About Fairfield County

It’s 30 miles of beautiful coastline. It’s a stone’s throw from New York City. It’s rolling hills and picturesque New England countryside. It’s all that and more. It’s Coastal Fairfield County—a place where the shore, country and city come together to create a unique getaway destination to discover.

Fairfield County is located in the southwestern corner of the state of Connecticut. As of 2000 the population was 882,567. Fairfield County is comprised of 23 towns and more than 60 individual communities. The largest city in the county is Bridgeport.

Read More…

History

The Dutch discovered the Connecticut Region in 1614, but the European settlement of the region was largely the work of the English Puritans from Massachusetts. In the 1630’s they flocked to the Connecticut Valley, and in 1638-39 the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield adopted the fundamental orders, which set up a government for the colony.

It soon expanded to include other towns and in 1662 acquired the colony of New Haven, which had been founded in 1638. Connecticut joined the other colonies in the American Revolution and was one of the first states to ratify the Constitution.

Read More…

Towns

Bridgeport

Danbury

Fairfield

Greenwich

Norwalk

Ridgefield

Shelton

Stamford

Westport

Read More…

Where To Stay

Downtown/Yale
Five hotels in the downtown/Yale area offer the full range of accommodations. The Omni is a first class, full service, four-star hotel within walking distance of Yale University, museums, restaurants and shopping. The elegant Galileo’s restaurant, on the hotel’s 19th floor, offers a stunning view of the city and the Sound. Still first class but less extravagant, the Colony offers the same proximity to Yale and downtown’s cultural and gastronomic fare, as does the New Haven Hotel, an outstanding independent. The Hotel Duncan in the heart of downtown is a New Haven landmark: it is reasonable and clean, but without the fitness center and Internet portals. Finally, there is the Holiday Inn at Yale, a favorite of visiting parents.

Read More…

Weather

License & Registration

Department of Motor Vehicles

www.ct.gov/dmv

(800) 842-8222

Upon moving to Connecticut, residents have 30 days to obtain a Connecticut driver’s license, to surrender their out-of-state license. They have 60 days to register their vehicle in Connecticut.

Driver’s Licenses:

The minimum driving age is 16. Residents must obtain a Connecticut drivers license within 30 days of becoming a resident. You don’t have to schedule a driver’s exam appointment if you have a valid out-of-state license and proof of Connecticut residence, such as a utility bill mailed to you at your Connecticut address.

Vehicle Registration:

A title or other proof of ownership is required. A vehicle from another state must have an auto emissions test and a safety inspection by the Department of Motor vehicles before it can be registered. The Safety inspection may be waived if the vehicle has a valid out-of-state inspection and the vehicle meets certain requirements. Information concerning safety inspection waiver scan be obtained at any emissions station. The vehicle also must be insured. There is one free re-inspection.

Public Transportation

Commuter Connection

(203) 777-RIDE, (800) ALL-RIDE

CT Transit provides shuttle bus service connecting New Haven’s State Street Station with the central business district and the Sargent Drive/Long Wharf area. Metro-North passengers can also pay for a ride on the Commuter Connection.

Norwalk Transit District

(203) 852-0000

275 Wilson Avenue

Norwalk, CT 06854

www.norwalktransit.com

Fixed route bus transportation within Norwalk, Westport and Wilton.

Inter-City Transportation

Amtrak

(215) 349-1320

www.amtrak.com

Coastal Fairfield County is served by Amtrak at the Stamford and Bridgeport Stations. Rail service is north/south through Boston & New York City and west through New York City.

Greyhound Bus (800) 231-2222

Service from City to numerous locations throughout the United States.

Metro North Train (800) 638-7646

347 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Metro-North’s New Haven line connects Coastal Fairfield County and New York City, offering over 200 morning peak connections to New York City daily. Metro-North also features north/south access between Stamford, Norwalk and several northern communities.

Shore Line East

(800) ALL-RIDE (255-7433) , (203) 777-RIDE

www.shorelineeast.com

New London to New Haven

Metro North Train

(800) 638-7646

347 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Metro-North’s New Haven line connects Coastal Fairfield County and New York City, offering over 200 morning peak connections to New York City daily. Metro-North also features north/south access between Stamford, Norwalk and several northern communities.

Air Transportation

Bradley International Airport BDL

(860) 292-2000

11 Schoephoester Road

Windsor Locks, CT 06096

www.bradleyairport.com

Unlike big city airports in the Northeast, Bradley is easy to locate and easy to access.

All three major New York area airports, LaGuardia, JFK and Newark, can be reached in 45 minutes to a little over an hour by car or scheduled limousine.

Kennedy International Airport JFK

(718) 244-4444

Jamaica, NY 11430

www.kennedyairport.com

LaGuardia International Airport: LGA

(718) 533-3400

Flushing, NY 11371

www.laguardiaairport.com

Newark Liberty International Airport: EWR

(973) 961-6000

Tower Road, Building # 10

Newark, NJ 07114

www.panynj.gov

Tweed New Haven Regional Airport

(203) 466-8833

155 Burr Street

New Haven, CT, 06512

www.flytweed.com

Tweed-New Haven Airport located along the New Haven/East Haven border provides daily service through US Airways.

It is quite common for locals to use Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, or New York City’s LaGuardia Airport or JFK International or Newark, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport, when flying overseas or to a non-Eastern destination.

Radio

Television

Newspapers

The Advocate

(203) 964-2200

75 Tresser Boulevard
P.O. Box 9307
Stamford CT 06904

www.stamfordadvocate.com

Connecticut Post

(800) 423-8058

www.connpost.com

Breaking news articles, sports, editorial, business, and entertainment coverage serving southwestern Connecticut.

Fairfield County Weekly

(203) 382-9666
350 Fairfield Ave., Suite 605
Bridgeport, CT 06604

www.fairfieldweekly.com

Offers news, guides, event listings, classifieds, personals, and more.

New Haven Register

(203) 789-5369

40 Sargent Dr.
New Haven, CT 06511

www.nhregister.com

New Haven daily newspaper

New Haven Advocate

(203) 789-0010

900 Chapel Street,Suite 1100
New Haven, CT 06510

www.newhavenadvocate.com

New Haven weekly alternative

Dining & Nightlife

Downtown

One of the best kept secrets about the New Haven area is the abundance and variety of its restaurants. And one of the best things about the restaurants in the compact downtown area is that most are within walking distance of one another, so you can stroll along checking out menus and decide at a leisurely pace what you are pining for. Even better, you can have hors’ d’oeuvres at one restaurant, dinner at another and dessert at a third. Or you can have drinks at Hot Tomato’s or Casey’s, pop over to Cafe Pika Tapas a for a tapas dinner, and then grab an après-dinner beer at Bru Rm. at Bar. If you are still hungry, go across the street to Louis’ Lunch, where the hamburger was invented. Louis’ is open until 2am Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Read More…

Film

The annual Film Fest New Haven is one of the country’s major showcases for independent films and videos. It is generally held in late April in three downtown venues: the York Square Cinemas, the Whitney Humanities Center on the Yale campus, and the Little Theatre.

If you can’t be here for the festival, York Square Cinemas offers an interesting mix of general-release and art films near the Yale campus. Probably the best bets for larger movie theaters outside the city, but within a relatively short drive are, to the east, Hoyt’s Branford, a 12-screen multiplex with comfy seats, a food court and late night security, and to the west, the eight-screen Showcase Orange.

Galleries

Artspace

(203) 772-2709
50 Orange St.
New Haven, CT 06510

Artspace’s gallery, untitled (space) presents new and challenging work in the visual arts. Exhibitions rotate every two months and also feature public programs of artist talks and performances. A curated flatfile devoted to works on paper is open for browsing and includes over 300 works by 50 artists from the region. Gallery and Flat file hours Fri-Sat 11-3, Thurs 11-7, or by appointment. Summer hours may vary; call ahead.

Branford Craft Village

(203) 488-4689

At Bittersweet Farm, 799 East Main Street
Branford, CT 06405

Overlooking Branford farmland, this craft village features an herbaria, Christmas shop, frame gallery, country bistro and artisans selling fine craftwork in glass, sculpture and clay, and paper cutting.

Read More…

Museums

Yale has formidable collections, which it opens to the public. The Yale University Art Gallery, founded in 1832, is the oldest university art gallery in this country. The Yale Center for British Art is the largest collection of art outside the United Kingdom, and the Peabody Museum of Natural History houses an important collection of dinosaur fossils. The Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments has almost 1,000 instruments on display, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library features one of the last surviving Gutenburg Bibles along with numerous other treasures.

As you cross into adjoining Hamden from New Haven, the Eli Whitney Museum honors the great inventor with displays dedicated to his “passion for making things.” For military buffs, Fort Nathan Hale and Black Rock Fort are open to the public, highlighting action that took place in the New Haven area. The entire region is rich in Colonial history, and walking tours highlight historic homes and buildings in New Haven as well as in neighboring towns.

Read More…

Performing Arts

It is tough to know where to start when talking about the culturally rich entertainment scene in New Haven. The New Haven Symphony the fourth oldest orchestra in the nation, draws from the rich talent pool of Yale’s renowned music department. Similarly, the Yale Repertory Theatre has close ties to Yale’s drama department, and there is much cross-fertilization with New Haven’s other famous professional theatre, the Long Wharf .

Broadway-bound plays premiere at the Shubert Performing Arts Center. The Yale Cabaret is a well kept secret, showcasing the work of Yale students to the accompaniment of some of the best food in town. Sprague and Woolsey Halls host some 300 concerts a year sponsored by the Yale Graduate School of Music. The Elm Shakespeare Company may not be as famous as some of New Haven’s other theatre companies, but its free performances in Edgarton Park, are a perennial summer favorite.

Read More…

Recommended Tours

New Haven is a very walk able city, and it is recommended that you try to see the central section on foot, as the Green, Yale, shops, restaurants, theatres and museums are all within a few blocks of each other. It is an easy and enjoyable navigation, so tighten your laces and get ready to go!

Yale

A visit to New Haven wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Yale, one of the world’s most famous universities.

Yale University offers free, guided tours, originating at the Yale Visitor Information Center, 149 Elm Street, +1 203 432 2302. Tours last about an hour and fifteen minutes, and are a fun mixture of history and Yale lore, architecture and current student life. The tours are conducted Monday through Friday, at 10:30am and at 2pm, and on weekends at 1:30 pm.

Read More…

Education

Community Colleges

Community colleges exist for two major purposes. The first is to serve as a bridge from high school to college by providing courses for transfer toward a bachelor’s degree. Four out of 10 collegebound high-school graduates start their college education this way.

The second function of community colleges is to prepare students for the job market by offering entry-level career training as well as courses for adult students who want to upgrade their skills for the workplace. They often offer programs that are not available at four-year schools, like fashion design.

Gateway Community College

(203) 285-2010

Long Wharf Campus
60 Sargent Drive
New Haven, CT 06511

Housatonic Community College

(203) 332-5000
900 Lafayette Boulevard
Bridgeport, CT 06604

Norwalk Community College

(203) 857-7000
188 Richards Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06854

Liberal Arts Colleges

Liberal arts colleges offer a broad base of courses in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most are private and focus mainly on undergraduate students. Classes tend to be small and personal attention is available.

Online Learning

Recent years have witnessed the rise of online degree programs, to allow the busy professional a chance to work at their own pace from the comfort of their home on the path to getting a degree. The costs to students are typically the same as for traditional classes— and financial aid is equally available—while the cost to the institution can be much less.

There are online universities ranging from legitimate distance learning systems to fly-by-night degree-mills. It’s important to research a particular institution before deciding to enroll in their system. Generally, brick-and-mortar schools that also offer online classes are the safest, though there are plenty of fully accredited online universities out there.

Nearly 3 million students are believed to be taking online classes at institutions of higher education in the United States this year. That number has been growing about 25% a year recently. Now, virtually all public higher education institutions, as well as a vast majority of private, for-profit institutions, now offer online classes. By contrast, only about half of private, nonprofit schools offer them. Online schools offer everything from Associate’s degrees to Doctoral programs with available emphases in everything from Business Administration to Criminal Justice to Nursing. Some programs require students to attend some campus classes or orientations, but many are delivered completely online. Online courses generally require a computer with a broadband connection, but are now a serious option for the busy professional.

Public vs. Private

Public colleges are usually less expensive, particularly for in-state residents. They get most of their money from the state or local government. Private colleges rely on tuition, fees, endowments, and other private sources. Private colleges are usually smaller and can offer more personalized attention and often more prestige.

Albertus Magnus College

(203) 773-8550, (800) 578-9160

700 Prospect Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511

www.albertus.edu

A Catholic college in the Dominican tradition

Sacred Heart University

(203) 371-7999
5151 Park Avenue
Fairfield, CT 06825

Yale University

PO Box 208234
New Haven, CT 06520

www.yale.edu

Yale University comprises three major academic components:

Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of centers and programs, libraries, museums, and administrative support offices. Approximately 11,250 students attend Yale.

Yale The first thing most people associate with New Haven is Yale, one of the world’s great universities and alma mater of the last three presidents of the United States (Bush, Clinton and Bush). It has a great presence in the city, and the city of New Haven grew up around the heart of the campus, which is a commanding display of classic colonial and modern gothic architecture. Several world renowned museums and theatres are located on or near campus, making Yale the cultural bastion for New Haven and all of Connecticut. Although there is much of New Haven that is unrelated to this Ivy League fortress, it is difficult to separate the school from the city.

Universities

Generally, a university is bigger than a college and offers more majors and research facilities. Class size often reflects institutional size and some classes may taught by graduate students.

Southern Connecticut State University

(203) 392-5200
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT 06515

www.southernct.edu

A state-supported comprehensive university, founded 1893, and part of Connecticut State University System. Enrollment of more than 8,000 undergraduates.

University of Bridgeport

(203) 576-4000
126 Park Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06604

University of Connecticut at Stamford

(203) 251-8400
One University Place
Stamford, CT 06091

 University of New Haven

(800) DIAL.UNH
300 Boston Post Road
West Haven CT 06516

www.newhaven.edu

Founded in 1920 and located on 78 acres in suburban West Haven, between Boston and New York, full-time undergraduate enrollment is over 2,300.

Quinnipiac University

(203) 582-8200, (800) 462-1944
275 Mount Carmel Ave.
Hamden, CT 06518

www.quinnipiac.edu

Quinnipiac has once again been named among the best universities providing a full range of undergraduate and master’s level programs in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 America’s Best Colleges issue, the definitive guide for college-bound students. This is the 11th consecutive year U.S. News has named Quinnipiac as one of the best universities in the country.

Upper Division

Upper-division schools offer the last two years of undergraduate study, usually in specialized programs leading to a bachelor’s degree. Students then generally transfer to an upper-division college after completing an associate degree or after finishing a second year of study at a four-year college.