Should we move from our current near perfect town for a nicer house?

[Anonymous]

Cheaper, larger house with a shorter commute. That's a no-brainer for me. Move and rent something when you want to go to the beach.

[Anonymous]

I believe there's a saying that a better town is more important than a better house? Does it apply in your case?

[Anonymous]

You have to decide if beach is really important for you and if you are going to miss it. It will be a huge change if you are a beach person and easy access to the beach was the part of living there that you liked. Obviously, people move from areas they loved, but it's not like you are relocating to another metro area or overseas. The feeling of loss might be stronger here given it was an option. I would look into maybe making an addition to your house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume we are talking about Long Island and, like, Port Washington versus, say, Syosset.

I would stay in hypothetical Port Washington. Your growth potential on a beautiful home in Port Washington is tremendous, and the flood risk is low.

Port Washington is expensive and not likely to give her an upgrade for under 2 mil. There are cheaper parts of LI, but all depends on schools and areas with good schools are $$$. Maybe CT

[Anonymous]

She already said she was in CT.

I'm guessing Greenwich or Darien and she's thinking about moving to Ridgefield, Kent, Litchfield, Washington or somewhere like that.

I'm in a coastal CT town an hour outside of DC and the community, activities/sports, and efficiency are much more important to me than I realized they would be. We were looking at more rural locations as well, but I'm happy where we are. We drive to the above locations on a weekend day for a hike some times.

One thing to keep in mind is that private high school is about 50K a year and then 60K? with fundraising. That's 240K per child. That adds up!

Your home value will appreciate more in your current location I'm guessing. Maybe wait a year or two and think it over?

Another thing is proximity to airports. Being close to the major NYC airports and HPN is nice.

And if job situations change it's also nice to be closer to NYC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to decide if beach is really important for you and if you are going to miss it. It will be a huge change if you are a beach person and easy access to the beach was the part of living there that you liked. Obviously, people move from areas they loved, but it's not like you are relocating to another metro area or overseas. The feeling of loss might be stronger here given it was an option. I would look into maybe making an addition to your house?

We are not big beach person (don't play water sports or boating), but we do enjoy relaxing by the beach while watching kids playing for 1 our 2 hours. My biggest concern is actually the loss of easy access to NYC, if we do move, we will likely need to stay overnight at NYC if we visit it with kids. Not sure how much of that will matter.

We thought about doing an addition to the house. Our house was built in the 1980s with 4 bedrooms and we will need to add 2 additional rooms if we go that route. Not sure how that's going to affect the house value since houses in our town with that many rooms are usually newer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She already said she was in CT.

I'm guessing Greenwich or Darien and she's thinking about moving to Ridgefield, Kent, Litchfield, Washington or somewhere like that.

I'm in a coastal CT town an hour outside of DC and the community, activities/sports, and efficiency are much more important to me than I realized they would be. We were looking at more rural locations as well, but I'm happy where we are. We drive to the above locations on a weekend day for a hike some times.

One thing to keep in mind is that private high school is about 50K a year and then 60K? with fundraising. That's 240K per child. That adds up!

Your home value will appreciate more in your current location I'm guessing. Maybe wait a year or two and think it over?

Another thing is proximity to airports. Being close to the major NYC airports and HPN is nice.

And if job situations change it's also nice to be closer to NYC

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. In our case, the inland town we are considering actually is pretty big on kids sports/activities and community as well. It also has easier access to a relatively big airport than we do now at the beach town. The private schools are expensive but the houses there are so much cheaper compared to our current town, financially it will be a wash even if we send 3 kids through the private high school route.

The big concern we have is that we are going to be much farther from NYC for an easy day trip with kids on top of losing beach access. Also home value appreciation difference will be a big factor if the difference is too huge.

[Anonymous]

How often will you go to NYC when kids are in MS and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She already said she was in CT.

I'm guessing Greenwich or Darien and she's thinking about moving to Ridgefield, Kent, Litchfield, Washington or somewhere like that.

I'm in a coastal CT town an hour outside of DC and the community, activities/sports, and efficiency are much more important to me than I realized they would be. We were looking at more rural locations as well, but I'm happy where we are. We drive to the above locations on a weekend day for a hike some times.

One thing to keep in mind is that private high school is about 50K a year and then 60K? with fundraising. That's 240K per child. That adds up!

Your home value will appreciate more in your current location I'm guessing. Maybe wait a year or two and think it over?

Another thing is proximity to airports. Being close to the major NYC airports and HPN is nice.

And if job situations change it's also nice to be closer to NYC

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. In our case, the inland town we are considering actually is pretty big on kids sports/activities and community as well. It also has easier access to a relatively big airport than we do now at the beach town. The private schools are expensive but the houses there are so much cheaper compared to our current town, financially it will be a wash even if we send 3 kids through the private high school route.

The big concern we have is that we are going to be much farther from NYC for an easy day trip with kids on top of losing beach access. Also home value appreciation difference will be a big factor if the difference is too huge.

Ok, actually sounds like this would be somewhere in central CT. I understand your concerns more thoroughly now. Totally different vibe in that part of the state. You would still have train access to NYC though! It’s also closer to Boston.

Tough decision. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Beach access is overrated. 2 hours or more to get to NYC seems a big drawback. Is there risk that your DH’s remote work situation going to change in the future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She already said she was in CT.

I'm guessing Greenwich or Darien and she's thinking about moving to Ridgefield, Kent, Litchfield, Washington or somewhere like that.

I'm in a coastal CT town an hour outside of DC and the community, activities/sports, and efficiency are much more important to me than I realized they would be. We were looking at more rural locations as well, but I'm happy where we are. We drive to the above locations on a weekend day for a hike some times.

One thing to keep in mind is that private high school is about 50K a year and then 60K? with fundraising. That's 240K per child. That adds up!

Your home value will appreciate more in your current location I'm guessing. Maybe wait a year or two and think it over?

Another thing is proximity to airports. Being close to the major NYC airports and HPN is nice.

And if job situations change it's also nice to be closer to NYC

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. In our case, the inland town we are considering actually is pretty big on kids sports/activities and community as well. It also has easier access to a relatively big airport than we do now at the beach town. The private schools are expensive but the houses there are so much cheaper compared to our current town, financially it will be a wash even if we send 3 kids through the private high school route.

The big concern we have is that we are going to be much farther from NYC for an easy day trip with kids on top of losing beach access. Also home value appreciation difference will be a big factor if the difference is too huge.

Ok, actually sounds like this would be somewhere in central CT. I understand your concerns more thoroughly now. Totally different vibe in that part of the state. You would still have train access to NYC though! It’s also closer to Boston.

Tough decision. Good luck.

Thank you. Is there something we should be concerned about the vibe in Central CT? Is it very different compared to other rural towns you listed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beach access is overrated. 2 hours or more to get to NYC seems a big drawback. Is there risk that your DH’s remote work situation going to change in the future?

My DH wouldn’t even want to commute to NYC from our current beach town as it would take more than 1 and half hour door to door riding the train. If he has to go back to office more he will stay in NYC for couple nights a week, so the longer distance won’t matter as much.

[Anonymous]

How often are you going into NYC for day trips currently? I grew up about 1.5 hrs from NYC and went in with my family rarely (but not never -- maybe a few times a year?). Doing an overnight would have been fine. But as I got older (HS) my friends and I went in more regularly, and for our peers who felt totally stifled by suburban life, the city was a huge, positive gateway to a more diverse community and activities.

Personally I'd stay in the beach town, but it's hard to tell from your posts how many kids you have and what kind of space you're looking for.

[Anonymous]

Are you moving to like West Hartford? You were never going to let your kids go alone to the NYC anyway, let's be real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She already said she was in CT.

I'm guessing Greenwich or Darien and she's thinking about moving to Ridgefield, Kent, Litchfield, Washington or somewhere like that.

I'm in a coastal CT town an hour outside of DC and the community, activities/sports, and efficiency are much more important to me than I realized they would be. We were looking at more rural locations as well, but I'm happy where we are. We drive to the above locations on a weekend day for a hike some times.

One thing to keep in mind is that private high school is about 50K a year and then 60K? with fundraising. That's 240K per child. That adds up!

Your home value will appreciate more in your current location I'm guessing. Maybe wait a year or two and think it over?

Another thing is proximity to airports. Being close to the major NYC airports and HPN is nice.

And if job situations change it's also nice to be closer to NYC

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. In our case, the inland town we are considering actually is pretty big on kids sports/activities and community as well. It also has easier access to a relatively big airport than we do now at the beach town. The private schools are expensive but the houses there are so much cheaper compared to our current town, financially it will be a wash even if we send 3 kids through the private high school route.

The big concern we have is that we are going to be much farther from NYC for an easy day trip with kids on top of losing beach access. Also home value appreciation difference will be a big factor if the difference is too huge.

Ok, actually sounds like this would be somewhere in central CT. I understand your concerns more thoroughly now. Totally different vibe in that part of the state. You would still have train access to NYC though! It’s also closer to Boston.

Tough decision. Good luck.

Thank you. Is there something we should be concerned about the vibe in Central CT? Is it very different compared to other rural towns you listed?

Ridgefield, and the towns in Litchfield County mentioned upthread, are VERY NYC centric. A lot of people in Ridgefield work in NY and a lot of people in Kent and Washington are part time residents who live in NY during the week. Lots of NYC transplants. The major healthcare system in the area is tied to NY. There is Metro North access.

The Hartford area has a separate identity. People are less likely to be from NYC or have a major connection to it. YMMV of course depending on the community, but overall the area feels a little lower pressure and calmer.