[fvs]

Hello all, I'll be moving from downtown Chicago to CT shortly - working in East Hartford! I'm excited by the job, but am not so sure about location..

I'm considering renting a place in West Hartford and wanted your advice please. I've read many forums/ threads that WH is expensive and the commute to get to EH can be lengthy. But.. I love the walking/ biking/ visiting museums active lifestyle of downtown Chicago, so I'm hoping to find something reasonable for my lifestyle (though Hartford West/ East is no Chicago!). I'm Ok with 30 minute commute tops, leaving around 7-7:30am, and would love to maintain an active lifestyle (P.S: I'm a single professional female).

Any advice on pros/cons of living in WH and commuting to EH everyday? Any suggestions on a good place to rent 2 bedroom place? Thanks in advance all!

Cheers,
Fran

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by fvs

Hello all, I'll be moving from downtown Chicago to CT shortly - working in East Hartford! I'm excited by the job, but am not so sure about location..

I'm considering renting a place in West Hartford and wanted your advice please. I've read many forums/ threads that WH is expensive and the commute to get to EH can be lengthy. But.. I love the walking/ biking/ visiting museums active lifestyle of downtown Chicago, so I'm hoping to find something reasonable for my lifestyle (though Hartford West/ East is no Chicago!). I'm Ok with 30 minute commute tops, leaving around 7-7:30am, and would love to maintain an active lifestyle (P.S: I'm a single professional female).

Any advice on pros/cons of living in WH and commuting to EH everyday? Any suggestions on a good place to rent 2 bedroom place? Thanks in advance all!

Cheers,
Fran

Congrats on the job & the impending move!

Absolutely no issue with this, especially at the 7:00 hour, given your 30-min commute limit. The benefits of living in WH, given your interests, will far outweigh any occasional issues with the commute. You will hear opinions to the contrary from several on this forum, but believe me that I have done it myself, and know several who do it regularly. It will usually take 20 min or less, and certainly no more than 30. If you live close to WH center (which is where the action is), you can avoid the congested parts of I-84 except for a very short stretch, by taking Farmington Av or Capitol Av.

WH is investing heavily in making the town bike-friendly. For recreational biking, I have been taking advantage of the superb Farmington Valley trail system which is a short drive west of town. As for renting, would need to understand your budget.

[JayCT]

West Hartford is a wonderful town and a great place to live but I would caution you that commuting through downtown Hartford to East Hartford can be difficult during peak hours. The section of I-84 you would need to drive is the busiest highway in the state and is known for having a lot of accidents (some of the highest rates in the state). CTDOT has plans for rehabbing a number of bridges on that section of I-84 over the next couple of years (beginning in 2018) so there will be even more issues to deal with due to construction activities.

That said I know someone that also works in East Hartford and had lived in West Hartford. She got tired of the commute and dealing with the traffic problems in Hartford so she moved to downtown Hartford. She loves it and is pleased that she made the move. You should know though that downtown Hartford does not have the shopping options that West Hartford offers so only you can decide if that is important or not.

As for being expensive, that is kind of relative. In relation to other towns in the Hartford area, West Hartford is considered pricey. In relation to prices in major cities like New York or San Francisco, it would seem an absolute bargain. I would suspect that coming from Chicago, West Hartford would not be much more than some of the nicer parts of that city, if not less. I hope this helps. Jay

[fvs]

Thanks for your advice, htfdcolt! More bike paths and outdoor activities sounds great!

I presume I'd have to get to work by 8am, and a 20-30minutes commute would work well for me. I'm not sure about the price range for 2 bedrooms as yet - I'd like to be below $2K/ month, but I will probably need to do more research on the price range. I'll be looking for units with laundry + garage + wheelchair accessible. Thanks.

[fvs]

Thanks for the info, JayCT! Appreciate the info on upcoming construction - the idea of dealing with construction is daunting - I've lived thru' several of these projects here in Chicago and they are always longer and more annoying than I originally plan for :-( I will have to consider that quite seriously.

I've been warned away from downtown Hartford, so I haven't been considering that area seriously. Also, I've heard that there is no good grocery store as well in the downtown area so I'm ruling that area out for now. I plan to visit in the next 2 weeks though, so I want to check it out in person - areas can be very different that imagined :-)

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by fvs

Thanks for the info, JayCT! Appreciate the info on upcoming construction - the idea of dealing with construction is daunting - I've lived thru' several of these projects here in Chicago and they are always longer and more annoying than I originally plan for :-( I will have to consider that quite seriously.

I've been warned away from downtown Hartford, so I haven't been considering that area seriously. Also, I've heard that there is no good grocery store as well in the downtown area so I'm ruling that area out for now. I plan to visit in the next 2 weeks though, so I want to check it out in person - areas can be very different that imagined :-)

Why were you warned against downtown? Despite what suburbanites think, downtown Hartford is safe, certainly as safe as most parts of Chicago. The person I know is female and does not feel unsafe living there.

It is true that downtown Hartford does not have a large grocery store but there is the Greenway Market on Asylum Street now that fills most of your basic needs. The person I know, uses a supermarket delivery service called Peapod (associated with Stop & Shop, the regions largest supermarket chain) for their basic shopping and goes to Greenway for other things like bread and milk when needed. Also they think ahead and stop at the store after work if they need something which was something they did anyway when they lived in West Hartford. But if the truth be told they do not do a lot of food shopping anyway. Her and her husband are busy professionals and enjoy the many different restaurants downtown several nights a week.

Another thing to note is that living in downtown Hartford and commuting to East Hartford, my friend will now bike to work on nice days. She could not easily do that from West Hartford. She did it but did not like how long it took or the traffic she had to deal with each day. Just something to think about. Jay

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by fvs

Thanks for your advice, htfdcolt! More bike paths and outdoor activities sounds great!

I presume I'd have to get to work by 8am, and a 20-30minutes commute would work well for me. I'm not sure about the price range for 2 bedrooms as yet - I'd like to be below $2K/ month, but I will probably need to do more research on the price range. I'll be looking for units with laundry + garage + wheelchair accessible. Thanks.

I should have added--West Hartford itself has 2 reservoirs--#6 and #1--which are very scenic, and provide wonderful walking, jogging, and (short) bike trails. #6 is halfway up Avon Mountain and offers great views of the Hartford skyline. Right opposite is the entrance to the Mattabesset trail which is for hiking & mountain biking.

Regarding the commute--as I mentioned there will be naysayers. The reality is--unless you live in the southwest part of WH near the mall, or in the Elmwood section, there are numerous options to cut through Hartford (Homestead, Asylum, Farmington, Capitol for example)--and completely avoid the worst section of I-84, referred to as the Park St curve on the morning traffic reports. You would literally be on I-84 for one mile or less before crossing the bridge into East Hartford. So come check it out for yourself, and don't be discouraged. West Hartford is widely envied for its amenities and quality of life, and there's a reason why.

[East of the River]

Commuting isn't awful but not great with no traffic it's a 10-15 minute ride on average the afternoon commute will be closer to 25-30. For some reason the morning is easier. Basically expect to sit for 10 minutes in stop and go traffic on the average day or 20 minutes on a bad day surface streets clog during rush hour too so usually there isn't any saving time there. Again not awful (I do the reverse commute going on 8 years now) just really annoying.

[fvs]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Why were you warned against downtown? Despite what suburbanites think, downtown Hartford is safe, certainly as safe as most parts of Chicago. The person I know is female and does not feel unsafe living there.

It is true that downtown Hartford does not have a large grocery store but there is the Greenway Market on Asylum Street now that fills most of your basic needs. The person I know, uses a supermarket delivery service called Peapod (associated with Stop & Shop, the regions largest supermarket chain) for their basic shopping and goes to Greenway for other things like bread and milk when needed. Also they think ahead and stop at the store after work if they need something which was something they did anyway when they lived in West Hartford. But if the truth be told they do not do a lot of food shopping anyway. Her and her husband are busy professionals and enjoy the many different restaurants downtown several nights a week.

Another thing to note is that living in downtown Hartford and commuting to East Hartford, my friend will now bike to work on nice days. She could not easily do that from West Hartford. She did it but did not like how long it took or the traffic she had to deal with each day. Just something to think about. Jay

I was told that downtown was not a good place to live in, and that most people just drive by it and prefer not to stop there. Apparently there was an attempt to revive downtown ~10+ years but that but had failed.. However, I didn't know there were many restaurants downtown! It just goes to show - I need to check out the area in person before ruling it out completely! I like the idea of biking to work - sounds awesome, thanks for that idea :-)

[fvs]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

I should have added--West Hartford itself has 2 reservoirs--#6 and #1--which are very scenic, and provide wonderful walking, jogging, and (short) bike trails. #6 is halfway up Avon Mountain and offers great views of the Hartford skyline. Right opposite is the entrance to the Mattabesset trail which is for hiking & mountain biking.

Regarding the commute--as I mentioned there will be naysayers. The reality is--unless you live in the southwest part of WH near the mall, or in the Elmwood section, there are numerous options to cut through Hartford (Homestead, Asylum, Farmington, Capitol for example)--and completely avoid the worst section of I-84, referred to as the Park St curve on the morning traffic reports. You would literally be on I-84 for one mile or less before crossing the bridge into East Hartford. So come check it out for yourself, and don't be discouraged. West Hartford is widely envied for its amenities and quality of life, and there's a reason why.

A mountain sounds great to someone from the midwest :-) I've read good things about West Hartford, so I certainly plan to check to out! I plan to visit the area in a couple weeks to check out places in both West Hartford and downtown, and probably a few other areas as well. It looks like there's plenty to do, many options for an active lifestyle, so I'm pretty pleased.. Thanks all, for your feedback!