WHY I PICKED MY TOWN: MEET HOLLY ROBINSON FROM "CONNECTICUT WORKING MOMS!"

Our next mom in the series is Connecticut Working Moms blogger Holly Robinson who, along with her wife and two kids, calls Danbury home. After living in Putnam County, the family relocated to this more urban-adjacent town, with better access to A+ schools, tons of amenities and a stronger sense of diversity. The verdict? For this super-active family-on-the-move, Danbury was a perfect choice!

Why did you choose Danbury —how did you find it and was it your first choice? Did you contemplate any other towns?
We moved to Danbury from Putnam County, NY due to its convenience to several cities as well as what Danbury had to offer for shops, entertainment, schools, food and more. Plus, it had lower property values and taxes than New York. I grew up in the area (Brookfield) and wanted to raise my family in a similar town.

At the time we moved, Connecticut was also a better choice for us as a family than NY due to gay marriage (civil union) recognition in Connecticut and has wonderful cultural diversity as well. Further, Danbury was more affordable than surrounding towns while allowing us to stay in Fairfield County. Danbury’s location also gave us flexibility in the event we changed jobs – with reasonable commute times to New York City, lower Fairfield County, Hartford, New Haven and Westchester County.

How would you describe your community?
Our community is very family-friendly and active. We live in a condo complex that is 1 mile from the biggest mall in the area (Danbury Fair Mall) less than 500 yards from the elementary school, and a short drive to various lakes and playgrounds. Our condo community itself has a pool and neighborhood-like atmosphere. It’s a great place for kids to ride bikes, sled within our complex and have a ton of play dates.

What makes your town special and unique?
One of the things we love about Danbury is that it has great diversity and just about everything we could want for shopping, food and entertainment without having a huge city atmosphere.

What is your favorite activity destination with the kids around town?
We have a few favorites! My 4-year-old loves the Children’s Movement Center in New Milford and my 7-year-old’s favorite place is On-Track Karting in Brookfield

What else are your favorite things to do with your kids?
We take “mystery rides” with the kids where we throw them in the car and surprise them when we get to the destination. From Danbury, a short 10-minute ride can get us to go-karting, Monster Golf, bounce houses, a trampoline park in Bethel, a children’s museum in Newtown, zip-lining, duck pin bowling, kayaking on Candlewood Lake, hiking and plenty of local playgrounds.

Where do you head for the nightlife whether it’s out with friends or date night?
What’s a date night? We are more interested in dinner than club life. We have a variety of restaurants within 2 miles of our house including Square One, our current favorite.

How often do you come into the city, how far is the trip?
Surprisingly, we haven’t been into the city in years. I was pregnant with my 4-year-old during our last trip to New York City together, where we saw Melissa Etheridge at Hard Rock Café.

Our home is reasonably close to the Southeast or Brewster train stations so we can be in Grand Central in 90 minutes by train or close to 90 minutes driving. We’ll go to the Bronx for Yankee games; we also had a membership to the Bronx Zoo last year and have made other short trips along the Metro-North line. I didn’t want to take the boys into New York City until my youngest was a little older, but I’m anxious to start doing some shows or events in New York City soon.