[alina0013]

Hi Everyone, I posted for advice a while back before we had our plans set, but now that we do, so I'm posting again. We will be moving to CT from Boston. My husband will be working mostly in Manchester and Vernon and I will be working in Hartford. We are looking for a town with wonderful schools and a good sense of community/community activites that is commutable to those areas. Schools are probably most important to us. I would say we don't want to live in an incredibly snobby town and don't want to live somewhere that's overrun with mcmansion homes, but if that's what it takes for a good school/community, then we will take it. We don't know anyone in CT, and I will be making the switch to staying home part time, so we want to be somewhere that we will make friends and where there will be things for me and the kids to do. Home price isn't really an issue.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. We are considering Glastonbury, South Windsor, and maybe West Hartford and Simsbury, although it seems that those might be too far away, depending on what traffic is like in that area. We know nothing at all about Connecticut. Am I missing anything? If you have lived in the Boston area and can make any comparison between any of the towns I've mentioned and Boston suburbs, that would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[JayCT]

alina0013 - Since your husband will be working in Manchester and Vernon, I would look at towns east of the Connecticut River. Commuting through downtown Hartford from West Hartford or Simsbury can be difficult during ruah hours and the cost of homes east of the river is less. Since schools are of great importance to you, I would recommend Glastonbury. The schools are excellent and considered to be among the tops in the state with Connecticut Mastery Test scores well above the state average and reasonable class sizes (around 20 students per class). My kids are in the system now and I can tell you we are very pleased.

As for your concerns about living in a snobby town, well that happens in most upscale communities and glastonbury sure has its fair share. If however you avoid some of the more affluent parts of town, you can avoid this. Try to stay in the Naubuc, Buttonball or Hebron Avenue school districts to avoid this. Though I will say that we have met many very nice down to earth people from the other schools as well.

South Windsor is another good choice or if you want a more rural town, try Hebron or Marlborough. Good luck. Jay

[Srib]

I would recommend glastonbury also, but think you should also consider Tolland. Very nice community with a more rural feel, good schools and a good commute into Hartford. Shopping will be less convenient in Tolland than in Glastonbury, but then again in Glastonbury on weekends there are cars all over the place trying to get here and there so its up to what your needs are and whats important to you. There are pockets of snobs in glastonbury, but as JayCT pointed out you'll meet some down to earth people as well if you avoid the mcmansion neigborhoods and stick to the older ones he pointed out above.

[alina0013]

Thanks both of your for the advice. Glastonbury sounds like our best option. We are not really looking for something more rural. Does everyone in town go to the same highschool, or are their multiple highschools? Also, do you know if there are one or more elementary school districts that are considered to be the best? Do you find that the town has good community activities? And do you go into Hartford much? I don't know much about Hartford, but I have not heard good things about it. I'm kind of nervous to be living in a suburb of a city that people go to just for work and not for entertainment, etc... that will be different than living outside Boston. Then again, now that we have little kids, it's not as if we take full advantage of everything Boston has to offer. Does Glastonbury itself have a town center or anything like that? We do like to get out and walk around quite a bit.

Thanks for the help.... I'm kind of ambivilent about this move, but I'm thinking that I will get more excited about it once I visit the area. And it's not as if Massachusetts is the greatest place on earth, that is for sure!

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Srib

Shopping will be less convenient in Tolland than in Glastonbury, but then again in Glastonbury on weekends there are cars all over the place trying to get here and there so its up to what your needs are and whats important to you.

Srib - There are? I never see a lot of traffic in town on weekends. There really are no bad traffic problems on weekends anywhere in Glastonbury. I will say that Griswold Street at the House Street/Harris Street can be a problem during rush hours on weekdays and Hebron Avenue is difficult to get into town at lunch time on weekdays but other than those, I never have a problem traveling around town. Jay

[hfd]

Hartford gets a bad rap, and it is undeserved. There are plenty of great restaurants downtown that attract people from the burbs. There are three theaters downtown (Bushnell, Hartford Stage and Theaterworks.) Concerts, UConn games, the circus and minor league hockey games are at the Civic Center. The state's premier art museum is the Wadsworth, and the Connecticut Science Center is under construction. It is part of the Adriaen's Landing development that includes the new Marriott, and the Connecticut Convention Center. The CCC has boat shows, car shows, etc. In the spring they will start building a new development called Front Street, which will have apartments shops and entertainment. ESPN will open an attraction there along the lines of an ESPN Zone. People also head to the city for the St. Patrick's Day Parade (2nd largest in NEw England) and Veterans Day Parade (largest in NE.)

[alina0013]

Thanks! That makes me feel better about it.

For those of you who live in Glastonbury, is there much to do in Glastonbury, itself (restaurants and such?)?

[Srib]

Jay CT - I didn't say there was "a lot of traffic" - i said there were cars all over the place - When I head into the business district area in town on a saturday I find that it can get a bit congested on main street/hebron ave areas. And yes, rush hour during the week is another time when certain areas of town get a bit congested. Since the OP is from Boston I'm guessing this won't be a problem...

alina0013- to answer your questions....

Glastonbury has 1 large high school, recently expanded and very nice with very well maintained and extensive athletic fields. Some students opt to attend local magnet high school that serves the area, but very few. Same for the local Catholic high school and I'm sure there are some in town that attend private high schools.

There are several elementary schools in town - they are all good as far as I'm concerned and the differences are trivial. You'll find more diversity at Naubec Elementary in the north end of town. Local snobbery may dictate which ones are "better", but I wouldn't worry about that.

I would say the town has pretty good community activities. They just opened a community center along the CT river not too long ago so I'm sure they offer things. I can't list everything in town, but off hand there are summer concerts on the green, activities at the library (PJ's night, etc) for younger kids, antique and craft fairs that draw a decent crowd (usually at the high school or on the green. In the summer the local McDonald's hosts car shows in their parking lot. There is the annual apple fest, activities at the local grist mill, etc, etc.....plenty to do....

As far as Hartford goes....there are all sorts of opinions. Some are terrified to go into the big bad city, I really couldn't care less - I go whenever I want to and have never had a problem. You'll find there are pockets of the city where there is higher crime and frankly there isn't much you would want to do in those areas so I wouldn't worry about it. Hfd provided a good summary above. We go into hartford all the time for events and occasionally to eat out.

Glastonbury has a sort of town center if you can call it that I guess it would be the main street/hebron ave area. You can certainly walk around, but you may find you are walking more than you want to to get from one place to another. Personally I enjoy my saturday morning ritual of popping my son into his stroller, grabbing a coffee and wandering up and down main street past the old homes there. I get some much needed exercise and its a way to spend some time with one of my two.

I think you'll be quite happy in glastonbury. Its not immune from problems affecting other upscale suburbs, but overall a very nice place to raise a family and sounds like it would meet your needs.

[JayCT]

Glastonbury has a number of stores and restaurants. It has a population of about 32,000 with about 60 square miles so while it is good sized it is not too crowded. There is no walkable downtown area but there are many small to mid sized shopping centers with ample parking. Most of your everyday shopping needs can be met right here in town. There are two large supermarkets within town (both are Stop & Shop's) and one large Shaw's just over the line in East Hartford. There is the largest Home Depot in New England here but it certainly does not look like any other HD I have seen (it is brick with a LOT of detail work). There is an upscale set of shops called Somerset Square with stores like Ann Taylor, Talbots and Smith & Hawkins. There is a large Barnes & Noble nearby as well. Whole Foods will be opening here next year.

As for restaurants, there is a wide range of options from mom & pop types to the typical national chains. These include 99 Restaurant, Chili's, Bertucci's, Houlihan's, Mcdonald's (the first restaurant to not have arches), Burger king, Friendly's, Nathan's, Dunkin Donuts (there are five in town including two in the Stop & Shop's) and Starbucks (we now have two). There are several very good Chinese places, a good Japanese restaurant, a new and very good Mexican restaurant and two of the best Indian restaurants in the state. Lots of pizza places too. For upscale dinning there are several excellent places including two Max restaurants (Max is a chain of upscale quality restaurants in CT and western MA).

Several things Glastonbury does not have include a movie theater, bowling alleys, a discount department store or shopping mall. These though are available in near by East Hartford or Manchester. hope this helps, Jay

[vvolin]

Now that my daughter is in 6th grade and attending an all town school, I am much more in contact with many areas in Glastonbury. I am not sure I agree with Jay that snobby people are necessarily concentrated in particular school districts. There are roads or neighborhoods that seem to be a little more upscale, but I live in South Glastonbury and I see a lot of different real estate situations here, just as about everywhere in Glastopnbury. On the other hand, I have been living here for a year, while Jay has been here for 12 years (correct?), so I understand that my opinion just does not have the same weight.