[hmarthur]

Hello,

Our family is looking to possibly move to the South Windsor area in the next couple of months. I've been reading everything I can find in hopes of finding a town that is a good match. I'd love some input!

Our criteria:

1) Good schools (two young kids)
2) Low crime
3) Nice, walkable downtown area (sidewalks, nice shops and restaurants)
4) Homes within walking distance to downtown with mature trees and character (around $500,000-$600,000)
5) Short commute to South Windsor (15-20 min or less)

Does this town exist?! Thanks!

H

[JViello]

Originally Posted by hmarthur

Hello,

Our family is looking to possibly move to the South Windsor area in the next couple of months. I've been reading everything I can find in hopes of finding a town that is a good match. I'd love some input!

Our criteria:

1) Good schools (two young kids)
2) Low crime
3) Nice, walkable downtown area (sidewalks, nice shops and restaurants)
4) Homes within walking distance to downtown with mature trees and character (around $500,000-$600,000)
5) Short commute to South Windsor (15-20 min or less)

Does this town exist?! Thanks!

H

About the only town that come to mind is Glastonbury. You can do it in 20 minutes, especially because you'd be going "reverse commute" on I84.

The only "downside" I would say is it really doesn't have a "downtown". Theres lots of nice stuff there, but the development is a bit smattered about in new plazas etc. It has no "main street" row shops like you would see in Manchester or West Hartford.

Manchester has a lot of what you're looking for in the Case Mountain and Highland Park areas, but may be missing some of your criteria as well. I'm not sure how high your standards are or what's "nice" and "good" to you. I would suggest visiting and looking around for yourself to get a feel.

If you do like Glastonbury I can tell you that my wife and I live on the East side of Manchester, (10 minutes just to get to I84) and she works in Glastonbury going WITH the commute traffic she's there in 20 minutes most days. So you can do it to South Windsor for sure.

[JayCT]

I have to agree with JViello, the closest to what you are looking for would be Glastonbury. It's downtown is not exactly walkable but they are working to improve it. South Glastonbury is a small village that is somewhat walkable but there are not a lot of things there. The only town that really fits your description is West Hartford but it is on the other side of Hartford which would make for a difficult commute. Another option would be to live in East glastonbury which is very accessible to Manchester's downtown. Jay

[hmarthur]

Thank you both for your insight and suggestions. I checked out homes in Glastonbury and found some that I like very much.

I also wanted to ask - Do you know anything about Suffield? From what I can tell, it does have a walkable downtown, nice historic homes, good schools, etc. We we very excited to find it through out searches. However, we also found that Suffield is home to MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution - the largest correctional facility in New England. Does anyone live here or know someone who does? Should this affect our search? I couldn't find anything about escapes, but maybe there are other negative issues that go along with living in a prison town? I would really appreciate any input! Thanks!

H
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[KH02]

The prison effects nothing in Suffield. I lived there for 19 years of my life and it never effected ANYTHING I ever did and i never heard anything about it to be honest. The prison is located RIGHT on the Windsor Locks border so it is barely in Suffield anyhow.
I grew up there and it was a great town, still a small town feel as everyone knew eachother. The schools are good, the high school was built brand new only a few years ago and the downtown is very small (Library, subway, CVS, few small offices, Highland Park Market) but their are many historic homes around North Main Street which does have sidewalks.
In some area of Suffield you can hear airplane noise from Bradley INTL airport but it never bothered me and most people get used to it quickly. Everyone there is friendly and it has great highway acces thru neighboring Enfield and Windsor Locks and East Granby. You can pick up I-91 in any of those towns.
Enfield has a mall which is less then a 10 min drive from almost all of suffield, and the mall in Holyoke,MA is also popular among Suffield residents.

Any other questions about streets etc let me know as I am very knowledgable on the town.
I would say one of the most desirable streets in suffield is Hill Street.

[KH02]

also just an FYI but the commute from Suffield to South Windsor would be about 25 minutes or so, depending on traffic, But it's usually not to bad until right before Hartford on 91 south.
You could go using the highway system or back roads using Route 5 through east Windsor...

[JViello]

Originally Posted by hmarthur

Thank you both for your insight and suggestions. I checked out homes in Glastonbury and found some that I like very much.

I also wanted to ask - Do you know anything about Suffield? From what I can tell, it does have a walkable downtown, nice historic homes, good schools, etc. We we very excited to find it through out searches. However, we also found that Suffield is home to MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution - the largest correctional facility in New England. Does anyone live here or know someone who does? Should this affect our search? I couldn't find anything about escapes, but maybe there are other negative issues that go along with living in a prison town? I would really appreciate any input! Thanks!

H
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Suffield is nice, but a little different feel then what Glastonbury and/or more city like places such as Manchester or West Hartford would be.

It's more of a historic farming community and not much of a "walkable" downtown with shops, restaurants etc. Like I said, it's nice, just not IMHO what you described you were looking for.

As for the prison, no issues. It's a higher security prison and that means it's pretty darned secure. If anyone could escape through the 7 feet of razor ribbon I don't think they would make it very far anyway. lol If anything, you would benefit from the state influx of tax revenue to the town.

Oh and if you do decide to check out East Glastonbury and/or the South/East end of Manchester, you'll find nice homes around Birch Mountain Road, South of I384 on Gardener Street, RT83, Keeney Street and Hillstown Road areas on both sides of the border.

Good luck!

[hmarthur]

Thanks so much for the information. That really helps in our search. I also just found that a house we like in Suffield is very near Suffield Academy - I hadn't realized that that existed. Do you think living so closely to it would have any impact?

I also keep looking at homes in Glastonbury - either place seems like it might be a good fit for us. If things get more serious we'll definitely be making a trip to check things out in person. Thanks again!

H

[KH02]

No, living close to Suffield Academy would mean you could walk to all the things i mentioned before, because the academy is located on North Main near the Library, Highland Park Market, CVS, town offices, fire station, resturaunts (2 or 3 of them). The parade route when Suffield has parades is also within a SHORT walking distance of the academy.
It's a great location. The academy would not be a problem it's an expensive boarding school and the students pretty much stick to campus and were always respectful when I was there.

[hmarthur]

So as a move looks more and more possible, I'm getting more and more nervous about choosing a town. We've checked out the area and have narrowed it down to Longmeadow, MA, Suffield, and Simsbury. I just want to find the best fit for us among these towns. Of course, they all have their pros and cons... I'd really appreciate it if anyone could comment on my preferences and give their opinion on the best option!

- We liked a "country-ish feel." No big box stores in the backyard, but within 15 min or so. Not too commercial.
- A walkable downtown or neighborhood would be great. I think these exist in all three... Maybe one more than the others?
- We're fairly liberal, have advanced degrees, and are very laidback. Would you consider any of these towns to be liberal and educated?
- I'd love a place without the snootiness where we could make friends easily. We'll know no one in the area. I love yard sales and the clearance racks and don't need expensive designer anything. I'd like to find people who feel the same.
- We have two young children so good schools and a family-friendly town are important. It seems like all three towns have good schools. Maybe not Suffield as much? (just going from greatschools.net)

I'm also curious where we would shop if we choose Suffield or Longmeadow. We checked out the Enfield Mall and weren't overly impressed. Would there be a large, moderately priced grocery store nearby? We love our local Wegmans but I don't think you have those in CT. What is the Holyoke Mall like?

I'm going crazy checking out realtor.com, greatschools.net, citydata, etc. Real views from real people would be great. Thanks!