@Hoophound I'm very familiar. I live in a Candlewood Lake neighborhood about a mile away from Squantz in New Fairfield. Squantz Pond is a great little lake. The state park does get busy with people from the Bronx in the summer but all at the park. In a lakefront cottage on Squantz or in a lake neighborhood you won't have to deal with that much. The benefits far outweigh the negatives in my book. It's quiet and beautiful up here in the summer.
There isn't much in the way of nightlife. Sherman center is just up the road and is a very small beautiful town. Sherman has a winery, a nice coffee place, and a good restaurant called American Pie. New Fairfield has a couple of decent restaurants and bars but nothing spectacular. There is one little sports bar called Icons that has a bunch of TVs, a pool table and decent food. They've only been open about 2 years so are still getting their consistency down. They also have a ton of craft beer if that is your thing. About 20 minutes down the road in Danbury there are some nice restaurants and clubs and New Milford isn't far if you go over the top of the lake.
It depends on if you are looking at direct frontage or just off the water. My house is in the middle of the neighborhood on Candlewood, not on the water. My pockets aren't that long. In my neighborhood most of the homes in the middle are 1200+- square feet and around $300,000 plus or minus $15k. The homes on the lake, just feet away, go for $650 and up. Many/most are in the $800k+ range. Not sure about Squantz values but you will pay more than your home is worth because of the lake factor. Most of the Squantz cottages look pretty small but there are beautiful little homes there. I looked at several before we bought this one.
If you like to fish, Squantz is full of fish. There are small and largemouth bass, trout, catfish, perch and walleye. At night, you can do quite well on walleye, trout and cats in Squantz fishing alewives or small jigs.
As another poster stated if you want to run a boat and live in certain neighborhoods you are grandfathered and can run higher horsepower. If you trailer to the state launch there is a horsepower limit that is pretty low. I'm assuming
@RichZ is right when he says 10hp. I haven't checked in years but it is something like that. Boating traffic used to be pretty minor on Squantz. It was a great place to car top a canoe and I used to do that quite frequently when I lived in Danbury after college. I had the benefit of having a friend on the lake so instead of using the state launch I could bring my canoe to his house and launch it there. Haven't been out there in a while so not sure if it is busier now. Candlewood on the other hand is busy on the weekends in the summer with boats. Not as overcrowded as people make it out to be but pretty busy.
It is a great area if you want to get away a little bit but still civilized enough that you can find regular services only minutes away. The Appalachian Trail is not far if you like to hike, there are some nature preserves and such that aren't far away and Brewster is just across the border in NY.
Feel free to DM me if you have specific questions. I'd even be willing to do a drive by or two for you if you want and can be patient with my ridiculous schedule. Cheers and good luck on wherever you choose.