[Slipperman]

Originally Posted by portorchard

More details, huh? Well, it needs to be a small town - no need for a lot of shopping. It needs to be fairly quiet, but with festivals, etc. Not near the Sea (we live in Seattle now near lots of water and are tired of it). Must have friendly people and the cost of a house (not a new one) must be reasonable since we will be on a fixed income. We don't plan on traveling a lot. My husband owns a car repair shop here and would like to open one or buy one where ever we go, buy only part time. How is that for information?

try Durham or Middlefield. not sure if either has a town green but they both are quiet in-the-country kind of towns. Durham has an agricultural fair every year and if the need arises, you are about halfway between Hartford and New Haven.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by portorchard

More details, huh? Well, it needs to be a small town - no need for a lot of shopping. It needs to be fairly quiet, but with festivals, etc. Not near the Sea (we live in Seattle now near lots of water and are tired of it). Must have friendly people and the cost of a house (not a new one) must be reasonable since we will be on a fixed income. We don't plan on traveling a lot. My husband owns a car repair shop here and would like to open one or buy one where ever we go, buy only part time. How is that for information?

Well, in that case perhaps Colchester would be a good fit for you.

Nice town green where they hold lots of festivals and such, pop about 15K, nice modern supermarket in town, nice little downtown area surrounding the green, great highway access if you decide to travel, closer to the water for a bit milder climate but not ON the water and reasonable housing costs. You'll also have access to the Lower CT River Valley which is chock full of little villages and towns to explore.

Town of Colchester, CT

http://www.city-data.com/city/Colche...nnecticut.html

Here are a few pics of the town green.

Car Show Held Every 3rd Wednesday on the green


Annual Halloween display:

Originally Posted by westender

Please remember that Connecticut has the nation's highest state tax burden, mainly due to our remarkably high property taxes.

Not anymore, we dropped to #3. Oh joy. NJ is #1 and NY#2 now.

[senmarley]

I want to find out which town in Connecticut is booming just as L A for California.. I am also planning to move to Connecticut by July.

[kristiv]

Guilford has a beautiful town green and offers proximity to New Haven and the train line to NYC or Boston. In Fairfield County you have Bethel which is might fit your affordability requirements, has a town square and very walkable Main St. There also is a classic car gathering every weekend at a local Drive-in Restauarant, the Sycamore. As already mentioned though, many towns in CT have town greens/squares since those were the center of life back in the 18th century when the towns were first created. When you say "reasonable" for house prices what range are you thinking?

[chrissyk24]

We are looking to buy a home for about 400,000 and need to be within 45 min of Bristol and an hour from Hartford. We were thinking of Cheshire, Farmington, West Hartford, or Glastonbury. Does anyone know anything about these towns? We are basing our list on good school, good houses for 400k, shopping/restaurants. Southbury was just too rural and hilly for our tastes. Is there a cancer problem in Cheshire? Are there any additional towns we should take in concideration. PLEASE HELP!!!

[KH02]

All the towns you listed have good schools and you could find at least a modest home in your price range in all of the towns. None are rural like Southbury so you should like them all. I would also add Southington to the list as it's real close to Bristol and has good schools as well. All of these have access to shopping. I wouldn't worry about the cancer in Cheshire thing, there really isnt any info to back it up, although cheshire isn't my favorite town personally.

[Lincolnian]

I just moved to Granby and it fits many of your wishes. However, the taxes are higher than some surrounding communities although the house prices are more reasonable.

It's definitely quiet, scenic, and has a little town center. Not really a square though.

[KH02]

But the OP said she wanted no more then 45 min commute to Bristol.
My dH has done the Granby to Bristol commute and it is OVER 45 minutes.
Closer to an hour during normal working hours.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by chrissyk24

We are looking to buy a home for about 400,000 and need to be within 45 min of Bristol and an hour from Hartford. We were thinking of Cheshire, Farmington, West Hartford, or Glastonbury. Does anyone know anything about these towns? We are basing our list on good school, good houses for 400k, shopping/restaurants. Southbury was just too rural and hilly for our tastes. Is there a cancer problem in Cheshire? Are there any additional towns we should take in concideration. PLEASE HELP!!!

The towns listed are all very good. The schools are excellent (among the best in the state) but they each have a bit different character. I would visit each to see which is more to your liking. There was a cancer scare in cheshire several years ago but nothing conclusive was ever proven. This has been talked about on other threads here. Jay

Strategic School Profiles by District

Strategic School Profiles by School

[sevenseascresties]

look into Bethel (06801) its about an hour from bristol/hartford
has a realy nice little downtown/green type area, very cute and quaint.
its very quiet but right next door to danbury so prefect location for being close to everything but kinda off the track.
population of about 20K but doesnt feel it.
its very popular with retirement folks.

fairfield county can be expensive but youd definatly find something nice for 400K