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Anyone on this forum from this area or know about it? Would it be a decent area to raise a family? Just curious to know anything about it.
Windsor Locks is a small mill town that has sort of seen better days. It is more of a working class, blue collar type community. It is technically home to Bradley International Airport but that is located on the fringe of the town itself. There are a lot of businesses relating to the airport there. Schools in Windsor Locks perform under the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests. That said there are many very nice towns nearby that you could consider. If you give us more information like your budget and what you want/need and the type of community you like (urban, suburban, rural) we can help you find a town to suit your needs. Off hand I would look at neighboring Suffield, East Granby and Granby. Jay
Anyone on this forum from this area or know about it? Would it be a decent area to raise a family? Just curious to know anything about it.
I agree with what Jay said. If you're from outside the area, most towns in Connecticut are fairly small in terms of square mileage (there are exceptions), so it is very easy to live 10-15 miles from work and be three or four towns over. so, also look at Somers, South Windsor and Ellington, and maybe Simsbury if you want outstanding schools and can afford it.
I grew up in Cromwell, and it was like 12 miles to Hartford. I'd have to drive through Rocky Hill and Wethersfield to get to downtown Hartford. If I took an alternate route due to an accident on 91, it was maybe a mile or two longer, and I'd go through Berlin, Newington and Wethersfield to Hartford. In some places in the US, you might still be in the same subdivision.
I agree with what Jay said. If you're from outside the area, most towns in Connecticut are fairly small in terms of square mileage (there are exceptions), so it is very easy to live 10-15 miles from work and be three or four towns over. so, also look at Somers, South Windsor and Ellington, and maybe Simsbury if you want outstanding schools and can afford it.
I grew up in Cromwell, and it was like 12 miles to Hartford. I'd have to drive through Rocky Hill and Wethersfield to get to downtown Hartford. If I took an alternate route due to an accident on 91, it was maybe a mile or two longer, and I'd go through Berlin, Newington and Wethersfield to Hartford. In some places in the US, you might still be in the same subdivision.
True. Unlike other parts of the country, Connecticut is divided up into 169 independent municipalities. They range in size from about 5.4 square miles (Derby) to 63.7 square miles (New Milford). There are no unincorporated areas of the state and there is no county level of government, just state and the municipality. For the most part each town has its own school district. There are however a couple of regional school districts which serve a couple of small towns each. The other suggestion NewJeffCT gave are also very good. Like he said it depends on your budget and how far you are willing to commute. Jay
Thanks for your replies. We're actually only from MA but have no clue about the specific area. We drove through once but i like hearing from others who know it better. Schooling would not be a problem as we homeschool. What is the crime like? Any issues with drugs etc? We prefer rural and suburban. We do like the towns mentioned better but we see a home in windsor locks that caught our attention.
Thanks for your replies. We're actually only from MA but have no clue about the specific area. We drove through once but i like hearing from others who know it better. Schooling would not be a problem as we homeschool. What is the crime like? Any issues with drugs etc? We prefer rural and suburban. We do like the towns mentioned better but we see a home in windsor locks that caught our attention.
Crime should not be a problem in Windsor Locks. It is a small town and does not have any real issues with crime. Keep in mind that there are drug problems everywhere these days so you won't be completely away from it. Jay
I worked at the high school in the late 90s. It was 98% white with a lot of kids with issues. At that time property taxes were the 2nd lowest in the state. There was a teacher who drove a Cadillac. He was asked to park in back of the school because it looked bad that a teacher would drive a Caddy with taxpayer money, lol!
I briefly rented in Suffield. Make sure you understand where you are relative to the runways at Bradley. Living at 3 mile final approach to Runway 24 sucked since that's usually the active runway. If Runway 33 is the active, most of Windsor Locks has noise problems.
My friend lives in Windsor Locks and loves it. It is conveniently located and the taxes and homes are very affordable. His children went to Bryant and Western New England College. Schools underperform largely due to greater poverty levels than some of the better performing districts (affordable communities attract more people of lower income, go figure). Poverty is highly correlated to test performance. Students from more affluent and educated families tend to have higher individual scores even in districts that underperform on average.
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