Moving from India – Town/School options in Fairfield County (New Haven: how much, home)
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I lived in a real house in Darien briefly. It was a good house, but for the amount of rent I was paying, the landlord was a jackass, he would control the heater and I pretty much froze to death all December. We have had several fights over the heater situation and then I bailed out and fled the place to Stamford.
But the place I live now is great, except that it's an apartment and I hate apartments
Can't wait to get my own house, and that's where I'm going to meet my version of all your problems. The very prospect is quite charming.
And everything in CT is overpriced. For example, I got really good reco about this bamboozling waterfront French restaurant in Greenwich. So I took mommy to L'escale last weekend. It was just average, and the waterfront is not that great, it was more like the khoovam river in Madras with 2 boats docked. Wow, I was impressed
I lived in a real house in Darien briefly. It was a good house, but for the amount of rent I was paying, the landlord was a jackass, he would control the heater and I pretty much froze to death all December. We have had several fights over the heater situation and then I bailed out and fled the place to Stamford.
But the place I live now is great, except that it's an apartment and I hate apartments
Can't wait to get my own house, and that's where I'm going to meet my version of all your problems. The very prospect is quite charming.
And everything in CT is overpriced. For example, I got really good reco about this bamboozling waterfront French restaurant in Greenwich. So I took mommy to L'escale last weekend. It was just average, and the waterfront is not that great, it was more like the khoovam river in Madras with 2 boats docked. Wow, I was impressed
The search will be quite a ride, no doubt.
I must say, once you have managed to establish your home and settled in, you can get by quite well here in CT - from my experience in FFC and the part of New Haven county closer to it. You just need to be sure about what you want. The suburbs are very nice to raise a family in. Excellent schools, involved families and frequent protestations from the powers that be of their commitment to education certainly help.
In that background, you might rethink that 'expensive in CT' bit as priorities change.
In so many ways, my children have similar relaxed routines (I am still able to resist of signing them up for umpteen 'classes') as I had when I was a schoolgirl back home. We moved around the place quite a bit due my father's govt. postings, and lived in the kind of houses you described earlier (especially in smaller towns). Just loved the experiences . Climbing trees to pluck fruit and the like. Not sure I would have liked it during higher classes, college and onwards. Cities did just fine then.
Once I set up home and after children, much as I liked to resist getting dragged into the city pace, wasn't that successful, except for some triumphs. Am looking forward to making the best of the quiet vibe here for the next few years.
For all the nice stuff in Madras, by way of cultural events, have only visited it a few times when I had to. Cooum is one of the contributing factors right up there along with the humidity .
As for grocery stores, Bharat Bazaar on Boston Post Road in Milford should meet most of your needs. You also have TJs and Whole Foods closeby. There is another store - Indus in Bridgeport, but it is very cramped. There is virtually no parking unlike Bharat Bazaar.
Are you from Bangalore?? I'm from Pondicherry and also worked in Madras in my youth. Tamils folks are more cutthroat
A simple bus trip through Madras is exhilarating
Anyway, at this point I am disillusioned with CT too. NC is the only state I love in America. I am simply putting up with CT becoz of the job situation and the fair commute to the city, and it's much better than Jersey or NY state.
Only responded to your post on the run-ins with the landlord. Missed this earlier one So my note on the desirability of CT must've seemed strange But the relaxed and wholesome feel of the towns in SW CT, great schools and the proximity to NYC, without its many negatives are certainly big pluses.
Yes, I am from Bangalore. Pondicherry is one of the best places down south. Like I said earlier, Madras is certainly not my cup of tea - the humidity just gets to me
You are one of the many people I've met here that are in favour of NC. Lots of folks are for Raleigh. If you do move there, I am sure we'll hear lots from you.
Boston Post Road has almost every kind of shop you may want to buy from on a regular basis. A very busy place called 'Five Guys' near the Home Depot is very good for burgers, sandwiches and enormous quantities of unshelled peanuts and fries (not for the diet watchers). Have no idea about the housing scene there, except in the nearby Orange.
The farms in Shelton and nearby areas should be interesting too.
Milford area has plenty of shops though haven't yet looked at the residential areas there. Orange is nice. Will check out Udupi Bhavan.
You also have Coromandel in Milford. It is an okay place. Their appetisers are good and are served with yummy chutney dips. Not a great fan of their other fare (only talking about veg.) Kolam in Newtown seems to be pretty popular among the locals though haven't been there yet.
The thin crust pizzas at Colony Grill, Fairfield are good. Fairfield has plenty of good restaurants - Barcelona, Barcelona, some Hibachi places .. still discovering.
Coromandel and Kolam are affiliated. I believe there are 8 locations total, including Kolam. There is a Coromandel that just opened in Southport, and the buffet is fantastic.
There is also Thali and Thali Too in New Haven, New Canaan and Ridgefield. I tried Thali in Westport a few times and didn't really care for it. Too oily.
For pizza, Frank Pepe in Fairfield is far superior to Colony IMO. In New Haven, Pepe's, Modern, Sally's and Bar are among the best.
If you like Barcelona, try Bistro Basque in Milford or Ibiza in New Haven.
Boston Post Road has almost every kind of shop you may want to buy from on a regular basis. A very busy place called 'Five Guys' near the Home Depot is very good for burgers, sandwiches and enormous quantities of unshelled peanuts and fries (not for the diet watchers). Have no idea about the housing scene there, except in the nearby Orange.
Yes..I'm trying to make it so that we can live in Milford, but it really seems like it would make commuting to Ansonia and Hamden a bit hard for me. If we lived in Orange, on the other hand, we'd be equidistant from all these places.
We'd probably go to Five Guys at some point, though it sounds less like my kind of place than the others mentioned.
Coromandel and Kolam are affiliated. I believe there are 8 locations total, including Kolam. There is a Coromandel that just opened in Southport, and the buffet is fantastic.
There is also Thali and Thali Too in New Haven, New Canaan and Ridgefield. I tried Thali in Westport a few times and didn't really care for it. Too oily.
For pizza, Frank Pepe in Fairfield is far superior to Colony IMO. In New Haven, Pepe's, Modern, Sally's and Bar are among the best.
If you like Barcelona, try Bistro Basque in Milford or Ibiza in New Haven.
It was the hot oil in colony that made the pizza stand apart for me, from every other good traditional pizza place.
Though had to douse the spice with lots of water and drinks, it was worth having it.
Coromandel and Kolam are affiliated. I believe there are 8 locations total, including Kolam. There is a Coromandel that just opened in Southport, and the buffet is fantastic.
There is also Thali and Thali Too in New Haven, New Canaan and Ridgefield. I tried Thali in Westport a few times and didn't really care for it. Too oily.
For pizza, Frank Pepe in Fairfield is far superior to Colony IMO. In New Haven, Pepe's, Modern, Sally's and Bar are among the best.
If you like Barcelona, try Bistro Basque in Milford or Ibiza in New Haven.
Ooh. I'm getting excited about this! We ate at a small Indian place in New Haven whose name I can't remember to save my life. It was very good, though, very home-style. The guy has a cart outside the hospital as well.
It was the hot oil in colony that made the pizza stand apart for me, from every other good traditional pizza place.
Though had to douse the spice with lots of water and drinks, it was worth having it.
Yeah, the hot oil is worth it. Pepe's has a better actual pizza though.
Mmm, Pepe's should introduce hot oil as a topping.
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. Climbing trees to pluck fruit and the like. Not sure I would have liked it during higher classes, college and onwards. Cities did just fine then. 
So my note on the desirability of CT must've seemed strange 
But the relaxed and wholesome feel of the towns in SW CT, great schools and the proximity to NYC, without its many negatives are certainly big pluses.
