<p>Someone young who just got out of college got a job in Greenwich, Connecticut. What is the name of decent neighborhood where a young person can rent an apartment or a house? Any suggestions about locations will be welcome. Rent can be paid-up to medium four digits per month. Working hours at firm are 12-15 hours a day, five to six days a week. Many nights are very late night so apartment location must be very safe neighborhoods. I hear that lot of young folks live in NY City and reverse commute to Greenwich. How much doable it is? And how safe it is.</p>
<p>As someone who lives in Connecticut, I can tell you that Greenwich has some extremely wealthy areas (I’m talking about the top celebrities that work out of NYC) and some poorer areas. The trip from NYC to Greenwich is do-able, albeit a little expensive. The train is perfectly safe. Tell him to look in Westport - very nice Long Island Sound town. Not sure if there’s a train station there, but I can assure you it’s nice and safe.</p>
<p>I mean expect to pay a lot…Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk - those are the premier places to live in the Northeast. Try checking Craigslist for a hint at prices until you find an area w/ a price you like. <a href=“http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/aap/[/url]”>http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/aap/</a> should be a good starting spot to find a town.</p>
<p>If I were a younger person, I might look at apartments in livelier towns than Greenwich that are on the New Haven line and closer to the city. That way you have a short commute to Greenwich or a short commute to New York City for weekends. New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and Rye all have their advantages and disadvantages, but provide decent restaurants and night life of their own with relatively nice buildings very close to their train stations.</p>
<p>Do they prefer to live in a city a town or suburban setting? the further north you go in fairfield County, the less expensive but some would say the more boring.</p>
<p>Although the general area you are discussing is staggeringly expensive, there do exist some shared houses rented by groups of young people. Years ago, my sister lived in one in Wilton. That’s a bit of a trek from Greenwich, but perhaps distance doesn’t matter so much to someone who would tend to work into the evening. It’s mainly at rush hour that the roads in Fairfield County might as well be parking lots.</p>
<p>Also, Stamford and Norwalk have some real, honest-to-goodness appalling slums. So be careful. I grew up in those two communities, and there are places in both where I would not be willing to get out of my car in broad daylight, let alone rent an apartment.</p>
<p>Not dealing so much with rentals, but the town descriptions may be useful <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/982681-advice-towns-near-stamford-ct.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/982681-advice-towns-near-stamford-ct.html</a>. Westport does a a train station, and I believe at least one additional smaller stop (Saugatuck). Agree that some of the better deals for young professionals are the shared rents in houses and condos.</p>
<p>Marian, there is not a single neighborhood in Norwalk or Stamford where I would not get out of my car in daylight. There are streets where I wouldn’t walk alone at 2 am, but I know both cities well and you have greatly overstated the danger.</p>
<p>OP- there are lots of young professionals in downtown Stamford and a nice (although not as vibrant) evening social scene as well. There are a couple of Avalon-type rental buildings that have a big singles scene… and easy access to the train station. None of these buildings are in dicey neighborhoods.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that Stamford is a major train station. Besides the local trains (stopping at every station in CT and eastern Westchester and on into Grand Central), there are express trains to Grand Central (in the evenings, as well as during rush hour) that make the trip much shorter, and Amtrak intercity trains stop at Stamford.</p>
<p>Downtown Stanford may be of interest.</p>
<p>There are parts of Greenwich that would be affordable for a shared house rental. Stamford would have some apartments and rental condos that would work. SoNo (South Norwalk) and East Norwalk have some great spots that would be fun for a young person. All have trains to Greenwich. </p>
<p>Best advice is really to take a few days to drive around the area and get to know it a bit. Search on Craigslist first and see if you can get some idea of possible areas and then go drive around.</p>
<p>In general, the farther towards Boston you go, the cheaper the housing will become.</p>
<p>If said person can pay to mid- 4 digits, I would say buy while the iron is hot!</p>
<p>Mid 4 digits, to me, means $4,000 - $6,000 per month. Is that the figure you meant to use? If yes…I agree with Woody. Buy a nice condo or small house. Could probably get a spectacular 1 - 2 bedroom in almost any but the most ultra exclusive areas in metro NY. A nice 3 bedroom house in the average to upper average areas…</p>
<p>I read mid-4 digits as meaning around $1500 … and it won’t be a cake walk but there would be rental apartments available in that range.</p>
<p>Unless the income tax rates have changed substantially since I lived there, it would be insane to live in NY state and work in CT. you would pay full NY income tax, which was a lot higher than CT income tax.</p>
<p>For a younger person, I would look at Stamford and Norwalk. Great train service to NYC and plenty of apartments and more night life than the rest of the area, especially SoNo. The rest of the towns in the area, including Westport, are oriented towards couples.</p>
<p>^We do pay income tax, but it’s such a tiny part of our total tax bill, I don’t consider it onerous at all.</p>
<p>Many younger, unmarried, people who work in Greenwich live in either Stamford or Norwalk. Both have many rental apartments (most other nearby CT towns do not have many affordable rental apartments), lots of bars and restaurants and many other young, single people living there. For approximately $1500/month, one would typically be looking to share an apartment and share expenses, as apartments in nice buildings often cost significantly more than that on a monthly basis. Parking can also be a significant expense, if space is not included in the monthly rent. </p>
<p>I believe that CT state income taxes are still 2-3% less than comparable NY taxes. </p>
<p>Other places to consider living would be Manhattan (significantly more expensive), though the commute could be tough if the office in Greenwich is not walkable from the train station, and White Plains, NY.</p>
<p>just a consideration. maybe live in new haven, a college town with the amenities a young person might like, housing that will fit the budbet and maybe allow for a car, and perhps an hour or so on the frequent trains to and from greenwich. plus easy access to new york, beaches, or boston for the weekends. worth a thought?</p>
<p>This may sound crazy, but if I were a young person with a job in Greenwich I’d round up some roommates and investigate living in the Bronx, in the area around Fordham University, near the NY Botanical Garden. It’s only about a 25-minute commute from the Fordham station to Greenwich on the New Haven Line (as opposed to an hour from Grand Central and 1 hour + from New Haven). Rents are much cheaper than Manhattan yet Manhattan is within easy striking distance for weekend fun, and there are actually lots of urban amenities nearby—the Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, Van Cortlandt Park, Yankee Stadium, The Cloisters (in Manhattan, but nearby), and a lovely “Little Italy” centering on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood, which IMO has some of the best Italian food in NYC. Only for the more adventurous, perhaps, but worth a look.</p>
<p>As a resident of lower Fairfield County, I think the best options for a single, young adult are without questions, Stamford, Norwalk or Fairfield. All have restaurants and some nightlife, with Fairfield being the furthest, but it does have a university presence so that increases the number of young adults. All three are on Metro North for ease into NYC and possibly to the job in Greenwich.<br>
Look into those options, rent for a year, then if your feeling more adventurous, want to stay at the job in CT and up to the commute, consider NYC.</p>