Cos Cob

Cos Cob, an enclave in Greenwich about 32 miles from Manhattan, seems a place in perpetual motion.

There are rowers — teenagers from private schools, as well as adults looking to stretch their limbs — who skim past in crew boats along the Mianus River. Others sail past in yachts from the necklace of marinas along River and Strickland Roads.

Commuters use bikes to get to Cos Cob’s wood-frame Metro-North Railroad station, before chugging off to Grand Central Terminal. About 20 percent of residents say they use public transportation to travel to work, census records indicate, versus 4 percent statewide.

Residents say they love the neighborhood’s walkability.

Playgrounds, mom-and-pop restaurants and a beloved library are often no more than a five-minute stroll away, and it is not uncommon to see people making their way there on the shoulders of roads, undeterred by the occasional lack of sidewalks.

The past couple of years has seen Cos Cob become a destination for foodies, with an artisan butchers, a cheese store, an Italian gelato store as well as a handmade pasta store. 

Cos Cob’s four and a half square miles correspond roughly with the boundaries of the 06807 ZIP code, which follows the Mianus from its mouth to the Stamford border.

There are about 9,000 residents, about a quarter of whom claim Italian ancestry; historically, Italians lived in the micro neighborhood of Mianus, which hugs the dammed portion of the river.