[MrsERR]

Young professional family just moved to CT from MD temporarily staying in Southington and it's been hard to find a permanent place to move to since we don't know the area. We have kids under 5 years old looking for good schools, nice neighborhood where we can leave our doors open, stores that are close by and a pretty good drive into downtown Hartford for work no more than 30 minutes. Basically want a community like we had living in MD but it doesn't seem like that's possible in CT. The DMV area is pretty diverse all ethnicities spread around but I don't see that much in CT. Any recommendations?

[NewJeffCT]

West Hartford is probably the most diverse town that will give you good schools & nice neighborhoods.

[hvexpatinct]

I'd look in Wethersfield too.

[MikefromCT]

Closer to Hartford, the suburbs are more multiethnic. What exactly is your budget? This will help narrow down what's within your range. Wethersfield and Newington are immediately south of Hartford. Both are nice, safe, suburban towns with good schools. West Hartford is definitely diverse, and the schools here are great, but it's also more expensive in terms of taxes and overall cost of living. All of these towns are safe.

Southington is a great town, but it can be a bit of a hike to Hartford with traffic, and it's also very white. I would look elsewhere if you're really self-conscious about being one of the only AA families there (even though that wouldn't be an issue there)

Best of luck to you wherever you decide to move. I'm confident you can find a town that meets your needs.

[kidyankee764]

West Hartford.

[BenAllen]

Check out Bloomfield as well, just avoid the parts bordering the North End of Hartford - it can get kinda rough in places. Bloomfield is much more diverse than West Hartford, and has a larger AA community. Personally, I'd stay west of 187 and north of 218, but that's just me.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by BenAllen

Check out Bloomfield as well, just avoid the parts bordering the North End of Hartford - it can get kinda rough in places. Bloomfield is much more diverse than West Hartford, and has a larger AA community. Personally, I'd stay west of 187 and north of 218, but that's just me.

Bloomfield would be the obvious choice, however, the schools may not meet the OP's criteria(good).

[MikefromCT]

Normally I would suggest Bloomfield for an AA family not wanting to feel like an outsider. The town is beautiful, and in terms of demogrpahics it's about 63% black (both of African and Carribean American backgrounds), and the high school is over 90% black, so it is a minorty-majority town. However, I would NOT suggest Bloomfield if the OP is looking for good public education. The schools underperform, and although they've improved from where they were in the late 2000s when they were the state's lowest performing, there's still a ways to go before they're performing at the level of the other towns mentioned previously.

[NewJeffCT]

I doubt you'd find many issues with racism in many of the bigger towns in the Hartford area. Not saying it can't happen, but most of today's youth are pretty accepting of different races, cultures, sexual orientations, etc. if you got outside of the Hartford area to some smaller and more rural towns, you might have more of a risk.

[parentologist]

I knew girls in Southington who chose to leave Southington schools because of racism - but it's not what you think! They were beautiful, accomplished interracial kids (AA/Caucasian), who were bullied by the other AA kids for "acting White". I also had AA neighbors in West Hartford who had to leave the upscale West End of Hartford because their daughter was bullied by her AA classmates in Hartford for "acting White", because she did her schoolwork and homework. Bloomfield's schools don't lack for funding, but there is an anti-achievement culture in the schools, families from Hartford that did well enough to buy in Bloomfield, but the kids idolize the "gangsta" culture of Hartford, and don't value education.

If you want a school district where your child will not be the only AA kid in her class, yet still be in a school where the families and kids value education, are not disruptive, and try to do well in school, your best choice is West Hartford. Unfortunately, the housing stock is mostly older, the prices are higher, and the taxes are higher. But you get walkable neighborhoods, a great walkable town center with lots of places to dine out, and a largely liberal, educated, tolerant population that values education highly.