[ctcoldplay11]

Out of these four towns (Colchester, East Hampton, Marlborough, Lebanon) has the best:

restaurants?
schools?
quality of life?
amenities?
access to bigger cities?
family-friendly environment?
scenery?
bang for your buck?

Thanks alot!

[skytrekker]

For amenities Colchester will have the most- the town also has quick access to Hartford.
It has a few good restaurants also-

Lebanon has quick access to Norwich

Marlborough probably the best schools
Scenery a tossup Marlborough and Lebanon & East Haddam

Family friendly- all could be considered -matter of choice

Bang for you buck Probably Colchester, East Haddam or Lebanon

[ctcoldplay11]

thanks alot skytrekker! your response was very insightful

[Tetto]

Skytrekker summed it up pretty well, out of that list I would choose Lebanon (where I live) for lower taxes (still too high!), great quality of life, very scenic.

East Haddam would be my 2nd choice; very nice town.

Tetto

[ctcoldplay11]

Lebanon seems like a very nice town. Although, it is very spread out...Isn't it one of the largest towns (in terms of square mileage) in CT?

[Jessica Beganski]

I can tell you about Colchester...
Colchester has a few restaurants - NuNus which is a nicer restaurant all the way to Harry's which is famous for hot dogs and other roadside stand specialties.

Amenities - Nice local market in town called Noel's - really great fresh food plus a Stop & Shop. Starbucks, couple of asian and pizza restaurants, fast food places and a hardware store. Mackey's is an Agway - carries pet food, garden supplies, etc.

Major chains harder to come by - about a 30 minute drive though to a Target, Wal-mart etc. Gay City Park, Salmon River and Airline Trail really closeby. Don't be surprised if you see folks on horseback.

Local veternarian is OK - but John Gagnon's is in town which is the best place I've ever been to for dog day care, training, grooming and boarding.

Very family friendly - lots of activities on the town green during the summer. Not a lot of twon recreation activities for younger kids, though.

Easy access to RT 2. Realistically, about a 30-40 minute drive to Hartford, 15 minutes to Norwich, 30 minutes to Waterford, 45 minutes ot Old Saybrook.

The most affordable of them all. And just about the friendliest town I've ever lived in. It's the type of town where people chit chat with you at the grocery store and everyone is down to earth.

Lebanon is gorgeous - but a little harder to get to. Closer to Willimantic, too so some of your shoping will likely take place there. It's smaller in population than Colchester so housing can be harder to locate - although there is about 2 years of housing inventory now on the market.

[Tetto]

Jessica is pretty much dead on about Colchester. However, their taxes (mil rate) has recently skyrocketed, or so the people I know who live there say. But it is a very good town, just don't try to drive in the center on a Saturday... Almost as bad as Glastonbury!

[ctcoldplay11]

I love Colchester! It's a great town...And Tetto, I hear ya on the traffic in the center of Colchester on the weekends. It is extremely congested!

Does East Hampton have anything going for it?