[HartfordboundChE]

Originally Posted by ctwhitechin

this place is literally around the corner from my house, not sure if they take cats but they are only 2 years old or so. Glastonbury to me anyway is more desirable than Middletown, we lived in an apt in middletown the first couple of months we moved to CT before we settled in Glastonbury, we were NOT HAPPY in Middletown, many safety concerns, break ins at night in cars, etc etc. Glastonbury is very nice.

Addison Mill Apartments

[quote=nep321;17958988]

Originally Posted by HartfordboundChE

Yeah, I was looking at those. They are very nice but pretty expensive.

What about the Manchester area by the mall or the west side? There are several options around those areas.

What about Downtown Hartford close to the XL center and the park? There are a lot of nice apartments around there and it is close to where I'm going to work.

Where do a lot of younger unmarried professional live?[/quote]

Virtually any apartment complex in Manchester or Middletown.

Hey, thanks for the replies.

Can you answer my other questions about living in the downtown area or up by the mall in manchester?

[nep321]

[quote=HartfordboundChE;17959037]

Originally Posted by nep321

Hey, thanks for the replies.

Can you answer my other questions about living in the downtown area or up by the mall in manchester?

By the mall in Manchester, I would recommend The Vintage at the Grove. Beautiful place...new construction built in 2009, which is rare in CT. The only drawback is that it's expensive...a 1 br is like $1,200, at least. But the walls have partial soundproofing, and the bedrooms are a nice size. Very nice kitchen, too. The complex is full of young professionals who are young, rich and fabulous. My gripe with that place, however, is that it's so close to the interstate that the moment you step outside, you hear highway noise. The other complexes near the mall (i.e. Aspen, Pavillions) aren't that nice.

[HartfordboundChE]

[quote=nep321;17959174]

Originally Posted by HartfordboundChE

By the mall in Manchester, I would recommend The Vintage at the Grove. Beautiful place...new construction built in 2009, which is rare in CT. The only drawback is that it's expensive...a 1 br is like $1,200, at least. But the walls have partial soundproofing, and the bedrooms are a nice size. Very nice kitchen, too. The complex is full of young professionals who are young, rich and fabulous. My gripe with that place, however, is that it's so close to the interstate that the moment you step outside, you hear highway noise. The other complexes near the mall (i.e. Aspen, Pavillions) aren't that nice.

Yeah, I like how big the kitchen is at he Vintage but they say on their website that cats have to be declawed. Mine isn't and I'm honestly ethically against it. Maybe they'll say something different if I call them. What about Waterford?

Have you heard anything about the lofts (mill lofts) on the west side of Manchester?

[ctwhitechin]

For commuting purposes manchester to east hartford is better than middletown. Next town east of Manchester is Vernon im not too familiar with what is there. In downtown hartford not sure what the parking situation is for rentals there, another thing to look into. I live in a townhouse development, I know several people rent here, keep looking around in glastonbury great town, trust me on that one. I wouldn't rent in east hartford, not me anyway. Wethersfield has some nice places, that's just on the west side of the CT river from east hartford.

[Uconn97]

Stick to Manchester. There are tons of options, many of which have already been named. Glastonbury is overpriced and overrated - IMHO.

[JayCT]

The commute from West Hartford to East Hartford goes way up in time during rush hour. Traffic for that couple of miles through Hartford is among the worst in the state. That 15 minute commute without traffic could easily go to 45 with traffic.

Glastonbury is expensive. The apartments up the Buckland Hills area of Manchester are nice but traffic can be difficult. Another area that is nice are the Chenney Mills in Manchester. These are converted mill buildings that many young singles like. Jay

[nep321]

[quote=HartfordboundChE;17960503]

Originally Posted by nep321

Yeah, I like how big the kitchen is at he Vintage but they say on their website that cats have to be declawed. Mine isn't and I'm honestly ethically against it. Maybe they'll say something different if I call them. What about Waterford?

Have you heard anything about the lofts (mill lofts) on the west side of Manchester?

Waterford commons is rather pricey and the units are rather small. I think a 1 br is only about 600-700 sq ft. It's not as nice as Vintage at the Grove, either.

The Lofts at the Mills are not good. I know people who have lived there and couldn't wait to leave. I looked at a few units there myself, a few years ago. The floor plans are nice and spacious, but the ceilings are VERY high, and you have to pay heat yourself, which means the heat bill will be very high. On top of that, the soundproofing between units is terrible. You can hear full conversations from your neighbors on the other side of the wall, and they can hear you. No washer/dryer in the units either, and they're always being used by other people, which is annoying as hell. And the last straw is the parking situation. Mill style apartments are giant cubical buildings with long halls inside, almost like an office building or hospital. It will literally take about 3-5 minutes just to walk from your parked car to your apartment. This is annoying, especially when you have a bunch of groceries in your trunk and have to make multiple trips from car to apartment. The Addison Mills in Glastonbury are like this too, which boggles my mind as to why they charge $1,495 for a 1 br. Ridiculous, and way overpriced, even for Glastonbury.

The best apartment complex I have lived in or visited, by far, is Woodbrook Villa Townhomes in Vernon. It is not in an urban setting, but you get 100% soundproof walls, a full finished, heated basement, baseboard heating and water included in rent, and 1,200 sq ft of space. They also come with 2 assigned parking spaces, mailboxes and trash dumpsters within 50 feet of your front door, and you can park right up to your front door. They were built around 1980, but are by far the best value of anywhere in metro Hartford. It is more family oriented, but I don't care about that stuff as long as I have good quality of living. And they are priced fairly at around $1,150 for a 1br (as of 2010).

[HartfordboundChE]

Thanks for the info all.

JatCT (or anyone), Is it possible to cycle from downtown Hartford across the river to East Hartford? I.e., do bike lanes actually exist?

ctwhitechin, most of the apartments in downtown (nice ones) come with garage parking in a near by structure.

nep, thanks for the 411 on the Lofts at the Mills. I'll have to look into apartments in Vernon. Have you heard anything about the Ribbon Mills? It gets good reviews but I can't understand why (they look kind of crappy).

Ideally, I'd like to spend under 1700-1800 in rent + utilities (including cable+internet). This is probably going to be shorter term so some sacrifice would ideally be made in luxury so I can save money. However, because I'm moving to a new state/town, I need to make sure that I'm really happy with my living and commute situation or else the stress of a new town, job, and habitat will quickly get to me...

[nep321]

Originally Posted by HartfordboundChE

Thanks for the info all.

JatCT (or anyone), Is it possible to cycle from downtown Hartford across the river to East Hartford? I.e., do bike lanes actually exist?

ctwhitechin, most of the apartments in downtown (nice ones) come with garage parking in a near by structure.

nep, thanks for the 411 on the Lofts at the Mills. I'll have to look into apartments in Vernon. Have you heard anything about the Ribbon Mills? It gets good reviews but I can't understand why (they look kind of crappy).

Ideally, I'd like to spend under 1700-1800 in rent + utilities (including cable+internet). This is probably going to be shorter term so some sacrifice would ideally be made in luxury so I can save money. However, because I'm moving to a new state/town, I need to make sure that I'm really happy with my living and commute situation or else the stress of a new town, job, and habitat will quickly get to me...

Under $1,700 will be no problem. The Ribbon Mills are not great either. I think that's the one that has electric heating, not included in the rent. This is very expensive. But I would check to make sure that they don't have electric heating. Trust me....you don't want that, unless the rent is wicked cheap.

[JViello]

I have another perspective on the "mill" apartments. I think they are actually quite nice with exposed brick, wood beams etc. I had a friend who lived there for years. They are all next to each other so it makes it like a little community.

They are also in the historic Cheney district of Manchester which is a victorian community with large grand homes with brick sidewalks, "gas lamp" lights etc. It's also only a couple blocks from downtown Manchester so you can walk to the various shops, cafe's and ethnic restaurants on Main Street. You'll all have a nice park with raquet ball/tennis courts, soccer, baseball fields etc two blocks away and from that park you'll have access to the walking/biking trails which are a "rails to trails" project and go all the way into Hartford/East Hartford and out into the country.

Here is a "Street view" on the corner near the apartments (about 100 feet away you can see one of the mills.) http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...,89.86,,0,5.33

That's Hartford road that leads to downtown about 1/4 mile away at most.

Here is the intersection up the road with Main Street and you can see the park on the right, it goes down in and expands. Everything Main street is to the left.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...80.16,,0,-3.59

If you are into Mountain biking, Case Mountain about a mile away can't be beat. Miles and miles of trails. A local market "Highland Park Market" is about a mile away as well for grocery shopping. They have a lot of local fresh items as well.

Here is entrance to Case Mountain...one of them anyhow.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...,92.27,,0,6.39

Hartford itself is about 10 minuted drive in with easy access.

If you decide to move near the mall, just know that JayCT and I disagree on the traffic issue. He comes in from Glastonbury, and yes the exit ramp coming from there and area surrounding it on a Fri/Sat night can be busy, but from the apartments highway access is easy, and there is hardly any "mall" traffic near them aside from one complex, and during holiday season, if it's clogged or whatever, there are alternate go arounds.