[ne2019]

Hello! My husband and soon-to-be-born baby and I will be moving to CT next year, ideally in June. I will be working in New Haven, and he will be working in Hartford. We are hoping to live somewhere in between and keep our commutes within 30 minutes each. If needed, I could do up to a 50 min commute (which I am used to doing now), but his job is less flexible.

We are looking to rent, not buy, because we'll only be in the area for a couple of years. We are hoping for a 3-4 bed / 2 bath rental of any sort (house/condo/townhouse/apartment), and our budget is up to $3500/month.

We've spent most of the past decade living in Chicago and then in NYC/northern NJ, so we are pretty accustomed to high rent, bad traffic, etc. Our biggest priorities are safety/family-friendliness and ease of commute. Amenities like restaurants/downtown/parks are not necessary but would be nice perks.

Based on searches of past threads, we've started looking at areas like North Haven, Wallingford, Cheshire, and Middletown. Are there other towns you would recommend? How early do we need to start looking in earnest for a June move-in? Do most people go through a realtor?

Thanks in advance!


Edit: Forgot to mention that we both have early-start jobs, meaning we'll usually be leaving the house before 7am. Not sure if that would impact the commute situation significantly.

[Mr_250]

I’ll be selfish and say Southington. I work in New Haven and have worked in Hartford. Southington is right in the middle. Same start time as you (7am). It’s a good community it has two “smallish” downtown area with plenty of activities and restaurants. It’s safe and everything you need is on Queen street.

Here to NH (I’m in downtown NH) is about 35 to 40 minutes. Hartford is about the same

[kidyankee764]

I’d say Wallingford is your best bet. It’s slighfly closer to New Haven but 91 is a breeze compared to 84 (until you get to downtown Hartford and New Haven). Cromwell is another option.

[RunD1987]

Wallingford or Southington can't go wrong. Budget can go far in these towns. Seems average rents are around $2000.

Could also check out Middletown as a dark horse. Can get a huge nice new rentals in a large community at a low monthly rent.

[JayCT]

Your budget should be more than adequate to get what you want in Central Connecticut and the towns you mention are all good. Which is best depends on which city you want to live closer to and the type of town you want. For ease of commuting for both of you I would recommend sticking to towns along the I-91 corridor. Going far off if it will add time to both your commutes and with a young child I doubt you need or want that.

I agree with Kidyankee that Wallingford is a great town to consider. It is a nice middle class community with a wide range of housing options so it should have what you are looking for. North Haven is similar but a bit more upscale. Either would be great options if you want to live closer to New Haven than Hartford.

Middletown is also nice and is about halfway between Hartford and New Haven. There is also a wide range of housing options there but you might to be a bit careful where in Middletown you live. It is a large town and some of it is not as easy to commute from than others. I would suggest you concentrate your search to the Westfield area which is located west of downtown and closer to I-91. It will make your commutes much easier. You also might want to consider neighboring Cromwell and Berlin as well.

Cheshire is a nice upscale town that is more or less equal distance between New Haven and Hartford. It is a bit less convenient to commute from because it is not located directly on the I-91 corridor.

If you do not mind living closer to Hartford you might want to consider Rocky Hill. It has a lot of rentals though most are apartments. Still it is a nice middle class town with lots of shopping and restaurants. Hope this helps. Jay

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by ne2019

Hello! My husband and soon-to-be-born baby and I will be moving to CT next year, ideally in June. I will be working in New Haven, and he will be working in Hartford. We are hoping to live somewhere in between and keep our commutes within 30 minutes each. If needed, I could do up to a 50 min commute (which I am used to doing now), but his job is less flexible.

We are looking to rent, not buy, because we'll only be in the area for a couple of years. We are hoping for a 3-4 bed / 2 bath rental of any sort (house/condo/townhouse/apartment), and our budget is up to $3500/month.

We've spent most of the past decade living in Chicago and then in NYC/northern NJ, so we are pretty accustomed to high rent, bad traffic, etc. Our biggest priorities are safety/family-friendliness and ease of commute. Amenities like restaurants/downtown/parks are not necessary but would be nice perks.

Based on searches of past threads, we've started looking at areas like North Haven, Wallingford, Cheshire, and Middletown. Are there other towns you would recommend? How early do we need to start looking in earnest for a June move-in? Do most people go through a realtor?

Thanks in advance!


Edit: Forgot to mention that we both have early-start jobs, meaning we'll usually be leaving the house before 7am. Not sure if that would impact the commute situation significantly.

All the towns I am seeing for suggestions on this thread are good ones.

I personally have friends and family in.......

Two cousins in North Haven. One was school teacher and so was her husband. It is very nice with very good schools. With you going to be a mom I like to see the moms as close to the children in daycare/school as possible. In my mind North Haven is the best one. There is now a train between New Haven and Hartford. There is a station in Wallingford. Your husband can take the train from Wallingford to Hartford. Google maps says the station on North Cherry Street is 10 minutes from the North Haven Town Hall. Wallingford to Hartford is 1/2 hour by train. Not sure about the drive. Hartford Line | Route & Stations: Wallingford

My husband's uncle lived in Middletown and I really like it there. I has a nice little downtown area. He was a principle in Durham and that is more rural. We were all originally from Stamford. We know people from Stamford who now live in Durham, Middlebury and Wallingford and they love it up there. I am pretty sure the schools are better in Durham, Middlebury and Wallingford over Middletown.

Friends in Cheshire. It is more rural and I believe they have the best schools of all the towns being mentioned in this thread so far. You can usually tell the quality of a town by the quality of it's schools.

This is from Schooldigger.com on CT school districts. There are 169 school districts in CT.
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/CT/districtrank.aspx

#25 Cheshire
#38 Middlebury
#49 North Haven
#62 Durham
#67 Southington
#107 Wallingford
#120 Middletown

Bear in mind the state of CT has some of the best schools in the nation. I have seen CT listed in the top 10 for schools in the nation many times. This one has CT schools as #3. The next one has CT as #5. Even the school systems in the middle of the ranking are probably better than most states.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemo.../#7af6bcb33897
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ols/1079181001

BTW if you have $3500 for rent/house you will have a very nice lifestyle here and can go for the best towns with the best schools. The most expensive town with the best schools is Cheshire with an average house price of $350,000. North Haven average price is $300,000. Look what you can buy for $3500 a month in Cheshire.

Mortgage & taxes are all under $3500 on these houses, wow.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_25811991
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_25306809
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_26373232

[parentologist]

You can find what you're looking for for well under your budget. If I were you, I would be looking along I91, because it would make the commute easy for each of you.

[Stylo]

It really depends on how you want to divide commute. Wallingford is a very good mid way option. So is Middletown. Middletown is very affordable and has a decent downtown.

North Haven is a good option closer to New Haven.

With a new baby, if you want to be really close to your job and daycare, I would throw out East Rock in New Haven as an option. It’s a very safe area with young professionals and young families, and lots of rentals. Near 91. You can usually get to Hartford in about 45 minutes with moderate traffic. Nearby Whitneyville in Hamden bleeds into that area and is very nice.

Good luck!

[hvexpatinct]

Think about how you want to handle childcare before you make a decision on where to live. Your early morning logistics could be very difficult if you truly split a commute. I think I'd stick with either North Haven or Rocky Hill, for proximity to one job and availability of a variety of childcare options.

[Reilly1017]

I know you said renting and any house type but if you do want privacy/space (no condo/townhouse) then Cheshire may be a good choice because it would have more single family homes for rent.

In my experience, central/Northern CT doesn’t usually have a lot of larger single family homes (non-small ranch/cape). Between taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc, it often times doesn’t make sense to do so.