[tricia1624]

Hello,

I'm considering renting a townhome on Prospect Avenue - which apparently is right at the edge of West Hartford where it meets the West End. Anyone know if this would be a safe, family friendly part of town?

Also - anyone know anything about Cheshire? Is it close to amenities? Seems like another great option, but seems far from shopping, restaurants, etc.

Thanks for any advice you might have about any of the above!

[JayCT]

You are looking into two very different areas. Prospect is more of an urban area. Prospect is a busy street but is safe.

Cheshire is a very suburban town. It is somewhat upscale. It has most of the everyday things you need like supermarkets, drug stores, restaurants, etc. You would however have to travel to either Waterbury, Meriden or West Farms for major shopping. Jay

[bomgd3]

The part of Prospect north of Farmington Ave is a lot nicer than the southern part. Lots of panhandlers and other obnoxious people on the south side, I wouldn't consider it family-friendly. However, as long as you have a plan for the Hartford school situation, the northern part of Prospect is very nice. The governor and several physicians that I know live up there, near Elizabeth Park.

[CourageMom]

Consider Manchester, CT.. Lots of everything there.. neat downtown too.
Cheshire is kind of far away from things.

[anon860]

Prospect Ave is a really nice area. If you want to live in an urban area with amenities and culture, I think you will like it.

Cheshire is prototypical suburban sprawl, and everyone I know who has moved there laments that and pretty much wants to leave.

People will say it is nice because they are "lifers", having bought property there, or because their commute isn't as bad as most people's there.

Keep in mind that you can get a cheap house and more land in Cheshire, whereas in the central Hartford area you'll be paying roughly the same (or a little less) for a much smaller property. So I think a lot of posters here are also envious of the cities, because the fact is they are just a lot more expensive if you look at what you get for a certain amount of money. Nobody who is posting here is buying up the expensive 1-acre properties near the Governor's Mansion, in central Greenwich next to downtown Stamford, or in the East Rock or Westville areas of New Haven.

[bomgd3]

Cheshire is extremely sprawl-ey. If you want chain stores with minimum-wage workers, they've got 'em! However, Cheshire also has a great school system that sends lots of kids to Ivies. Hartford, well...... let's just say private schools are your friend. West Hartford is a great compromise.

[Stylo]

If you're going to consider Cheshire along with Hartford and West Hartford, why not consider towns like Farmington, Glastonbury and Manchester? They're not quite as isolated as Cheshire.

[CourageMom]

Does Glastonbury have much shopping? I don't know if a person would want
to have that kind of information.
Glastonbury is a lovely bedroom community though.

[DanaMarley]

they don't have a major shopping mall like West Hartford & Hartford, & manchester, but there's a sort of swanky shopping center that has various clothing stores, coffee shops, chocolate shop, a few restaurants... that sort of thing..

Glastonbury has high taxes though it's a pretty town, full of lots of scenic areas, lots of rural areas as you get out of the center of town, pretty safe, I'd say, and nice country areas.

South Glastonbury is a very nice town, near the river, and farms... Depends on what you like...
If you like shopping, good schools, etc... maybe W. Hartford, near Elizabeth Park, which is very pretty, would be your ideal.
If you like a more scenic, rural area, that's safer, Glastonbury area, would be better.
Be careful where you move to in Manchester though. There's some definitely bad parts in the town now. Used to not be like that but it's changed drastically in the last few years.
There are spots where you don't even want to walk around at night in Manchester, cuz there's a lot of dangerous spots there. There's nice spots to Manchester too, closer to Glastonbury.. that's the safe part of town there.
I thought that Cheshire was very rural? Isn't there a small airport there? Used to be very country there...

[Stylo]

Ugh, West Hartford, Manchester and Glastonbury are all safe. West Hartford has very low crime for a town its size in CT.