[deiter-dogg]

My wife and I (late 20's/early 30's) are considering moving the gang (4 year old daughter, 9 month old son, and 3 year old Golden Retriever) to CT. If so I would be working in East Hartford. We would be looking for homes in the 300-350k range near good schools, etc. with activities close-by and a lively community. This forum looks like its got a lot of active responders so any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[skytrekker]

deiter-dogg

Welcome to central Connecticut/greater Hartford.

If working in East Hartford, your choices are many. South Windsor, just to the north, Glastonbury to the south. Also consider Manchester to the east, and Bolton, Vernon, and Ellington.

Homes priced from 300-350K are easy to find in all these towns- and you will be able to find 3 bedroom 2 bath home in a nice neighborhood in all these towns.

The best schools will be in Glastonbury, Bolton and South Windsor, but the other towns have decent schools. All these town have crime rates well below the national average, with excellent local services (parks, libraries, etc).

You will be close to great shopping, Theater's, culture/arts, world class restaurants and more.

[BenCT]

I would say that the options noted above are all quality choices. I think the towns you consider will be affected by your priorities (i.e. how much weight is placed on schools, and any preferences you may have on what type of house you aree interested in). I know having grown up in South Windsor, that the schools are quality schools, the town it situated close to all the shopping and amenities you would need, and that I always took my Golden Retriever to Nevers Park for walks. Nice park with sports fields and miles of walking trails. Glastonbury is a little more up scale (in my opinion), and Bolton, Ellington, and Tolland are a little more suburban/rural with good schools. All offer what I think many consider very good schools, but I feel the latter three would tack on an extra 5-15 minutes for your commute to work and major shopping areas. Not much of a sacrifice, but worth noting. Manchester is very diverse and offers the whole range of housing options as well. Feel free to ask away with any questions.

Ben

[JViello]

deiter-dogg:

Others have hit it spot on in my opinion...Working in East Hartford, I would recommend staying East of the River.

Few notes to add on.

Housing here can vary in price in a seemingly strange way for those not accustomed to New England's provincial lifestyle. For instance, in the Birch Mountain area of Manchester 350K will get you a very nice colonial or other type home in a very nice neighborhood nestled into the Case Mountain ridge (close to where I live). If you travel a mile in one direction, into the Glastonbury border - you will pay $500K for the same home. BUT if I didn't tell you that you crossed the border, you wouldn't know it.

What you are paying for is the percieved value, and the fact that you will be part of the Glastonbury town services vs Manchester.

On the same note, you can drive 15 minutes down RT85 into Hebron and be in a nice rural New England setting but not in the middle of nowhere.

If you can give us some of your likes and dislikes concerns etc we can help point you in a better direction.

Welcome to CT!

[JayCT]

deiter-dogg - Welcome to Connecticut. I am sure you will like it here. What the others have posted covers most of the choices in the area pretty throughly. I would add that Marlborough and Hebron are also very nice towns as well with very good schools and a reasonable commuting distance to East Hartford. They are a bit more rural in character and you would have to travel a bit for more shopping options but they are very nice family-oriented communities.

As BenCT indicated, Glastonbury is a more upscale community and the schools are excellent (among the best in the state) but there is a wide range of housing options here. For $350k you can get a nice 30 year 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a nice neighborhood. I should note that all of the schools in town are excellent (scoring well above the state average and goals) so if you hear that one school is better than another it is because of the socio-economic diversity of the area the school serves and not the quality of the education (I can say this from personal experience).

Check out the communities recommended and see which suits your needs best. If you have any questions, let us know. And again welcome. Jay

[mels]

I live in one of the quieter 'burbs (Marlborough). I am currently commuting to East Hartford and it takes me 15-20 minutes tops each way. There is a lot to do here if you have kids, plenty of groups and other activities. If you don't have kids there isn't much going on, but you don't exactly move to Marlborough (or Hebron or Bolton) if you are looking for excitement. The abovementioned suburbs have more rural character but you aren't far from anything. In 15 minutes I can be in the Buckland Hills area of Manchester where every big box and chain store known to man is, in ten minutes I can be at a big grocery store (and soon to be Whole Foods) in Glastonbury. Most of the suburbs around here have good schools so I don't think that will be much of an issue.

You just have to decide if you want a small city kind of feel or a more quiet kind of town and that will help you narrow down some choices. I agree that your life will be made much easier by living east of the CT River. Crossing any of the bridges at rush hour is a pain in the rear, though the Putnam Bridge (Rt. 3) seems to be the best of the lot regarding traffic. Stay away from commuting via 84 if possible. It is usually backed up both east and west during am/pm rush hour.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by mels

Stay away from commuting via 84 if possible. It is usually backed up both east and west during am/pm rush hour.

I agree with your post, but just want to clarify something on the above note.

If you are traveling 84E from East Hartford, there really isn't much traffic other than a slow down over the 384 crest. If you are taking 384 to get to Hebron or Bolton etc the right two lanes are always clear on 84 to 384.

[deiter-dogg]

...just to give you a little more info my wife's a stay at home mom so we would like to be within a short drive to shopping and services but it looks like even some rural communities aren't too far away from that. I think ideally we would not want an overly rural area though but larger plots would not be out of the question.

[skytrekker]

One of the best things about the Hartford area are amenities in urban and suburban locales, that are very close to semi rural and rural towns. I mean in Vernon, you are next to a very pleasant mostly rural town like Bolton, yet be a few miles away to everything your heart desires in the way of shopping, entertainment and restaurants.

Drive 25 minutes from East Hartford on I 84 eastbound not during rush hour and you are becoming close to the states 'quiet corner'.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

One of the best things about the Hartford area are amenities in urban and suburban locales, that are very close to semi rural and rural towns. I mean in Vernon, you are next to a very pleasant mostly rural town like Bolton, yet be a few miles away to everything your heart desires in the way of shopping, entertainment and restaurants.

Drive 25 minutes from East Hartford on I 84 eastbound not during rush hour and you are becoming close to the states 'quiet corner'.

Yea seriously...that is one of the great things about this metro. You can literally drive 15-20 minutes (again, no traffic) from DT Hartford and be in an ideallic New England town with larger lots, white church, rolling hills and two lane country roads and still be 10-15 minutes to retail wonder land.