[deerhuntr5642]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It is about 40 miles from Storrs to New Britain. Half way would be around Manchester. The only problem is a commute from Manchester to New Britain involves going through Hartford which would mean traffic congestion every day. Glastonbury would help you avoid that.

You do not say what your budget is or if you are buying or renting. Glastonbury is an affluent town and like ANY affluent town it does have some people with a sense of entitlement. That said I think it is greatly exaggerated. There is a wide range of housing types from modest public owned apartments to a few large mansions. This means you have a wide range of people. Most are hard working middle class who care about their kids future. That is why Glastonbury has one of the best performing school systems in the state. The town also has a good selection of stores and restaurants and a lot of great family things to do. It is about 35 minutes to Storrs and 30 minutes to New Britain. You avoid Hartford because you are south of the city and you can cross the river to I-91 south to Route 9 north to New Britain. This avoids the worst of Hartford traffic. There are even neighborhoods that are walkable. I suggest you consider it. Jay

I appreciate the additional information from everyone. It seems like we will need to give Glastonbury a second look. We are looking to buy, but will consider finding something shorter-term to allow us to find the right fit. We are hoping to stay below $400,000, but we could make something a bit above that work for the right house.

JayCT (or others), would you mind sharing the names of the neighborhoods that are walkable to the extent they're named?

Thanks again everyone.

[DK736]

If you can afford Glastonbury, that would be very beneficial for you in terms of cutting down commute time. It's also a great town. There are some rich snobs there, and my cousins have told me countless stories of 16 year olds pulling up to high school in shiny new BMWs and Audis, but it's nothing to stress over.


Manchester has some historic landmarks, especially on Main St. However, there are a lot of crappy areas, and a good chunk of the town is run down with drug addicts. Also, their school system isn't the greatest. Commuting from Wethersfield to Storrs actually isn't that bad. I live in Wethersfield, and I have a friend that used to drive back and forth to UConn instead of staying on campus. He told me the drive was always fine, and he had to be up early for most of his classes, so he was commuting with rush hour traffic.


The commute from Wethersfield to New Britain isn't bad either. You can take route 9, or go down Cedar Mountain in Newington and go all the way towards CCSU. And if you really needed to, you could get there using the Berlin Turnpike. So you have multiple options to get there. However, traffic can really backed up after 5 over by CCSU.

[DK736]

Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642

I appreciate the additional information from everyone. It seems like we will need to give Glastonbury a second look. We are looking to buy, but will consider finding something shorter-term to allow us to find the right fit. We are hoping to stay below $400,000, but we could make something a bit above that work for the right house.

JayCT (or others), would you mind sharing the names of the neighborhoods that are walkable to the extent they're named?

Thanks again everyone.

For Glastonbury: Hebron Ave, Talcott Rd, Old Stage Rd, Hubbard Dr, and Sherman Rd come to mind. All of those are walkable to get to Main St, including Glastonbury Center.

[deerhuntr5642]

Originally Posted by DK736

For Glastonbury: Hebron Ave, Talcott Rd, Old Stage Rd, Hubbard Dr, and Sherman Rd come to mind. All of those are walkable to get to Main St, including Glastonbury Center.

Is Glastonbury Center the area where the Whole Foods is located?

[brownedbits]

Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642

Is Glastonbury Center the area where the Whole Foods is located?

Yes

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642

I appreciate the additional information from everyone. It seems like we will need to give Glastonbury a second look. We are looking to buy, but will consider finding something shorter-term to allow us to find the right fit. We are hoping to stay below $400,000, but we could make something a bit above that work for the right house.

JayCT (or others), would you mind sharing the names of the neighborhoods that are walkable to the extent they're named?

Thanks again everyone.

DK736 has some good suggestions. I’d also suggest the streets off of Main Street south of Rankin Road. In your price range, I’d recommend Buttonball, University Streets or Addison Park neighborhoods to start. These neighborhoods have nice homes of about 1,800 to 2,700 square feet on 1/3 to 2/3 acre lots. They may not be walkable to Glastonbury Center but they are walkable to parks (Addison Park and Pool, Addison Bog, Rotary Field), and schools (Smith Middle, Buttonball).

There are also several pockets of homes off Naubuc Avenue, Spring Street and Pratt Street. There are some streets in and around South Glastonbury and the area around Eastbury School is walkable to the East Glastonbury Library, post office and Eastbury Pond. There are also a few streets in the Buckingham section of East Glastonbury around a Highland Park Market, Walgreens and Buckingham Park. I hope this helps. Jay