Suggestions for move to Fairfield County (Norwalk, Greenwich: apartments, rentals, homes)
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We are planning to move with 4 kids (ages 12 down to 2) from Chappaqua, NY to Fairfield County to be closer to a new job for my husband, in Norwalk. We are considering Darien and Westport which are the closest to Norwalk. Our priorities would be: good schools including for gifted children, a nice downtown for walking, activities including beaches, and convenient shopping. Our home price target would be between 1 and 1.5m, for a 4 bdrm with space for a nanny. We are European and have heard that Darien is very conservative, but not sure what that means concretely.
Since it is hard to choose, we did consider renting for a year before purchasing, but rentals in those towns seem few and far between and renting then buying in the same school district seems difficult.
Does anyone have suggestions? thanks !
I would recomend that you visit each town and see which feels more to your liking. Maybe even arrange to see a few homes in your price range. Both are great but have a different feel to them. Westport is more artist in character with a number of artists, actors and musicans livingt there. Darien tends to be corporate powerhouse people who did not want to live in a town as large as Greenwich.
I personally would prefer Westport. It has excellent schools and some really nice beaches and parks. There seems tobe more shopping downtown. It has a lot of very nice shops and restaurants plus there is the famous Westport Country Playhouse. There is a very active YMCA as well as parks and recreation activities for families. Jay
I agree with Jay. Darien and Westport both have different vibes, although both are very nice towns. Westport tends to be one of the more liberal towns (politically) in lower FFC, if that's important to you. You will tend to get more for your money in Westport. Other towns you may want to look at are Fairfield, New Canaan, Wilton and Weston. All are upscale towns with very good schools, and like Darien and Westport, each has it's own feel that may or not appeal to you. Good luck.
I also think it's a good idea to look around, but considering your spouse is working in Norwalk, IMO your best bet would be Westport. Top notch schools, a nice walkable downtown and access to beaches. It's also as Mike said one of the more liberal towns in the county - it used to be home to an artist colony years ago and though its gone you still have a big arts presence. You may also like Fairfield, just to the east of Westport. It's a bit less expensive and has everything you're looking for as far as excellent schools, downtown and beaches, but it's a bigger town (approx 55,000).
Westport stil has a lot of artists. I don't think that will ever completely go away. Also note that Fairfield is more diverse meaning it has a wider range of socio economic classes. It offers everything from modest apartments to mega estates. The prices would be lower there too so you would get more for your money. in your price range you could easily get a beautiful home in one of the nicer neighborhoods. Southport is a stunningly charming waterfront village which I would say is one of the nicest parts of Fairfield County. Greenfield Hill is a large rural section (about 1/4 of the whole town) where large homes are set on a minimum of 2 acres. Very nice country feel to it. The only problem is that your husband will be a few miles further from his office. Jay
With a 12 year old, you might also want to consider the quality of Staples High School in Westport. While Darien also has a very good high school, in my opinion Staples is in a class by itself. The building was just renovated a few years back and the high school facilities include a field house, indoor pool, media center (with FM radio station, tv studio and recording studio), amazing foreign language center and theater production facilites that rival what is found in nicer off-broadway facilities. In fairness I am a Staples alumni...
You really can't go wrong in either Westport or Darien, and I'm sure you'll have a great experience in whatever town you choose.
Westport is more artist in character with a number of artists, actors and musicans livingt there.
I don't believe that. A handful, maybe. Calling Michael Bolton a musician is a bit of a stretch.
It's too expensive for the kind of artist colony population it used to have. But yeah, it does have a few decent art establishments in town. Arts Center and Playhouse.
We are planning to move with 4 kids (ages 12 down to 2) from Chappaqua, NY to Fairfield County to be closer to a new job for my husband, in Norwalk. We are considering Darien and Westport which are the closest to Norwalk. Our priorities would be: good schools including for gifted children, a nice downtown for walking, activities including beaches, and convenient shopping. Our home price target would be between 1 and 1.5m, for a 4 bdrm with space for a nanny. We are European and have heard that Darien is very conservative, but not sure what that means concretely.
Since it is hard to choose, we did consider renting for a year before purchasing, but rentals in those towns seem few and far between and renting then buying in the same school district seems difficult.
Does anyone have suggestions? thanks !
With a reverse commute you would be ok living North of Norwalk say like as far as Milford BUT...lets stay a bit closer... I would suggest Westport as Jay mentioned.. If you liked Chappaqua living then I would also suggest Wilton & Westin but the beach would be a 25 min drive away. They have they're own little local shops but you have Rt7 shopping.. Add Ridgefield on your list to look.
What you can do is, Find 9 properties you like, 3 in each town and just spend one day driving to them and around each town to get a little feel for them ... I found shortcuts and shops months later so not sure if what I said was helpful.
How about MLS # 98487604 in Norwalk?
98480376 in Ridgefield?
98487560 in Wilton?
98462802 in Westport?
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