Moving to CT
 

Hi All! My fiance just got a job offer in outside sales in Long Island, Southern CT, and New Jersey. We currently live in Dorchester, MA (10 minutes from downtown Boston). We are 31 and don't have any kids, but we have a lab. My parents live in Central MA so I don't want to move to far away from them as we will be having kids in the next few years. My question to everyone is where do we move to? I am a nurse, so I can live anywhere near a hospital. We love being near the city, but we are ready to move the suburbs. I love being close to the water, but would be happy being near a lake and mountains. I am torn between an area like Orange, CT (Fairfield county, beaches, city) and New Milford, CT (lakes, closer to mountains). New Milford seems to be more budget friendly, but Orange has better schools. Which place has more to do? We love eating out, hiking, outdoor activities. I feel like either town isn't too far from NYC. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would make CERTAIN there IS a job where you end up. Yes, I know about the "nurses always are in need" stuff (so are doctors but I can tell you from experience....) Good luck with this.

My wife & I lived in New Milford for a few years when we were first married, walkable to the green. It was a nice town, small enough to still feel New England-y but large enough to provide most thins you'd need, and Brookfield/Danbury is close enough to provide everything else. Easy to escape to much more rural countryside in pretty much every direction but south, and reasonably affordable. Also NYC is an easy day-trip for an occasional visit. On the downside, even just driving to southern CT (the I-95 corridor between New Haven and Greenwich) can get pretty old if you have to do it regularly. I couldn't imagine having to haul my butt to Long Island or Jersey from there regularly.

I hear you about the jobs. I am going to be applying before I move. I will stay at my job now and commute from my parents home if I have to for a couple of months.

Since I am a born and bred New Milfordite whose heart is still there... Good advice re Brookfield, NM Area. Don't count out Danbury or just over the "line" into New York-Brewster etc. Newtown is a very pretty town. Whole area is surrounded by interstate highways. Whole area of NW CT is very pretty. Many famous people live there.