Living/Working in Stamford

junkbondswap:

I grew up nearby so I know the area well. Obviously there are plenty of good shops in Greenwich/Westchester area. Rent is ridiculously cheap and you can probably buy a place after your 1st or 2nd year. The nightlife is ok but gets stale after awhile and bars close at 2 but there is plenty of decent stuff in fairfield, SoNo, stamford, greenwich, white plains and a quick ride to the city. Working in the burbs is much different and much better IMO...country clubs, golf, lunch on the AVENUE, pools/BBQ, plenty of girls. Its also not hard to take the train into the city and just crash at a buddies or some chick you used to slay in college. Some people love the city but im kind of over the smell, the homeless people, the tourists/traffic and you can only beat beat so many Jappy chics in Murray Hill before it gets old. PM me if you want specifics on the area.

Gotta disagree... the whole Fairfield, SoNO social thing gets really stale, really fast. Stamford isn't much better, just more shitty options to choose from. You end up going out with people from work out of necessity because all your friends live in the city and it's a grim scene taking back that nurse's aid at 1:45. All your points re: the city are true but the net package is still worth it. And c'mon - slaying Jappy Murray Hill chicks gets old after your first year. Please tell me you're not in your "TFA/Americorps chick" phase now.

i'd just add that buying a house/condo is really overrated. ok, you bought one, now what?

junkbondswap:

I think we are all in agreement that nightlife in ffld county is pretty weak esp relative to the city, but if you have the opportunity to work at a decent shop in the area and make a lot of cash, buy a house/condo and still have fun on the weekends its not a bad gig (living in the city in your early 20's is def a worthwhile experience).

Ideating, i would only slay hippy liberal save the world types as an F you to Obama and his healthcare/socialist plans

Marcus, only so many pearl necklaces you can give and times you can spank them with their tori burch flats

I don't know... hippy chicks don't give you attitude about a casual beej.

flutterby:

bump this up

who has actually done the commute as a SA in S&T

I'm doing an SA in Greenwich.....and just a personal choice, I'd never do a reverse commute. I have my car with me so if I live in Rye, Greenwich, White Plains or Stamford I'll be happy.

If you're gonna be an SA you're trying to get a full time offer...if you're doing S&T and you're not the CEO's son it's gonna be almost impossible to get one of the few offers they may give out because some kid living in Stamford is always going to be in the office earlier than you, and is going to leave latter than you, it's just the way the train schedules work....and I doubt you're considering spending 2 hours in the car in the AM?

If you don't care about getting an offer (i.e. this is just for your resume for b or l school) and want to enjoy the night life of NYC then do the reverse commute, get to the office around 6:45-6:50, and enjoy the weekends.

I agree with the person that said live in Stam/Green as a junior and once you have some stability with your desk move into NYC....it'll still be there, and you're not gonna be too old. Don't jump the gun on living in NYC just because you're working on the East Coast.

im assuming u accepted UBS? if so, then for a. find someone from your intern class and see if u can room with them. that should be pretty helpful/fun .

b. its a nice quiet place-id bring my car for travelling within ct. otherwise, use public transport

c. its general ne

d. 2 hrs or so/2 and a half

b) nyc is still close enough for you to have some fun d) boston is actually 3 1/2 hours away...guy above can obviously drive fast

Even though Stamford is not the most ideal place to be...you are still within arms reach with the major cities and it's all about what you make of it.

yeah absolutely-you should ask them that. =)

The only other company at Stamford other than the bunch of hedge funds is RBS. But you should ask HR for a contact list of the incoming interns for your class. Most likely they will give it to you.

I'm guessing you are at GE, then?

Stamford downtown apartments are VERY VERY VERY overpriced. Don't bother.

If you can get a list of interns, bundle 4 together and rent a house near work. It will be dirt cheap and could be fun if you have a good group.

If you don't mind spending money and want to enjoy yourself , just rent in Manhattan and take the train. GE and other companies have shuttle buses from the train station. If you are in downtown Stamford, you can walk.

Stamford is pretty lame. It's a commuter town. Live @ 5 concerts were fun, but now they draw too many people.

There are bars, but nothing to really get excited about. But Happy Hour is a good scene due to the mass of corporate folks. The mall is crap. Restaurants are okay.

If you have a car, Greenwich has better shopping/food. South Norwalk (SoNo) has a decent bar scene. Obviously, the Gold Coast is prime sailing area if you are into that.

Are there a lot of younger folk in the bar scene? How about clubs? lol (the thought of clubs in stamford is kind of funny)

I don't really see myself going to NY every weekend to party (maybe once a month or so), so I'd really like to keep it local.

Just as a side note; If you are going into NYC on the weekends, make sure that you have a place to crash as I believe the last Metro North leaves at ~1:30AM and the first one out is 5:30AM. I spent many a night leaving the bar and wandering around waiting for the 5:30 back into CT which wasn't exactly fun.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'd probably only be going to NY by orchestrating a trip with my college buddies.. one of whom whose brother has an apartment in NY. So hopefully, he'll let us crash at his place since we probably won't be going to NY all that often (maybe once, twice).

The last thing I want to do is wander around New York until 5:30. I've done it before and it blew.

I repeat: Stamford night life blows. You will outgrow it quick.

NYC is your best bet for fun. It's 44 minutes away on an express train.

However, you might have more diverse interests.

There are all sorts of corporate sports leagues (esp. softball in the summer). Golf is fantastic in Fairfield County.

If you have a car, you can check out some nice towns: New Canaan, Westport, Greenwich, etc. Further north= Yale/New Haven. Better night life there, but probably not in the summer.

There are beaches in Fairfield County. Not for swimming (Long Isl Sound is disgusting) but good for beach volleyball, sun and biking.

Go to Yankees games- your company probably has tons of tickets.

a) Split a room that's outside of downtown. Do not hesitate to e-mail HR regarding your analyst class, though I have found that living with people you don't work with is generally best. Also (assuming you are doing S&T), roughly half of the full time class at RBS and UBS live and commute daily from New York. It's only 40 minutes (if indeed it is RBS), and with the S&T schedule it is very manageable. Perhaps you want to try this option to see if you would want to do this if you moved on to full time (though this would be a very expensive experiment.)

b) Agreed with all accounts above. Stamford is quite awful regarding night life. There's a few decent bars for happy hours, but not exactly the most exciting gig for the early twenties. Everyone I know that works there goes to the city as much as they can, and for the S&T guys this usually means every weekend. I presume there will be plenty of Tufts kids in the city this summer? Otherwise, there's Greenwich & New Haven for some decent places to be. Also, Foxwoods Casinos is only about an hour and a half away and should be plenty of fun.

Traffic on 95 has been awful as of late. Plenty of construction. However, the Merritt Parkway has been a fairly good alternative option, and traffic within Stamford, from what I have heard, isn't that bad. No idea on their public transport.

c) Should be comparable to Boston area and below New York levels.

d) 3 hours without traffic should get you there. Just remember that although Boston is also up I-95, it's actually fastest to go up I-91, I-84, and then I-90.

Bump.

Does anyone know of some good housing options? I'd prefer to stick to downtown housing (don't want to commute from NYC, and I'd prefer not to live in the boring suburbs) and the only real amenities I would like to have are a gym and a parking spot. I also need to be able to rent it for only 3 months, obviously.

I've been looking on craigslist and such and find that the 'nicer' places in downtown go for around $1200-1500 for a 1 BR and such amenities usually include a gym in that range..

Thing is, my parents are paying for my summer housing so I'd like to keep the rent as low as possible, so I'm wondering whether I should try to room with 1 or 2 other people. The rent seems to go down drastically once you have roommates.

After searching around, someone mentioned Avalon Apartments in Stamford and it looks pretty nice, but it doesn't include a gym, apparently.

As for roommates, where can I find them? I feel like a 3 BR apartment could be pretty fun; 1 BR seems lonely, and 2 BR could be awkward if your personalities don't match too well, while a 4 BR might be a bit out of hand. Any suggestions?

Cliffs: - Need to find a 1-3 (preferably 3) BR apartment in DT Stamford --> Aiming for rent of $1K or lower. What are my options? - Need to find some roommates. Where?

Thanks!

Stamford is a cancer upon this earth. Live in NYC.

I appreciate the replies.. but I'd rather strongly prefer to live in Stamford. I actually want to save a lot of the money I'll be making this summer and not blow it all on partying. Plus, my parents will be covering the rent so a) I'll be saving a lot more, and b) let's face it, living in NYC is a lot more expensive (my sister paid around 1500 a month for a cramped, 2 BR apartment)

I also don't want to commute everyday for 40 minutes and I plan on bringing my car with me.

If it's an internship, you should stay where you can maximize saving as much money as possible. Its not like you'll live there for much longer than a summer.

Unless you live in a house with 3 other dudes, you will NOT save any money.

Stamford downtown rent is $1400-1700.

Why are your parents covering rent? That's why internships are paid.

That 40 minute commute is the easiest in the world.

You will kill yourself if you pass up a summer in NYC for MANford.

Dude unless you will be working ungodly hours just reverse commute. Avalon is solid, know people who lived in their Boston "community" for several years.

Sorry to thread jack, but where can I find housing in stamford? I'm looking for June-August.. craigslist doesn't have many options for sublets/temporary housing!!

Stamford is one of America's safest cities, which depending on how you look at it, may not be great news if you are looking for nightlife: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford,_Connecticut#Crime

Nightlife isnt that great in stamford. There is the downtown area, where Hula Hanks, and Black Bear and Houlihan's are, along with a couple of other places. On Thursday nights in the summer is Alive at 5, when they have some has been bands in to play in the square and everyone has an outdoor patio. (Last year Boyz II Men came I think.) If you want something a little more exciting, you can go out in SoNo (south norwalk). There's a ginger man, a different black bear and a couple of other cool places on the main street. You won't have nightlife like a real city, but its not bad for a bunch of preppie suburban college kids and young adults.

In terms of where to live in Stamford, my sister lived in a building called Newbury Commons for a while. Before that, she lived on Prospect street, both of which are walking distance to the train station that goes direct to NYC and to the downtown bar area. She just drove to Bedford street/Summer street and figured out what was walkable.

Hope this helps -

Thanks the_V. I looked into Newbury Commons.. it certainly is out of my price range as a college intern... Do you have any other recommendations? I'm looking for rent under $1250.

Thanks!

A train to Manhattan?

My bitch ex-girlfriend.. along with some UBS and RBS offices. (Plus Jerry Springer)

Welcome to the burbs, dude.

I have a buddy at Jefferies in Stamford; he reverse commutes from NYC. That's the short way of saying there's not much out there. I grew up in Wilton, CT which is nearby in Fairfield County. There are some decent bars in Stamford, some better ones in SoNo (South Norwalk), but nothing compared to NYC. An express train will get you to the city in like 50 mins, local like an hour, not terrible.

I bet there are cougars abundant around. Hopefully you like older women with money.

Sorry I can't add more value, I have never been there.

May want to check out:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/

Just do a search on there for "young single live" or something like that and generally it provides some decent ideas of where people your age live (not necessarily same career field, so keep that in mind if it matters). Good luck.

Regards

Hula Hanks on Main street is a decent bar, food and drinks are up to par.

Stamford is a very upscale city/suburb hybrid. Norwalk is more middle/lower class. I think both will have easy access into NYC by train (less than an hour ride). GE Cap?

Really depends on what you're looking for., but I'd choose Stamford. South Norwalk (SoNo) is a decent with a younger crowd and some good nightlife. Stamford is more city-like, has malls, restaurants, nightlife. In my opinion, Stamford has nicer apartments to choose from also. PM me if you need more info.

I've lived in both, and I liked Norwalk more -- it has a lot more character

Stamford, very navigable

My vote goes to Stamford... Stamford looks and feels a little nicer, and there is a higher population of young professionals imo, Neighboring towns are nicer too... You'd probably end up going down that way at night anyway if you go out. I just think you will find more of what you are (likely) looking for in Stamford, including living options.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your move.

I agree with FeelingMean. Stamford has a lot of living options. And if you are looking for night life, there are a couple of places you can check out but Bobby V's close at around 1 am..

You won't have any difficulty commuting to the City from Stamford if you take Metro North. It's about an hour ride and definitely more cost effective than taking a cab into NYC. I'm assuming you'll be living in the Stamford downtown area so you shouldn't be further than 10 minutes away from the station.

As far as the night life, once again you shouldn't have a problem finding places to drink during the weekends. Personally, I think it's okay, but some people swear by it and you can often see groups of people commuting (mostly from CT) to Stamford for the bars. There are some cool places in the area and the majority of patrons are young working professionals.

If you don't like the Stamford nightlife, you can always take the train into the City during the weekend. Just a heads up though. Make sure to have a place to stay for the night because the last train out of Grand Central back to CT is at 1:47AM. The next one doesn't leave until 5:35AM. Trust me. I've had to spend a few nights at GC waiting for the 5:35AM because I didn't make arrangements. It's not fun.