Rowayton

Rowayton is an affluent coastal village within Norwalk, Connecticut, roughly 40 miles from New York City. According to Forbes magazine, the 2010 median home sale price was $1,674,964, counting Rowayton among the most expensive communities in Connecticut as well as the nation. In 2013, the Hartford Business Journal ranked Rowayton as the third wealthiest ZIP code in the state of Connecticut.

The community is governed by the Sixth Taxing District of Norwalk and has a number of active local associations, including the Civic Association, the Historical Society, the Rowayton Library, a Gardeners Club, and a Parents Exchange. Rowayton annually plays host to a Shakespearean production at Pinkney Park, produced by Shakespeare on the Sound, and also has an active community of artists, many of whom are associated with the Rowayton Arts Center.

The Rowayton station on the New Haven line of the Metro-North Railroad is located within the community, as is an elementary school.

Coastline

The Rowayton coastline has been a source of inspiration for centuries. John Frederick Kensett, a famous nineteenth-century landscape painter of the Hudson School, frequently painted this seascape in his later life. This tradition has been carried on in an active local arts scene.

Rowayton (Metro-North station)

The Rowayton Metro-North Railroad station is one of three New Haven Line stations serving the residents of Norwalk, Connecticut. It is located in the neighborhood of Rowayton, from which it derives its name.

Rowayton is about 39 miles (63 km) from Grand Central Terminal, and the average travel time from Grand Central is 60 minutes, though this varies depending on run and time of day.

Nineteenth-century artist and humanitarian Vincent Colyer helped to get the station built.

Parking

The station has 330 parking spaces, all owned by the state.

In April 2007, the Sixth Taxing District commissioners, acting under a demand by the state Department of Transportation to change the system, decided to switch the parking permit-granting procedure so that 375 annual permit holders (expanded in April 2007 to 397) would be given preference for new permits. Under the new system, permit holders go to the Rowayton Community Center on the third Saturday in June and reapply.

Under a system in place for the previous 30 years, Rowayton commuters received parking permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Every June, commuters would camp out overnight to guarantee a place in line to get a permit. Those too far back in line would go on a waiting list. As of April 2007, about 50 commuters were on the waiting list. In that month the commission expanded the annual permits from 375 to 397, removing 22 monthly permits the district had been selling on a monthly basis.