Stores at Fair Haven Road and River Road in 2007. (Click to enlarge)
Fair Haven got quite an effusive plug in the real estate section of the Sunday New York Times, which characterized the borough as a middle-class “small-town USA” with a history of diversity.
From the article:
You could take Fair Haven, pick it up and plop it down in the middle of Kansas and nobody would bat an eye, said Mayor Michael Halfacre, a lifelong resident. About two-thirds of the parents at his childrens soccer games, he added, went to high school with him.
The article quotes a Jewish resident of 44 years who says he moved to town because he wanted to live in a place with “some diversity;” touches on the character of several neighborhoods, including the historic Old Village and River Oaks; and quotes a resident of more recent vintage who paid $1.36 million for a 4,200-square-foot house on Kemp Avenue.
Times reporter Jill Capuzzo also calls attention to Fair Haven’s kid-friendliness:
The town doesnt have school buses, so children walk or cycle, and the Third Street artery that connects the elementary and middle schools halts traffic twice a day to accommodate the students commute. The neighborhood around the schools, known as River Oaks, is especially popular with school-age families, said Ruth Zochowski, a broker with Gloria Nilson Realtors.
People who live in Fair Haven tend to stay in Fair Haven, she added. Its such a family-oriented place that kids get attached to friends and involved in activities so when they grow up they want to stay.
