Raising A Child? Greenwich Is Your Town

Connecticut is widely known for having some of the safest communities in the country, and according to new rankings published by SafeWise, nine of Connecticut's cities are among the 30 safest places in the country to raise a child. The home security and safety brand ranked Greenwich the safest place in America to raise a child, and ranked Fairfield the third-safest.

To make the rankings, SafeWise compiled the most recent FBI crime data from 2015 to rank the cities. The company also considered parks and recreational opportunities as well as special programs for kids and families.

Greenwich Police Chief Jim Heavey says he is proud of the honor, which comes from the hard work of its officers, residents and community leaders and agencies.

“The Greenwich Police Department's Officers are pro-active to make this town a safe place to live,”
wrote Heavey in a statement. “Their dedication and hard work is greatly appreciated. Our partnership with the community and service providers place a very high priority on meeting the needs of our children and families. Greenwich is a thriving community because of all its agencies, collaborators and partners working
together to make the community the best it can be. It is an honor to be recognized by an outside party for the efforts of our community.”

Additionally, a recent WalletHub study also named Greenwich a very safe community, as did another SafeWise survey earlier this year.

The Constitution State represented nearly one-third of the rankings system, thanks to what SafeWise called "an exceptionally low rate of violent crime."

Here are the Connecticut communities that made the list:

1. Greenwich (1)
2. Fairfield (3)
3. Ridgefield (15)
4. Southington (18)
5. Westport (20)
6. Simsbury (24)
7. Cheshire (25)
8. Milford (26)
9. Glastonbury (27)

Here are the five safest places in America to raise a child, according to SafeWise:

1. Greenwich, CT
2. Essex, VT
3. Fairfield, CT
4. Carmel, IN
5. Merrimack, NH

To view SafeWise's complete list of the 30 safest cities to raise a child, click here.

Patch editor Alfred Branch contributed to this report.

— By JOE LIPOVICH (Patch Staff)

Photo: Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich. Photo credit: Google Maps