[MikefromCT]

I would not recommend Bristol. One of my best friends and her husband currently live here and do not like it. They're waiting for the housing market to pick up a bit. And when it does, they're outta there. (He's trying to convince her on Simsbury, which is a gorgeous town.) Maybe in a few years it'll be different. But in the meantime, skip it.

Believe it or not, there are many other towns that have available houses that fall within similar price ranges that offer better schools and public amenities, and are just overall better towns. Unionville is a neighborhood in neighboring Farmington which is very nice. You'd have no trouble finding a house for $200-$250k. A bit pricier than what you see in Bristol and the houses here tend to be smaller split levels and cape houses, but it's a great town. Same thing with the Elmwood section in West Hartford - most of this area is fine. The easternmost section near the Hartford city line isn't as nice, but you shouldn't have any real trouble here. I know a few people who live here (of different ethnicities), they're normal, middle class types and say it's fine.

If you have children or plan on having any, these two towns would be a much better option for education. As well as having more appreciation with property values. Yes, many of the houses in Bristol are cheap - as they are in secitons of New Britain and East Hartford - and there's a reason for it. All of these towns have decent neighborhoods, but you're not likely to find them where houses are at bargain-basement prices.

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

I would not recommend Bristol. One of my best friends and her husband currently live here and do not like it. They're waiting for the housing market to pick up a bit. And when it does, they're outta there. (He's trying to convince her on Simsbury, which is a gorgeous town.) Maybe in a few years it'll be different. But in the meantime, skip it.

Believe it or not, there are many other towns that have available houses that fall within similar price ranges that offer better schools and public amenities, and are just overall better towns. Unionville is a neighborhood in neighboring Farmington which is very nice. You'd have no trouble finding a house for $200-$250k. A bit pricier than what you see in Bristol and the houses here tend to be smaller split levels and cape houses, but it's a great town. Same thing with the Elmwood section in West Hartford - most of this area is fine. The easternmost section near the Hartford city line isn't as nice, but you shouldn't have any real trouble here. I know a few people who live here (of different ethnicities), they're normal, middle class types and say it's fine.

If you have children or plan on having any, these two towns would be a much better option for education. As well as having more appreciation with property values. Yes, many of the houses in Bristol are cheap - as they are in secitons of New Britain and East Hartford - and there's a reason for it. All of these towns have decent neighborhoods, but you're not likely to find them where houses are at bargain-basement prices.

You sat there and listed everywhere that was better than Bristol without giving any reason why you don't recommend it. Why don't you recommend it? What is so better about the east end of West Hartford as compared to Bristol? The fact that its in West Hartford?

[hartford_renter]

Everyone is saying Bristol is bad and there are much better choices to live and buy houses.

Well... what town do you recommend? What town is better then Bristol>

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Any town would be better than Bristol; Bristol's a city. One of the best in Connecticut in my opinion. As far as "what's better", in Connecticut it depends on what your taste is. You can't ask me where I would live because I'm a townie, unlike most, I wanna move back home to make it better. But I can give some suggestions though.

If you're looking for a pretty diverse community, the I would pick Bristol or Danbury. Surburban feel? Try Fairfield or West Hartford. Got money? Anywhere west of Fairfield. Maybe a New England feeling? Try Southbury or Litchfield.

Connecticut is unique because of the differences in class here. Too much "get like me" mentality. Everyone frowns upon Bristol because "they're town has this and Bristol doesn't have that" wa wa wa wawa. Its all superficial. "I live in Bridgeport but I tell people I live in Black Rock" one says. They should take pride in where they live for a change. It might make them a better person in the long run.

Your screenname points to Hartford. Are you looking to move in that area?

[hartford_renter]

I rent in Hartford, I don't plan on buying a house. I am curious about what people think about the towns in CT> I have lived here my whole life in Hartford County. Here is my opinion of the value of houses in the general Hartford county

Colchester and Tolland are WAY overpriced (this isnt hartford county) - houses are generally not a good value, especially in Colchester it is far from hartford. I think they are high becase there was a US News and world report that ranked them the best place to live.

By comparison Marlbourough is closer to hartford, and a nicer town then Colchester houses are about the same price there.

East Hartford - too slummy high crime, you could rent there though
(Rating = 1 / 5 stars)

Manchester - getting more slummy, crime is high, but they have a lot of apartments. The "old" downtown is nice, schools not very good. They have the mall, evergreen walk is a nice development (that might technically be in S. Windsor.
( 2 / 5 stars to buy a house, 5/5 to rent there)

South Windsor - OK prices are a little high, they have a nice library. Schools are OK. ( 3 / 5 stars )

Vernon - slummy lots of crime (1 / 5)

Hartford - prices of houses are very high, very high taxes, but rent is cheap (1 / 5 live). There are some nice downtown apartments, hartford 21, trumble street but these are expensive

Ellington - nice town but sort of overpriced for the distance from hartford. They have a nice state park. ( 3 / 5 stars)

Glastonbury - can find inexpensive homes. Nice town close to hartford.
Simsbury - some homes are inexpensive despite the reputation, very good schools. Avon same as simsbury but smaller.
( 5 /5) stars

Grandby - not a lot cheaper then simsbury / avon, and further from hartford, schools bad, simsbury is a better value. Grandby is kind of rural which is nice. ( 4 / 5 ) stars

Suffield - like grandby, small town, schools a little better. Not as much woods as granby. ( 4 / 5)

West Hartford - very expensive, but close to hartford and good schools
(5 /5)

Berlin - good schools, reasonably priced houses
Burlington - same opinion as Berlin, but further from hartford
( 5 / 5 )

Wethersfield/Rocky Hill - dont know a lot about these. Went to the DMV on saturday in Wethersfield and the "old" section is really nice, would be a good place to live.

Newington - you have the turnpike and everything is "off the turnpike". But I think it is slummy and there is crime too. Feels like west hartford, but not as nice (it is not as woodsy). Value is pretty good, there are a lot of condos too. There are a lot of young people at work who live there.
(3 / 5)

Farmington - Hard to get to hartford from there. Rout 4 has lots of traffic. Value is pretty good nice town. Not that urbanized.
(4 / 5)

Bloomfield - not very nice, bad schools, not worth the value
Windsor - same opinion as bloomfield, bad schools a little slummy, high crime
( 1 / 5 )

I went to school at Uconn. and the storrs/Mansfield area is really nice. The prices are reasonable, but the problem is that they are dropping a lot because WIndam county has some foreclosure issues.
( 5 / 5)

I also drove down to Guilford not too long ago and it is a VERY nice town. It is right by the shore, they have a very nice old style town square.


If you want to get a feeling of how safe a town is, a good thing to do is look on the sex offender registry. If there are a lot of sex offender, that is a bad sign. There are A LOT of sex offenders in hartford / east hartford and into manchester and vernon.

[brasscitybluenwhite]

See, clearly crime is ur number 1 issue, followed by the price of homes. Everyone is different

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Hi Maharg,

Bristol is your typical urbanized area of about 60,000 residents. It is home to ESPN on its southside. It also has an amusement park (Lake Compounce). The northside, with an increasing amount of retail, can be challenging during peak commuter hours.

As mentioned in other posts, Bristol does have high-end properties, namely near Cedar Lake where prices are over $500,000. I have friends and family in Bristol who are very happy there.

Lately, the city has implemented some beautification programs. The main drag, near the Bristol Centre Mall, is one.

Prices are higher for Southington, Bristol's neighbor to the south. However, they're about the same for Plainville (to the east) and Plymouth (to the west).

Rich
Moderator cut: realtor advertising

I was in the area around ESPN on the South side and found that area to be exceptionally nice. I drove there from Providence, RI one weekend while on a business trip. If the south side is indicative of the rest of Bristol, it didn't seem too bad.

[Uconn97]

hartford renter - you clearly don't have a clue and have based your opinions on a "ride" through some of the places you listed. Try getting out of the car sometime or maybe venturing down a side street.

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by hartford_renter

Berlin - good schools, reasonably priced houses
Burlington - same opinion as Berlin, but further from hartford
( 5 / 5 )

I can understand that based on certain standards you have given these towns a similar rating but let me just clarify that I don't think that they are at all alike. Burlington is very rural, while Berlin may have rural-like areas, it is more suburban. We live in Burlington and my husband commutes 40 minutes to Berlin everyday. If they were the same, we would have just lived there.

Now more on the topic of this thread, I am in Bristol a lot since Burlington really doesn't have much retail and I don't think Bristol is bad at all. It just depends what you are looking for in a community.

[glxyman21]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

I was in the area around ESPN on the South side and found that area to be exceptionally nice. I drove there from Providence, RI one weekend while on a business trip. If the south side is indicative of the rest of Bristol, it didn't seem too bad.

When you get off of I-84 to go to ESPN, the town is actually Southington (and not Bristol like the sign says (especially if on I-84 East). The area up until ESPN is Southington (including part of the ESPN campus)