[col]

My family wants to move out of NYC. We are looking for lower cost of living, lower housing purchase costs, senic areas, quality of life and jobs in the developmental disability field ( day treament programs, working with mentally retarded adults) Good schools and more. Can you guys recommend areas? we were thinking about the new london area...any suggestions or advise. Thank you!

[Dragondog]

Eastern Connecticut- New London/Groton/Mystic/Stonington are excellent choices. There is diversity, yet a much less hectic way of life.
Much in the way of recreation with the Mystic Sealife aquaruim and Seaport nearby, Stonington winery, and golden beaches.

Norwich just to the north of New London is a very pleasant town as well.

A very popular town in south eastern Connecticut is Colchester-pop. 15000
Has The renowned Bacon Academy Public HS in town- a nice town green and Gazebo, with some nice restuarants and a starbucks. The town is a mere 22 miles from Hartford on route 2, and 17 miles to the shoreline beaches.

Housing prices in the areas above average 250-275K median.
Also very pleasant are towns like Willington, Coventry, Bolton CT -east of Hartford, into the 'quiet corner' of Connecticut, with rolling hills, small towns, farms, wineries B & B's yet 30 miles from Hartford and Providence RI.

Woodstock and Pomfret further east, as well as Putnam are nice small towns, with much to offer. In Brooklyn is the famous 'Golden Land Buttery'
Plus antiques, herbal farms, winery again in Pomfret at Sharpe Hill- the region is peaceful, with limited development and growth (no freeway)
Large malls, strip malls etc.

Eastern Connecticut is a popular 'destination' for those escaping the rat race.

Feel free to ask me more.

Peter

[mels]

In addition to what has been posted, I would look at Marlborough, CT (next to Colchester). It is less than 20 miles from Hartford, but retains a rural charm. No big box stores, one traffic light and no ugly fast food joints. The average home price is probably $250-$275K.

I do disagree about Norwich though...I don't find it to be terribly pleasant, but OK enough. I certainly wouldn't want to live there though.

[jmarkey]

Woodstock and Pomfret are indeed lovely towns, but very pricey. I'd stay away from Putnam. Kind of run down, but there is a huge antique district.

Having lived there six years (we recently moved to TN), one of my biggest complaints was the lack of malls and shopping. It was a good 45 minutes for any kind of shopping, other than grocery, Wal-Mart, etc.

BTW, it's "Golden Lamb Buttery."

Many of the gift/specialty shops that were there when we moved in closed down. The Quiet Corner is beautiful and real estate is very reasonable (except for the above two towns), but growth and progress are nonexistent. Though there was talk of a shopping center going up in Danielson.

[col]

Does anyone know about job markets or condo communites? We are planning a trip next summer to the new london area to have a see. It seem this area and surrounding is 35 lower on the cost of living scale overall to NYC which is what we are looking for even though the property taxes are about even or a little more. We don't need much just quality of life and lower cost of living with culture/art/parks/water ya know the basics...Ha,ha. Thanks again guys.

Col

[jssctaul]

we are thinking of relocating to the general Hartford area. Does anyone know if Bloomfield is a nice town. Especially interested in terms of racial tolerance. Thanks

[JayCT]

Bloomfield is a nice suburban blue collar town with a high percentage of African Americans. I would say they are tolerant. Jay

[serfbetty]

There are a lot of those kind of jobs in Bridgeport. I live in Black Rock section right on the water and watch the sailboats go by every morning on a dead end and paid 209,000. The schools are fine, lots of magnet schools and private if you like. Tons of kids everywhere in my neighborhood always out on their bikes. I can walk to many restaraunts and bars and stores within 5 minutes. You will get the feel of a city, but you can live in a house for much less than any other city in CT. You will love it.

[YAZ]

One word:

MOOSUP!

I'm a big fan.....

[KH02]

Bloomfield overall is a nice town like Jay said it has a high african american percentage of people there and it is a very tolerant place.
The downsides however would be the schools which are among the lowest in the state if i recall correctly and the taxes which are high..