Recent comments in /f/StamfordCT

AmbientNorth t1_iyorn5o wrote

Reply to Bottle recycling by alidte

You could drive out to Costco. If you are looking to just get rid of them, I would take them for myself.

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AAAPosts t1_iyi7t4u wrote

Reply to Bottle recycling by alidte

Nickel Back!! Nickelbackredemptioncenter.com

In research park in Stamford- support local businesses!!

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_EatAtJoes_ t1_iyfeluh wrote

Reply to Moving to Stamford from NYC by RecordingNervous7921

I love it here. There are plenty of young professionals. Between Norwalk, Stamford, and Greenwich you will find your groove with people/food/activities. Don't forget the city is very accessible so you're not eliminating anything from your menu literally and figuratively.

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RonRonner t1_iy3wr1b wrote

Reply to comment by calamaio in Best winter activities with a toddler in Stamford area? by calamaio

So festive stuff, we're probably not so into tbh. We don't observe Christmas so a lot of Santa stuff is off our radar, and some of it is evening (too close to bedtime) or outside and maybe we'll get around to it, like the Mill River holiday walk or the Kensico Dam Winter Wonderland holiday lights thing (link here: https://www.wwinterwonderland.com/) but it's not high on our list.

Basically though, here is our short list of things to do when the weather gets iffy and we have to get out of the house. We have a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old.

  • Maritime Center in Norwalk, or Stepping Stones Children's Museum--if you can spring for it, I highly recommend getting a yearly membership to at least one of them so you can just pop in regularly, even if it's just for 30 min to break up a long morning. The membership is the game changer, because then it just becomes a thing you do when the mood strikes you instead of it being a big event. Just throwing out there that asking family members to gift you a yearly membership is a holiday gift that will not clutter up your living room.
  • Going to the "big store"--gather up the kids and take them to: Costco, Target, the SoNo Mall, even just the grocery store, or the grandaddy of them all--IKEA. They're contained in the shopping cart, they're feasting their little eyes on all sorts of stuff, you kill some time getting there and coming back with them in the car--it packs a wallop. Buy them a little trinket for their cooperation and continued enjoyment of these little outings, and you're good.
  • Do an extended diner tour of the area. Diners are usually big, no one cares if your feral children are minorly disruptive, there's almost never a wait, and they'll make your kid banana pancakes any time of day. Go to a different diner every weekend. Find your favorites. Buy little stickers and various choking hazards from the vending machines at the front.
  • Library tour! That's this winter's theme in our household. We plan on getting to know the local Stamford Ferguson library branches and then exploring some of the surrounding towns. Apparently some of the libraries have play areas and it's a great civic resource to support. Use them or lose them!
  • Third Place brewery in Stamford. Big, laid back, has those big Jenga blocks that your kids will enjoy stacking for a while while you drink a beer and get snacks. Easy place to have a friend meet you.
  • Depending on your kid(s)' tolerance, in the past we have done coffee shop tours of the area--every weekend going out to try a new coffee shop, or a new to us bakery, but our kids are a little too mobile now and need more room to roam. If you have a stroller bound kid who'd be happy gnawing on a croissant for a while, I'd recommend it.
  • Chelsea Piers has drop in hours at their kid gym and at their pool, I think. Haven't tried it yet but it's in my back pocket to do.
  • Keep an eye on Stamford Moms for one-off goings on--they're the best for keeping track of things like little pop up craft and holiday events: https://stamfordmoms.com/articles/events/
  • "The goat farm"--this is our name for Designs by Lee, which is a really sweet plant nursery in North Stamford. They have some goats and a cute little playground (outdoors) and it's a nice diversion for a temperate winter day.
  • Zoos. We haven't been to the Beardsley Zoo yet in Bridgeport so I don't know if they have a lot of indoor exhibits, but the Bronx Zoo certainly does! Time your return drive to occur around naptime.
  • When all else fails, pick a place that's about a 35 min drive away, like a good bakery or a good coffee shop (May I recommend BE Chocolat in Fairfield? An absolutely amazing chocolate shop run by a top Belgian chocolatier and his Quebecoise wife. They make traditional Belgian waffles called gaufres in house as well, and they are very toddler friendly). 35 min drive, plus 30 min there, plus 35 back = a morning well spent. Our kids are pretty comfy in the car though--your mileage may vary, especially if you have a child that gets car sick.
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Pinkumb t1_iy3sy4a wrote

Reply to Rents in Stamford by zxasqwcde

They say you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your income on housing but that's largely outdated and most people spend 50%. In a comment you said you're earning $85k, so your take home is roughly $4,700 a month. You can afford up to $2,300 a month for an apartment — especially if it includes utilities or parking or other amenities as many do downtown. You can also choose to live outside of downtown and get a spare room in a multifamily home somewhere and it'll probably be cheaper by $200 - $500 a month.

Stamford has better and worse areas but it's not like other cities where there are "bad" areas. As a general rule, anything west of the river of east of the train tracks is going to be a worse area (the "west side" and "east side"). This is also true for the South End for any building that isn't a BLT building ("Harbor Point"). Again though, these areas just haven't had significant investment in decades but they're not crime infested. Everything North of the downtown is standard suburbia and it gets less and less dense as you go further north.

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No_Statement_824 t1_iy3hxul wrote

Reply to Best winter activities with a toddler in Stamford area? by calamaio

Stepping stones was always my go to. For Stamford only you can do story time, stroll through the mall (I think they have some play area at the food court but I could be wrong since it’s been ages for me), honey joes has a good kid spot, my gym and of course any park if you can withstand the cold.

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