August 25, 2020
New Canaan Fairfield County Connecticut Map Things To Do
Part of the Gold Coast of Connecticut, New Canaan is recognized for its high quality public school system, the wide variety of architecture, and a wonderful, vibrant town center with myriad restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and other business centers. It’s also less than an hour away from New York City, yet offers the best of suburban and urban living.
Whether you love to take a walk and see the beautiful sights and sounds of the area, or enjoy the restaurants, museums, theaters, and shopping centers of “New England’s New York”, New Canaan has it all.
Whether you are looking to purchase a home, get married, or simply enjoy the town, there are plenty of different things to do in New Canaan.
Without further ado, here are the top points for consideration when visiting New Canaan, Connecticut. See for yourself why New Canaan consistently ranks among the best towns in Connecticut:
What Are The Best Restaurants
New Canaan has a true downtown area where residents can walk on brick sidewalks and shop at trendy boutiques and fashion-forward stores. If shopping works up an appetite, there’s plenty of food options, including ice cream, coffee, gelato, pastries and other goodies.
New Canaan has an amazing lineup of quality restaurants to satisfy any burgeoning or well-developed palate. Take your pick of culinary options because there’s plenty: Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, American, Peruvian or Mexican (and on and one) -- all within easy walking distance of anywhere in downtown.
If you’re looking to dine, eat outside order take-out or simply grab-and-go, this local dining filter has got you covered.
How Are The Schools?
If you’re yearning for access to high quality and affordable education for your family, New Canaan has the leading public school system in New England. Here’s another reason why New Canaan is considered one of the best towns in Connecticut. The community’s public schools are traditionally ranked among the best in the state, and many years, are ranked among the best in the nation. New Canaan High School graduates enroll in many of the top colleges in the U.S.
When the issue of schools transitioning to learning from home entered the fray, New Canaan Schools demonstrated leadership nationwide in their early adoption of online learning. As the schools reopen under a phased approach, we again see why New Canaan Public Schools are the pride of the United States.
How Has New Canaan Handled the COVID-19 Pandemic?
While the pandemic continues to rage throughout the United States, New Canaan has proven a veritable leader in the state of Connecticut, which in turn has been leading the United States in the widespread adoption of testing and declining infection rates and hospitalization. The state website’s COVID-19 Tracker explores this in detail, and compared to the data gathered by other states, Connecticut is seeing some of the strongest progress nationally.
What Are The Top Attractions To Visit In New Canaan?
We’ll try and keep it brief, but know that there is much, much more than what appears in this list here!
New Canaan also has many unique attractions and fun activities. It offers the best of both suburban and urban worlds by offering top notch quality public schools, cultural events, shopping and dining, and a great tourist and residential experience. When you are thinking of moving to New Canaan, you will find more houses for your money relative to neighboring towns. This city is known for its historical and cultural values and it provides residents with the opportunity to live in a town that they know is on the up (and we’re not just talking about the real estate!).
There are plenty of good institutions and organizations that offer a variety of services to families and individuals to help them enjoy all the fun things that life in Connecticut has to offer (the New Canaan Newcomers Club, for example, is the largest Newcomers club in the country).
On the nature side of things, New Canaan is fortunate to have amazing natural acreage in Connecticut. The New Canaan Land Trust manages close to 400 acres of land across 70 parcels, so there is a good chance that your future home is near a Land Trust preserve.
- The Glass House, National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Grace Farm
- Waveny Park
- New Canaan Nature Center
- New Canaan Sculpture Trail
- Silvermine Arts Center
- Irwin Park
- Rayward-Shepherd House
- Silvermine Road
- Mead Memorial Park
Where Can I Find Homes for Sale?
To browse through a list of homes currently available for sale or rent in New Canaan, you can browse through our listings here and sort by property type, location, size, price and so on.
Residents who own homes in New Canaan offer full-throated praise for the community that’s nestled in the woods just north of the Merritt Parkway in the Connecticut panhandle. Friendly neighbors, spacious parks and an especially low crime rate are generally cited as some of the reasons residents call New Canaan one of the best towns in Connecticut and the United States.
You can also find homes in all architecture types - in the Harvard Five style, New England colonial homes, many quaint farms and homes and stately mansions, etc. It would take a while to list all the reasons why homes in New Canaan are so desirable, so why not hear from what current residents have to say about living here?
Even though there’s been an uptick in home prices in New Canaan since the start of the year, homes in New Canaan continue to be a good investment. Most properties are on a sizable lot with plenty of room for additions. Most homes have garages, which are particularly important when it’s cold and snowy during the winter. There’s something for everyone, and the relatively low taxation rate makes it particularly attractive for property in Fairfield County.
How Do You Pronounce New Canaan, Connecticut?
Funnily enough, there are apparently two schools of thoughts here. There’s the more widely used “new kAI-nuhn”, or the less featured but others suggest “new cah-naan”.
When it comes to pronouncing the Constitution State’s name (also known as “The Nutmeg State”), if you understand the International Phonetic Alphabet, here you are: /kəˈnɛtɪkət/ - you’ll notice the second ‘C’ is silent. The last “cut” part is a smidge closer to “kit” than it is to “cut” or “cat”.
How far is New Canaan from New York City?
Only 40.13 miles! If you’re a bird, that is. If you’re taking a drive, that will be 48 miles (77.25 kilometers), following the I-95 route.
If driving isn’t your style, there is also the MTA Railroad that runs from New Haven to New Canaan to New York City as well. The New Haven Line has great sightseeing and travel facilities that make the trip a fun and scenic journey.
There is also the Connecticut Transit System that offers transportation to all points in the state of Connecticut.
It may not seem like a plus right now as the country tries to eradicate COVID-19, but New Canaan’s proximity to New York City has long been considered a reason to live in the community. Metro North Railway trains leaving the New Canaan station were packed with commuters heading to jobs in the city just 6 months ago. It may be awhile before workers flock to the trains again, but it’s still just an hour-long train ride to Grand Central Station in Manhattan.