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We've lived in Glastonbury for 7 years now, have a ton of friends and 3 kids under 5. I grew up on LI about 2 miles from the local beach and that is the one thing I really miss - the beach. I still have family on LI too who I really miss. I've often thought about us moving from Glastonbury to maybe Old Saybrook or Guilford - perhaps a place on the shoreline that has a beach that you can just go to and sit and read a book. Am I crazy for thinking of moving from Glastonbury? There is always a lot of stuff to do here - bonfires on Halloween for the kids, great sports programs and activities through the town and the Y, awesome continuing ed pgms, many great restaurants, great schools, parks and swimming. Although it is becoming congested with traffic because there is so much to do. My husband is from CT and says there is 'nothing to do' in those (shoreline) towns (maybe compared to Gbury?). My other huge concern about staying in Glastonbury is that he has told me that because there is one HUGE high school in this town, chances of our kids making the cut of any sports teams is small (assuming they want to play). He heard that something like 75 girls tried out for the HS soccer team and they had to cut girls that had even once played on a premiere soccer team because there just weren't enough spots. Those girls prob would've started on a team in most other towns. That really concerns me. Any thoughts? What is the general 'feeling' or reputation of Old Saybrook/Guilford - family oriented, lots of activities, places to go or a little sleepy compared to where we are now? Thanks in advance for your input.
The entire shoreline from Guilford to Stonington is great for families.
I think its funny your 3 kids are under 5 but you are "really concerned" about them making a high school team. No pressure or anything for them. Thats a little putting the cart before the horse don't you think?
Only you and your husband can decide where is best for you to live. We live in Glastonbury too and faced some of the same questions. We are concerned about the high school being too big and the difficulty of getting on school teams but the town does offer excellent recreational sports programs that few other towns offer. We have a child at the high school and so far it has worked very well. The teachers are very good and do seem to care about education. I think that our child will be well prepared to go on to college. That does not mean that your child will do poorly somewhere else though.
We also made very good friends over the years here and it would be very hard to replace them at this point. When my DW injured herself and was laid up for several weeks, it was great to have friends to help out running the kids around or sending over a dinner. Those friendships take time to develop and we have realized that pulling up these "roots" is not easy for us.
The biggest question I think you need to ask yourselves is what would a move do to your quality of life? Where are you and your husband employed? Would the commute become long for one or both of you? That would cut into precious time you have with your children and that is not good. It would also make you more tired at the end of the day when you are spending time with your child. For us, one of the best things about Glastonbury has been the very short commute. I am able to be home in a few minutes from my office. I am able to attend the daytime activities at the schools. I am able to be there for my child when they got sick. I can even pick them up when they stay after for some after school activity. This can not be done as easily if you work 20 miles from where you live.
Also note that Glastonbury is pretty close to just about everything that greater Hartford has to offer. Shopping is close by and one of the biggest complaints from people I know in the Guilford area is the lack of nearby major malls and shopping centers.
So while Glastonbury does not have the shoreline, it does offer a lot of wonderful amenities. It is an excellent place to raise a family and while not perfect, it certainly is hard to beat IMHO. Jay
Only you and your husband can decide where is best for you to live. We live in Glastonbury too and faced some of the same questions. We are concerned about the high school being too big and the difficulty of getting on school teams but the town does offer excellent recreational sports programs that few other towns offer. We have a child at the high school and so far it has worked very well. The teachers are very good and do seem to care about education. I think that our child will be well prepared to go on to college. That does not mean that your child will do poorly somewhere else though.
We also made very good friends over the years here and it would be very hard to replace them at this point. When my DW injured herself and was laid up for several weeks, it was great to have friends to help out running the kids around or sending over a dinner. Those friendships take time to develop and we have realized that pulling up these "roots" is not easy for us.
The biggest question I think you need to ask yourselves is what would a move do to your quality of life? Where are you and your husband employed? Would the commute become long for one or both of you? That would cut into precious time you have with your children and that is not good. It would also make you more tired at the end of the day when you are spending time with your child. For us, one of the best things about Glastonbury has been the very short commute. I am able to be home in a few minutes from my office. I am able to attend the daytime activities at the schools. I am able to be there for my child when they got sick. I can even pick them up when they stay after for some after school activity. This can not be done as easily if you work 20 miles from where you live.
Also note that Glastonbury is pretty close to just about everything that greater Hartford has to offer. Shopping is close by and one of the biggest complaints from people I know in the Guilford area is the lack of nearby major malls and shopping centers.
So while Glastonbury does not have the shoreline, it does offer a lot of wonderful amenities. It is an excellent place to raise a family and while not perfect, it certainly is hard to beat IMHO. Jay
Guilford is very close to the outlets which, IMO, are better than any of CT's malls.
Outlets are fine for occasional shopping but when you need something in particular there is nothing like being close to the stores in Buckland Hills or West Farms. In fact one of the major customer bases for the Nordstrom's at West Farms is the Guilford/Madison area. I know people that will drive all that way because there is nothing similar in the area. It is probably the only real drawback for that section of the state. Jay
Guilford High is also large and competitive, IMHO not much different from Glastonbury High. Old Saybrook Senior High is very small, and their sports are not anything to envy. I'd consider maybe East Lyme/Old Lyme/Waterford/Stonington instead!
Thanks so much for all of your responses - 1st let me just say after I read my original post, the prob with reading it is that there's little history/background and you can never tell 'tone' when your reading. I only mention that b/c I don't want to seem like I think Glastonbury is 'better' at all than any of the towns I mentioned. I don't at all - I just feel like every town has good and bad and I really love Glastonbury. I just miss the beach (my roots) and my family back on LI. Also, you just always wonder as a parent if you're making the right decisions and as a human, you just want to be happy! So even if things are great you sometimes wonder could they be better? Right or wrong I think it's just human nature. adager - regarding 'putting the cart before the horse' and 'pressure' with my kids being so young - that's why I bring up the history part. When I grew up on LI I had a bit of a rocky home life. That being said, I played basketball from 7th-12th grade. Our team was absolutely horrible!!! But I never cared. It was just something that made me get through those years (2 hrs every day) and I also think it made me much more confident as a girl and very much the person I am today. So that's why I mentioned it - not because I expect my kids to be star athletes - it would be nice but I don't really expect that. =) For my daughter, I hope she can at least have that opportunity if she does want to play something. And yes, I know they're young and it's a good Q - why would I care now? But I do because I would never want to move them to another town when they're a lot older after they already have good friends and really have roots here. If I was going to move I would do it sooner than later so they could really develop those long term friendships early on. So that's why I'm asking now. Please don't peg me as one of those crazy Moms - I'm honestly not. I'm a planner and I just want my kids to have the opportunity I had (MVP on the worst team on LI! - ha!) - no really, the opp to play something if they want to, that's all. JayCT, I was hoping to hear from you - we're neighbors actually (Naubuc area). And you are so right about being able to get to stores very easily - almost any store you can image you can get to in 10 mins. That's really great. My husband works right in town and the 'commute' is awesome. He called me one morning and said ,'There's traffic on Salmon Brook!' (there really was - it was even on the morning news) - He said, 'it took me 6 mins today!' - we were laughing. You forget about that stuff (ie:how important that is) but I am so grateful for that.
As far as the shoreline, the way we've adjusted to that is by driving to RI and going to Watch Hill for a few hrs with the kids - going to the little beach, on the carousel and getting ice cream. It's really only a little over an hour away so it's doable even with really little kids. It's just that it can be expensive (esp parking) and it's kind of chaotic logistically because my kids are young. It would be nice to pile everyone in the car and drive a few miles down the road to the beach to read a book and afterwards know you can be back home in 5 mins if you had to. But you can't have everything...
Such great info from everyone - I can't thank you all enough.
We've lived in Glastonbury for 7 years now, have a ton of friends and 3 kids under 5. I grew up on LI about 2 miles from the local beach and that is the one thing I really miss - the beach. I still have family on LI too who I really miss. I've often thought about us moving from Glastonbury to maybe Old Saybrook or Guilford - perhaps a place on the shoreline that has a beach that you can just go to and sit and read a book. Am I crazy for thinking of moving from Glastonbury?
In terms of town culture, Guilford is heavily influenced by the schools, town recreation department (sports, activities, classes), churches, youth organizations (e.g., Boy Scouts), and proximity to the shoreline and Yale.
Compared with Glastonbury, girls' soccer will be less competitive in most other towns, including Guilford and Old Saybrook. Guilford's girls play in Class L, while Glastonbury's girls play in Class LL.
Guilford has strong academics but the physical infrastructures of the high school and the upper middle school (Adams Middle School, grades 7-8) are currently somewhat aged. The town is evaluating options to build new schools to replace one or both of those buildings. With your kids being under 5, they would eventually attend classes in the new school building(s). As I understand it, replacing the high school building is the top priority and the middle school may come later.
The town green is the center of activity for Guilford. It hosts public performances, graduations, honorary ceremonies, and the annual town tree-lighting ceremony. There are some small boutiques and a great hardware and appliance store (Page Hardware). There are 3-4 restaurants around the green, with several more within a 1 mile radius.
The town and state maintain West Woods Trails, which occupies 1200 acres of wooded land near the town center, and the new East River Preserve, which consists of 625 acres of woods and marshland near the border with Madison. Both of these great resources are free and include coastal hiking routes. They allow dogs and bicycles.
Glastonbury is a great town, but I don't think you could go wrong with Guilford. As Jay mentioned, I think your commuting times and employment plans should weigh heavily in your decision. If you are considering Guilford and have questions about specific neighborhoods, please feel free to send me a private message.
mcfromct - I understand what you mean about missing the water. I too grew up in a coastal town and really missed it when I moved away. I have since resolved that it is not that important when considering the overall quality of life I am giving my children by being there for the little things.
I have a good job at a very good company now. Over the years I had several opportunities for better paying positions but it would have meant commuting and not being near my kids. To me it is just not worth it. We have friends here where the husband gave up a local job for one paying more on the other side of Hartford. He commuted for about a year before realizing that it was not worth it. He just took a position in a neighboring community for less money but he is much closer to his family. It is all a matter of choices and personal preferences. Jay
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