Welcome! I think Stamford is a great place for families and it can be what you want it to be. You’re close to NYC but still feels far enough away when you want it to. We moved from Manhattan last spring and love living in downtown. We’re a 5-10 minute walk to the train station and in a great newish building. It’s a big mix of people. Lots of singles, families and retirees. As you mentioned, a “decent life” is relative and variable, but what I can tell you is that our building ranges from $3800 to about $4400 for a 2 bed/2 bath apartment. Generally speaking, I think that’s what you’ll pay in the downtown or Harbor Point areas. Harbor Point seems appealing for families because it’s not downtown proper, but there aren’t really any grocery stores or much to do. Personally we found the buildings there to mostly be the same. BLT properties are generally cheaply and very quickly built. The buildings in the downtown area definitely have higher end finishes and such, and you can feel the difference. But again, it all depends on what matters to you and your family.

Watch any investments you may have. Many funds and stocks overseas are non registered investments and you may be forced to sell which could (maybe if you're one of the few that had a good year ???) tigger tax consequences.

hah, I think I had the same miserable year as most of the people... but yes, looking forward for my tax return discussions ;-)

Thank you u/DLFiii
How big are the apartments in your building so I can just make some compare to places I lived before or living right now. And also, based on that range do you happen to have personal range for the households income per year? to make it easier- in gross value so before any taxation. Like is decent life starting somewhere at 180k a year. Or 200k a year?

The apartments are fairly large. Our 2 bed/2 bath is around 1100 square feet with lots of closets and storage. One thing to add is that life in Stamford will be easier with a car, so consider that as well. I think with $200K gross income, you could have a decent life in Stamford.

You could also consider looking for apartments/houses in the Glenbrook or Springdale area where you get more for your buck and you’d be near the two train stations. Springdale has a parking lot. It’s two stops right after the main Stamford stop and these areas might be better for children.

7 and 9? You could see if you could get them into Westover Magnet, i went there and its quite good.

Lots of good information here. Only thing I can add is that stamford public schools are rated low for the area. Try to get the kiddos into a magnet school program like toquam, rogers, Scofield.

Are you looking to buy or rent? The Glennbrook And Springdale neighborhoods are good for kids, and have their own train stations with express trains to grand central in the morning. Express trains are usually about 58 mins from Springdale. As far as affordability, the price of housing has gone up significantly since the pandemic. So for a mid sized house (between 1500-2500 sq ft, about 3 bed 2 bath), could cost between $600k and $750k. I haven’t looked at the rental market so I can’t speak to that. What you can afford all depends on your down payment, how what your salary is, spending habits, etc.

I live in the Springdale section of Stamford and took the train pre-pandemic from Springdale and it was 60 minutes express train door to door.

Hi and welcome, In Stamford you will need a car in few months, for the zero credit you can ask somebody in the states to be your “guaranteer” ( I may misspell it but it means they allow you to have somebody use their credit score.) Good luck !!

This is what we noticed too... any opinion why that is? From where I am coming from the bigger towns have usually better schools as they have more choices for teachers.

Also, magnet is what we are looking for too- Hart magnet school or Strawberry magnet school is what were discussing as potential choices.

we go for renting... with zero credit history and no knowledge of local market whatsoever I would be worried to go for straight buying.
Thank you for Glennbrook location, will have a look. I assume there is some convenient train connection to Stamford main station where I can change for the train to NYC, right?

We will have a car for sure, but just one, so don't want to take it for whole day from my wife just to park it in front of Stamford train station. Thus looking for something doable for commute where I can avoid using car and still get to NYC.

u/Shortchange96 was it Springdale to NYC for 60min?

It was. Express train from New Canaan. Starts at New Canaan, picks up at Talmadge Hill, Springdale, Glenbrook, Stamford then straight into Grand Central where I worked as well

> (I consider anything up to 30min as walking distance).

in winter???

> - any preferable district I should be looking for to get the good school?

thats why most ppl move to a suburb town on the same train line, but nnot stamford

Take a look at Fairfield if the extra train time doesn’t bother you. Much better for schools and families generally imo

Lots of factors play into a schools rating, as I’m sure you are aware. It would be the opposite here though, whereas big cities typically have lower school ratings.

Just want to second the Springdale/Glenbrook area. You can just get on that train and it will take you straight to NYC so you don't need to transfer. It's more of a family area as well.

There's no guarantee that your kids will be accepted into the magnet schools.

New Canaan and Darien have better schools and have train stations that can get you into NYC. However, they're more expensive. But are probably worth looking at for the sake of your kid's education.

From reading FB mom groups it seems like the vibe is that if you as a parent are attentive and what not kids can do really well in SPS (even not in a magnet school). A lot of "dont let the scores fool you" because of how diverse Stamford is a lot of non english speakers taking the same tests bring down the scores

I would also suggest joining some of those Stamford mom facebook groups they have lots of opinions on things and suggestions for things to do with kids in the local surrounding areas!

ohh yes, winter is just another season. I can be hateful towards summer heats the same as to winter freeze ;-) So I am rather indifferent to both.

/r/stamford getting super mad at my shade at the schools but it's true, it's just the houses there are beyond expensive

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>I have the same feeling in general. Unless it is clearly a school in rough neighborhood there should not be a big deal when talking about elementary school as such. To be honest, from where I am from, there are no ratings on elementary schools. As essentially there are maybe 4-5 basic things that each school can teach you and as a parent you are able to course correct.
Yes, magnet is what we will try, just because everybody talks about them. But it maybe that we will find apartment in Harbor Point as I like the area a lot based feedback and internet and I don't think that area is within magnet school district.

“For the schools” is the polite way of saying “I moved to Darien because I am racist.”

riiiiiiight it totally has nothing to do with the schools

When considering Stamford's school rating you need to consider the context of Stamford. This is a city next to many phenomenally wealthy suburban towns. Our neighbors are Greenwich, New Canaan, and Darien. Average home in Greenwich is $2.4M, New Canaan is $1.7M, Darien is $1.6M. Stamford? $600k. The wealth is a good indicator for other factors. Stamford is the most diverse city in Connecticut. Our neighbors are uniquely not diverse.

Lower incomes and more diverse student demographic means you need more educational services with less money. If your kid is average in Greenwich you may get a ton of services to help them out, but if they're average in Stamford they might not. Additionally, Stamford may not have as much funding for extracurricular activities these parents care about more. These are reasons they may call the school "bad" but that's not really the situation.

That's not the whole story. Stamford schools are not immune to criticism, but the ratings are not an accurate picture.

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I would say Glenbrook/Springdale, both are near smaller train stations but a lot more family friendly

u/pizzainquiry can you share names of those groups pls? My wife tried to browse facebook today and could not find anything. Thank you in advance

of course - i DM'd you the link

Can you dm me too please? Thank you in advance ❤️