page_title: Darien, Connecticut
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Darien, Connecticut / Community / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: Main street of Darien, Connecticut.
context_page_description: Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States 37 miles northeast of New York City. With a population of 21,000 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's "Gold Coast". It has the youngest population of any non-college town in Connecticut, a high rate of marriage, and high number of average children per household. Darien is also one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S. According to Bloomberg, Darien is ranked in the top 10 richest places in the country.
  Situated on Long Island Sound between the cities of Stamford and Norwalk, the town has relatively few office buildings. Many residents commute to Manhattan with two Metro-North railroad stations–Noroton Heights and Darien–linking the town to Grand Central Terminal. For recreation, the town boasts eleven parks, two public beaches, the private Tokeneke beach club, three country clubs including the first organized golf club in Connecticut, a hunt club, the public Darien Boat Club, and Noroton Yacht Club.
context_section_description: Darien Y – the local YMCA offers more than 300 programs. It houses the Holly Pond Nursery School and features two pools and workout facilities overlooking Holly Pond. The facility completed a major $9M renovation in 2012, adding a large modern entry hall with a cafe, a new wing to house the nursery school, a 10,000 square foot gymnastics wing with a ceiling made of wood trusses and an observation deck, a spin studio, and a "Mind, Body Studio" for yoga. The project took 5 years to complete due to delays "after a long series of hearings before the town Planning & Zoning Commission." 
  YWCA of Darien-Norwalk is located in Darien.
  The Depot – an adult-supervised youth center for town teenagers, located in the former Noroton Heights Railroad Station building since the organization's founding in 1989. A student board runs the day-to-day programming; an adult board focuses on fundraising, operations management and capital building projects.
  Darien Ice House – Darien's sole ice rink.
  Darien Playhouse – Darien's sole commercial cinema.
caption: Hanging floral decorations adorn the main street of Darien
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