“@DocT I might have agreed with you ten years ago…but I have to,say…Hartford is trying to attract the young urban professional crowd…and the two buildings upstream…777 Main and Hartford 21 attract upscale tenants…many are young. Some are more established professionals. Many work for comapoes in the downtown area. These are convenient, and nice places.”
Two nice places among the Flatbush Aves, Park St., Vine St etc. Downtown is dead. There are some decent restaurants such as Bears where I ate a couple of months back. Hartford has for decades tried to bring young professionals in to live - mostly unsuccessfully. People don’t shop there - they go to West Farms etc.
Since you said he could be anywhere in the state, then unless the Hartford area has changed significantly in the last 10 years, I wouldn’t recommend it for a single person. Instead I’d look at Stamford or South Norwalk.
I also suggest West Hartford. When dh and I were first married we moved to CT. People suggested West Hartford to us but we chose to live in Canton instead because it was closer to my work, pretty and quiet. But we were young - we should have been in West Hartford. CT can get suburban and quiet quickly as well as isolated in terms of roads in and out of valleys. West Hartford would be the perfect place for a young professional to live. We ended up in a great location for families. West Hartford also has a variety of price points. Many of the suburbs of Hartford are wealthy areas. Not really great for young professionals but more for established professionals. Enjoy! Its a beautiful state and every town has its own flavor.
The whole state isn’t very big. 45 miles from Hartford can take you to Massachusetts, close to NY, and very close to RI.
But @melvin123 while Stamford area would be good…it’s a bit of a schlep if ALL of this guy’s job sites are around the Hartford area…and he has to be at those. Also…expensive.
Maybe rent in West Hartford for a year…then re-evaluate. Try to find something closer to WH Center. The other parts of WH are really suburban family areas.
I still think he should talk to someone in the Danbury office who is closer to his age…and get their opinion.
I used to drive from Wilton to Cheshire every day for work. That’s a long drive. I can’t imagine wanting to trek from Stamford or even South Norwalk up to that area on a daily basis. There is just more and more traffic on Rte 7. 84 between Danbury and Hartford is MUCH more prone to traffic jams than in was back in the day, when the major problem was the fear of getting speeding tickets.
Sounds like things are more interesting in Hartford nowadays, I must say.
D chose to relocate from Baltimore City back to CT about a year and a half ago (!). She has been living in West Hartford, in a 3rd floor studio walk up just off Blue Back Square. I believe her rent is just over $1100 or so. It was actually much more affordable than I had anticipated when she was looking for an apartment - for being that close to Blue Back, anyway. But, many things to do, close to shops, restaurants, bars, etc. She really has enjoyed the location. She belongs to a yoga studio downtown but has no desire to live there.
In fact, she is wanting to start saving for a house…so has decided to come live with us (!!!) for a few months to accumulate some $$…we live about 20 minutes to the north, deep in the bosom of suburbia. Well, more rural, actually.
Sorry, I didn’t catch that most of the jobs were around Hartford. I recently moved from the Danbury area…truly a great place to live if you have a family. But as a single, oh boy. 20 years ago I lived in West Hartford and it is also a lovely area, but there weren’t all that many singles and many of those that were had grown up in the area and were involved with their HS friends. I hope it’s changed. West Hartford would definitely be better for singles than the Danbury area, though. As a side note, I eventually got involved in a summer share in Newport RI and a winter share in Killington, VT, and that was a great way to meet other 20 something year olds. These are still hot spots for that age group and your child might want to keep his ear to the ground for those kinds of possibilities. Good luck!
As @JustaMom5465 said, my D also had no desire to live in Hartford even though that is where her office is located. Prior to becoming a permanent hire, she interned at her company for a year and was put up in company provided housing off Main Street in Hartford. When she found out that she was permanent and we began looking for housing, she definitely said “no way” to Hartford. During that first year when she wanted actual groceries or other shopping, she would end up in the Glastonbury or Farmington areas. Where she was in Hartford, she only had access to convenience items from delis and coffeeshops. Where she is now in Middletown, she has access to just about anything she would want to shop for within 5 minutes of her home. Granted access to restaurants and bars in Hartford and West Hartford are nice, but how often one plans to eat and drink out vs cooking and dining in can be a consideration.
For my D, the factors in housing search for that area primarily were her personal safety, the safety of her vehicle, cost, and in unit laundry, followed secondarily by location/condition of the residence, commute times, amenities. As I wrote before, W Hartford was too costly for her. Areas we considered Manchester and Vernon (eliminated quickly), Rocky Hill and Wethersfield (wasn’t alot to choose from), Glastonbury and Farmington (too suburban), and Cromwell and Middletown. The end result is she rented for her first year (after her internship) and then actually purchased a condo last summer. Buyers market in the area! The price of owning was less than renting in the same complex. She is in her early 20’s still and surrounded by other young working professionals in her complex. Her social life did not take a hit, if she wants to meet others after work in Hartford or West Hartford that’s easy enough for her. Downton Middletown seems like it’s on the verge of renewal regarding restaurants, bars, shopping etc. Wesleyan is putting in a bookstore and the businesses seem to think that will be a huge pedestrian draw. I would describe this as a Blue Back Square wanna-be.
I think Middletown is a great idea. I am actually wondering how Northampton might fit into his commute area - it might be a little far but it might be a possibility so I’m throwing it in.
Also, I grew up in Eastern Connecticut, and I actually miss living in a house that is surrounded by woods in a small town, and really would actually enjoy being back in that environment. I know a lot of people want the city and exciting things going on, but I don’t think OP has explicitly said that, so I’m also just throwing out there that there are some great smaller towns with a lot of natural beauty, a lot more space, hiking all over the place, etc, that still have a few decent coffee shops and a mall not too far away.
I live in Litchfield county CT. It’s lovely, rural, and I couldn’t pay my kids to move back here. There just isn’t much going on for the 20 something crowd!
@thumper1 I grew up in Bethlehem, CT (and now live only an hour away) and I still visit often (the cemetery to visit my parents, the Bethlehem Fair, March Farms for fresh corn…). I even love the smell of cow manure! Our house was on four acres with a hill for sledding and a pond for skating. My kids would (now) be bored out of their minds, but I am so grateful to have grown up there.
@thumper1 My maternal grandfather came from Roxbury. We used to drive up to Roxbury Falls in the summer for a picnic every year when I was a kid. My sister and I in the back seat with my grandmother, his widow…good memories,
My son is moving to the New Haven area in August for a job and plans to live in the Hamden area. Looks like a nice area if your son wants to be closer to water and be able to hop a train to NYC.
He can hop a train out of Hartford, or any number of cities.
For,this young man, it sounds like accessibility to central CT is important…via car…for his work. West Hartford, Hartford, Middletown all offer that highway accessibility.
I hope DS will have time to come, look at the area and find an apartment before moving. He has some traveling scheduled before he knew about this job offer. Thank you all again for providing a lot of helpful information.
Can he stay at a residence in or someplace for a few weeks when he gets here?
Any chance he knows someone in the greater Hartford area from college he could reach out to? Has he posted this query on his FB page, for example. Maybe he knows someone…or someone who knows someone!
That’s good! Maybe he can domthat for a month or so…that will,give him some time to sort of get a little familiar with his job site locations. Plus, he can chat it up…and get good info from the other young folks he meets!
