Community Corner
Update: What Makes Fairfield a Great Place to Live?
Connecticut Magazine recently published its "Rating the Towns" guide, which measures the quality of life in towns with populations over 10,000 in five categories: education, economy, cost of living, crime and leisure/culture. First Selectman Mike Tetreau
[Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a response from First Selectman Mike Tetreau.]
What makes Fairfield a great place to live compared to other Connecticut towns?
Is it the high performing public school system? The strong local economy? The cost of living? The low crime rate?
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Perhaps it is Fairfield’s quaint town center, with its diverse mix of shops and restaurants — or its scenic qualities, with historic and famous landmarks such as the , Bronson Windmill, , Fairfield Historic District, Greenfield Hill Historic District, John Osborne House, Jonathan Sturges House, Pine Creek Park Bridge and Southport Historic District.
It could also be because of the town's superb parks, such as , , , and of course .
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Then again, maybe it’s the well-educated, successful and often notable people who live here, including some famous .
Connecticut Magazine recently published its “Rating the Towns” guide, which measures the quality of life in towns with populations over 10,000 in five categories: education, economy, cost of living, crime and leisure/culture. Towns are broken down by size for comparison purposes.
First Selectman Mike Tetreau had this to say on the rating, according to a release sent by his office:
“It is such an honor that our town has been ranked so highly among the best places to live in Connecticut. This achievement is a testament to Fairfield’s excellent schools, top-rate public safety departments, strong local economy, wide variety of cultural activities and all of our community members who help make our town a special place to live.”
As you can see from the charts below, Fairfield is #2 in the “Population 50K+” category.
Population 10K-15K
Town
Education
Crime
Economy
Cost
Leisure
Total
1. Weston
1
1
1
20
9
32
2. Canton
3
2
5
18
5
33
3. Old Saybrook
5
7
2
19
1
34
4. Granby
4
4
8
13
7
36
5. New Fairfield
6
3
3
16
11
39
6. Orange
2
12
6
17
4
41
7. Clinton
13
10
7
12
2
44
8. Somers
7
8
9
14
8
46
9. Cromwell
9
13
11
11
6
50
10. East Hampton
8
6
15
8
15
52
11. North Branford
14
11
10
9
10
54
12. Oxford
12
5
4
15
18
54
13. Coventry
10
15
12
10
14
61
14. Straford
11
9
17
7
17
61
15. Windsor Locks
19
17
13
3
12
64
16. Derby
20
20
18
5
3
66
17. Griswold
16
14
16
2
20
68
18. Plymouth
15
16
19
4
16
70
19. East Windsor
18
19
14
6
13
70
20. Winchester
17
18
20
1
19
75
Population 15K-25K
Town
Education
Crime
Economy
Cost
Leisure
Total
1. Ridgefield
4
1
4
29
2
40
2. New Canaan
1
4
1
31
4
41
3. Avon
5
2
5
27
3
42
4. Wilton
2
3
3
30
5
43
5. Darien
3
6
2
32
1
44
6. Simsbury
6
7
10
23
6
52
7. Madison
7
13
6
28
7
61
8. Southbury
9.5
5
11
24
17
66.5
9. Stonington
21
9
9
20
8
67
10. East Lyme
9.5
17
13
18
10
67.5
11. Guilford
8
19
7
25
9
68
12. Tolland
14
11
18
12
13
68
13. Brookfield
12
10
8
26
18
74
14. Rocky Hill
18
12
16
17
14
77
15. Ellington
15
14
21
14
15
79
16. Bethel
16
8
15
21
21
81
17. Waterford
19
29
14
8
12
82
18. Monroe
11
15
12
22
24
84
19. Colchester
24
16
23
13
16
92
20. Ledyard
20
18
24
9
22
93
21. Suffield
13
24
19
19
20
95
22. Berlin
17
26
20
16
19
98
23. North Haven
22
25
17
15
23
102
24. Watertown
28
23
22
7
25
105
25. Bloomfield
32
32
29
4
11
108
26. Montville
27
22
25
3
31
108
27. Plainfield
29
20
31
2
28
110
28. Wolcott
23
21
26
11
32
113
29. Plainville
25
31
28
6
27
117
30. Killingly
30
30
30
1
26
117
31. Seymour
26
27
27
10
29
119
32. Ansonia
31
28
32
5
30
126
Population 25K-50K
Town
Education
Crime
Economy
Cost
Leisure
Total
1. Westport
1
5
1
26
1
34
2. Farmington
2
10
2
21
2
37
3. Glastonbury
3
3
4
23
5
38
4. Newtown
6
1
3
25
13
48
5. Cheshire
4
2
7
22
15
50
6. Wallingford
14
7
12
15
6
54
7. Mansfield
8
4
17
14
11
54
8. New milford
11
6
8
18
12
55
9. Trumbull
5
9
6
24
16
60
10. Branford
13
17.5
5
19
7
61.5
11. South Windsor
7
8
10
17
23
65
12. Wethersfield
9
14
16
13
14
66
13. Groton
17
20
14
12
4
67
14. Windsor
23
12
15
9
10
69
15. Southington
10
16
11
16
19
72
16. Newington
12
22
13
8
17
72
17. Middletown
19
21
19
11
3
73
18. Shelton
15
13
9
20
21
78
19. Norwich
21
25
24
1
8
79
20. Enfield
16
17.5
18
5
24
80.5
21. Vernon
18
15
21
7
22
83
22. Torrington
22
19
22
4
18
85
23. Naugatuck
20
11
23
6
26
86
24. New london
26
26
25
3
9
89
25. Windham
25
24
26
2
20
97
26. East Haven
24
23
20
10
25
102
Population 50K+
Town
Education
Crime
Economy
Cost
Leisure
Total
1. Greenwich
1
1
1
19
4
26
2. Fairfield
2
2
2
17
6
29
3. Stamford
6.5
6
3
18
3
36.5
4. W. Hartford
3
7
7
15
5
37
5. Danbury
10
3
5
13
8
39
6. Milford
4
5
6
14
14
43
7. Norwalk
8
11
4
16
7
46
8. Hamden
11
4
8
11
13
47
9. Manchester
9
8
10
9
11
47
10. Stratford
6.5
9
9
12
16
52.5
11. Bristol
5
10
11
10
17
53
12. Meriden
13
12
13
5
15
58
13. New Haven
15
19
17
6
1
58
14. Waterbury
16
15
18
1
10
60
15. Hartford
18
18
19
4
2
61
16. Bridgeport
19
17
15
2
9
62
17. West Haven
12
13
12
8
18
63
18. New Britain
17
16
16
3
12
64
19. E. Hartford
14
14
14
7
19
68
