[clueless007]

Hi All,

Me and my wife are moving to CT and need help to decide where to find an apartment - my new job being in Hartford and her's in Naugatuck (near New Haven, more closer to Waterbury).

We have only one car, so would like to pick a place where one of us can drive and the other can use public transportation.

Please suggest a town/city closer to New Haven with safe neighborhoods, affordable rent (less than $1500 for one bedroom) and connected to either of the cities via public transportation.

Thanks much!

[JayCT]

Naugatuck is really not near New Haven. It is near Waterbury. It is also not that close to Hartford. There are no towns near New Haven that are convenient to both Naugatuck and Hartford IMHO. It might be best to live in Naugatuck so you can drop her off on the way to work. Still you would have a long commute and she will have to get to work early and leave late if she waits for you. Jay

[clueless007]

Thank you Mike and Jay.

How would you rate Waterbury? I was doing some googling and found Waterbury has a train station (Metro North) connecting Naugatuck.
It doesn't save me anytime in driving up to Hartford (as you figured i am planning to drive and she planning to rely on me dropping her or on public transportation), but she can commute by train up and down and need not be dependent on me.

[nep321]

This is a very difficult problem to solve. Waterbury is one of CT's sketchy cities that you should avoid. Do not live there. The best option would probably be to look on Craigslist for an apartment rental in Southington or Bristol. The drive to Hartford is reasonable, but for public transportation, the only option wold be the CTTransit bus system, which pretty much goes everywhere, but it might take a while for your wife to get to Naugatuck that way. In CT, you pretty much need a car, unless you live along the Metro North rail line along the coast. Can you get a second car for your wife or something?

[KH02]

My advice....buy another car.

[Silli]

If you want to keep using one car it is possible. You could take the express bus to Hartford from New Haven, or you could live along one of the bus lines that serve Naugatuck. If you didn't need to be close to New Haven, you could also catch an express bus to Hartford from Cheshire. Check out the possibilities for Hartford express buses at CTTransit - Connecting the Community

[nep321]

Just be warned that public transit is significantly more time consuming, because you must first drive to the bus stop, then wait for the bus to arrive, ride the bus to the destination (there may be stops along the way), then get off the bus and walk to your final destination. This will probably take at least 45 min. each way, in your situation. Quite the burden.

[SailCT]

I think with the commute and all that you will most likely have to consider buying another car; right now they are offering great leasing programs on on many new vehicles; and great deals on many pre-owned dealer certified ones. It is hard to live anywhere in CT. with two adults in the household and only have one car. Public transportation tends to be not that great unless you are commuting within an urban hub like Stamford or Hartford where the buses are frequent enough and reliable.

[Pammsw]

Do not write off Waterbury until you visit the area. There are many affordable townhouses that private landlords rent out in Waterbury that are in lower middle/ working class neighborhoods. What makes Waterbury a less desireable city in CT is the lack of major cultural attractions. However, it is a decent starter city in CT and has significantly less crime and more of a large town (friendly) feel than the larger and more popular cities in the state. After living in Ansonia and Naugatuck for the past several years I actually miss Waterbury and will be moving back this weekend to my townhouse there for another couple of years until I can afford to sell and upgrade to a nicer town. I was renting out my townhouse in Waterbury (initially to be closer to an ill parent) and living in the other areas until I realized that the grass wasn't that much greener in Naugatuck or Ansonia within my price range. There are actually many young professionals that are relocating to Waterbury for the lower housing costs. We all have to start somewhere...

[TobinJ]

I am in the middletown area and while there may be some haters the "westlake" area of middletown has your choice of lots of different sized condos apartments and the like. Some are rentals and some condo owners rent. Good restaurants and shopping. There is a middletown city bus that connect to CT transit or there is a park and ride location right near I91 which your wife would take south (you'd probably find it easier to commute to hartford than her to new haven). You can also check into the easy street commuter van service that runs to hartford or new haven.

My employer has an office in Hartford and one in new Haven and I've always found it easy to get to both places from the middletown area.