Planning On Visiting Connecticut Later This Fall (For Looking Into Moving Purposes) (Bridgeport: for rent, low crime)
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Understand I have no expectation that I could ever live there, but... WOW. The coastal New England vibe was perfect ... getting to see Mystic and Stonington certainly was quite something to see!
Certain places are out of reach for regular folks but the SE Conn area in general isn't especially expensive. Probably doesn't have as much of the contemporary suburban landscapes as you're finding around Hartford.
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Originally Posted by WoodwindsRock
Including checking out the towns South of Hartford that have been suggested here and also New Haven and it's surrounding towns.
Lots of driving. Good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WoodwindsRock
we decided to go ahead and take a little time to cross the border and see a little bit of Springfield! I do have to say that what I saw of it seemed pretty lively and up-kept. A bit of a stark contrast from the Springfield that was described to me in my Massachusetts topic last year.
Glad to hear Springfield seemed tidy and lively. Always nice to be pleasantly surprised!
Why do you think you couldn’t live near Mystic? There are lots of affordable areas near it. I have family there and they aren’t wealthy. You may not be able to afford a waterfront home but you likely could afford something close by. That’s the great thing about Connecticut, it’s beautiful and you can enjoy much of the same things the wealthy enjoy here. Jay
There are a lot of pages on here so it i hard to remember WoodwindsRock's requirements. A few are 1) she wants to be close to very good hospitals and her mom and dad will be moving up later some time. The best hospitals in the state are Yale New Haven Hospital and a hospital up in Hartford...I think it is Hartford Hospital. WoodwindsRock's rock is a young adult.
I would put her as close as possible to Hartford and New Haven for these reasons.
1) As a young person I think WoodwindsRock would be closer to a larger population of young people closer to bigger cities for social life. My husband and I are retirement age and even we want to be close to New Haven for social life and PIZZA lol.
2) I think WoodwindsRock would have access to jobs and colleges if she wants to pursue a career. There are a ton of colleges at many price points in New Haven.
3) I want to retire to Branford (I narrowed it down) because the senior center in Branford will take you to doctors at Yale New Haven Hospital. That could be important as her parents get older. A town that can get you to the very good hospitals is important too. On the occasions when I have gone to Yale New Haven Hospital I have talked to many people about where they live in relation to Yale New Haven Hospital. Many retired people have told me they live further east like near Mystic but now they are older wish they retired closer to New Haven.
Ughhh. So I just made a long post about the past couple of days and the hotel Wi-Fi decided to randomly shut off and make me agree to log on into it again when I hit submit and... it's gone. All gone. Gotta love this old phpBB forum format that doesn't save drafts. (seriously, looks almost exactly like it did back in the mid 2000s lol)
So the beach in Rhode Island was actually open? That's sad that I missed it. The sun was setting and it was getting late. I walked around the area and couldn't find any opening to the beach. There were shops, but they were all closed. It felt very lonely. Perhaps we should have driven down further.
Wednesday I went west from New London along the coast. We stopped at Hammonasett and went to the beach. This set us back a bit, as our stay there went on a bit. But the beach was important for my parents. My parents love collecting seashells, and they were VERY pleased to see that this beach gets a lot of seashells!
The plan after that was to go to New Haven, Orange and Milford. We ended up only having time to go to New Haven. We ran by Yale and went to the shops for a few moments. I had to find a restroom by then and couldn't see one around that area, so we had to direct ourselves out of the way to a place I knew would have one - Walmart - which took time. By then, the sun had set. I was frustrated. I was formerly ahead of my schedule, and now I was behind. Nevertheless, with the sun set we couldn't carry on optimally. I decided that we still had to have New Haven-style pizza/apizza. However, due to hearing of how busy they are, we opted not to go to Sally's or Pepe's this time around. We went to one that I think was called Modern Apizza? It was really good! Looks like apizza is up my alley!
My impression of New Haven itself was... well, it's a city. I feel uneasy in cities. Whether Hartford, New Haven or Tulsa. It's not what I'm used to and it feels dangerous. I did really like the rows of townhouses I saw. Certainly lots of beautiful architecture.
Today: Wallingford was on the agenda, and I decided that since it is south of where our hotel currently is, we'd see how long it would take to get to Orange and Milford from Wallingford. As for Wallingford, I had looked up old houses and saw that there is one from the 1670s in Wallingford, so I directed us there and hoped to get a feeling of the town going through it to get there. To get to see the house by foot we had to park in a neighborhood a little ways in. I will say that neighborhood was VERY nice and felt really safe. We were impressed with this neighborhood!
(loved the house, by the way)
After a little looking around, it turned out it was still very early so we went down to Orange and Milford. Unfortunately, my time down there had to be brief as that wasn't on the schedule for today. But we made use of it! We went on down to Milford's public library which ended up being next to a really pretty, picturesque harbor area. Very beautiful! I adore this aesthetic. Needless to say, even though not much time was spent down there, we came out with a positive impression.
It was time to go back up to Middletown. I directed to us to an apartment complex that was affordable. I found the area to be nice enough, looked livable! The place seemed full of apartment complexes! Many were probably nicer, but this one was cheaper and allows dogs, very important for me. So... Middletown is certainly staying on my list.
After checking out more, it was actually still very early (everything is so close in this state!), so... I decided to check out Meriden. It was on my preliminary list, and if time didn't allow, I was going to skip it, as recommended here. Since there was time, we just went. Stopped at the mall to go the restroom and found a fantastic department clothes store that I have never heard of - Boscov's! I was seeing so much, I had to stop myself from shopping - both for time and saving money purposes! The mall had a similar feel to Manchester's and Crystal Mall... That is... lots of empty space. There were people there, and I did like that they had some stores that long ago closed in OK, like FYE. Meriden seemed fine, but IDK. I'll try to stay away from it, as suggested here.
The sun still hadn't set! Also on that preliminary schedule was Waterbury. I knew you all said not go to there, and I really thought time wouldn't allow, but it did. So I said that we might as well just go see it. Traffic was very slow getting there, which ate up a lot of time. My impression of the place is that you all are right. It did not give off good vibes for me. It looked like a bad neighborhood of Tulsa. It also had a distinct city feel in the downtown which turned me off. So, you all were right. But I did get to laugh at the rundown Holy Land theme park that I saw from a distance. lol
I still have a few areas to see. I am already feeling even more undecided on where is best for me than before. Certainly I have firmly grounded that I adore the state and could definitely feel at home here, but I have loved so many different places, and only really disliked Waterbury, and maybe the downtown cities (for having a place to live in, anyway.)
How do I decide? =/ For you see, I already have been in contact with a job service. They are wanting to know which area I will move to. I was hoping I would get some ideas here, but have only really narrowed down a few areas, as mentioned above. Many are still on the table. And I still have a few areas to see tomorrow, which I think will just be added to the positive side.
Ughhh. So I just made a long post about the past couple of days and the hotel Wi-Fi decided to randomly shut off and make me agree to log on into it again when I hit submit and... it's gone. All gone. Gotta love this old phpBB forum format that doesn't save drafts. (seriously, looks almost exactly like it did back in the mid 2000s lol)
So the beach in Rhode Island was actually open? That's sad that I missed it. The sun was setting and it was getting late. I walked around the area and couldn't find any opening to the beach. There were shops, but they were all closed. It felt very lonely. Perhaps we should have driven down further.
Wednesday I went west from New London along the coast. We stopped at Hammonasett and went to the beach. This set us back a bit, as our stay there went on a bit. But the beach was important for my parents. My parents love collecting seashells, and they were VERY pleased to see that this beach gets a lot of seashells!
The plan after that was to go to New Haven, Orange and Milford. We ended up only having time to go to New Haven. We ran by Yale and went to the shops for a few moments. I had to find a restroom by then and couldn't see one around that area, so we had to direct ourselves out of the way to a place I knew would have one - Walmart - which took time. By then, the sun had set. I was frustrated. I was formerly ahead of my schedule, and now I was behind. Nevertheless, with the sun set we couldn't carry on optimally. I decided that we still had to have New Haven-style pizza/apizza. However, due to hearing of how busy they are, we opted not to go to Sally's or Pepe's this time around. We went to one that I think was called Modern Apizza? It was really good! Looks like apizza is up my alley!
My impression of New Haven itself was... well, it's a city. I feel uneasy in cities. Whether Hartford, New Haven or Tulsa. It's not what I'm used to and it feels dangerous. I did really like the rows of townhouses I saw. Certainly lots of beautiful architecture.
Today: Wallingford was on the agenda, and I decided that since it is south of where our hotel currently is, we'd see how long it would take to get to Orange and Milford from Wallingford. As for Wallingford, I had looked up old houses and saw that there is one from the 1670s in Wallingford, so I directed us there and hoped to get a feeling of the town going through it to get there. To get to see the house by foot we had to park in a neighborhood a little ways in. I will say that neighborhood was VERY nice and felt really safe. We were impressed with this neighborhood!
(loved the house, by the way)
After a little looking around, it turned out it was still very early so we went down to Orange and Milford. Unfortunately, my time down there had to be brief as that wasn't on the schedule for today. But we made use of it! We went on down to Milford's public library which ended up being next to a really pretty, picturesque harbor area. Very beautiful! I adore this aesthetic. Needless to say, even though not much time was spent down there, we came out with a positive impression.
It was time to go back up to Middletown. I directed to us to an apartment complex that was affordable. I found the area to be nice enough, looked livable! The place seemed full of apartment complexes! Many were probably nicer, but this one was cheaper and allows dogs, very important for me. So... Middletown is certainly staying on my list.
After checking out more, it was actually still very early (everything is so close in this state!), so... I decided to check out Meriden. It was on my preliminary list, and if time didn't allow, I was going to skip it, as recommended here. Since there was time, we just went. Stopped at the mall to go the restroom and found a fantastic department clothes store that I have never heard of - Boscov's! I was seeing so much, I had to stop myself from shopping - both for time and saving money purposes! The mall had a similar feel to Manchester's and Crystal Mall... That is... lots of empty space. There were people there, and I did like that they had some stores that long ago closed in OK, like FYE. Meriden seemed fine, but IDK. I'll try to stay away from it, as suggested here.
The sun still hadn't set! Also on that preliminary schedule was Waterbury. I knew you all said not go to there, and I really thought time wouldn't allow, but it did. So I said that we might as well just go see it. Traffic was very slow getting there, which ate up a lot of time. My impression of the place is that you all are right. It did not give off good vibes for me. It looked like a bad neighborhood of Tulsa. It also had a distinct city feel in the downtown which turned me off. So, you all were right. But I did get to laugh at the rundown Holy Land theme park that I saw from a distance. lol
I still have a few areas to see. I am already feeling even more undecided on where is best for me than before. Certainly I have firmly grounded that I adore the state and could definitely feel at home here, but I have loved so many different places, and only really disliked Waterbury, and maybe the downtown cities (for having a place to live in, anyway.)
How do I decide? =/ For you see, I already have been in contact with a job service. They are wanting to know which area I will move to. I was hoping I would get some ideas here, but have only really narrowed down a few areas, as mentioned above. Many are still on the table. And I still have a few areas to see tomorrow, which I think will just be added to the positive side.
LOL...that's a lot of writing, and traveling, maybe your CT's next travel guide.
I would not worry too much about settling in the wrong place - this is a small state, unless your really in some far corner, far from the highways, you'll have access to much of the state. All the towns/small cities you mention are nice (Orange, Milford, Wallingford, Branford...etc). True about New Haven - cities are cities. Middletown is fairly decent, the university is there, most of Main Street is really made a comeback from years past (many places to eat, shop...etc), just be a bit cautious at the far north end of Main Street after dark. Wallingford is a great choice, they have the lowest power bills in the state (I think).
Ughhh. So I just made a long post about the past couple of days and the hotel Wi-Fi decided to randomly shut off and make me agree to log on into it again when I hit submit and... it's gone. All gone. Gotta love this old phpBB forum format that doesn't save drafts. (seriously, looks almost exactly like it did back in the mid 2000s lol)
So the beach in Rhode Island was actually open? That's sad that I missed it. The sun was setting and it was getting late. I walked around the area and couldn't find any opening to the beach. There were shops, but they were all closed. It felt very lonely. Perhaps we should have driven down further.
Wednesday I went west from New London along the coast. We stopped at Hammonasett and went to the beach. This set us back a bit, as our stay there went on a bit. But the beach was important for my parents. My parents love collecting seashells, and they were VERY pleased to see that this beach gets a lot of seashells!
The plan after that was to go to New Haven, Orange and Milford. We ended up only having time to go to New Haven. We ran by Yale and went to the shops for a few moments. I had to find a restroom by then and couldn't see one around that area, so we had to direct ourselves out of the way to a place I knew would have one - Walmart - which took time. By then, the sun had set. I was frustrated. I was formerly ahead of my schedule, and now I was behind. Nevertheless, with the sun set we couldn't carry on optimally. I decided that we still had to have New Haven-style pizza/apizza. However, due to hearing of how busy they are, we opted not to go to Sally's or Pepe's this time around. We went to one that I think was called Modern Apizza? It was really good! Looks like apizza is up my alley!
My impression of New Haven itself was... well, it's a city. I feel uneasy in cities. Whether Hartford, New Haven or Tulsa. It's not what I'm used to and it feels dangerous. I did really like the rows of townhouses I saw. Certainly lots of beautiful architecture.
Today: Wallingford was on the agenda, and I decided that since it is south of where our hotel currently is, we'd see how long it would take to get to Orange and Milford from Wallingford. As for Wallingford, I had looked up old houses and saw that there is one from the 1670s in Wallingford, so I directed us there and hoped to get a feeling of the town going through it to get there. To get to see the house by foot we had to park in a neighborhood a little ways in. I will say that neighborhood was VERY nice and felt really safe. We were impressed with this neighborhood!
(loved the house, by the way)
After a little looking around, it turned out it was still very early so we went down to Orange and Milford. Unfortunately, my time down there had to be brief as that wasn't on the schedule for today. But we made use of it! We went on down to Milford's public library which ended up being next to a really pretty, picturesque harbor area. Very beautiful! I adore this aesthetic. Needless to say, even though not much time was spent down there, we came out with a positive impression.
It was time to go back up to Middletown. I directed to us to an apartment complex that was affordable. I found the area to be nice enough, looked livable! The place seemed full of apartment complexes! Many were probably nicer, but this one was cheaper and allows dogs, very important for me. So... Middletown is certainly staying on my list.
After checking out more, it was actually still very early (everything is so close in this state!), so... I decided to check out Meriden. It was on my preliminary list, and if time didn't allow, I was going to skip it, as recommended here. Since there was time, we just went. Stopped at the mall to go the restroom and found a fantastic department clothes store that I have never heard of - Boscov's! I was seeing so much, I had to stop myself from shopping - both for time and saving money purposes! The mall had a similar feel to Manchester's and Crystal Mall... That is... lots of empty space. There were people there, and I did like that they had some stores that long ago closed in OK, like FYE. Meriden seemed fine, but IDK. I'll try to stay away from it, as suggested here.
The sun still hadn't set! Also on that preliminary schedule was Waterbury. I knew you all said not go to there, and I really thought time wouldn't allow, but it did. So I said that we might as well just go see it. Traffic was very slow getting there, which ate up a lot of time. My impression of the place is that you all are right. It did not give off good vibes for me. It looked like a bad neighborhood of Tulsa. It also had a distinct city feel in the downtown which turned me off. So, you all were right. But I did get to laugh at the rundown Holy Land theme park that I saw from a distance. lol
I still have a few areas to see. I am already feeling even more undecided on where is best for me than before. Certainly I have firmly grounded that I adore the state and could definitely feel at home here, but I have loved so many different places, and only really disliked Waterbury, and maybe the downtown cities (for having a place to live in, anyway.)
How do I decide? =/ For you see, I already have been in contact with a job service. They are wanting to know which area I will move to. I was hoping I would get some ideas here, but have only really narrowed down a few areas, as mentioned above. Many are still on the table. And I still have a few areas to see tomorrow, which I think will just be added to the positive side.
It sounds like you were in the West Lake section of Middletown. There’s a ton of apartment complexes along West Lake Drive. Did you get to see downtown? It’s a great old town center with lots of great restaurants and stores including a great old fashioned toy store (Damato’s) and a wonderful book store (RJ Julia’s). Definitely worth a look if you are considering Middletown.
I’m glad you liked Boscov’s. They are a small family owned Pennsylvania department store that is just starting to expand here. Meriden was their first store in our state. They also have one in Milford. Hopefully they will add more.
That said Meriden Square is not the best of malls. It has struggled a little. Boscov’s pretty much is saving it. If you want a great mall, id recommend traveling to West Hartford and go to Westfarms. It’s more upscale with Macy’s, Nordstrom, JC Penney and a lot of great shops to checkout.
I do like CTArtist’s suggestion to consider Branford. It’s a great shoreline town east of New Haven. You’ll be close to New Haven for employment, entertainment and world class medical care but has a great small coastal town feel. Id suggest you check it out. Jay
Oops, I actually DID check out Branford. I talked about it on my original typing of yesterday’s post, but somehow left it out in the second typing.
We liked Branford. We drove out to this area with a little beach. The beach was tiny but had lots of seashells! We found the houses there looked very nice as well.
Sorry for not mentioning that. Branford is definitely on our list. It’s also a short drive to Hammonasset for my parents.
You’d probably like the more residential areas of New Haven. East Rock, Westville, Wooster Square… vs downtown. If you were at Modern, that’s on the edge of East Rock.
Today, we checked out New Britain, Rocky Hill, and Wethersford - the last stops of the trip.
I liked all three areas fine and that just complicates the situation of deciding where for me. I found a couple of different great apartment complexes in New Britain (up near West Hartford!) and Rocky Hill. I was very impressed with both of them, but can't get my heart set on them because obviously those vacancies will fill before I can get here.
I was hoping to get some clarification on this trip, but seem to have only really ruled out the downtown cities and Waterbury. I suppose I have to start getting down to the details of which will work out best for me.
Flight back to OK is early tomorrow morning. The rental car has already been turned in and I'm feeling very depressed. I cried when we got to the hotel that signifies leaving tomorrow morning. Every morning that I've waken up and been able to tell myself "I'm in Connecticut!" has been comforting in ways I can not express.
Thank you all for your advice, which helped me a lot in sculpting where I went on this trip!
Today, we checked out New Britain, Rocky Hill, and Wethersford - the last stops of the trip.
I liked all three areas fine and that just complicates the situation of deciding where for me. I found a couple of different great apartment complexes in New Britain (up near West Hartford!) and Rocky Hill. I was very impressed with both of them, but can't get my heart set on them because obviously those vacancies will fill before I can get here.
I was hoping to get some clarification on this trip, but seem to have only really ruled out the downtown cities and Waterbury. I suppose I have to start getting down to the details of which will work out best for me.
Flight back to OK is early tomorrow morning. The rental car has already been turned in and I'm feeling very depressed. I cried when we got to the hotel that signifies leaving tomorrow morning. Every morning that I've waken up and been able to tell myself "I'm in Connecticut!" has been comforting in ways I can not express.
Thank you all for your advice, which helped me a lot in sculpting where I went on this trip!
Have a good trip back to Oklahoma. Connecticut will still be here when you are ready to come back or move. We will be here too. Safe travels. Jay
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Gotta love this old phpBB forum format that doesn't save drafts. (seriously, looks almost exactly like it did back in the mid 2000s lol)
