[Manchu]

Hello. Me and my wife will be relocating to the Hartford area from Salt Lake City within the next month and we are looking for a place to live. We are looking for a 3-bdr apt. in a mid-to-upscale area that's within a reasonable distance of downtown Hartford. We do not want to live in Hartford itself but rather on one of the surrounding towns within Hartford county.

Our ideal in terms of distance and features is West Hartford, but we are trying to find something that's maybe a little cheaper but has comparable crime and schools. What towns should we be focusing our search on? Thank you very much!

[skytrekker]

I might suggest Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Cromwell all south of Hartford- all very nice towns with good schools, low crime and access to all the Hartford area has to offer.

East of Hartford, across the Connecticut river, South Windsor, Glastonbury and Ellington are great places to live. There is great shopping, many great non chain restaurants and close to Hartford's many cultural assets. There is very low crime and great schools. Vernon has some great apartments- 'Hockanum Crossing' just east of Manchester in a very pleasant hill sided area.

Access to the Connecticut shoreline and state beaches is 50 minutes away. The Rhode Island beaches on the Atlantic are less then 1.5 hours away.

[JayCT]

If you will be working downtown then you could live in any of the towns mentioned, but if you work outside of downtown, I would suggest that you live on that side of the city. Commuting through downtown can be a bear during rush hour so avoid it if you can. Newington is also very nice located south of Hartford between Wethersfield and West Hartford. Jay