I would choose just east of the Danbury area since it is closer to NYC and lots of train access there, NOT the New Haven area. Take 84 right to West Hartford. No matter what it will be quite a commute for both of you, not anything I would want to do several times a week.

Toxoplasmosis is generally produced by cats in order to infect the mice which makes them less fearful of cat urine smell and of cats in general.

Unless I missed some big revelation that it’s reversed?

VEO is the tag

Oh yeah! Remember indoor plumbing and school systems? Ahh, the north.

I get all that I just don't know how it could be artificially inflated all the way down to the bottom 1% seems like some kind of error

I do a similar commute and if I'm in the car at 7 I'm in Stamford in 50 minutes. I'd say they are either exaggerating or leaving around 730, which puts you right in the mess of things.

Old Saybrook.

84, 95, and 91 are all Mad Max hellscapes, but Rt 9 is actually a really easy drive. 45 minutes between West Hartford and Old Saybrook if she can time it to avoid rush hour in Middletown, 1 hour if she can't. From Old Saybrook you can drive to New Haven in about 35 minutes for a direct train, or take the train from Old Saybrook to New Haven then transfer. If your employer will pay for both legs of the train ticket, that's a big savings. Old Saybrook train station parking area even has pretty good pizza or chinese you can pick up on the way home, or excellent coffee & breakfast for the morning commute.

I've lived in a couple places in Newington and I've not seen any significant amount of crime in the last 10 years that I've lived here. I live near the center now and the worst I've seen is that my neighbor leaves his cars unlocked and had someone grab a few things out of it one night. I used to live in an apartment right on the west Hartford line and the worst I had happen was that my bike got stolen, but I'm fairly certain that was the apt maintenance guy because I had to leave my storage unit open for him. Haven't heard about much cat theft or anything like that, but I'm sure it exists like it does everywhere.

My bet is that the statistics are artificially inflated due to the turnpike and the associated shoplifting and sketchy stuff that happens in the dingy little motels.

One question that hasn't been raised is: for your three office days in NYC each week, what hours do you have to keep?

Several years ago, I spent one day a week in an office near Wall Street & Water Street. I live near Bradley, and I took Amtrak from the Windsor Locks station....but I only needed to be in the office from "around 10" until "around 4". Those were really long days, however....and not something I would have wanted to do more than once a week.

My suggestions:

• Sit down with a map and some transit schedules, and figure out what is most likely to be the least-bad option given work schedules, or preferences of early-rising/late-return home, etc. Remember that there are transit options for your wife to get into West Hartford (rail+bus or bus). I'd probably start by looking at places within easy reach of the Waterbury or New Haven stations, out of deference to your wife's need to be in West Hartford daily.
• Unless you're being paid enough to easily eat the cost of a hotel room in the city, or unless you can negotiate your employer covering the cost of a hotel room....this arrangement is probably going to really suck. At least one of you might want to start looking for a new job, unless you really enjoy spending time on the train. I know there are many people who regularly have long commutes into the city without issue; hopefully you're one of them. But if you aren't....

Probably ~7?

I used to leave at 6:30 from Shelton to get to Norwalk and 60 seconds later would change my ~50 minute ride to hell to a longer one.

There is a Cove Island nature sanctuary that is more shaded and less overrun with geese. It is across the marina from the main park, and past the ice rink and baseball field.

Mianus is also great. If you go further up into Bedford there is an even nicer stretch at Mianus River Gorge.

I'd say Meriden area. You can get to New Haven in 20 mins to take the train and she'd be able to drive 20 mins to WeHa.

Yeah this is definitely a concern for us. But I think they are hoping people like me up and leave. We have the means to go on camping trips if need be.

He literally said he gets reimbursed for the travel in the OP.

I used to live walking distance from the HS and the church, perfectly safe areas. Mainly opportunistic crimes, people looking for cars left unlocked at night. Install motion activated outdoor lights and keep your house and car locked Most of the real crime is on the turnpike. Lots of families, lots of people riding bikes and walking dogs.

Both towns have gotten very expensive since I left years ago. My house was located a street away between the green and the shore, so not directly on the water but close enough to walk 5 minutes to. We were close enough to be mandatorily evacuated for both Sandy and Irene.

Cheshire- Merritt to Milford take metro north to NYC

Cheshire

What? We’re giving input to people here. No wonder you’re a bitter asshole - you’ve been doing this shitty commute your whole life!

There is a Taco Bell/Long John Silver there.

Uhg. South Carolina blows. Nice house or not

I was thinking Bartlett as well. It has a good mix of trails: boardwalk over wetlands, traditional CT woodland trails, and walks through landscapes gardens. It’ll be great in May/June.

Edwardo's? Giordano's? I go back often enough to try something else. (My sister lives in the western suburbs.)

The amount of neighbors out walking is high down near the water. There is a friendliness and chill in my beach neighborhood that Cheshire never had. We live about 10 houses from the water and love that proximity without paying crazy prices

There’s no easy solution. Someone’s commute will be miserable, no matter what. If you split the difference, both you and your wife would struggle. If your NYC office days are consecutive, consider renting a hotel room for two nights to stay in the city close to your office because the grind of the commute from central CT is going to be unbearable after a few initial weeks. You can also look for another job.