[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by AKF

thank you again guys.
manchester by far sounds like the place that would work best. i am going to do some more searches and see what i can come up with.

J,

if you have any more pictures or information about manchester that would be awesome!

rich, do you work in the manchester area?

thanks

I've shown plenty of condos in Manchester. Also, I try to go to Adam's Mill (restaurant) once a month to play NTN Trivia. Why do you ask?

[mels]

Hey Rich, how is the food at Adam's Mill? I have driven by there a few times but only just noticed it existed last week.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by mels

Hey Rich, how is the food at Adam's Mill? I have driven by there a few times but only just noticed it existed last week.

It's not bad, but I'm probably not the best person to ask. I eat all kinds of fish but no meat. Upstairs at the bar, there's an abridged bar menu so be certain to ask for the restaurant menu if you choose to eat up there. This is where you'll find several large-screen TVs, NTN Trivia, and the buffet.

[AKF]

would like to keep in touch with you since you are a realtor and if you do work in the manchester area...perhaps you could help.

[skytrekker]

Manchester, AFK; is a typical large town in New England (pop. 55,000)
That in recent years has become increasingly diverse.

There are middle class working class areas of Cape Cod and ranch homes priced just under 200k. There are upscale areas like highland park and Birch Mountain where homes costs are 400K and up.

Main Street is typical New England- with small shops, ethnic restaurants, Pizza shops, low story offices, Churches and historic buildings.

Driving south from the historic 1ST Congregational Church south on Main Street, gives a pleasant view of the Glastonbury Hills.

The north End of town has the Shoppes of Buckland Hills- a huge Mall, as well as various other stores. Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, Marshalls, Best Buy etc.

Nearby in South Windsor is the upscale Evergreen Walk; with Pottery Barn, and a plethora of upscale shops and venues.

Geographically The town is hilly, as opposed to the flatness of western Indiana.

You may have to be prepared for some degree of cultural shock if you relocate here- there seems to be some kind of cognitive dissidence between the heartland and the coasts. Just want to make sure you understand these differences.


Manchester will offer much more diversity then Lafayette IN- The town politically is very liberal, and has an active community involved in topics such as global warming, women and gay rights.

Nonetheless, Manchester is a good town- I lived there from 1989-1999- and enjoyed my life in 'The city of Village Charm'.

[AKF]

thanks for that insight. i am actually from the east coast, moved to this dump almost a year ago...and now want to come back!
it does help immensly to know what i am up against.

thanks.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by AKF

thanks for that insight. i am actually from the east coast, moved to this dump almost a year ago...and now want to come back!
it does help immensly to know what i am up against.

thanks.

skytrekker: Well said, I just want to add that there are also a decent amount of traditionalists, houses of worship in many forms, and even honest to God conservatives (LOL) in Manchester which helps balance things out a bit...like you said, very diverse.

The development going on around Buckland hills is incredible. I can count three new "centers" going in, and 5 restaurants in the last 6 months being built and opened with more on the horizon.

Like you mentioned the HUGE Evergreen walk complex, ( http://www.theshopsatevergreenwalk.com ), the mall ( http://www.theshoppesatbucklandhills.com
) and that just tells half the story.

Everything you can imagine is there. All the chain restaurants...no I mean all of them. Uno, Smokeybones, RedRobin, Friday's, John Harvards, Hops, Buggaboo Creek, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Hometown Buffet, Outback, Panera, Pepe's Pizza (New Haven's LEGENDARY Pizza places first "remote" location since 1940 something!), Friendlys, Chilis, Johnny Rockets, Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse Grill and that's all I can remember and just the chains nevermind the locally owned places!

Stores? Lets see, Bed Bath Beyond, Christmas Tree shops, Bernies, Circuit City, Best Buy, Bob's Store, Bob's Furniture, Kaud Rugs, Better Bedding, Tweeter Etc, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, Vitamin Shoppe, Mens Warehouse, Petsmart, Joans, Comp USA, DSW Shoes, Raymore Flangagan, Thomasville, LazyBoy...and that's just the few I can remember and doesn't include the mall or Evergreen. Everything you would ever need or want is pretty much collected in a nice easy to access area. You see people driving down from MA to shop there even.

AKF: Here is a link to the Manchester Life magazine put out by the town http://www.townofmanchester.org/Documents/ManchesterLife/ManchMag-Fall04.pdf (broken link) It gives you a little idea of what the "locals" are up to.

The official town website: http://www.townofmanchester.org

This is one of the parks in town: http://www.wickhampark.org Gorgeous place, with an Aviary the kids will love and if you never played Frisbee golf...don't or you will be addicted. LOL

This is one of the "greenway" trails in Manchester that are a blast to rollerblade or take a walk on or the kids etc and it's pretty much accessable from either end of the city and just off main street in downtown.

http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/documents/dbikes/020.pdf

Another on the other side of town:

http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/documents/dbikes/114.pdf

As was said, main street has lots of small shops, and good restaurants. Jamaican, Indian, Vietmanese, Pub, Thai, Pizza, Chinese, Cafe's etc

This is a gorgeous Methodist Church right in downtown on main street:

http://www.mzhomes.com/assets/tour/MAN8.jpg (broken link)

Here is an arial view of "main street"
http://economicdevelopment.ci.manchester.ct.us/images/imagesMainST_manchsmall.jpg (broken link)

Mainstreet is home to many events through the year like the Manchester Road race: http://www.manchesterroadrace.com which has become world famous with over 10,000 runners and 15,000 spectators.

Cruising on Mainstreet is a lot of fun too:

http://www.ctchristians.com/misc/cruising-02.jpg (broken link)
http://www.ctchristians.com/misc/cruising-03.jpg (broken link)

Anyhoo, hope that gets you going a bit - that's just scratching the surface.

It may not be perfect but it's a nice place to live with most everything you could need or want.

[skytrekker]

I would never ever do any part of Indiana......

some good people there I am sure- but socially the state is 50 years behind Manchester or Vernon and the rest of Connecticut.
Also great pics by JViello cheers...........

[JViello]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

Also great pics by JViello cheers...........

Thanks Sky. I think we both appreciate and love this region. I'm actually on the Vernon/Bolt line over by Shady Glen so we are probably closer neighbors than we think.

AKF: Here is a 98 page guide to the Hartford region which gives you and idea what is within a 30 minute drive and why many have said the Hartford region is a cultural gem without all the Boston/NYC headaches. Enjoy:

http://www.visitctriver.com/pdf/VisitorsGuide2007_rivervalleyct.pdf (broken link)

[AKF]

You guys!!!

How I wish I had found this forum before I moved to IN!!!!!

I don't know if I should thank you guys right now or scream at you for providing me with all this fab info. on the area!

Truly, I am absolutely homesick! Can't wait to get out of this crappy place.
I am in Lafayette and this place is all about Purdue Univ. So, basically if you are not a student or somehow involved with Purdue you can essentially kiss any social life goodbye!

Sky you nailed it! People are definitely "nice(r)" but man are they weird? No disrespect but sometimes I talk to the people here and it's as if they have no clue as to what I am talking about. It's literally like living in the twilight zone. You feel like you are living in a 1950's sitcom. While that sort of life has it's good points...but they just need to get on with the times...you know what I mean?

J,

Thanks for all the links. I am going to go check them out right now.

thanks again both.