[gesso]

Hi! I'm expanding my search for a walkable town with a "town feel" to Essex, Chester, and Deep River. My question is about the commute. My husband will be working half his time in the center of New Haven and half in Hamden -- any ideas on how long the commute would be to these 2 places by car?

Thanks to the fellow who recommended Old Saybrook to me a few days ago (I was looking for village-like towns) -- got me looking in this area.

Thanks for any comments!

Kathy

[frogcreekwoods]

Originally Posted by gesso

Hi! I'm expanding my search for a walkable town with a "town feel" to Essex, Chester, and Deep River. My question is about the commute. My husband will be working half his time in the center of New Haven and half in Hamden -- any ideas on how long the commute would be to these 2 places by car?

Thanks to the fellow who recommended Old Saybrook to me a few days ago (I was looking for village-like towns) -- got me looking in this area.

Thanks for any comments!

Kathy

The commute to New Haven, with traffic, will be 50-60 minutes. Probably 35-40 with no traffic, but that only happens in the middle of the day or night. Hamden is such a pain to get to from the shoreline - he would probably have to go to New Haven and then on to Hamden - so add another 10-20 minutes to the times above, depending on what part of Hamden he's going to.

Try Guilford or Madison - they are very walkable towns, lovely towns with great schools, and the commute would be about 20 minutes less. Also look into Cheshire, which is on the northwest side of New Haven. The tragic home break-in and murder of last summer not withstanding, it is generally thought of as a lovely, safe town with good schools. That commute would be only about 15-20 minutes.

[gesso]

Thanks for that -- I had no idea it would be that far. A bit disappointing. What about the commute from Durham? It looks like there's practically a direct route to Hamden and also to New Haven?

How would you compare the towns of Cheshire, Wallingford, and Durham?

Best,
Kathy

[frogcreekwoods]

Originally Posted by gesso

Thanks for that -- I had no idea it would be that far. A bit disappointing. What about the commute from Durham? It looks like there's practically a direct route to Hamden and also to New Haven?

How would you compare the towns of Cheshire, Wallingford, and Durham?

Best,
Kathy

Durham is the most rural, and would be my choice out of the three. It has a cute town center, but not as much there as say Cheshire or Wallingford as far as stores and such. There are still active farms there. Personally I like that, but you may want to be more in the mix. Also you might want to be careful of being 'downwind' of the dairy farm. Down water too, since most houses in Durham probably have well water. Just something to keep in mind. Wallingford is not a quaint New England town, IMHO, it has too much of a commercial aspect. Great place to get your shopping done though, if you live in Cheshire or Durham. Cheshire also has a busy shopping district, but is not quite as built-up. I don't remember if you need to worry about schools, but you can compare test scores at CMT Data Interaction (Public).

If you would like to be near the shore and beaches then check out Guilford.