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beaveristired t1_jdlcmpb wrote

Beaver Hills is the best bang for your buck. Only problem is that it’s gotten expensive the past few years, there’s very little inventory, and it’s hard not to get outbid by large landlords. But that’s pretty much every neighborhood in New Haven these days.

East Rock and Wooster Square are always recommended, and both are quite lovely but also very expensive, although you might be able to find an affordable-ish condo. Westville is also very nice but still pretty expensive. Fairhaven and Fairhaven Heights along the Quinnipiac River is nice, more affordable, very old houses. Edgewood can be hit or miss, but I would still consider it. Morris Cove / East Shore is affordable, safe, and by the water, but it’s a little isolated from the rest of New Haven. It’s also where the expanding Tweed Airport is located, and there are more homes available there than other neighborhoods because of the airport. Amity (by Westville) is affordable. Downtown is mostly expensive condos but it’s convenient and extremely walkable.

I would avoid: Newhallville, The Hill (except City Point area), West Rock. I’d be cautious about Dixwell, Dwight, West River, The Annex.

In neighboring town of Hamden, Whitneyville is safe and not too expensive.

I highly recommend checking out the CT First Time Homebuyer Program. Even if you’ve owned before, a lot of the rules are different for New Haven, because the city is like 70% renters and they want to increase homeownership. Don’t sleep on that Yale home ownership money either.

https://www.chfa.org

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dapianoguy OP t1_jdmgqdb wrote

Thank you so much for the insight! I’ll take a deep dive into the neighborhoods you listed. If I were okay with up to a 30 minute commute, do you have any recommendations for other neighborhoods outside New Haven I might look at?

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beaveristired t1_jdml985 wrote

Lots of nice towns outside of the city. Mostly suburban with small downtown / commercial areas. Very family-oriented, great schools, safe, clean.

I recommend Milford and Branford. West Haven and East Haven aren’t as nice as Milford/Branford, but less expensive.

I would also look into Hamden, Stratford, North Haven, North Branford, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Cheshire, Orange, Woodbridge. Some of these towns are $$$.

I would avoid the Naugatuck valley towns (along Rt 8). MAGA country.

Fyi, the traffic on Rt 95 is pretty bad. Rt 91 isn’t as bad imo but depends on the time/day. Lots of backroads, but they get traffic-y at rush hour and after school. Employee parking at Yale can be pricey, and sometimes there’s a waiting list for the most convenient lots. Yale has a free shuttle but it only covers East Rock. The public buses are decent for such a small city. There is also commuter rail (MetroNorth, Shoreline East, and the Hartford Line).

Eta: just a heads up, property taxes in CT can vary greatly between towns, as each town has its own mill rate. New Haven has very high tax rate because a huge portion of the land here is non-taxable non-profit or state property so the burden falls on property owners. We don’t have county government here, so no county taxes.

https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/IGPP/Publications/Mill-Rates

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