A Nice Area of Hartford? (West Hartford, Simsbury: apartment, renter, to buy)
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The part of the South end that borders Wethersfield is nice. My friend lived there for a while. There are some good restaurants in that area on Franklin Avenue and First & Last has great pizza on Maple Ave.
Hartford has some interesting things going on that almost never get reported in the "Mainstream" media. On a weekly basis musicians on tour from Jamaica and Latin America play at various clubs in Hartford. When the weather is good you can check out a cricket match or the rose garden in Elizabeth Park.
Bottom-line: Hartford is not as bad as many posters on this board suggest. It is like any city, there are areas that are rough and there are areas that aren’t.
I would strongly support living in Hartford. I used to live in Hartford before going to NYC. My top choices for neighborhoods would be the West End and Downtown.
My family owned an apartment building in the west end for years and truly loved it. The west end is home to some great restaurants (Braza, Half Door, Tisane, Wood n Tap), has easy access to downtown and to the highways (I-84 is minutes away). The west end also has tons of historic housing. Look into Clemens Place which is located on and off of Farmington Avenue. Clemens Place is a restored 1920's collections of about 700 apartments that are housed in numerous buildings.
(Clemens Place Website: Welcome to Clemens Place (http://www.clemensplace.com/index.html - broken link) )
Also in the west end are the Boulevard West Apartments on West Blvd which is literally at the footsteps of I-84 and also just minutes from downtown. Although you might have to hop in a car to hit some of the neighborhood hotspots the popular Wood N Tap is right around the corner. This is a complex with 168 units. Their
I would strongly support living in Hartford. I used to live in Hartford before going to NYC. My top choices for neighborhoods would be the West End and Downtown.
My family owned an apartment building in the west end for years and truly loved it. The west end is home to some great restaurants (Braza, Half Door, Tisane, Wood n Tap), has easy access to downtown and to the highways (I-84 is minutes away). The west end also has tons of historic housing. Look into Clemens Place which is located on and off of Farmington Avenue. Clemens Place is a restored 1920's collections of about 700 apartments that are housed in numerous buildings.
(Clemens Place Website: Welcome to Clemens Place (http://www.clemensplace.com/index.html - broken link) )
Also in the west end are the Boulevard West Apartments on West Blvd which is literally at the footsteps of I-84 and also just minutes from downtown. Although you might have to hop in a car to hit some of the neighborhood hotspots the popular Wood N Tap is right around the corner. This is a complex with 168 units. Their wbsite is Boulevard West Home
If your considering downtown there are many options ...most of which are new (meaning new construction or newly renovated buildings). The problem is they can be expensive and smaller and cheaper units have waiting lists.
Downtown has really turned around over the last 10 years. Downtown was never a dangerous place - let me make that clear. But it is a business district and for way to long it was a Monday-Friday 9-5 place that was hopping as thousands went downtown to work and left at the end of the day. Over the last 10 years 1,000+ new condos and apartments have been brought onto the downtown market, new hotels have opened and others have been renovated and a huge number of new restaurants and bars have opened.
[quote=ctman1987;2582109] The west end is home to some great restaurants (Braza, Half Door, Tisane, Wood n Tap), [quote]
Don't forget Ichiban...best sushi in Hartford. Have patronized them since back when they were still at Gold Street. They have watched my kids grow out of their booster seats into sitting at the sushi bar and putting tips in their jar!
Is there any compelling reason why you would choose to live in Hartford? I lived in West Hartford and my commute to Hartford (Farmington Av/Sigourney) was a whopping 4 miles!! Can't beat that, plus you still don't have to hop on to I-84...
Linkys please? I REALLY don't know where to begin to search out these areas via googling
I have lived in the area my entire life and I am moving to an apartment in the south end of Hartford in about 5 months. I can confidently say that there is not a "bad" area to live in Hartford proper EXCEPT for the area known locally as "War Zone". This area comprises streets such as Garden, Mather, Vine, etc. This area hosts the highest concentration of murders, robberies, and violence in the city. This what people envision when they hear about the mythical "North End" of Hartford.
On top of the fact that most serious violence in Hartford is gang and drug fueled, you won't have any trouble living anywhere else in the city. A professional like yourself has relatively little chance of catching beef with a drug pushing street gang.
TiZZ, you are right on!. Most people perceive Hartford to be this giant ghetto. In reality, the city is only a little over 17 square miles (Phoenix is almost 600) and has less crime than most large cities in this country. If you figure Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford and maybe Bloomfield and Wethersfield into the equation, Hartford's crime rate would be minimal. Putting those cities into one would equal most mid sized to large cities in this country land wise.
The crime Hartford does have is concentrated in small areas of the city. If you are not a gang member or drug addict, you most likely will never see a crime happen inside Hartford city proper. This doesn't mean there won't be a robbery, or car theft downtown, but what major American city doesn't have that happen? There is probably more property theft in Paradise Valley, AZ than there is in downtown Hartford!
The people who say "I would never live in Hartford" make up the biggest problem facing the city. These are people who live in the suburbs and generally have never lived in another state. Ask them what they like about Connecticut and usually they will say "it is 2 hours from New York and Connecticut." If that is the best thing you can say about your home then you have a problem.
I've lived in many places and have never seen such negativity toward the core city anywhere. So many suburbanites want Hartford to fail and I can't understand why.
But back to the question: there are nice sections of Hartford.
1. Downtown. It is very safe and there are more apartments and condos coming on-line. If you are single and work in the city, it is the best option for living. You can walk to bars, restaurants, a couple of gyms, Bushnell Park is great for touch football, running, catching rays, walking the dog, festivals and Monday night jazz. It is also the scene of First Night on New Year's Eve with two spectacular fireworks shows. The riverfront is the scene of the biggest 4th of July festival in the state, and there are river cruises and fishing tournaments and rowing. You can walk to three theaters (Bushnell, Hartford Stage, and Theaterworks." There is a drug store (CVS) and a grocery store coming at Hartford 21. The art museum (Wadsworth) and other cultural attractions. UConn games and concerts at the Civic Center and plenty of churches. If you need to travel the train station is there and there is a shuttle to Bradley Airport. The Old State House and Butler McCook House along with the State Capitol provide some historic attractions. You will not find another place in Metro Hartford that provides so much in walking distance.
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Can't beat that, plus you still don't have to hop on to I-84...
