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I would put my vote for Southington. I worked in Wallingford and lived in Southington. East Commute, great town, plenty of family oriented activites and a nice little downtown with plenty of shopping and restaurants close by. They are redoing 2 schools, I believe both middle schools, so they would be brand new when your children get to them (depending on housing location in contrast to school).
For $250K there are currently 51 houses that fit the 3bR/2Bath criteria.
Wallingford itself isn't bad, but North Haven schools are definitely better. Will be pretty hard finding a $250k house in North Haven though. Only rule of thumb is to avoid Meriden like the plague.
OP, how "transportable" is your job from an industry perspective?
To clarify, I would suggest looking at a town that situates yourself between Hartford and New Haven (assuming your industry has job opportunities in both cities). Doing so provides you with career flexibility and minimizes the risk of needing to relocate if you found another job (and thus, minimizes "disruption" for your children since they can keep their friends and maintain a stable environment throughout grade school).
I also want to echo mels comment. Although I don't have children myself, I can imagine a smaller commute will mean much more flexibility with picking them up from school, spending more time with them, etc.
Depending on the type of house you want will also determine the area. If you are looking at 250k in North Haven which is a good town, you will be in a raised ranch most likely. I gave up searching in that town because literally every house on the market was a RR which I loathed. Wallingford is loaded with colonials which are out of your budget but tons of capes. We moved here after looking into Guilford, Branford, North Branford, North Haven, and Cheshire. For the location, municipalities, safety, etc. you cannot really beat Wallingford. Plus you are central to the major arteries of 91, 15, 5, 68, etc. You won't have to go far from route 5 to find any type of store you are looking for either.
I've been in the town for 3 months now and love it. We live in a great area on a cul de sac surrounded by similar homes and great neighbors.
I never see anyone recommend Southington. Am i missing something that makes that town undesirable? Their schools and the safety factor appear to be better than a couple of the above towns.
I don't know the details, and keep in mind that it could be a "well managed" situation -- but Southington does have 2 Superfund sites on the National Priority List for environmental cleanup.
I don't know the details, and keep in mind that it could be a "well managed" situation -- but Southington does have 2 Superfund sites on the National Priority List for environmental cleanup.
Southington used to lead the way in nut and bolt manufacturing back in the day (1800's to 1900's). I would suspect that it would have some environmental concerns because of that industry. From the reports they seem like they are well-managed.
I never see anyone recommend Southington. Am i missing something that makes that town undesirable? Their schools and the safety factor appear to be better than a couple of the above towns.
I would not say Southington is undesirable at all. It is though kind of non-descript. The schools are very good (performing above state averages) and the town has a lot to offer families. Jay
Just live in Wallingford.
As long as the school isn't ghetto/dangerous(inner city schools), you're fine. This idea that you have to be in the best performing schools is laughable. Your own child's academic/intellectual ability is going to determine how well they do no matter when they go. There are bad teachers in the best performing school districts. Just the way some prof's are horrible in prestigious universities. A community college might have a better prof who explains things in more clear manner.
Southington is a good place to live too. The only thing I have never liked about Southington is the size of the high school. There is just one high school which has 2400+ students. Easy for an introverted child to get lost in the crowd. Some kids, on the other hand, do just fine.
Thanks everyone for the feedback, it sounds like Southington and Wallingford are both good options, I've looked at homes in both areas online and I think I'll be able to find something. I will be visiting the area for the first time at the end of this week so I'll check out both areas.
Comp625, my job is linked to the chemical industry so while there are other places in the area I could work they tend to be in more rural areas since you don't tend to find chemical plants in the middle of a city.
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