Stamford CT
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Anonymous
Lol! 
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Anonymous
| If you have a baby out of wedlock, you can always pop down to the Jerry Springer show to find out who the daddy is. Other than that, it's a pretty nice town. My inlaws live there....both downtown in a highrise and in the neighborhoods with little kids. They go to private schools so I'm not sure how good the public schools are. |
Anonymous
This is true about the schools. Surrounding towns are much better, though some can be pretty snobby and housing stock will be limited in your price range (I grew up in one). The further north along the coast, the more down to earth (in my opinion) though traffic on 95 and the Merritt can be really really bad. It's a really pretty area though and many towns have great schools. |
Anonymous
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Hi OP. I was born and raised in Stamford, CT and still live here. Do you have children? I would not recommend Stamford Public Schools, so would you be able to afford private? If not, buy in a neighboring town like the other PPs recommended, Darien and New Canaan are very close by and have great schools. I don't have children myself but work as a nanny in Darien and it's a very nice town. If you want to live in Stamford consider the North Stamford area (north of the Merritt parkway) or Springdale - which has it's own train station that can take you downtown in about 10 minutes or into NYC in an hour. Let me know if you have any questions - I will try my best to answer!
PS - Forgot to add, this area is very expensive - I think it tops the charts as most expensive places to rent. Also traffic can be really bad on I-95 so if you will be working in Stamford consider living close enough to take back roads or the train. |
Anonymous
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Thanks for all the replies! We are in the early process of talking through a move and what it would entail. A little freaked out because the cost of living is not cheaper than DC, which we thought was absurdly expensive! Yes we have one child and are thinking of having a few more. We are in our early 30s and just getting established. We thought we would stay in the DC/NOVA area for life but along came a great opportunity job wise and we thought we should look into it. Right now DH is in big law and the new job would be just as lucrative (if not more) but with better hours than the big law life which is kind of what we are looking for.
PP - how much is child care in the Stamford/New Canaan/Wesport/Darien area? More expensive than DC? Seriously traffic is worse than driving from NOVA to DC everyday? That is DHs commute right now. We have a 4 bedroom, 2500 sq ft house right now that was built in the early 1960s. Bought it for $700,000. What would that cost up in CT? Have no idea about the real estate up there either. Anyway we know absolutely nothing about the CT area and all the replies have been most helpful! Keep them coming! Thanks! |
Anonymous
What will you do for work? |
Anonymous
| Taxes are also very high in CT |
Anonymous
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I'm originally from this area, although haven't lived there for 20 years. New Canaan, Westport, Darien, and Wilton are very "exclusive" towns and I wouldn't be surprised if real estate was the same as DC. I'm sure you can go on Zillow and just get an idea. Real estate is going to vary a lot by town, as a PP said, all the public schools are municipality-based. There is no county government.
Traffic on Merritt and 95 is terrible in the morning and evening in the direction to/from NYC. It's really no joke and there's also a lot of construction. You really do not want to have a commute that takes you in the same direction as NYC rush hour traffic. Seriously. Even when I lived there 20 years ago (and even more so now), you plan your life around not driving on the highway between 7-9:30am and 3-6pm. I would look into one of the towns directly adjoining Stamford (or maybe Stamford itself-- I think it's supposed to be nice small city) and maybe you could take side streets. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| DH would be working at a hedge fund |
Anonymous
Big $$, great for him. Is he sure that hours would be fewer than his current job? Envious of the cool weather that awaits you. |
Anonymous
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Supposedly per the person he talked with the hours would be better than big law. More info to come but it is definitely an interesting offer and something we would have to consider carefully. Big law has a lot of stress and long crazy hours which we were prepared for but any job with similar or better money but better hours would be a perk!
Yea DC summers are horrible! |
Anonymous
It's actually blazing hot here right now. |
Anonymous
| 13:33 nanny poster here. Childcare is expensive as is everything else. I don't know how it compares to DC though. As a nanny I am making $20/hr currently. I help a SAHM with her 4 school aged children, so I do a lot of driving, errands, housekeeping duties in addition to childcare. Previously I had 20 month old and a 5 year old and was making $17 if I recall correctly. The rate will vary of course depending on duties involved, number of children, where you live, and the nanny's experience and qualifications of course. There are plenty of great preschools in the area too. I'm not sure the cost of daycare because as I said, I don't have children myself. |
Anonymous
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http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/31-Littlebrook-Rd-Darien-CT-06820/57285018_zpid/
House in Darien for comparison. Is it similar to what you have now? |