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Please let me know if this is not the right subforum for this. I am more than likely moving to Stamford, CT's downtown area at the end of May on Summer St. I'm not super familiar with Stamford other than some bits and pieces that I've read about it over the last 2 months. Before anyone asks why I'm moving, it's complicated. I've been living in Boston for 15 years and I need a change. I want to eventually settle in a warmer climate (Winters above 50-55F, that kinda thing) but am not ready to leave the region (North East). I have a lot of family in NY/NJ which made Stamford seem like a nice middle-ground to "park" for the next 1-3 years. My parents (in NH) are retiring to NJ (due to family vicinity) and it also gives me a good 1-3 years of being within a 1-2 hour drive to make sure they're settled and settling well. I have a lot of general questions but to get started: 1. I'm a consultant and travel for work. How bad is the commute to JFK? I was told traffic could make it as bad as 2 hours. Is this accurate? What times are the best to avoid heading to the airport? I also know about HPN Westchester (aka White Plains) being 20~ minutes away? I know it won't always be an option due to higher cost and fewer destinations, but just wanted to get an idea about how bad or decent it will be when I travel. I travel on average 2-3 times per month. 2. Restaurants. I'm really into good restaurant experiences, cuisine, and proper mixologists, etc. My new place will be on North and Summer (by the Dairy Queen). Are there good places walkable? Is Harborpoint (is that what it's called?) the "place to be" for food/drinks? 3. These Thursday evening outdoor events that happen in the summer. Are they actually fun? Meet people? Music? Food? Or is it filled with dorks and degenerates? 4. Shopping options? I will have a car so if the better shopping areas are outside of town, that's cool. Just curious about options in town vs let's say Outlet malls and poo poo. 5. Is parking a pain in the rear end in town? Easy? Mostly garages or street parking easy? 6. Demographics - I've read City Data and Wiki on what's official, but looking for more of a local perspective. Is it mostly yuppies? Are they mostly affluent? Areas to avoid? Areas to stick to. I suppose I'd be considered a yuppie, so let's assume I want to "stay with my kind"  7. Things to do in general. Open ended question. 8. How far and convenient is NYC from the metro? It looks like 40 minutes to an hour? Is it a pain in the rear end to get back to Stamford? What is the latest time I'd want to head to Grand Central if I had an evening in NY? How much would a cab cost? Or a car service? Is it cost prohibitive? 9. Female to Male ratio in the night life. Approximate Can't think of anything else at the moment. Thanks in advance!
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Apr 28, 2014 20:25
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:30 |
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I'm from nearby, not Stamford proper, but I can answer a few:Shadow posted:1. I'm a consultant and travel for work. How bad is the commute to JFK? I was told traffic could make it as bad as 2 hours. Is this accurate? What times are the best to avoid heading to the airport? I also know about HPN Westchester (aka White Plains) being 20~ minutes away? I know it won't always be an option due to higher cost and fewer destinations, but just wanted to get an idea about how bad or decent it will be when I travel. I travel on average 2-3 times per month. Getting to JFK quickly will be hit or miss. Yes, it could take two hours during rush hour if there's a traffic jam anywhere on the route, and there frequently are, especially once you hit Queens. Laguardia will be closer, but not necessarily a better option. HPN is a small regional airport - like, one baggage claim small - but if you don't mind connections and small planes, and work reimburses you, it will be very, very convenient, especially when accounting for things like parking. When I fly home to visit family, I choose HPN over JFK every time, even though it costs like $100 more each way. quote:2. Restaurants. I'm really into good restaurant experiences, cuisine, and proper mixologists, etc. My new place will be on North and Summer (by the Dairy Queen). Are there good places walkable? Is Harborpoint (is that what it's called?) the "place to be" for food/drinks? There's plenty of fine dining in Greenwich, Armonk, and nearby. People round there be stupid rich and tasteful, yo. Not for nightlife though. For that, there's Stamford bars or Manhattan. Maybe White Plains if you're desperate. quote:4. Shopping options? I will have a car so if the better shopping areas are outside of town, that's cool. Just curious about options in town vs let's say Outlet malls and poo poo. There's Tri-City Plaza (a mall) in Stamford. In White Plains, there's The Westchester, which is the best mall I've ever been to. Further into CT there's the Danbury mall which is massive, but has seen better days. Plus Manhattan if you need it. quote:6. Demographics - I've read City Data and Wiki on what's official, but looking for more of a local perspective. Is it mostly yuppies? Are they mostly affluent? Areas to avoid? Areas to stick to. I suppose I'd be considered a yuppie, so let's assume I want to "stay with my kind" It's mixed. There is a big yuppie contingent, since there's a LOT of finance in that town. Some reverse-commute from Manhattan, others just live there for a few years, mostly in a spate of condos/apartment complexes. Some older ones will buy houses in the nearby suburbs. Big contrast to the locals you'll see around town, who are often lower middle class/middle class black and Hispanic. I don't want to say that the city is segregated, but it's easy to stay in a bubble if you want to. And it sounds like you want to. So just stick around downtown. Stamford is by no means a dangerous city. At all. But once you leave the downtown area, it'll quickly become the sort of place where you'll want to use common sense, especially late at night. Like, 10 years ago there was some rumbling about gang activity on the West side, but you'll be fine almost anywhere. quote:8. How far and convenient is NYC from the metro? It looks like 40 minutes to an hour? Is it a pain in the rear end to get back to Stamford? What is the latest time I'd want to head to Grand Central if I had an evening in NY? How much would a cab cost? Or a car service? Is it cost prohibitive? The Metronorth trains (New Haven Line) run hourly or faster. 50 minutes to 70 minutes in either direction, depending on whether it's express or not. Last train from Grand Central is typically at like 1:50 AM. No, don't take a cab from Manhattan to Stamford. Unless you can expensive it, in which case, rock on. But most sullen drunks who miss the last train stick around for a few hours until the trains start running again at 5:30 AM. Make friends with them, but watch out! Those girls are like, totally in high school! bam thwok fucked around with this message at 03:52 on May 13, 2014 |
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May 13, 2014 03:19
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bam thwok posted:I'm from nearby, not Stamford proper, but I can answer a few: quote:Getting to JFK quickly will be hit or miss. Yes, it could take two hours during rush hour if there's a traffic jam anywhere on the route, and there frequently are, especially once you hit Queens. Laguardia will be closer, but not necessarily a better option. HPN is a small regional airport - like, one baggage claim small - but if you don't mind connections and small planes, and work reimburses you, it will be very, very convenient, especially when accounting for things like parking. When I fly home to visit family, I choose HPN over JFK every time, even though it costs like $100 more each way. quote:There's plenty of fine dining in Greenwich, Armonk, and nearby. People round there be stupid rich and tasteful, yo. Not for nightlife though. For that, there's Stamford bars or Manhattan. Maybe White Plains if you're desperate. quote:There's Tri-City Plaza (a mall) in Stamford. In White Plains, there's The Westchester, which is the best mall I've ever been to. Further into CT there's the Danbury mall which is massive, but has seen better days. Plus Manhattan if you need it. quote:It's mixed. There is a big yuppie contingent, since there's a LOT of finance in that town. Some reverse-commute from Manhattan, others just live there for a few years, mostly in a spate of condos/apartment complexes. Some older ones will buy houses in the nearby suburbs. Big contrast to the locals you'll see around town, who are often lower middle class/middle class black and Hispanic. I don't want to say that the city is segregated, but it's easy to stay in a bubble if you want to. And it sounds like you want to. So just stick around downtown. Stamford is by no means a dangerous city. At all. But once you leave the downtown area, it'll quickly become the sort of place where you'll want to use common sense, especially late at night. Like, 10 years ago there was some rumbling about gang activity on the West side, but you'll be fine almost anywhere. quote:The Metronorth trains (New Haven Line) run hourly or faster. 50 minutes to 70 minutes in either direction, depending on whether it's express or not. Last train from Grand Central is typically at like 1:50 AM. No, don't take a cab from Manhattan to Stamford. Unless you can expensive it, in which case, rock on. But most sullen drunks who miss the last train stick around for a few hours until the trains start running again at 5:30 AM. Make friends with them, but watch out! Those girls are like, totally in high school!  noted. 1:50, huh? I thought it was 12:50. 1:50's actually great. Just make sure I'm at GCT by around 1:30am and I'm good to go! Thanks for your responses!
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May 24, 2014 00:30
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Shadow posted:Desperate? Why desperate? They open till 4am? I know Stamford's 2, which no longer seems to matter when you're 33. Desperate for variety, I meant. Stamford's nightlife is okay, but there will be nights when you get tired of going to the same pubs/sports bars/the one or two proper clubs and don't want to go to Manhattan. White Plains is like 20 minutes away, and has some more options. Nothing spectacular, but different.
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May 30, 2014 15:38
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bam thwok: thanks! You're essentially confirming everything I've been told so far. I moved in this last Saturday and have so far been very pleasantly surprised by Stamford. The downtown area is a good place to live it seems. Now, one thing that floored me was gas prices. I was just paying $3.65/gal in Boston and I had to put 2 gallons in on Sunday at $4.59/gal at the Shell on W. Broad St. Where does one go to pay more normal prices for fuel? 
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Jun 4, 2014 17:28
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Shadow posted:Now, one thing that floored me was gas prices. I was just paying $3.65/gal in Boston and I had to put 2 gallons in on Sunday at $4.59/gal at the Shell on W. Broad St. Where does one go to pay more normal prices for fuel? Welcome to one of the wealthiest counties in the country. That said, I looked at GasBuddy, and that station is the most expensive one in the city right now. So anywhere else?
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Jun 4, 2014 17:58
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bam thwok posted:Welcome to one of the wealthiest counties in the country. That said, I looked at GasBuddy, and that station is the most expensive one in the city right now. So anywhere else? Understood.Meanwhile NJ has the cheapest gas in the country. Something ain't right here!
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Jun 4, 2014 18:10
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Holy gently caress.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:12
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It looks like the BP across from the Shell is $3.98. I guess that'll have to do! Easily save $7-10 a tank right there. What a joke!
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Jun 4, 2014 18:15
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Just never go to Port Chester ever. Try to avoid White Plains too.
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Jun 13, 2014 06:19
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Any particular reasons? I'd like to know the area too instead of taking mysterious stranger advice. "You dont wanna go down that raaahd. Lots of scary going on down tharrr."
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Jun 13, 2014 20:24
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I was mostly joking. Port Chester is fine but watch yourself there at night. I might be a little biased but I think aall things considered it's a great area
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Jun 14, 2014 18:32
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Godsped posted:I was mostly joking. Port Chester is fine but watch yourself there at night. I might be a little biased but I think aall things considered it's a great area I'm thinking if I am looking for more than downtown Stamford has to offer I would more than likely just take the metro into NYC. Unless there IS something closer by that's worth exploring?
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Jun 15, 2014 04:50
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So I've been here about 8 weeks now and definitely love the city, at least downtown. People are really friendly and some of the food is really drat good. Love Bartaco and Barcelona especially. Pizza is good in general (pizza almost universally sucks in Boston outside of a few places, so comparatively, the pizza's good) although I'm still trying to find the delivery option that can be my go to to blow me away. This one place Tomato Tomato & Pour House or whatever is up there. Any suggestions? I've been to Colony Grill as well and it's definitely really good, but I don't think I'd get that delivered or eaten as left overs. Feels like a pizza you gotta eat that right away at the place. Ridgeway is ok, Fairfield has been my current go to because they're usually very quick and the pizza is generally decent. One thing in particular that I've had a hard time finding is a good burger. Any suggestions in the downtown area? Also a good sandwich in general. There's this Jenna Marie's near my place that's supposed to be good but I wasn't overly impressed with the two sandwiches I've had. Plus they're only open until 3pm. For the night scene I've been having a good time going to places on Summer St and Bedford. Main St I find to be a bit rowdy and immature for my taste. And to add injury to that insult, there was a shooting last weekend where 5 people got injured by some dipshit with a concealed carry license "over a girl." Check out the video: http://wtnh.com/2014/07/14/shooting-at-stamford-night-club-caught-on-camera/ I really enjoyed Dolce Cubano on the Harborpoint. Any other places there worth exploring? I haven't tried that World of Beers place yet but driving by it once I wasn't very impressed. Plus I think that area's a good 8-12 months away from being a bit more "done." So really any suggestions for: best pizza delivery option(s) best burger and sandwiches options good Japanese options (Kotobuki is good for Sushi but I didn't like their udon/ramen very much) Mexican besides Casa Villa (love it) and Bartaco (love it) Chinese Dentist or health center (need to also select a PCP) Auto mechanic
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Jul 21, 2014 19:05
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