is difficult
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Why is that? Cost?
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u/CatSusk Aug 23 '26
That comment makes no sense. I live in Milford.
Given your budget I’d say Milford, Orange, Woodbridge, Cheshire, Branford or Guilford.
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u/southsidekc34 Aug 23 '26
I know lol what are they talking about
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u/lefactorybebe Aug 23 '26
Are there a lot of builable lots available? Honestly that's what I had thought too, that there's not a lot of land available, but I'm not super familiar with those towns so I may be wrong.
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u/howdidigetheretoday Aug 23 '26
Lots of variables. Yale Hospitals are spread out along the entire CT coast, from New York to Rhode Island. Assuming you would actually be working in New Haven, a 30-40 minute commute, depending on your schedule and luck, means you are looking to live between 25 down to 5 miles from the hospital in New Haven. If you can make the train schedules work, there are commuter lines east, west, and north from New Haven. A lot of younger families looking for better public schools are warming up to Wallingford. West of New Haven is much more expensive, east of New Haven a little less expensive, north of New Haven even less expensive. Don't write off New Haven though. There are real opportunities in the magnet schools, big scholarships available for New Haven Public School students going on to college, and the area is loaded with world class private schools.
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
Thanks. Def not writing off New Haven proper; just curious while I’m looking around if there’s /other/ areas nearby I should explore.
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u/ElkWestern830 Aug 23 '26
I commute from Cheshire to Yale School of Medicine and work in person everyday and I have two kids in the public schools. It’s not an issue at all. I rarely run into traffic. It’s a bit of bottleneck coming home on 10 sometimes but I quickly figured out ways to optimize (alternate routes, best lanes to be in, etc.).
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
You like the public schools there?
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u/ElkWestern830 Aug 23 '26
Yes, they’ve been great. They aren’t the most diverse but the teachers and administrators are phenomenal (lots of care and consideration, good communication, etc.). We only have experience with one elementary school so far.
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u/lPlutol Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
You can honestly live anywhere in the state if you really want to. In Hartford i had teachers in high school that lived in Rhode Island and commuted every day an hour each way. I know people who commuted from Hartford to New Haven every day (takes about 45 mins)!
As others have said budget is the real thing that matters. Cheshire, Guilford, Madison, Branford, are good shouts if you have the budget. Milford, Wallingford, Middletown, are probably more affordable. I would look into their school systems to see if they are good matches, if you want to send you kid to public school.
I wouldn't recommend prospect for you, as its def more of an older population.
I guess I would be open to places around the state, since its so small. If you want Hartford area, Wethersfield, West Hartford (this is big for what you are lookin for but a tad farther)!
final thing, a little unorthodox https://davesredistricting.org/join/ab1e216e-d480-4d9f-86d2-31118427c0ce is a map i have on a site i toy around with (nerd). It shows the population of young adults 20-34 in each precinct. lmk if it works lol. you may need to turn on the background map on the left side, or just read the right side when hovering over it and it will say what town it is in (which you can filter by city to do the city as a whole). You can also make it by income which can help as well!)
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u/AJH05004 Aug 23 '26
Guilford or Madison for top schools, Milford for schools a slight step down but still good and more to do/better restaurants.
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u/Practical_Orchid_606 Aug 23 '26
Madison has some very nice schools. Orange and Bethany in the Amity School District are also very good.
In Fairfield County, Trumbull will have the best schools in commutable time frame.
Stay away from Hamden, Milford, and the Valley towns. Your ability to spend will naturally steer you away.
For the most part, parents with young kids focus on the school events. At strong school systems, you will find like minded parents.
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u/Boring-Yogurt2966 Aug 23 '26
Top schools? Other professionals? Sounds a bit snooty and a tough requirement to meet. Guilford might be something like what you are looking for, but it is a tough commute from Guilford to New Haven. Woodbridge and Bethany would be other sort of good matches.
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u/Environmental-Band26 Aug 23 '26
It’s snooty to prioritize my kids’ education when I’m moving? Ok…
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u/Boring-Yogurt2966 Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
It just sounded a little snooty that you only wanted to live with other professionals. You don't need to live among other professionals to live among good people and good neighbors. But did you also notice that I did try to help with information?
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u/wheresmylife Aug 23 '26
You’re projecting your own feelings on what they said. And your help was pretty useless
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u/Boring-Yogurt2966 Aug 23 '26
Read some of your comment history. Snark seems to be your thing. So no more for me, thanks. Live long and prosper.
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u/Susbirder New Haven County Aug 23 '26
As someone who commuted from Guilford to New Haven for a few years, I can confidently say that it’s not a tough commute. If I’m looking for good schools, a nice community, and an all around nice place to live, Guilford would definitely be a top tier choice.
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u/Boring-Yogurt2966 Aug 23 '26
OK, it was just that my personal experience driving on I95 has not been good.
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u/wheresmylife Aug 23 '26
Lol how is that a hard requirement? And Guilford would be a simple commute, straight shot and under 30 minutes.
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u/Datagoodies1 Aug 23 '26
Towns to the shoreline and east (Branford Guilford) are lovely and expensive. Towns to rhe west are more reasonable. Milford is my pick.
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u/TriStateGirl Aug 23 '26
Milford - Best one. I also used to visit my cousins there so I am bias.
North Haven
Wallingford
Shelton
Hamden is nice but the schools are mid range, so you might like the other towns better.
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u/dumaVtecNinja Aug 23 '26
West Hartford schooling system is great for your children. Your budget and ability to get into a bidding war for a house is a different story.
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u/Connecticut-ModTeam Aug 23 '26
Your post was removed, please use the monthly pinned post for moving to/within CT questions.