[BaltimoreBruiser]

Hey all - thanks in advance for any insight any of you have.

A little background:
I lived the first several years of my life in the New London/Groton area (navy brat), but I haven't been back for over 20 years. I am in my early 30s, and currently live/work in the DC/Baltimore area. I am a federal civilian employee looking to make a lifestyle change as I enter the bear years of my life. So my priorities revolve around raising a family and enjoying life. I am fairly settled on New England for the culture, location, climate, and geography. I am now just trying to narrow down the where, between mainly Kittery, ME and Groton, CT. A big part of that decision comes down to where I will be able to live for both locations.

I have begun digging into CT towns, but I am not sure how reliable google maps is when it comes to determining what a "realistic" commute is. If anyone has any experience in the area, could you please enlighten me on the West/NW/N/NE/East limits of a realistic daily commute of less than 45m one-way?

Also, any recommendations of "smallish" towns and cities that would be good to raise a family? By smallish, I mean under 30,000. For comparison, my current 'town/suburb' has a population of around 35,000 in an area of less than 4 square miles. Looking for a little more room to breathe.

Also apologize in advance for redundancy in the post.

[nico7]

I may be giving an unpopular opinion here, but York, ME and Portsmouth, NH are very enjoyable places to live if you don't mind the winters farther north... In CT, Mystic/Stonington, Noank, Old Saybrook, Lyme/Old Lyme or Essex would be my picks. Old Saybrook and Lyme/Old Lyme have the best schools of those towns in CT... I would think York has good schools, too.

[Stylo]

45 minutes is a big area from there. There really isn’t much traffic in that area except on summer Friday evening rush. It can be brutal, so living west of Groton will mean reverse commute of that traffic.

Pretty much Guilford in West, Charlestown, RI in East, and up north to Killingly.

One thing to consider is whether you want to live in a more “all year” town. Maine coastal towns, and places like Mystic are very seasonal/tourism focused.

I would recommend looking at Guilford, Madison, Essex, Old Saybrook, and Old Lyme. All exceptional towns with excellent schools. While beautiful and attractions themselves, they aren’t overly seasonal and have a good local community feel.

I’m not sure if being near a city with things to do is important, but proximity to New Haven is nice. Lots of dining, museums, entertainment, etc.

[ProudFairfielder]

Originally Posted by BaltimoreBruiser

Hey all - thanks in advance for any insight any of you have.

A little background:
I lived the first several years of my life in the New London/Groton area (navy brat), but I haven't been back for over 20 years. I am in my early 30s, and currently live/work in the DC/Baltimore area. I am a federal civilian employee looking to make a lifestyle change as I enter the bear years of my life. So my priorities revolve around raising a family and enjoying life. I am fairly settled on New England for the culture, location, climate, and geography. I am now just trying to narrow down the where, between mainly Kittery, ME and Groton, CT. A big part of that decision comes down to where I will be able to live for both locations.

I have begun digging into CT towns, but I am not sure how reliable google maps is when it comes to determining what a "realistic" commute is. If anyone has any experience in the area, could you please enlighten me on the West/NW/N/NE/East limits of a realistic daily commute of less than 45m one-way?

Also, any recommendations of "smallish" towns and cities that would be good to raise a family? By smallish, I mean under 30,000. For comparison, my current 'town/suburb' has a population of around 35,000 in an area of less than 4 square miles. Looking for a little more room to breathe.

Also apologize in advance for redundancy in the post.

So I've actually lived on the NH seacoast as well as here in CT. You can't go wrong with either but keep in mind both are WAY less populated than your current town (even Fairfield is 4x less densely populated) and both are significantly further north (which I enjoy but you haven't told us how much you like snow).

Essentially the Portsmouth/Kittery area will be a more extreme jump in every way for you (there's nothing wrong with that as long as you understand it). Even more rural, colder, closer to the white mountains (straight up NH 16) slightly closer to Boston.

Here it's slightly warmer, more populated, MUCH warmer ocean water (IDK if you like to go to the beach but the water here gets to the 70s in August compared to barely 60 up there... also keep that in mind).

As for towns in CT what everyone else said is true.

Also I find New Haven and Portsmouth to be very similar except New Haven is larger (imagine something in between Portsmouth and Boston size wise)

[BaltimoreBruiser]

Originally Posted by ProudFairfielder

So I've actually lived on the NH seacoast as well as here in CT. You can't go wrong with either but keep in mind both are WAY less populated than your current town (even Fairfield is 4x less densely populated) and both are significantly further north (which I enjoy but you haven't told us how much you like snow).

Essentially the Portsmouth/Kittery area will be a more extreme jump in every way for you (there's nothing wrong with that as long as you understand it). Even more rural, colder, closer to the white mountains (straight up NH 16) slightly closer to Boston.

Here it's slightly warmer, more populated, MUCH warmer ocean water (IDK if you like to go to the beach but the water here gets to the 70s in August compared to barely 60 up there... also keep that in mind).

As for towns in CT what everyone else said is true.

Also I find New Haven and Portsmouth to be very similar except New Haven is larger (imagine something in between Portsmouth and Boston size wise)

I am not opposed to the snow, it isn't a huge factor for us. However, I would like to actually see snow in the winter. As for the ocean temps, that's actually something I hadn't thought of. Thank you!

I also sincerely appreciate the recommendations.

Are there any towns/cities I should avoid? Just from a cursory glance at the map (will begin to dig deeper soon), I see cities like Norwich, Willimantic/Windham, and even New London and New Haven. Are they a little sketch? -- as an aside, I live 2/10th of a mile from the city line to a 600,000 population city with a terrible reputation, one of the nation's worst crime rates, and plenty of sketch.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by BaltimoreBruiser

I am not opposed to the snow, it isn't a huge factor for us. However, I would like to actually see snow in the winter. As for the ocean temps, that's actually something I hadn't thought of. Thank you!

I also sincerely appreciate the recommendations.

Are there any towns/cities I should avoid? Just from a cursory glance at the map (will begin to dig deeper soon), I see cities like Norwich, Willimantic/Windham, and even New London and New Haven. Are they a little sketch? -- as an aside, I live 2/10th of a mile from the city line to a 600,000 population city with a terrible reputation, one of the nation's worst crime rates, and plenty of sketch.

New Haven is great, fantastic city. Yes it has some rough sections but you’ll have no reason to visit them.

But it’s more than 45 minutes to Groton. And schools aren’t great. So I wouldn’t recommend living there. But a great city to live near and enjoy. CT’s best city for the things you want to enjoy in a city.

Those other cities. Eh. Seen better days.

[JayCT]

I do not think that you have to go as far as 45 minutes to find a nice small town to live in. There are a number of them in that area. A lot will depend on your budget, what you expect for that budget and how important good schools are to you. Without more information it is hard to say a lot. Groton itself is not that big but the schools don’t thrill me. It is somewhat suburbanish with a few interesting and attractive villages like Mystic, Noank, and Groton Long Point.

I have family in neighboring North Stonington. They love it. It is very pretty and there i# a wonderful community spirit and friendliness there. Just south of there is the beautiful town and Boro of Stonington. It has a beautiful shoreline and charming village.

If schools are important to you, you might want to consider East Lyme. It’s schools are probably the most highly ranked in the area. Other towns you might want to consider are Ledyard, Montville and Waterford. They nice towns with decent schools and are attractive. I would not go further than these though you certainly can but I do not see any reason. Good luck, Jay

[BaltimoreBruiser]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I do not think that you have to go as far as 45 minutes to find a nice small town to live in. There are a number of them in that area. A lot will depend on your budget, what you expect for that budget and how important good schools are to you. Without more information it is hard to say a lot. Groton itself is not that big but the schools don’t thrill me. It is somewhat suburbanish with a few interesting and attractive villages like Mystic, Noank, and Groton Long Point.

I have family in neighboring North Stonington. They love it. It is very pretty and there i# a wonderful community spirit and friendliness there. Just south of there is the beautiful town and Boro of Stonington. It has a beautiful shoreline and charming village.

If schools are important to you, you might want to consider East Lyme. It’s schools are probably the most highly ranked in the area. Other towns you might want to consider are Ledyard, Montville and Waterford. They nice towns with decent schools and are attractive. I would not go further than these though you certainly can but I do not see any reason. Good luck, Jay

Stonington does look really beautiful from a jaunt through google maps. I'm guessing the coastal towns get swamped during the summer months?

Schools are certainly important to me. As far as budget, I would likely be looking around the 300k mark for a house. Which would likely rule out the coastal towns anyway?

Other important factors other than budget and schools are:
- "Community spirit": We have both grown up in sprawling dense suburbs where there was no sense of distinction between towns or communities. So we both dream of having a place that had a clear distinction and sense of identity.
- An attractive main street (who doesnt?!). Doesn't have to be big or huge, even just a block or two would be fine, provided it had a couple restaurants, a cafe, a bar or two, and big plus if it has a brewery.
- "New England charm" would be great. We both love the northeast. We like to vacation in Maine.. so living in CT would make driving a little more sensible for that.
- Kind of an odd one, but Halloween is sort of a consideration for us. Places that still have a Trick or Treat tradition. When we look at neighborhoods, we usually think "does this look like a place where they'll be lots of kids on Halloween?". We like to decorate.

Again I appreciate the City-data community, and have been following this place for a couple years now!

[Stylo]

$300k will get you a house in any of the shoreline towns. Especially north of 95. It just depends on what you’re looking for as far as size and lot. The Lyme’s are a good value with excellent schools. Old Saybrook too, and taxes are very low.

All the towns I mentioned have beautiful centers. The best charming centers in the area are Guilford, Madison, Essex, Chester, Old Saybrook, Stonington Bourough, Mystic (touristy though). Clinton has a decent Main Street area and is a good value. Niantic too.

[GeoffD]

I lived in Portsmouth NH for a decade. Population 21,700. That easily tops anything in Connecticut. What is your housing budget and what are you looking for in a house? Portsmouth and the NH seacoast towns are expensive. You're less than a hour from Boston so you have a real city nearby.