[pjsson]

Hi, we are a couple with a newborn who will be moving to Hartford area this summer. We need easy access to Hartford Downtown as well as NYC. The size of our home needs to be 3 bedrooms, 2 baths at least. We found two apartment complexes in the West Lake Dr area in Middletown which would work for us, but wondering about the location.

How safe is the area? My wife will be coming home odd hours. Will your car be left alone? What about burglary?

How close are you to parks (for walking and jogging)? I read about Westlake park, is it next to the actual West Lake? Is it safe during daytime? Any playgrounds in the area?

Which decent grocery store is close by? Diner?

Thanks, Patric and Nina

[JayCT]

West Lake Drive is a nice place to live. There are a lot of rentals and it known as a place that many people new to the area settle in at least temporarily.

It is generally safe with great access to highways so you can get to Hartford easily as well as other cities in Ct like New Haven and Waterbury. It would still be a bit of a trip though to get to New York, at least on a regular basis. Like any suburban area there are occasional burglaries and car brak ins but I do not think that it is significant or more than anywhere else.

There is a small park at the bottom of the hill on West Lake Drive but it is not well maintained. I do not think there really is a West Lake tough. You will see a lot of people though walking/running/jogging along West Lake Drive. There is a small park on Smith Street that I believe has a playground for small kids.

Most of your shopping will be done on Route 372 in nearby Cromwell. There is a large Stop & Shop supermarket plus both Kmart and Walmart there. They are in the process of building a new Home Depot there as well. For more shopping options you may need to travel a bit to nearby Meriden Square (15 minutes) or the West Farms mall in Farmington/West hartford (25 minutes). There are many very nice restaurants in the area including a diner on Route 372 near I-91. You could also head into downtown Middletown where there are a number of great rshops and estaurants including the well-known unique O'Roukes Diner on Main Street. It is a old-fashoned stainless steel gem that is very well known. I hope this helps. Jay

[JViello]

Nice area, I lived there for a few years myself. There is a paved jogging/walking path about 6 feet wide that follows Westlake drive and goes over to the Aetna building. Very nice path.

I wouldn't worry about the area. Although I did have a car stolen there, the type of car was rare and appealed to a certain "crowd" so I would take that with a grain of salt as it would have been sought out anywhere really.

[wanderintonc]

There is a walking path, a paved wide sidewalk, that goes from Aetna, through Westlake, all the way now to Cromwell (city just finished it last year)-it's really nice to walk, jog or push strollers on. A few of the complexes have playgrounds for residents, but those are the condos or the Highlands, not so much the apartments. It's a short drive to Smith Park, a large city park with a playscape.

I always felt safe at any hours. Only car problem I ever had was my GPS getting taken-the theives were after them only and actually reached over my more expensive, dual screen DVD to get to it. Other than that, no car problems for us.

We were happy in Westlake, we just moved last week due to purchasing a home. We did (and still do) our shopping in the area mentioned upthread. Good luck with your search.

[pjsson]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There are many very nice restaurants in the area including a diner on Route 372 near I-91. You could also head into downtown Middletown where there are a number of great rshops and estaurants including the well-known unique O'Roukes Diner on Main Street. It is a old-fashoned stainless steel gem that is very well known. I hope this helps. Jay

Thanks for yours (as always) detailed answers. We wanted to go to O'Rourkes when we were in Middletown, but it was a line and we didn't have time to wait. We did however go to Boston Pho in the evening which was OK

Patric & Nina

[pjsson]

Originally Posted by wanderintonc

There is a walking path, a paved wide sidewalk, that goes from Aetna, through Westlake, all the way now to Cromwell

Cool, just what we are looking for, Patric & Nina

[Slipperman]

just a word of warning.. Windshire Terrace butts up against a rather unsavory complex that has a lot of kids who won't hesitate to wander over to Windshire and break into first floor apartments. i never lived there myself (I'm in Middletown Ridge) but i talked to somebody who did and according to her, there's been a lot of breakins there.

as far as the area, the Berlin Tpke is not far away (closer than Meriden) and has a Walmart, Best Buy, Panera Bread, Target and a bunch of other stuff. The Silas Deane (rt 99) isn't too far away either.

there's an express CT Transit bus for Hartford/ Cromwell that picks up and drops off at the park and ride on Industrial Park Rd not too far from Aetna. very convenient. there's at least 6-7 buses in both the morning and afternoon

[Slipperman]

as far as food..
Slice of Heaven on 372 (formerly Luna's - very good imo) has some good pizza. they seemed to have been given the rights to Luna's recipe since thier pizza is basically the same. they deliver too. DaVinci's up Rt 3 (almost to Rocky Hill) is very good also. unfortunately, they don't deliver.
there is a really good bagel shop in Cheshire called Bagelicious. it's about 14 miles away so it's like a 20-25 min ride (I691W to Rt 10S) but it's worth it.
you can get pizza and a good chicken cutlet at a place called Wethersfield Pizza House on the Silas Deane. never had their pizza but the sandwich is very good.
there's a few decent Chinese places around town as well. there's a place right next to DaVinci's that's pretty good. forget the name. Luen Hop in Cromwell is good as well.

[tree6199]

Even though I'm in the minority here, I'm going to give you my opinion. I've lived in Middletown my whole life, and I would not live in Westlake in general. When this community was first built it was nice, but many of the condos have been taken over by the state and are now rented out by the state to people who get Section 8, or subsidized rent. There are many, many car thefts or break-ins. I heard there is a dog fighting ring there.

Have you checked out Wesleyan Hills? It is on the opposite side of Middletown, but it is a very nice community, in fact, one of the best-kept secrets in Middletown as far as I'm concerned. I lived there for many years and loved it. Walking, bike paths, that lead all around and to the elementary school in the area, Wesley school, which has a playground. The stores and highways are more conveneint in the West Lake area I admit, but it's worth the extra 10 minutes of your time driving to have peace of mind.

Good luck to you!

[JayCT]

I have to disagree with you on a number of issues. First, the State has not taken over any of the apartment complexes in West Lake. Section 8 is a rent subsidy program for working people of modest means. I have rented to people on Section 8 (not in Middletown) and found them to be no different from anyone else. They typically are working people like single mothers. Never had an issue. As for car thefts, well it happens just about everywhere, but it is no worse in West Lake than any other populated part of Middletown.

As for Wesleyan Hills, I agree it is a pretty area but it is more than a 10 minute extra ride during rush hour. More like 15 to 20 minutes, possibly more in the summer when Route 9 is extra busy. The traffic lights on Route 9 in downtown Middletown back up significantly then and can be frustrating which is the reason the south part of Middletown is "undiscovered". Few people want to deal with that. And it is a bit of a drive to get to more than just the basic shopping needed. Jay