Rents start at $1,900 a month for a one-bedroom unit with an attached garage; the largest unit, with three bedrooms and 1,800 square feet, rents for $3,600. One-quarter of the units have been set aside as affordable housing; rents for those units range from $1,000 to $1,400. For a two-person household in a two-bedroom unit, the income limit would be $48,256.

The neighborhood hub is the busy business district across the street from the train station on Heights Road. This area caters to commuters, providing easy access to dry cleaners, a post office, banks, two supermarkets and a new health club. Traffic here has become an increasing problem in recent years, partly because Noroton Avenue, the main thoroughfare running through the Heights, serves as the primary route to both the middle and high schools.

Of even greater concern to the many residents who rely on the train, however, is the deteriorating condition of the Noroton Heights train station, said Evonne Klein, Darien’s newly elected first selectwoman. The first Democrat elected to the town’s top leadership post in 14 years, Mrs. Klein made the station’s condition a key issue in her campaign. In one survey conducted last year, she said, rail travelers rated the Noroton Heights station the worst on Metro-North’s New Haven line. She advocates an increase in the fee for station parking permits (currently $235 a year) to pay for improved lighting, safety and overall maintenance at the station.

In recent years, the town has focused on updating school facilities to accommodate a rapidly growing school population. An  addition to the Middlesex Middle School, serving Grades 6 through 8, completed in January 2000, provided a second gymnasium, new cafeteria, media center, three computer labs and a music technology lab. Enrollment is close to 1,000, but students are divided into academic ”teams” of about 80 members led by five teachers each all year long.

Middlesex also prides itself on a year-round, all-inclusive intramural sports program. ”Everyone can participate — there are no tryouts,” said Debi Boccanfuso, the school principal. ”This goes along with our philosophy of ‘try new things.’ ”

A $73 million high school  replaced the existing high school and provides enough classroom space to accommodate a projected enrollment of 1,100 to 1,200 students. The new building  includes a wireless mobile computer system and in-house television station,astro turf playing fields and areas designated specifically for students working on independent study projects, according to Doug Rubin, an assistant principal at Darien High School.

The high school’s current enrollment is 960. Average scores on the SAT reasoning tests last year were 576 in the verbal section and 595 in math; state averages were 512 and 514, respectively. Of the 195 graduates in the class of 2003, nearly 92 percent planned to go on to higher education.

OUTSIDE of school, teenagers can hang out at the Depot, a community-run club in the former Noroton Heights train station. Open until midnight on weekends and 9 p.m. during the week, the Depot regularly sponsors alcohol-free dance parties and movie nights.

Teens also have the opportunity to try out for Boy Scout Explorer Post 53, an all-volunteer emergency medical services crew that works in cooperation with the town police and fire departments. Supervised by adults trained in advanced life support, Post 53 selects 15 students a year, both boys and girls, to join the crew. Each student receives at least 150 hours of training for basic certification as emergency medical technicians; by their senior year, some even qualify to drive the ambulance.

Family recreational facilities in Darien run the gamut, from the Y.M.C.A., offering more than 300 programs, to numerous private golf and swim clubs. The Ox Ridge Hunt Club, on 37 acres, is considered one of the area’s premier equestrian centers. Residents have access to two town beaches (Weed and Pear Tree Point), both in Noroton. Beach parking permits are $20 per vehicle annually.

The town harbor master, Robert Price, oversees the assignment of some 300 boat moorings, most located near the Darien Boat Club and the yacht club in Darien Harbor. Darien is the only town in the county that does not charge for use of the moorings, Mr. Price said. Nevertheless, the average wait for a mooring is much shorter than the wait for train station parking — four months versus four years. ”GAZETTEER” POPULATION: 7,651 (2000 census). AREA: 3.38 square miles. MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $123,955. MEDIAN PRICE OF ONE-FAMILY HOUSE: $873,500. TAX ON MEDIAN HOUSE: $9,783. MEDIAN PRICE A YEAR AGO: $880,750. MEDIAN PRICE FIVE YEARS AGO: $590,000. SCHOOL SPENDING PER PUPIL: $11,019. DISTANCE TO MIDTOWN MANHATTAN: 36 miles. RUSH-HOUR COMMUTATION TO MIDTOWN: 58 minutes on Metro-North New Haven line.

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