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The town of Fairfield can now call itself number one after earning the top spot in Connecticut Magazine’s “Rating the Towns” November issue.
“I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised,” said Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto. “We have been ranked high in the past but this is our first time as number one and it is nice to be recognized by an independent source.”
After years of placing second or third among cities with a population of 50,000 people or more, Fairfield outranked its rival Greenwich due mostly to its excellent scores in education and voter turnout according to the article by Andrew Brady and Patricia Grandjean.
“Fairfield’s educational performance improved markedly this year, while the figures for the two previous winners, Greenwich and West Hartford, stayed relatively static,” said Grandjean, Senior Editor of Connecticut Magazine.
The town rankings are based on five categories: education, economy, cost of living, crime and leisure and are ranked on a scale of 1 to 17, with 1 being the best and 17 the worst. Each category is weighted equally.
Grandjean has been told that Connecticut Magazine’s article has become a hot topic at town meetings, but is not sure of the overall effect of her work as most towns have not improved dramatically since the magazine started doing “Rating the Towns” in 1992. The article has already received feedback from poorly rated towns and Grandjean reminds them that the magazine looks at objective data.
“Our response to them has typically been that this is just a comparative analysis of statistics pertaining to each town; it certainly isn’t meant to be taken as the last word on any one town’s quality,” said Grandjean. “Many towns may not have scored particularly high in this piece, and yet they offer tremendous virtues that make them great places for people to live in. Others may top the list, and yet there are valid reasons, such as cost, that make them not quite as desirable to the average citizen as our numbers might indicate.”
Fairfield scored poorly in the cost of living category with 15 out of 17. According to Flatto, the town has very little control over this and is limited to what it can do to alleviate these costs.
“Fairfield is so close to New York City that it pushes up prices,” said Flatto. “Incomes also drive prices and it is very difficult to change that dynamic.”
But even with the high cost of living, Flatto said he is never leaving this town.
“I moved here 20 years ago from New York City because I wanted my kids to be brought up in a more peaceful environment than the fast pace of the city. I wanted more space,” said Flatto.
After Greenwich, Fairfield beat out West Hartford, Stamford, Milford and Danbury among other Connecticut towns. Bridgeport and Meriden tied for last place due to their poor schools, high crime and economies.
Meagan Flynn, a Fairfield University senior and 21 year resident of Meriden, Conn., considers her hometown to be very different than the place she attends school.
“Although it’s in the same population bracket I feel like it is more of a big city. It’s definitely more populated by buildings than Fairfield is; Fairfield is a little more scenic. It is kind of quaint, you can stroll around the streets and go to shops and things like that,” said Flynn. See Meagan’s interview here!
Flatto saw this recognition as a reflection of many different factors, including town government and community volunteers. He finds that the one major difference between Fairfield and its surrounding towns is the diverse makeup of the town, whether it is economically or ethnically.
“Fairfield really is a town with many different parts. In each neighborhood, you can find a mansion standing next to a cape. Fairfield is much less homogeneous than it is made out to be,” said Flatto.
Even with its number one ranking, Fairfield’s town government is always at work trying to improve the town. Flatto and his staff are working on two important initiatives, traffic safety and litter. Traffic safety incorporates an alcoholism prevention task force aimed at decreasing drunk driving, which has been a problem in the past. The responsibility of cleaning up litter falls on the town rather than the state and Flatto would like to establish a community program to encourage people not to litter.
Ben Heslin, a junior at Fairfield University and full time resident of Berlin, Conn., enjoys the town overall, but does have one suggestion to help make it a better place.
“I would change the relation with the university just because it is kind of strained but I feel like the university has to do that to,” he said. Watch Ben’s interview here!
Connecticut Magazine's Rating of the Towns: Cities Over 50,000
