Hi,

My husband and I have 2 young children (age 3 and 3 months) and will be moving to the New Haven area. We're looking everywhere from Stratford through Madison.

Anyone have thoughts on central Connecticut towns? We're looking for a pedestrian community -- wide streets, maybe sidewalks. Someplace that has good shopping, restaurants, gourmet grocery stores, etc.

Definitely has to be a town with kid activities too, and lots of young families.

Towns currently under consideration: Stratford, Shelton, Orange, Woodbridge, Hamden, North Haven, Cheshire, Guilford, Branford and Madison.

Thanks!!

Welcome to CT!

IMHO (I live in Fairfield) it depends greatly on how much you want to spend on a home and how important are the school systems. If you can spend a good amount of $, of your list I like Madison.

Good luck!

I think Guilford and madison would be my top choices of the towns you list. I believe Guilford is more affordable than Madison, but it has a beautiful town green and i think has the feel you are going for. Madison def would fit the bill, but not sure what your budget is.

I like Madison!

Madison is a very nice town -- maybe even a bit of a destination. Quite glossy. Has a great independent book store.

Have you thought about New Haven itself? Pretty nice around Yale -- lots of tree-lined streets, good restaurants, access to the Yale museums and cultural life.

Thanks all - that's very helpful.

We have thought about New Haven, but the tough part is that we want an older house with all the modern conveniences. So that means master bath, large eat in kitchen, garage, etc.

If anyone has any preschool recommendations - that would be greatly welcome too!

Quick question about Madison - is it a winter town too or only lively during summer?

Thanks!

Its not like capecod - where people vacation in the summer. Generally, people that live there, live there full time.

I dont know where you are from, but in new england winter is definelty more "sleepy" than summer in general no matter what town you are in (except for around the holidays). People tend to hibernate a bit during the colder months....

My sister-in-law lived in Hamden for 6 years. Having spent most of their lives in West LA, they liked it in the beginning, mostly bc of the proximity to Yale & all it has to offer. But they were quite glad to get outta there (Hamden) two years ago. I only visited once, but I can't say my impression was particularly positive. Seemed pretty tract-house-ish, not very much character.

Check out this relocation site:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/connecticut/