Considering move to Litchfield County (New Haven, Hartford: budget, travel, work)

[jbenton]

My family is considering a move to Litchfield County - we're currently living in New Haven County. We have 2 small children that will be starting school in 3-4 years, so good schools are very important. We are hoping to find a city that is semi-rural but with shopping/amenities nearby, good schools, low crime, a quaint, New England feel, and good-sized homes in the price range of $300K to $350K...3/4 bed, 2 bath, 1800+ sq ft and a nice yard.

Can anyone recommend any cities in Litchfield County that fit the bill? Or, is the price range in this area too high for what we're looking for?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[JayCT]

A large part of Litchfield County is rural in character so not all of it would meet your criteria to be near shopping and amenities. That said there are a couple of differnet places to look. The first that comes to mind is New Milford. It is a great small town with a nice downtown area and most major shopping needs nearby. It has a nice rural character away from the center and the schools there are very good. You do not indicate if there is a place you will need to commute to but New Milford can be difficult if you work in the New Haven area.

Other areas to consider may be Southbury, Woodbury, Middlebury and Watertown. the Torringotn area is nice and has most major shopping needs. The schools are good but the town may be more developed than you want. Hope this helps, Jay

[jbenton]

Thanks for the feedback...that is really helpful! I noticed that the majority of homes in our price range are in Torrington and Plymouth. However, I've seen mixed reviews on Torrington. Is Torrington comparable to, say, Naugatuck or Seymour? I know nothing about Torrington so am just going off of the reviews. Does it have some bad areas to avoid? Also, can anyone tell me a little more about Plymouth?

Thanks again!

[yankee.peddler]

Originally Posted by jbenton

Thanks for the feedback...that is really helpful! I noticed that the majority of homes in our price range are in Torrington and Plymouth. However, I've seen mixed reviews on Torrington. Is Torrington comparable to, say, Naugatuck or Seymour? I know nothing about Torrington so am just going off of the reviews. Does it have some bad areas to avoid? Also, can anyone tell me a little more about Plymouth?

Thanks again!

Torrington is larger (~35,000 residents) than both Naugatuck (~30,000) and Seymour (~16,000). However, Torrington is also significantly larger in area than both Naugatuck and Seymour. The downtown area resembles other towns in the valley. However, the "city" also contains many rural areas -- especially to the north of the downtown area.

I'm not aware of any specific rough patches in Torrington. It's an old city and some of the housing stock and commercial properties are a bit run down. With that said, there have been several redevelopment efforts undertaken during the past couple of years. Today, downtown Torrington is much more active than it was 15-20 years ago.

Plymouth is west of Bristol and northeast of Waterbury. The town has about 12,000 residents and is mostly suburban and exurban in character. A few rural spots are found in the northern section of town. I don't know about the Plymouth public schools. However, the biggest drawback about Plymouth (in my view) is that it does not sit off a major highway. Route 6 is the major two-lane artery through town and suffers from congestion. Route 8 runs through neighboring Thomaston, but I-84 runs several miles to the south. Plymouth is not the most convenient town to get to.

[conntaxman]

Try Watertown, nice small town,just a few stuck up people,Other wise pretty nice out in the country settings.In town, not many homes.
Naug,torr,ply, to me they seem Dumpey.

[kidyankee764]

IMO you have described Southbury.

It's still in New Haven County but it borders Litchfield County on the north and Fairfield County on the south.

It's an upscale rural/suburban town with with plenty of shopping. You have the attractive Main St South with clothing stores (Gap, Anne Taylor, Talbots), there's a Borders and KMart. There are also many great restaurants - Maggie McFlys, DePalmas (excellent pizza), Jordan's, Julios, and many more. The European Shoppe has fresh bagels and sandwiches. For the rest of your needs you can travel to Danbury or Waterbury, both about 15 minutes away.

Students in Southbury are part of the Region 15 school district with Middlebury. The schools are very good too.

Another town I might suggest is New Milford - you can get more for your money there and the schools are pretty good.

[jbenton]

Thanks everyone for your feedback..very helpful!!!

[bigjeff532003]

Alot of the towns listed here are in Fairfield county not Litchfield. Torrington is a great small city. Minimal crime and most of your shoping needs can be met there. For what you are looking for check out any of the towns in the Regional 7 school district. It is one of the better schools in the state. This would be New Hartford, Norfolk, Barkhampsted, and Colebrook. You should not have a problem finding a house in your price range in these areas and will be withing 10-15 min of Torrington. Also you are only about 30 min from Waterbury or 20 min from west Hartford so any other shopping you need is close. Any of the towns surounding Torrington would suit your needs though. Look at Burlington, Goshen, Harwinton, and possibly Litchfield but this is a little pricier. I live in Winsted which is pretty much Torrington North and I love this area it is very rural and quited but still close enough to get to anything you need within 10 min or so.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by bigjeff532003

A lot of the towns listed here are in Fairfield County not Litchfield.

Barkhamsted - Litchfield
Bristol - Hartford
Burlington - Hartford
Colebrook - Litchfield
Danbury - Fairfield
Goshen - Litchfield
Harwinton - Litchfield
Litchfield - Litchfield
Middlebury - New Haven
Naugatuck - New Haven
New Hartford - Litchfield
New Milford - Litchfield
Norfolk - Litchfield
Plymouth - Litchfield
Seymour - New Haven
Southbury - New Haven
Torrington - Litchfield
Waterbury - New Haven
Watertown - Litchfield
Winchester (incl. Winsted) - Litchfield
Woodbury - Litchfield

Perhaps New Haven County, but not Fairfield?!

[JunieBJones]

Watertown is a nice town but being that you have 2 almost school-age children, I would advise you to look at some surrounding school districts first. Watertown is ranked last in the state for per pupil expenditure and there is a battle every year to get the school budget to pass. Voter apathy runs rampant here (as I'm sure is the case in a lot of other towns, too). However, that said, the primary school is less than 10 years old, the middle school was just renovated, and the 2 upper elementary schools and high school are being renovated as new beginning this summer. Having worked in all 3 elementary schools, I can tell you that the teachers (especially at Judson) are all terrific and really work well with what they have. It's just the higher-ups who make all the money that seem to lack the common sense needed to run an effective school system.

As far as amenities go, we do have enough to "get by" - grocery stores, KMart, some good restaurants - but you'll probably find yourself heading to Waterbury more often than not to do what you need to do.