If you are okay with a completely homogeneous population and a stark divide between the haves and have nots then, yes, you will love Redding. Families get evicted from their homes while their neighbors build in ground pools, no neighborly affection to speak of. In my time in the town we had swastikas etched into the desks of the high school and a school climate issue so sever that each year students had to be placed in different schools. My family was told Redding was the "Vermont of Connecticut." this was an empty claim. I strongly advise against.
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Fewer people. Not less.
Subs, where are you?
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Well the NYT Real Estate section certainly loves Connecticut week after week! Redding does appear lovely but much of CT has a rather long commute into the city and is dreadfully far from airports, often resulting in a white knuckled, "will I make it?" ride.
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I grew up in CT and moved back out here after living in many cities, including NY. We now live in the Weston/Wilton area. It's no farther of a commute than many towns in Long Island and NJ, and unlike NJ, we hop one train into Grand Central. Heck, I know people in Brooklyn who commute an hour each way into the city. JFK and LaGuardia are about an hour ride, give or take a half hour, depending on how bad traffic is. You should never be white-knuckling it to the airport unless you don't give yourself enough time to get there with time to spare.
And it is lovely here - I'm biased, to be sure, but I think it is much nicer out here, notwithstanding the state of our government in Hartford, etc., than it is in the suburbs in NY and NJ. Plus our property taxes, while still high relative to the rest of the country, are much lower than NY and NJ.
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There are airports in Hartford and Westchester County, so not everyone has to fly out of LGA, JFK, or Newark.
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There's much to behold here for lovers of classic movies. The First Church of Christ, Congregational might look familiar, as the large colonial next door was the ancestral home of Barbara Parkins' character in 'Valley of the Dolls'. And main street Georgetown in Redding should be recognizable from 'Rachel, Rachel' with Joanne Woodward. Her character's home (not pictured), an apartment carved out of a large Victorian housing a funeral home, is also nearby.
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And the Georgetown section of town was the site of the filming of Other People's Money in 1991, starring Danny Devito. The old Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill was the actual location of the local filming.
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Redding is indeed a great place to live. It's lovely and has a rich and fascinating history (search "history of Redding, CT.") The old Gilbert and Bennett Wire Factory could be such an amazing space. An art museum would be perfect. I'm thinking "The Redding Museum of Industrial Art" but any art museum would do. There are train tracks right there and a cute working train station just down the street. In North Adams, MA an old factory was turned in MAss Moca, a wonderful art museum that changed the town for the better. Someone with vision please move here!
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@JJ yea they proposed that idea in 2003...they are still cleaning up toxic waste
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And the typical property taxes for the city are? It is a reasonable question nytimes and Susan Hodara article writer for an article in the real estate section about "what to expect" if one buys in a community. Oy vey.
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They'll be high relative to the rest of the country (in particular because Redding doesn't have that much commercial development), but lower than comparable properties in NY and NJ suburbs. You can probably expect anywhere from 10-30K per year, depending on how big/expensive a property you get.
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