Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Can anybody tell me more about these 2 towns Shelton and Hamden. Where is the best area to rent 2 br. apartment between $800-$1200?
Which one is better for a family? What tipe of jobs are there? What about outdoor sports (soccer), shopping Malls, transportations.
Any information would help.
Thank you
Hamden is a larger town than Shelton. It is located immediately north of New Haven while Shelton is located in Fairfield County. Schools is Hamden score under the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery Test and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (see the links below). Hamden though appears to have slightly smaller class sizes though (20 students per class or less in Hamden verse just over 20 in Shelton). You will pay more for housing in Shelton because of its location in Fairfield County. Both towns have a lot of family activities but hamden probably has a little more since is it larger. Jay
I lived in Hamden for 7 years and I highly recommend it. I personally prefer it to Shelton (which I admittedly know little about). To answer your questions:
- Plenty of apartments in the Mix Ave area. There are two more upscale complexes in that area called Aspen Glen and Avalon Walk. I am unsure of the prices but they have pools, a gym, playgrounds, lots of kids etc. Hamden is very big but I would recommend the areas of Spring Glen, Mt Carmel (where Mix Ave and those 2 complexes are) and Westwoods. You may find decent house rentals too.
- There is SO much for the kids. A very active arts council that sponsors activities, summer concert series' and is currently building a multicultural kids museum. The parks and rec program is awesome and very inexpensive - soccer, hockey, ice skating, baseball, etc etc - you name the sport. There are a number of parks and ball fields as well as the canal trail for running/biking and sleeping giant mountain for hiking.
- The "Magic Mile" of Dixwell Ave has it all....Home Depot, WalMart, Gap, Old Navy, Stop & Shop, TJ Maxx Kohls and tons more! The Westfield shopping malls in Milford and Meriden are each about 20 mins away but there is so much nearby that you won't need those as often as you think. Nearby Universal Drive in North Haven (5 mins) has Target, BJs, etc. Tons of restaurants in these areas.
- It is about a 12 minute drive to the New Haven train station. Hamden also has a bus route but I am not familiar with it.
- As for jobs, it depends on what you are looking for. There is no shortage of retail so there is a lot in that category. It's less than 15 mins to downtown New Haven and the easy access to both the Merrit and I-91 make it a simple driving commute to planty of other towns.
- In terms of the schools - overall the scores are low as Jay pointed out. BUT the elementary schools vary greatly depending on the specific schools. Some (like Westwoods) score far above the state average and others are far below. Sadly there seems to be a direct socioeconomic link to those results. All of these elementary schools then feed into the same middle and high school and the kids are tracked based on their personal abilities. So the middle and high schools have a very wide spectrum with some kids going to Ivy League schools and others not even graduating. If the school situation is important for you, contact the board of ed and get all the details. There are also Catholic schools in town - the all girls Sacred Heart high school is phenomenal with 100% of the kids going on to college for decades.
and I'd pick Shelton over Hamden - I lived for 20 yrs in shelton and admittedly I don't know much about Hamden. The schools in Shelton are pretty good, they are better than Hamden schools. There is a VERY acitve parks/rec department in town, and there are tons of activities as well ranging from arts classes at the community center to sports of every type as well. Shelton's got a large corporate base, there are several companies that are in town, which does a lot to keep house taxes down if you're a homeowner. I cannot vouch too much for apartments since I owned a home, but down the route 8 corridor there are several complexes - condo/townhouses and there is often rental property there. I believe there are some apt complexes - generally speaking there really arent any horrible places to live in the town.
Can anybody tell me more about these 2 towns Shelton and Hamden. Where is the best area to rent 2 br. apartment between $800-$1200?
Which one is better for a family? What tipe of jobs are there? What about outdoor sports (soccer), shopping Malls, transportations.
Any information would help.
Thank you
i live in hamden and what your looking for is probably shelton,hamden is mostly similiar to new haven in the southern areas except spring glen
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
