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Hello great people of Connecticut. Two job offers that both pay around the same. I have 3 kids from 8th grade down to 4th grade and my wife. Two towns in the area of my jobs are glastonbury and east aurora. I have looked up homes from each town and picked the one that was my favorite.
650 Willardshire Road, East Aurora NY
$895000
5 Bed/3 Bath
4867/sqft $184/sqft
Not only these homes but both towns had many homes likes these within my budget. Does anyone from the great people of connecticut know anything about both of these towns and how they compare? This is the first forum that I found with a poll.
Glastonbury is upper middle class suburb in Hartford metro area in northern portion of the state it is located 10 mins-15 mins from Downtown Hartford, 40 mins from Downtown New Haven. The town is less than hour from the beach, has some top notch schools, low crime rate, good for families, easy access to the highway.
Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Barnes & Noble, Home Depot and some good restaurants and shops
The bad of side of it
Expensive
High property taxes
East Aurora NY is located in western New York near the buffalo area which has long winters not too sure about it.
Really comes down to weather. I mean Upstate NY winter's are brutal. On the flip side both near two beautiful cities. Not sure about crime have heard Rochester to get a bad rep as of lately. Your also near the Finger Lakes in NY and two Great Lakes. Also believe lower taxes in Upstate NY compared to CT.
Both relative distance to football team's. Say Buffalo and Rochester are more lively active than any city in CT. However, you are close to Boston and NYC.
School's are about the same.
Really comes down to weather is the only difference.
I wouldn't want to endure the Buffalo area winters. Glastonbury has excellent schools - how about East Aurora? Glastonbury is a bigger school, so likely has more options in terms of both curriculum and extra-curricular activities. At the high school level, GHS is more diverse racially than East Aurora HS.
The Z-Estimate for that home in East Aurora is $487,000. The one in Glastonbury has a Z-Estimate of $795,000.
Glastonbury seems to have a higher median income and higher overall home values.
The Glastonbury home has property taxes of about $20,000/year, while East Aurora is about $16,000/yr. Of course, if the East Aurora home is really worth $487,000, then you're taxes there are pretty high based on the value.
While CT winters are bad East Aurora, NY is on another level. In Ct the average snowball is between 45-59 inches in East Aurora, NY the average is 85-90 inches.
RunD1987 how much more exciting is buffalo than hartford? Have only been in hartford once. My friend told me that hartford was okay. My parents live in williamsville and have only been to downtown buffalo a few times. All I remember was eating good food and going to a bills game in orchard park. My parents told me that buffalo was okay also but had some exciting areas. How exciting is Hartford? Will not be spending much time in downtown but for food and entertainment.
RunD1987 how much more exciting is buffalo than hartford? Have only been in hartford once. My friend told me that hartford was okay. My parents live in williamsville and have only been to downtown buffalo a few times. All I remember was eating good food and going to a bills game in orchard park. My parents told me that buffalo was okay also but had some exciting areas. How exciting is Hartford? Will not be spending much time in downtown but for food and entertainment.
I can give you some insight on Hartford. I've lived here for over 35 years. The city of Hartford is ok. Hartford is a 9-5 city which means it's mostly a large office park that is only busy during the day. Once all the insurance companies and businesses get out at 4pm, then a majority of them leave for the suburbs. Only a few stay in downtown because they live there. Downtown Hartford is not only an office park but recently it has been turning into an apartment hub. Many old downtown buildings are being converted into apartments. This brings people into downtown however it doesn't mean it has an exciting nightlife. Downtown is only busy at night unless there's a concert or sporting event. There are a few things to do in downtown such as the Connecticut Science Center, Hartford Stage, Connecticut Convention Center, XL Center (sporting venue), The Bushnell (theater), and the Wadsworth (oldest public arts gallery in the country). Besides that and a few nice restaurants...that's pretty much it. It's nothing like Boston and NYC. Other cities such as those 2 take away all the competition. Once you get outside of downtown Hartford you'll think you hit poverty struck neighborhoods and high crime areas though don't be fooled. Not all of Hartford is crime ridden. All major cities have good and bad areas. The suburban folks only listen to the news and believe Hartford is the worst place on earth but it's really not that bad. It's the norm to hear about shootings in Hartford but like any major city...it isn't perfect.
Hartford isn't a very affluent city. Most of the wealth is in the suburbs. Greater Hartford is one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the country I believe. The suburbs are much more spread out than you may think. Hartford's population is less than a tenth of the metropolitan areas population. The suburbs include many large and small towns and cities that offer a lot. There's rural communities such as Ellington and Tolland. There's urban communities such as West Hartford and New Britain. Most of these communities have great schools, low crime, good hospitals, and a overall high quality of life. If I have to choose where to live I personally wouldn't pick to live in Hartford. With your budget you have better options. The suburbs do offer more. Hartford only offers jobs and entertainment. Suburbs offer you a better family environment and a higher quality of life. Glastonbury is one of the best towns in the area to be honest. One of the moderators on here lives or has family living in Glastonbury. If he decides to respond he'll give more detail. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with Glastonbury but it does have a reputation to be desirable for families.
I didn't know they had homes for $800K near Buffalo......my sister has a huge house with a lot of land in one of the richer suburbs and she paid only about $300K or so.
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