[JayCT]

Most young people working in Windsor do live in Manchester. The commute is easy on I-291 and there are a lot of apartments there. It does have a small downtown with some restaurants and shops but not on the same scale as West Hartford. It will be likely that you will have some young coworkers living there as well.

I would not recommend living in Wetherfield though. While it is a great town (I find Old Wethersfield to be one of the most charming neighborhoods in the state), the commute would be terrible. Wethersfield is located south of Hartford while Windsor is north of the city. That means you would have to commute through downtown which is not fun. I recommend going with Manchester. Jay

[ctcoldplay11]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Most young people working in Windsor do live in Manchester. The commute is easy on I-291 and there are a lot of apartments there. It does have a small downtown with some restaurants and shops but not on the same scale as West Hartford. It will be likely that you will have some young coworkers living there as well.

I would not recommend living in Wetherfield though. While it is a great town (I find Old Wethersfield to be one of the most charming neighborhoods in the state), the commute would be terrible. Wethersfield is located south of Hartford while Windsor is north of the city. That means you would have to commute through downtown which is not fun. I recommend going with Manchester. Jay

A decently easy commute, though I'd argue your quality of life would suffer in Manchester. The Downtown is laughable compared to a town like West Hartford. A few spotty bars and one decent pizza joint are the main offerings. The liveliest part of Manchester is the Buckland Hills area, where every CHAIN known to man exists. Like Applebee's? You've found your town. Though it might be a matter of personal preference, I've always found Manchester to be unpleasant. It's not nice, or even safe for that matter. I'd skip it. As for the traffic through Downtown Hartford, it'd depend on what time you leave for work and leave for home; the traffic on I-91 is not nearly as bad as the traffic on I-84, though it could still be troublesome. Drive it for yourself.

[cdhpotter]

Manchester is perfectly safe and definitely a better commute if you're working in Windsor. Your quality of life would be just fine. It's a good, working class town, has some areas better than others, but it isn't unsafe at all. There is a wide variety of places to eat, a huge shopping area (the mall, surrounded by every store known to man) and one of the best breakfast joints in the state- Cosmic Omelet. Oh- and a Pepe's outpost, if you like good pizza.

[KCScouts]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

What's appealing about Manchester is that they seem to have a lot of apartments that seem to be in my price range from what research I've done.

Should I look into a city such as Rocky Hill? All I know about it is that it's a suburb of Hartford. I have no idea how it would make a potential commute to Windsor.

[kidyankee764]

You're better off living in Manchester than Rocky Hill, primarily for commuting purposes. 91 through Rocky Hill can get congested during rush hour, whereas east of Hartford going toward Manchester, traffic isn't too bad. Plus Manchester has more apartments.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by vellmike

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

What's appealing about Manchester is that they seem to have a lot of apartments that seem to be in my price range from what research I've done.

Manchester does have a ton of apartments, many of which are more modern. But I agree that there isn't as much to do there. They do have a small downtown area and it's definitely on the upswing, but IMO this is overshadowed by the mall area which is immense and it's mostly giant chain restaurants and stores. Also, keep an eye out for where you look -- traffic can be a nightmare if you're closer to the mall, and a few areas are undesireable. I have friends who live in Manchester, and some like it fine and have no complaints. But I have other friends looking to leave because their apartment complex has a high concentration of seciton 8 housing, and from what they've told me this is becoming more common elsewhere in town. If you find a nice building, you should be fine. Main Street has some good spots (Main Pub, Catsup&Mustard, etc), but eventually you'll probably branch out to other areas to hang out.

Originally Posted by vellmike

Should I look into a city such as Rocky Hill? All I know about it is that it's a suburb of Hartford. I have no idea how it would make a potential commute to Windsor.

No. The town is very nice but the commute would be awful. Rocky Hill is just south of Wethersfield and Newington, so in terms of meilage isn't very far from Hartford, but I-91 can be a parking lot during peak hours, so if you have the option to look elsewhere in this case, it's best to do so.

[cdhpotter]

Rocky Hill is great, but once again, you would be dealing with the commute through Hartford if you end up working in Windsor, and that would stink. Will you know which job you're taking before you need to move?

If you take the job in Hartford, I would check out Simsbury or Farmington. Both will give you the rural environment you want, yet a close drive to anything you need. Simsbury would be more pricey though.

[KCScouts]

Originally Posted by cdhpotter

Rocky Hill is great, but once again, you would be dealing with the commute through Hartford if you end up working in Windsor, and that would stink. Will you know which job you're taking before you need to move?

If you take the job in Hartford, I would check out Simsbury or Farmington. Both will give you the rural environment you want, yet a close drive to anything you need. Simsbury would be more pricey though.

Well I don't know if I really want to be in a rural area. I just don't want to be in Hartford. Suburbs would be fine.

And I'm definitely only going to move if I get one of these jobs. I'd like to live in CT, but if I end up not getting either job, I'll end up going back home to NJ.

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Manchester does have a ton of apartments, many of which are more modern. But I agree that there isn't as much to do there. They do have a small downtown area and it's definitely on the upswing, but IMO this is overshadowed by the mall area which is immense and it's mostly giant chain restaurants and stores. Also, keep an eye out for where you look -- traffic can be a nightmare if you're closer to the mall, and a few areas are undesireable. I have friends who live in Manchester, and some like it fine and have no complaints. But I have other friends looking to leave because their apartment complex has a high concentration of seciton 8 housing, and from what they've told me this is becoming more common elsewhere in town. If you find a nice building, you should be fine. Main Street has some good spots (Main Pub, Catsup&Mustard, etc), but eventually you'll probably branch out to other areas to hang out.

The places I've been looking at don't seem like places that would have Section 8 housing. I have no problem driving to a different town or something to go to a restaurant or a bar or something else for fun. But having a bunch of shopping options close by seems like a plus for Manchester.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by vellmike

The places I've been looking at don't seem like places that would have Section 8 housing. I have no problem driving to a different town or something to go to a restaurant or a bar or something else for fun. But having a bunch of shopping options close by seems like a plus for Manchester.

It's definitely convenient to have everything you need shopping-wise close by (we have a mall where I live so I can relate.) It's just that the traffic can be awful because there's Buckland Hills Mall, but then you have a seemingly never-ending series of shopping plazas which adds to the gridlock.

Many people I know venture out of town in search of nightlife. If this isn't an issue, and if you think Manchester can provide what you're looking for, it could be a good fit. Try to spend a few hours looking around not just that town, but any other one you may be considering, and just ask yourself if you think you'd be happy there.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ctcoldplay11

A decently easy commute, though I'd argue your quality of life would suffer in Manchester. The Downtown is laughable compared to a town like West Hartford. A few spotty bars and one decent pizza joint are the main offerings. The liveliest part of Manchester is the Buckland Hills area, where every CHAIN known to man exists. Like Applebee's? You've found your town. Though it might be a matter of personal preference, I've always found Manchester to be unpleasant. It's not nice, or even safe for that matter. I'd skip it. As for the traffic through Downtown Hartford, it'd depend on what time you leave for work and leave for home; the traffic on I-91 is not nearly as bad as the traffic on I-84, though it could still be troublesome. Drive it for yourself.

I do not think you know much about Manchester. It is definitely safe and there is more to it than just a couple of "spotty bars and one decent pizza joint". As noted by MikefromCT there is Main Pub and Catsup and Mustard but there is also one of the best French restaurants in the state there, Cavey's. Cavey's also has an excellent Italian restaurant adjacent to the French one.

Around town there are a number of great places as well. Shady Glen is a classic and Frank Pepe's Pizza up by the mall is as good as the famous original in New Haven. Then there is Adams Mill which offers good food and entertainment. Plaza Aztec offers very good Mexican food. The Buckland Hills shopping district is one of the largest in New England with just about every store you can need. Also I do not find Manchester to be unattractive at all. Manchester may not be as upscale as West Hartford but it is still a great town. Jay