josserman

So we've been looking for a while in Ridgefield and found a lot of nice houses in our price range, but we realized for this range in Danbury we can get basically a mansion. We love the charm of Ridgefield, but also like the city feel and 24hr shop availability of Danbury, plus have found some nice areas of Danbury. Not kids yet so scholls won't be an issue for a good 5 yrs or so. Not sure what to do. Whats the community in Danbury like? Any S2ki guys in the area? I know there are a ton os Subi guys from Nasioc.org, but those guys are a pia.

josserman

interesting thanks for sharring. Where do you live now that your taxes are so high, I would think westport/new cannan would be the most.

As far as Danbury you're right sort of, we discovered some new areas of Danbury that have really nice houses. Actually there is a new construction going up that looks insane.

here are some examples:
Danbury: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...6810_1113794861

Ridgefield: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...6877_1116667418

zzziippyyy

Red, if you think your mill rate is high try mine currently I think its $27.70! Can you say ouch?

JSWhaler

Mill rate is West Hartford is something outrageous like 48. We moved to Avon a year ago and it's much easier to live with.

As for the orginal question- where will you be in 5 years? Kids, look at the school systems. Having a big house- does that matter much. We have a smaller house which saves us on $$$ electricity, heating, etc.

CTMechE

I'd go with the smaller house in Ridgefield. I grew up in Wilton, the next town south. There's a lot to be said for having a nice community rather than a nice house in a worse area. Danbury does have a lot going on, but it also has the problems of being a more urban area.

It's tough to compare Mill rates for towns in CT, because (as your example shows) property values vary greatly. My current town (Niantic/East Lyme) has a similar Mill rate as my hometown of Wilton, but the property values, and therefore the tax bill, is more than twice as much there. But that's mostly because they like to vote "yes" to everything, and keep out the riffraff. And there are some tiny towns with high Mill rates, but property is super cheap.

Most of the cities in CT have significantly depressed sections, leftover from when the industrial base collapsed years ago. And places like Hartford, Bridgeport, Norwich, and New Haven have higher tax rates (some of them insanely high) because they have so many social programs and people who don't own taxable property. Places like Waterbury even went belly-up and have to be state-run. (their Mil rate is 55)

I don't think Danbury is all that bad, per se, but I think you'd appreciate Ridgefield more.

boltonblue

if there are kids on the horizon, 5 years can go by in the blink of an eye.
trust me, I had that same thought when we bought our first house.
Wound up doing the private school thing for while.

you're much better off in a town with good schools etc. Your property will hold it's value better.

blueosprey90

I worked in Danbury for 16 years until '88. Now live & work in New Milford. I would be reluctant to move to Danbury, although there is some new residential construction, especially on the west side. (That's where Union Carbide used to be for about 3 years!) Main Street is pretty depressed and may never come back. The crime rate is probably a little on the high side. Rush hour traffic in Danbury is a pain and it used to take me about a hour for what was normally a 30 minute commute home. I think a lot depends on your commute. Newtown, Brookfield and New Fairfield are all pretty nice bordering towns. And they just completed an extension to Super 7, so it is even easier to commute from New Milford than it used to be. Between Ridgefield and Danbury, I'd buy Ridgefield if I could afford it. But there are some nice spots over the line in New York as well.

BTW, I wouldn't consider leaving the S parked on Main Street in Danbury, but I would in Ridgefield.

jojipoji

for resale worst house in best neighborhood is the way to go. we just bought a house in west hartford. Houses around me are going like hotcakes.

hiroshikato1

As someone said, mill rates are deceiving because you need to factor in assessment of the real estate. The lower mill rates in Ffld County are in the most expensive towns-> Westport, Darien and Greenwich. That being said, the homes are more expensive/assessment more expensive which makes for taxes that don't seem so great. Ridgefield and Danbury are not even close in real estate comparisons. I'm not putting Danbury down but you can not even compare it to Ridgefield. It would be similar to comparing West Hartford vs Hartford, a suburb vs metropolitan area. The prices of homes has come down and mortgage rates are fantastic but there aren't that many "qualified" borrowers. This should work in your favor because builders that have survived are no longer buying everything up to flip in a year and there aren't bidding wars like there were a few years ago. Don't get pressured into buying something because others are "interested". Also remember that a mansion seems great now but when electricity, oil, gas and other maintenance costs increase... I'm not even bringing in real estate taxes. Good luck in Ridgefield! Hiro

josserman

thanks everyone for your advice...looks like we will probably stick to Ridgefield, but are now exploring Redding.