[JayCT]

Originally Posted by zmoson

Thanks everyone for the valuable information, after driving around all day today, We figured we’d pick simbury and avon, whichever has a suitable house.

And here’s some findings, may be useful for future readers of this post:
1. Road in north Canton is really hilly and winding, not easy to handle even in sunny days.
2. Simbury has more dense vegetations than Avon, larger trees.
3. West Hartford has more classic old downton feel.
4. Route 44 has very steep slopes, will not be easy in winter, 185 is way much better, 4 is almost flat, though driving through West Hartford in Farmington ave needs some time.
5. Glasstonbury is more feel like a midwest big city, mostly flat with some small hilly areas, Highway goes through, more sunny than valley towns.
6. People on the westside drive more gently, Farmington and Avon drivers more gentle than Simbury.(This may be heavily inaccurate, for I only drove one day, not statistically significant.)
7. Italian and Chinese are the two major international cuisines here, and sushi is also common.
8. Homestead Ave has a lot of not well maintained buildings, looks like a rough place.
9. Granby has the most rural feeling among all town I visited today. However, can hear the airport from there.

Haven’t thought about south side, may check it out tomorrow. I guess it’s more feel like Glasstonbury for it’s more flat and open space?

Your observations are good ones but calling Glastonbury flat shows that you did not get to much of it. East Glastonbury is a small mountain with significant hills. Not western mountain but still a decent grade. Also South Glastonbury has a lot of hills and ridges. You may want to revisit it. Also Glastonbury is nothing like a big city. Maybe the suburbs of a big city but it definitely is not a big city.

Route 4 is the flattest crossing from the Farmington River Valley to Metro Hartford but isalso the busiest. Traffic backs up there regularly. Avoid it. Jay

[JimG2]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Your observations are good ones but calling Glastonbury flat shows that you did not get to much of it. East Glastonbury is a small mountain with significant hills. Not western mountain but still a decent grade. Also South Glastonbury has a lot of hills and ridges. You may want to revisit it. Also Glastonbury is nothing like a big city. Maybe the suburbs of a big city but it definitely is not a big city.

Route 4 is the flattest crossing from the Farmington River Valley to Metro Hartford but isalso the busiest. Traffic backs up there regularly. Avoid it. Jay

One more thing about East Glastonbury, gets noisy around Exits 10 & 12 on Saturday and Sunday. State run rifle and pistol range near Exit 10 that's open from I think 10 am until 2 pm Saturday and Sunday April through October, and until 4pm I think late October until mid to late November. East Glastonbury Fish & Game is right off of Exit 12 and they shoot trap and skeet Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings until about 1pm. I don't know their rifle range hours.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by JimG2

One more thing about East Glastonbury, gets noisy around Exits 10 & 12 on Saturday and Sunday. State run rifle and pistol range near Exit 10 that's open from I think 10 am until 2 pm Saturday and Sunday April through October, and until 4pm I think late October until mid to late November. East Glastonbury Fish & Game is right off of Exit 12 and they shoot trap and skeet Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings until about 1pm. I don't know their rifle range hours.

The range is off Toll Gate Road in the southern end of town. It’s kind of isolated. The East Glastonbury Fish and Game is on the other side of the state forest on the Marlborough border. It’s address is actually listed as Marlborough. Most of East Glastonbury is no where near these.

The Elks Club on Woodland Street has a shooting range but that is considered a South Glastonbury, not East Glastonbury. Plus people I know that lives near it do not really hear much since it is in the middle of some pretty dense woods. Jay

[East of the River]

South Windsor may be an option as well. Not country roads but you can drop down rt5 then jump across to downtown.

East Glastonbury is fairly hilly and a nice spot as mentioned most of the neighborhoods are very quiet at night.

I have spent alot of time in Suffield and Windsor locks. Most of Windsor locks gets noise from the airport Suffield west of the center green area maybe past the middle school seems pretty quiet to me.

[zmoson]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Your observations are good ones but calling Glastonbury flat shows that you did not get to much of it. East Glastonbury is a small mountain with significant hills. Not western mountain but still a decent grade. Also South Glastonbury has a lot of hills and ridges. You may want to revisit it. Also Glastonbury is nothing like a big city. Maybe the suburbs of a big city but it definitely is not a big city.

Route 4 is the flattest crossing from the Farmington River Valley to Metro Hartford but isalso the busiest. Traffic backs up there regularly. Avoid it. Jay

Thanks Jay, I did visit the east and south part of Glastonbury, I mean it does not feel like surrounded by hill ranges like in the valley. I edited my post to make the information more accurate.

And to everyone: we end up picking the valley because both of us are more used to drive surface highway than freeways, so not having freeway is actually a plus for us, and we like the feel of being surrounded by hill ranges.

[Vandy-bound]

Former Chicago-lander here, the Glastonbury/Marlborough/Hebron area might be a good fit for you. Depending on the time of day you have to be at work, the commute into Hartford isn't terrible. Coming home might be a little more of a pain, but compared to Chicago traffic, I don't think it has been as bad when I've done it.

Getting to the airport takes us (from Hebron) generally 25/30 min depending on the time of day. That's not bad considering.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by zmoson

Thanks Jay, I did visit the east and south part of Glastonbury, I mean it does not feel like surrounded by hill ranges like in the valley. I edited my post to make the information more accurate.

And to everyone: we end up picking the valley because both of us are more used to drive surface highway than freeways, so not having freeway is actually a plus for us, and we like the feel of being surrounded by hill ranges.

The Farmington River Valley is beautiful and a great choice. I think it has a sort of Shang-ra-la feel to it. It is truly unique for suburbs of a major city. Good luck, Jay

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The Farmington River Valley is beautiful and a great choice. I think it has a sort of Shang-ra-la feel to it. It is truly unique for suburbs of a major city. Good luck, Jay

So Shangri-la is a mountain valley full of McMansions with two luxury crossovers in the driveway? I saw a couple people in saffron Budhist robes as I was leaving the A Dong Asian grocery store today. Who knew?

[westender]

Originally Posted by zmoson

Hi,

Our family is relocating to this area from midwest, we’re looking for housing in surrounding area.

. Budget 300-400k.
. Good public school is must. Want MODERATE hard working environment for kids.
. Wife need to commute near XL center, can’t work from home even in bad weather days.
Deep snow doesn’t bother us, used to live in upper midwest with half year of snow. However, hilly road with thin ice does bother us, didn’t have much experience with that.
We prefer low traffic backroad over freeway for commute, if it does not add too much time.
. Perfer quiet, rural area. Distance from shopping does not matter, we used to live in a town 1 hour away from nearest mall. Though it’ll be nice to have a grocery store within 30 minuets.

1. We heard about rt 44 is rough in winter, would rt 185 be better? How about old farm road - farmington ave?
2. How is the road from 185 to north Canton in winter? We found a house we really like there.
3. We heard about albarny ave, would homestead ave - walnut st be safer? Wife need to drive by herself to downtown daily.
4. Is crossing the river a problem? How heavy is the traffic on rt 2?
5. How’s the culture difference between the towns. I read from this fourm that Avon is too much about chasing luxury materials, is it real? If it is, to what degree?

Appreciate any advice.

I would consider the west side of Bloomfield, off of route 185. The commute would follow your item (3) which is *urban* but for only about 10 minutes until the U of H, then through leafy suburbs. It's also much less hilly than route 44.

Driving all the way to Canton would get old, fast.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by westender

I would consider the west side of Bloomfield, off of route 185. The commute would follow your item (3) which is *urban* but for only about 10 minutes until the U of H, then through leafy suburbs. It's also much less hilly than route 44.

Driving all the way to Canton would get old, fast.

Though it is a beautiful area, the schools in Bloomfield are among the worst performing in the state. I would not recommend Bloomfield to someone that wants “good schools” like the OP. Jay