[Tetto]

Originally Posted by Cooler_King

Yes, from what I've seen online it looks like Norwich has some nice old homes. My wife loves the old victorian houses. That's kind of how we took a second look at Norwich. The older homes.. and the school seemed really good there too; Norwich Free Academy. Mohegan Park looks nice too.

Check out Willimantic CT as well. There is a huge concentration of older victorian homes as well. I believe the concentration is the largest in the US. I know some people will shoot down Willimantic (a college town) due to some bad publicity it got some years back. It's really not a bad town and worth checking out.

[Cooler_King]

Thank you so much for everyone who has given advice & information. It's helping us narrow down places to visit on our next visit out there. We're keeping a list of towns & schools to see & explore while we're there. And then hopefully we can decide on a place to call home.
I read a lot of the CT threads and see that the usual suspects answered my initial question. You guys do a great job. I know from prior experiences that Californians are not always welcome, but you all are always very kind to Californians.

Winsted was recommended by a friend of ours who moved from San Diego to Simsbury not too long ago. They thought Winsted it was a nice looking town and said the school was rated high(10 on Great Schools & ranked 9th out of 194 CT cities on School Digger). Although, I am not sure how much stock I put into school rankings. And even test scores can be deceiving. As a former data analyst I know how data alone doesn’t always tell the whole story. I know for my daughter’s high school here in San Diego it is rated a 9, has great test results, & ranked in the top 3 schools in San Diego. But the school has a 30% asian population. If one looks by ethnicity the test scores tell a different story. The asian kid’s scores are off the chart good. The others not so good. So does this make the school great? Not from my experience. The teachers are flaky and unresponsive. The homework is not challenging. The school has become a fashion show and academics seems to have taken a back seat to football for students and faculty alike. Yet it ranks a 9. I digress… So my question is… The “10” ranking is for NW Region HS Dist. 7. But I noticed there is also a HS called Gilbert listed for Winsted / Winchester. Gilbert is ranked 133/194 and a 4 in Great Schools. So are there two High Schools for the area? Is one for the city of Winsted and the other for outside the main town? If anyone is familiar with the area and could clarify and/or give feedback on the schools I’d appreciate it.

Also, any other general comments on the area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Cooler_King

Winsted was recommended by a friend of ours who moved from San Diego to Simsbury not too long ago. They thought Winsted it was a nice looking town and said the school was rated high(10 on Great Schools & ranked 9th out of 194 CT cities on School Digger). Although, I am not sure how much stock I put into school rankings. And even test scores can be deceiving. As a former data analyst I know how data alone doesn’t always tell the whole story. I know for my daughter’s high school here in San Diego it is rated a 9, has great test results, & ranked in the top 3 schools in San Diego. But the school has a 30% asian population. If one looks by ethnicity the test scores tell a different story. The asian kid’s scores are off the chart good. The others not so good. So does this make the school great? Not from my experience. The teachers are flaky and unresponsive. The homework is not challenging. The school has become a fashion show and academics seems to have taken a back seat to football for students and faculty alike. Yet it ranks a 9. I digress… So my question is… The “10” ranking is for NW Region HS Dist. 7. But I noticed there is also a HS called Gilbert listed for Winsted / Winchester. Gilbert is ranked 133/194 and a 4 in Great Schools. So are there two High Schools for the area? Is one for the city of Winsted and the other for outside the main town? If anyone is familiar with the area and could clarify and/or give feedback on the schools I’d appreciate it.

Also, any other general comments on the area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

FINALLY, someone who shares my concerns about school rankings!! I won't get too much into it here, but I do share your thoughts.

As for Winsted, it's an old, rural town that has seen better days. Just my opinion.

Check out Burlington/Harwinton (District 10). Very good schools and both are nice, family oriented friendly communities.

[JayCT]

I agree with Kidyankee's recommendation of Burlington and Harwinton. Beautiful towns with very good schools. Also with his assessment of Winsted. For information about school districts, check the link below.

Strategic School Profiles by District

[Cooler_King]

We're still in CA, probably won't make the move out to CT until our daughter finishes out this school year. After more thought and research the wife and I are thinking of Somers as a top choice. We really liked the area and think it offers what we are looking for. My wife really liked Simsbury & Ellington too. But the taxes are hard to beat in Somers and the houses on a whole seem lower as well.

[JayCT]

Cooler King - Thanks for the update. Somers is a nice town too. Good luck, Jay

[Cooler_King]

Well, our move from San Diego to CT is imminent. We are scheduled to move mid June. Excited & stressed. Moving is a pain! We are in the process of packing, getting estimates from moving companies, etc. We have decided to rent an apartment in Simsbury for now. Hopefully we can find a home by the fall. We decided to rent for a while to get to know the towns better in CT and make a final decision where to plant our roots & buy a home. After another visit in Feb and seeing more towns in CT than you can shake a stick at we decided that Simsbury, Ellington, Farmington, & Somers fit our wants and needs best. We have until September to make a decision which High School to enroll our daughter. My wife is partial to Simsbury so we decided to rent there. I like the home prices & lower taxes in Somers better than Simsbury that’s for sure.

Thanks again for everyone who answered my posts as well as posting on other threads so frequently. A lot of useful info for us out-of-towners. Thanks. By the way, I can’t remember who recommended Litchfield at one time… we loved that town. Beautiful. In fact a lot of pretty town out west of Hartford… Burlington was nice with a very good High School. Just a bit too far out for my wife. She wants to be a bit closer to Hartford & Boston. You guys were dead on about Norwich… drove through just for kicks… not at all a good fit for us. Too crowded and not much in way of open spaces. We looked at towns between New Haven and Hartford too but didn’t find anything we liked as much as the towns closer to the Mass border.

If anyone knows of a reputable & reliable cross country moving company I’d love to hear from you. I’ve only gone the U-Haul route in the past so I am a newbie to using a moving company.

[JayCT]

Simsbury is a great town. The high school there is excellent and is considered one of the best in the state. The area is beautiful and has a lot of great amenities like parks, stores and restaurnat. I think you will like it there and your daughter will get a fine education. Good luck, Jay

[cunparis]

Cooler King,

I just found your thread and I'd like to know how you're enjoying Connecticut. My wife & I are wanting to move to the US from France and we've narrowed down our choices to San Diego and Connecticut. For Connecticut we'd like something along the coast so that we can have better access to New York, maybe New Haven. Not the same area as around Hartford, but I'm still interested in your experience so far. We just visited San Diego a week ago and loved it. But vacationing there and living there are totally different things I know.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by cunparis

Cooler King,

I just found your thread and I'd like to know how you're enjoying Connecticut. My wife & I are wanting to move to the US from France and we've narrowed down our choices to San Diego and Connecticut. For Connecticut we'd like something along the coast so that we can have better access to New York, maybe New Haven. Not the same area as around Hartford, but I'm still interested in your experience so far. We just visited San Diego a week ago and loved it. But vacationing there and living there are totally different things I know.

I am not sure how close you want to be to New York or how much you can afford but I think the shoreline towns east of New Haven (Branford, guilford, Madison) are great places to live. You could not commute to New York on a daily basis but you do have access vis Shoreline East and Metro-North trains into the city.

Keep in mind that if you do need to be closer to the city, the shoreline towns of Fairfield County are pretty expensive. Then again, if you are looking at real estate in San Diego you know how pricey things can get in a desirable part of the country. Jay