[willow wind]

There is no such thing as " no crime". There is no where you will live anywhere on earth where there is no possibility of no crime ever.

There are places where you can live which offer lesser possibility of crime and little chance of personal crime. If you worked in the Hartford area, depending on which side of the river you would like to live in, you could find a house to meet your expectations in your price range in any number towns. Those towns could be Glastonbury, Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, etc. There are others too.

As a woman, if DH wasn't around, I would not think twice about heading out to the local supermarket at night alone, meeting others at a local restaurant in the suburban towns , etc.

Common sense of course applies. Am I going to leave my car unlocked while parked---no, am I going to leave my car windows rolled down while parked---- no. Am I going to leave the front door to the house unlocked if no one is at home--- no. But in general , day to day activities and home life are safe. Any crime is more likely to be property crime of opportunity. Personal crime is more apt to be among those who know each other.

[Stylo]

In the Hartford area...

More active/suburban: West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington
More rural: Canton, Simsbury, New Hartford, Avon, Hebron/Marlborough

[SMR101587]

Thanks Cambium, Thats awesome.... I will check them all out.

Also thank you for neighborhood options Willow wind and Stylo. I will look into these as well.

I think we are maybe gearing to be further away from Western Mass.


Also my father mentioned Madison, CT. He'd like a Beach town.

Any thoughts? We don't want New Haven, but according to a map there is Madison, and Guilford.

Are these good? Any other beach towns?

[Stylo]

Milford, Branford, Madison, Guilford are all beautiful, safe beach towns in the greater New Haven area with access to 91 where you could find a nice home in your budget. However, they are a long commute to Hartford.

[willow wind]

You're going to have to figure out what you be willing to do for a commute.
Many people commute from the shoreline into the Hartford area but it's not necessarily a decent commute. You'd have to allow close to an hour, if there are no accidents, no bad winter weather, etc. Then the commute can take much longer obviously.

Your dollars for what you want won't go far in Madison and Guilford. You'd be looking at going to the upper range of your limit or hoping to negotiate something a bit more expensive down. Although if you were to take on an older 4 bedroom colonial that needed some modernization you would have more choices.

You could also consider Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook. Prices would be a little better there. There are some really nice, somewhat newer subdivisions in the north end of Clinton that you might like and which will have what you want in your price range. Commute into Hartford is the same amount of time for any of them All very beautiful, peaceful towns.

All the towns noted have beaches although IMO Guilford's town beach does not compare to any of the others, which are much nicer.

[Stylo]

Actually it's true, the Old Saybrook area might be a quicker commute than, say, Guilford. Straight shot up 9. Even Milford would be quicker. Instead of going through backroads or dealing with traffic in New Haven, you'd shoot up 15 to 91 with barely any traffic into Hartford.

Either way, it's still a sacrifice to live on a coastal town and deal with the commute to Hartford.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by SMR101587

Thanks Cambium, Thats awesome.... I will check them all out.

Also thank you for neighborhood options Willow wind and Stylo. I will look into these as well.

I think we are maybe gearing to be further away from Western Mass.


Also my father mentioned Madison, CT. He'd like a Beach town.

Any thoughts? We don't want New Haven, but according to a map there is Madison, and Guilford.

Are these good? Any other beach towns?

Yeah. First thing to think about in CT is "commute". No matter what spot you pick in the state a commute to NYC is suicide(imo) except from Greenwich & Stamford. A train comute is better but not stress free.

As far as coastal communities, I agree with Stylo. Milford, Branford, Madison, Guilford. You can add Clinton in there like willowwind said (but its going further from NYC)

It it still sounds like you're all over the state (Litchfield, Hartford, New Haven, ect) Narrow it down for yourself and we can better help you.

What kind of house are you looking for?
Which location?(knowing towns always better)
Max amount of time willing to commute to Hartford or NYC.
ect.

[SMR101587]

You all are most helpful. Let me see if I can provide new details

By the way it seems Madison and Guilford have options if 400,000 is my upper limit. I use www.trulia.com
I find it to be a nice website.

At least 4 bedrooms. At least 2 baths. At least half an acre. Lets say closer to NYC but honestly it doesnt matter. My brother is in school in Westchester county. I would be looking for work in a big city as a Personal trainer.

Funny you mention Stamford...that came up last night too. However by the looks of the homes on trulia, it is a dumpy area.

Is Stamford nice? Safe?

Regardless it will probably take a few day trips to all of these towns we have in our mind.

Thanks.

[Stylo]

Stamford is wayyyy more expensive than the other towns you're looking it. There are very nice parts of Stamford. The dumpy parts are a minority.

[mels]

Your budget will not take you far in Stamford. Also, it is a bigger city and if you are looking for as close to "zero crime" as you can get, then don't even consider urban environments. To answer your question, Stamford is nice and relatively safe, meaning safe for a city of its size but nowhere near your "zero crime" requirement. You need to focus on what you want:

1. Where exactly are you looking to commute? It is not feasible to say Hartford or NYC unless you want to be out of your house 18 hours a day due to your commute from Hartford County to NYC.

2. How far of a commute are you willing to make? Factor in miles and time, as what appears to be a short commute may not be so with traffic. We can help you with that, e.g. if you say "I will work in Hartford, what will my drive from Madison be like?"

3. What kind of place do you want to live in? Urban, Suburban or rural/suburban.

Once you can answer those questions, you can narrow your focus.