[msctwhitedre]

I will be relocating to Newington Ct to work at the VA. What is the best, safest, and cheapest place to live? I need to be close to public transportation. Thank you for any advice you can give

[JayCT]

how much can you afford? rental in safe areas can be expensive here so it would help to know what your price range is.

Newington itself is a very nice town. It is a middle income area and very safe. There are apartments around town that should be good.

Another option would be the Elmwood section of West Hartford. It is directly north of Newington and right down the road from the VA. There are a number of two and three family homes there so you may be able to find a modest rental. One suggestion though is to stay west of the railroad tracks. The east side can get a bit sketchy. Jay

[msctwhitedre]

Thank you I dont want to pay over $900. Can you walk or take the bus from the Elmwood section? How is the area for shopping? Is it far from Metro North,I would like to go home on weekends.

[KH02]

Just as an FYI, there is not much public transportation overall in CT, at least not that is reliable enough. With work and shopping etc you will likely need a car here.

[MikefromCT]

Hi,
You can take a bus from Elmwood. There's a bus line that runs through town and will probably take you to where you need to be. I found a link that gives you the weekday schedule of when buses go to and from Newington.
http://www.cttransit.com/Uploads_Sch...dysched(4).pdf

Elmwood is a nice, walkable area and you can find an apartment for under $900. New Britain Avenue is one of the main roads that has storefront restaurants and shops. About 2 miles to the west is WestFarms Mall which you can get to by bus. And on Newington Rd (in Elmwood) there's a new plaza that has a Stop& Shop. Try to stay west of the train tracks as Jay said - area east of the tracks isn't unsafe per se, but it's isolated from the rest of town and it's not the most desireable area (though there are apartments here, too).
Newington itself also has apartments on Willard Street, if you have the chance you should check these out as well. I concur with Jay that it's a nice town and they have a downtown/Main St area as well, and there's a busline on the main roads here, but it's a bit more spread out. The neighborhoods are walkable but there isn't as much to walk to.
As for MetroNorth, the closest one is way down in New Haven. If you move to Elmwood, you can take a taxi to Hartford's Union Station. If you end up in Newington, a cab can bring you to the train stop in Berlin next door. Both are Amtrak lines that drop you off in New Haven, and once there you can either stay on Amtrak or change trains and hop on MetroNorth. Unfortunately, neither Newington nor Elmwood have train stops, though both towns are pushing hard to get them.
Anyway, good luck! Get back to us if you have any other questions.

[TobinJ]

You def. can't depend on public transit to get you in and out of newington on a regular basis. You'll find commuter bus routes for the normal hours though. def plan some kind of vehicle for weekend stuff or you'll have trouble finding fun things to do. You should be able to find a nice condo rental in newington for $900. If you can't find something you like look for a condo rental in rocky hill. You should be able to find a house for rent in New Britain for a lot less but you'll have to judge the area for safety since part of NB has been revived and part of it is a little distressed.

[msctwhitedre]

Thanks for all the info. Im mainly concerned about getting to and from work. And finding a suitable place to live.

[sun]

New Britain offers a lot of potential for finding a safe & economical apartment. It has over 700 streets and a university, and it contains a myriad of dwellings and street by street living situations ranging from good to bad. But the lower prices and overall livability index there are also the best with more neighborhood stores and places to go within walking distance due to the many bus routes serving the entire town, destined to the mall, hospital and such.
However, while the local buses won't get you to the VA there are some other options since the VA is not very far from the New Britain town line and University area.
Consider taking a taxi or car pooling. It would only be 2 - 3 miles away, 4 at the most depending on the exact location.
There's money to be saved by living in New Britain and a lot of conveniences for the non-driver by virtue of everything being in closer proximity. Plus the much better public transportation system within town.
Of course, the savings would also apply to the driving VA employee since any money saved can be applied toward other living expenses.

Below is a PDF of all of the bus routes for central CT. There's only one route in Newington going by the VA, while the "CCSU" University area of New Britain isn't very far away.
Car pooling should be an option once you get established and a taxi could be taken until then.


http://www.cttransit.com/uploads_RTD...sysmap2009.pdf