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Old 02-26-2020, 07:02 AM
 
5 posts, read 3,280 times
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My wife and I are relocating with our preschool aged child to the Hartford area this summer. She'll be working at UConn (Storrs), while I will likely be working in New Britain. We made a brief visit up already to look at various cities around the area and really like Wethersfield and Manchester. However, Wethersfield might be a slightly longer commute for her than we we were hoping to have, while Manchester seems to be a pretty good commute for both of us.

In researching other relocation threads on here, it seems that there is an overwhelmingly negative perception of the Manchester school system. I was hoping folks might provide me a little bit more insight on the schools. Does anyone find these negative perceptions overblown?

Thanks for any insights you can provide.
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Old 02-26-2020, 08:01 AM
 
Location: Connecticut
2,488 posts, read 4,695,110 times
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Normally I would encourage people to treat online reviews with a grain of salt, as these are often places for people to vent their frustrations. But truth be told, Manchester schools have been in decline for some time. The town has many well-kept areas and homes, but lately the schools have taken on more urban characteristics. I would definitely suggest Wethersfield if you are well-performing schools. The schools are absolutely better here, and it's just overall a more desirable town.
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Old 02-26-2020, 08:21 AM
 
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Thank you for the response. Your point about treating online reviews with a grain of salt is well taken. Are there any specifics you could provide me about how the schools have declined?

I would also be interested if there are any other recommendations for towns that would be within a 30-35 minute commute of both Storrs and New Britain. Ideally, we are looking for at least a somewhat diverse town that at least has some ability to walk to a couple of restaurants, a library, coffee shop, etc.

I've seen very positive things about Glastonbury, but I have also heard from various people who live in the area that there is a certain level of entitlement among students once you get to the middle school and high school levels (i.e., many kids driving BMWs, Mercedes, etc.) and that there is a drug problem common in more affluent communities in the high school. Can anyone speak to that feedback on Glastonbury?
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Old 02-26-2020, 08:35 AM
 
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Glastonbury is an excellent town with excellent schools and some nice shops and restaurants in Glastonbury Center. The schools are very well supported by the town.

It's an upscale town overall, so I'm sure there are some kids in the large high school that have nice cars like BMWs, but I'm guessing most will have cars that are much more modest, and at least some of the BMWs/Benzs that kids drive are several years old. We've lived in several towns in CT and there are always at least a few kids that have really nice cars in high school in many towns outside the cities.

Drugs can be a problem at any middle school or high school - I don't think it's by any means exclusive to Glastonbury or any neighboring town.
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Old 02-26-2020, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Connecticut
2,488 posts, read 4,695,110 times
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Wethersfield itself has many beautiful walkable neighborhoods and a charming downtown area, so this would fit your criteria. West Hartford is definitely walkable and has very good schools, but property taxes are high here. Newington is also another possibility, as they have good schools and walkable neighborhoods. All of these inner suburbs are diverse, with many streets laid out in a grid pattern, which makes them walkable. Glastonbury is also very nice and has top-notch schools, it's just not particularly walkable.
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Old 02-26-2020, 10:50 AM
 
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It's going to be difficult to split that commute evenly because of needing to get through Hartford/across the river. I think you'd need to live in a smaller town to make it work, and the CT small towns generally don't have a ton of ethnic/racial diversity, although economic diversity is not uncommon.

Tolland is super close to Storrs, and has a little downtown area, but it's 35 min to New Britain without traffic.

Towns east of Glastonbury, like Marlborough and Hebron, are within 30 mins of Storrs and would make for an easier commute to New Britain since you can avoid Hartford entirely. I am not familiar with those towns but know that others here are.
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Old 02-26-2020, 11:04 AM
 
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Thank you to everyone for all of the information. I really appreciate it.

The move is for my wife's job at UConn. Based on my career specialization and desire to work in the public sector, New Britain is the most likely place for me to work because that is where the state government agencies focusing on my specialization are located.

Our initial focus on Manchester wasn't related to budget for housing, but rather that we liked the main street area of Manchester and what we perceived as its walkability on our admittedly very brief visit to the Hartford area. From an affordability perspective, we could make houses on the lower end of the market in Glastonbury work for sure.

I have seen a lot about traffic being bad and have seen the "work on the same side of the river" advice quite a bit. I've lived in New York City, Austin (TX), and Washington D.C., so my perception of bad traffic might be different than others. Are we talking an extra 15-20 minutes on what would normally be a 20ish minute commute, or something more?

Thanks again for all of the advice.

Last edited by JayCT; 02-26-2020 at 07:36 PM.. Reason: Remove deleted quote
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Old 02-26-2020, 11:39 AM
 
1,928 posts, read 2,023,565 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642 View Post
Thank you to everyone for all of the information. I really appreciate it.

The move is for my wife's job at UConn. Based on my career specialization and desire to work in the public sector, New Britain is the most likely place for me to work because that is where the state government agencies focusing on my specialization are located.

Our initial focus on Manchester wasn't related to budget for housing, but rather that we liked the main street area of Manchester and what we perceived as its walkability on our admittedly very brief visit to the Hartford area. From an affordability perspective, we could make houses on the lower end of the market in Glastonbury work for sure.

I have seen a lot about traffic being bad and have seen the "work on the same side of the river" advice quite a bit. I've lived in New York City, Austin (TX), and Washington D.C., so my perception of bad traffic might be different than others. Are we talking an extra 15-20 minutes on what would normally be a 20ish minute commute, or something more?

Thanks again for all of the advice.
The Hartford traffic issues are intermittent, and driven by infrastructure, not the volume of Beltway or 66 in DC.
Limited lane availability and bad interchange design lead to nightmares when something goes wrong. That is the issue you would have in commuting over the river through Hartford to New Britain from Manchester, it is an ugly road alignment that is prone to problems. 30+ minute backups in the Hartford area are not everyday problems, but have a high likelihood of happening on routes like that one.
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Old 02-26-2020, 07:42 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,745 posts, read 56,555,858 times
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There have been a number of rude and off topic comments made on this thread. I have deleted them and responses to them. Please stick to the topic of the OP o4 your post will be deleted and infractions issued. JayCT, Moderator
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Old 02-26-2020, 08:42 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,745 posts, read 56,555,858 times
Reputation: 11168
Quote:
Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642 View Post
Thank you for the response. Your point about treating online reviews with a grain of salt is well taken. Are there any specifics you could provide me about how the schools have declined?

I would also be interested if there are any other recommendations for towns that would be within a 30-35 minute commute of both Storrs and New Britain. Ideally, we are looking for at least a somewhat diverse town that at least has some ability to walk to a couple of restaurants, a library, coffee shop, etc.

I've seen very positive things about Glastonbury, but I have also heard from various people who live in the area that there is a certain level of entitlement among students once you get to the middle school and high school levels (i.e., many kids driving BMWs, Mercedes, etc.) and that there is a drug problem common in more affluent communities in the high school. Can anyone speak to that feedback on Glastonbury?
Quote:
Originally Posted by deerhuntr5642 View Post
Thank you to everyone for all of the information. I really appreciate it.

The move is for my wife's job at UConn. Based on my career specialization and desire to work in the public sector, New Britain is the most likely place for me to work because that is where the state government agencies focusing on my specialization are located.

Our initial focus on Manchester wasn't related to budget for housing, but rather that we liked the main street area of Manchester and what we perceived as its walkability on our admittedly very brief visit to the Hartford area. From an affordability perspective, we could make houses on the lower end of the market in Glastonbury work for sure.

I have seen a lot about traffic being bad and have seen the "work on the same side of the river" advice quite a bit. I've lived in New York City, Austin (TX), and Washington D.C., so my perception of bad traffic might be different than others. Are we talking an extra 15-20 minutes on what would normally be a 20ish minute commute, or something more?

Thanks again for all of the advice.
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
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