[CorbnPipsMom]

We currently live in Winsted; moved here for DH's job, which was elminated. He has worked in Canton for going on 3 years, and we are now ready to buy a house. We are looking in a 30-40 minutes radius around Canton.

My DD sees several specialists, all of whom are in West Hartford (one is in Woodstock), so we spend a lot of time in that area. We also like to shop at Whole Foods in WH, as well as going to the mall, bookstores, Target, Trader Joe's, and eating at any of the local restaurants.

As you can see, Winsted does not serve any of our needs. The clincher is that we cannot afford Canton (or any place else in the Valley) or West Hartford. So I've been searching towns within our radius on Realtor.com, and it seems that we can get the most house for our money in New Britain, Bristol, Torrington, those type of places. But I see that NB is on many people's bottom five lists! Eek!

FYI: Our children are homeschooled so we don't care too much about bad schools; if we had to put the children in school, we would likely use the Sudbury school in NB. What I like about NB is that it is centrally located to all the things we do, it's close to 84, 91 & 9 (my parents live on the shore near 9 so they would be closer to us), and houses are relatively cheap.

I know plenty about the other town in our radius, having lived in East Granby and Bristol, but I know very little about NB. So, please tell me all you know.

Thanks!

Megan

[JViello]

If you find the right neighborhood, NB can be okay...BUT you WILL pay through the NOSE on taxes (IIRC they are the second highest mill rate in the state) and IMHO the city is just a beat down ghetto more than not.

Out of those you listed, I would put Bristol first, and Torrington second.

[ctman1987]

New Britain is not that bad. There are many lovely neighborhoods in New Britain and you can probably afford a much nicer house in New Britain then in many other Connecituct communities.

Yes there can be some poor parts of New Britain but there are also some very nice and quaint parts. For example there are some beautiful houses that line Vine Street that are right across from Walnut Hill Park and within walking distance of the Hospital of Central Connecticut.

Honestly what I like about New Britain is that is retained a lot of its history. I love Hartford but much of old Hartford was destroyed for new development. New Britain is home to hundreds of great historic buildings - for example just look at City Hall and the Public Library.

Also I will put this out there - of all the downtowns in Connecticut cities (New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, etc) New Britain is one of the few that actually has downtown grocery stores.

[bibit612]

I prefer Bloomfield to New Britain...areas bordering WH or Simsbury, near Cigna.

[davfar]

New Britain is a nice city. It's not all as bad as some people make it out to be. The west end is very nice...as is the northern part of town near Farmington...and also the area around CCSU. As stated though...taxes are insane! Consider Plainville along with Bristol and your other towns. It's just as accessible as NB and more accessible than Bristol. Not sure what your budget is, but you might be surprised about what's on the market out there in different price ranges!

[bibit612]

I guess I'm confused by the request for NB information since OP has posted desired proximity to Canton and WH...how is NB close to this? Or is the NB preference due to the school in NB and family off Rte-9 in the shore? I am now getting geographically challenged...how far does Rte 9 extend to reach the shore?

[JayCT]

West Hartford is about 5 miles from New Britain and 15 miles to Canton. Definitely within commuting distance. Route 9 starts at I-84 near West Farms (at the West Hartford/Farmington town line), heads south to New Britain, then east to Cromwell, then south to Middletown and continues through the lower Connecticut River Valley to Old Saybrook. So living off Route 9 would be convenient to the shore.

As bibit612 says maybe consider Bloomfield as an options. It is a very nice town and convenient to the areas you would like to be (Canton and West Hartford), plus home prices are reasonable for a great non-urban location. Jay

[bibit612]

Oh, okay, I get it. Well then, OP should choose to stay as close to Rte-9 as possible, in the middle b/w Farmington and Old Saybrook...like Middletown, or Newington, or Rocky Hill. Then, commute to Canton would be north to Rte 9, exit South St. in Farmington, to Route 6, to Rte 4 (?) or Rte-10(?), yes?

[JViello]

I'm starting to wonder if many people who live here and have either never lived anywhere else or visited other cities much realize just how bad and dirty and gritty and "ghetto" our cities are. Yes you can say it about other areas of the country and New England too, but I am not going to point to bad to justify "bad". The cities in CT are in serious need of something beside state money.

New Britian is by far, a dirty, gritty, old, run down mill city with some decent pockets here and there. Same for other cities like my hometown of Waterbury.

Here are some pics that reflect most what you would see in NB if you just got off RT9 and decided to drive around.

[bibit612]

Awww ,JViello, such depressing pics, but I have driven those streets before, like where the Polish/Russian grocery stores are. Best places to get pirogis! Did not want to say anything bad about NB but I remembered we used to shop the Walmart there when we lived in Farmington and the next closest one was in Newington, or Manchester, before they opened the Avon one. They eventually closed that Walmart down since we were told that more goods go out the back door than out the front which makes me wonder why OP was thinking about NB.