[spth005a]

Narrowing down towns to check out when my husband and I come relo shopping this spring. My dream town is - Hip, Diverse, Middle-Upper Income, Shops, Restaurants. A town where the residents say "I Love It Here." Thank you, Kristi

His job will be located in West Kingston, RI

[JayCT]

First of all, know that Mystic is not an independent town. It is a part of both the Town of Stonington and the Town of Groton. It straddles either side of the Mystic River and is a major tourist area so traffic can be difficult during tourist season. In general, the area is beautiful though and has a lot of nice restaurants and shops.

Groton is a pretty diverse town with wide range of housing options. It is also a big military town being home to a U.S. Submarine Base.

New London and Norwich are older small cities that offer a wide range of housing as well but they really are not upper middle income.

Stonington is probably more of what you are looking for with a nice small downtown area (Stonington Borough) and some beautiful upscale areas. Plus you would be very close to things in Mystic. Good luck, Jay

[dunsere]

You won't find much diversity in the area (I lived there for about 20 years) except maybe the semi-industrial parts of Westerly/Pawcatuck, and of course New London, but nobody with any money really wants to live in New London. The last I saw of Norwich, it was still a run-down small city with a lot of closed mills, although it could be beautiful if wealthier types invested some time and money there.

Stonington Borough used to have a Portuguese fishing community but it's greatly diminished, and now it's about 95 percent upper-class white-bread WASP. If you really want a cool and diverse city, go to Providence, RI.

[kettlepot]

I agree about Norwich. With the junction of the two rivers and so much older architecture, it could be a beautiful city. Too bad, it isn't.

[dunsere]

I forgot to mention Groton. It's a military town that's pretty horrible except for maybe Groton Long Point and Mystic, which are nice but prohibitively expensive for most people. Ledyard is more rural, but there's nothing going on there unless you can relate to the swamp Yankees or like to gamble at the Indian casinos.

[JayCT]

I don't think of Groton as "horrible". It is a middle-class community with a wide range of housing types, lots of shopping and things to do. The schools in Groton generally perform around the state average. Plus the town in home to some of the area's largest employers. Jay