Moving to CT

Hi...my husband and I are considering a move to New England in the next year or two, and I%26#39;d love some feedback on CT - I%26#39;d especially like to know what those who live there love about it. Reading through forums you get pros, but a lot of cons it seems, and I know no place is perfect, but I%26#39;d still love to hear what makes CT a great place to live.

We currently live in Nashville, TN - but I grew up in a small coastal town in FL and I really miss the water. We have a 19 month old son and since having him I%26#39;ve longed for a smaller community...actually I have visions of living someplace where I can walk to water and town and find things to do rather than have to drive a minimum of 20 minutes to get anywhere.

We both love New England and the outdoors; we%26#39;re ready to try a cooler climate, and we now have to consider school systems. CT seems to rank towards the top in schools, health and safety. It has the coast and from what I understand, many quaint smaller towns - but with culture as well. Am I wrong?

We%26#39;ve been researching the whole NE area and also love the sound of some places in NH, VT, MA and ME (which we%26#39;ve visited several times and LOVE), but I%26#39;m not sure we%26#39;re quite up for winters THAT heavy (though I realize CT will be much colder and snowier than I%26#39;m used to).

Our research to this point has guided us toward New London and Middlesex counties - Mystic, Stonington, Essex, Old Saybrook...are these nice areas to live in? Is the quality of life good? Is it beautiful?

We both own our own home-based businesses, so can be pretty much anywhere.

Sorry for the length of this, I just wanted to give an overview of my situation and see if I could get some feedback. I appreciate any input!!

Tracy

Moving to CT

Hi . . . My husband%26#39;s job transferred to Connecticut 3 years ago. We moved here from Santa Clara, CA. It has been quite a change for us. For the most part the people are friendly, we have had to get used to the different names of foods, and the fact that several of our favorite places that are chains in CA do not exist here. The schools here are excellent, but again you get out of them what you put into them. Since you are able to work at home you will have the ablity to be involved in your childs school. My niece attends a magnet school. It is excellent especially since it is geard towards her interests, science and math. There are others with other focuses such as art, music and so on. Where we live the ocean is a fair drive. I have never been to a Fl beach so I can%26#39;t speak to the sand, but here it is more grainy than the sand in CA or Hawaii. There is a huge emphasis on family and outdoor recreation in almost every town. The areas you have mentioned as possible places you might want to live are close to the ocean and are in the tourist areas. You might want to look at the website of each town you are interested in. It is expensive to live here, maybe not as expensive as some places, but still expensive. The property taxes were what surprised us the most so that is something you will want to check into as well. Each town has it%26#39;s own mill rate and you pay a property tax on each of your motorized vehicles to your town, this includes boats. Again a bit of adjustment there as in CA we were used to paying an anual registration fee to the DMV, not the town we lived in. It is a very nice, pleasant place to live, much less stressful than SIlicon Valley. But on the same vein not as much to do if you are not an outdoor adventurer. My daughter was 16 when we moved here, she just turned 19 and she does find it more of a challenge to find things that interest her here. She has friends from here and they have helped show her what they do for fun and she is adapting. One thing that is/was a frustration to her has been that stores close earlier here than what we were used to, but you learn to adapt.

Moving to CT

I will admit, I am biased since I grew up in Connecticut.

We live in West Simsbury, near the northeast corner of the state. It%26#39;s woodsy, there are many farms, there is also a wonderful shell and symphony orchestra in town on Iron Horse Boulevard. Everything from classical to rock.

One thing I like about our town is it has a Main Street... a real main street. There IS a center of town with some lovely restaurants and towns but the town still maintains a very New England feel.

Simsbury has superb schools. There are several parks, lots of walking trails and bike trails. We are 1/2 hour from the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Bushnell Memorial... great golf. Good day available in town.

There is skiing about 1/2 hour away, the ocean is about an hour or perhaps a bit more away.

The areas you mention are lovely areas as well, but quite touristy. A bit more snobbish if you don%26#39;t have roots in the area.

Litchfield is also a very nice area.

Thanks FrankysMom and MimiSmith for your suggestions and comments - they are much appreciated! We%26#39;re planning a trip to CT this fall - late September sometime and can%26#39;t wait to get a feel for the area. Right now we%26#39;re focusing on the coast, just because I long for living near the water...to have my son grow up close to it, as I did. But if we get there and it%26#39;s not what we expected we may travel farther inward. We%26#39;re thinking about visiting MA as well...but not sure where exactly.

Thanks again for your feedback - it%26#39;s great to hear from people who enjoy where they live!

Tracy

Hi, I moved to Mystic area 8 months ago from PA and love it. I have young family too, toddler and infant. I was surprised that people are friendly, not stereotypical NE. It%26#39;s great being on the coast. The pros to being on the coast are milder winter and summer, there are no real cons, but I imagine cost of living. When I was looking at NE coastal CT appealed to me because of the milder winters. Madison is also a nice town with good school system on the water plus your 20 min. away from New Haven. Mystic is great due to tourists attractions, aquarium, seaport, and the town. My toddler is entertained by watching the boats. The coastal towns are connected by amtrak, so if you don%26#39;t feel like driving or finding parking in NYC, Boston, or Providence you can always take the train. In New London there are ferries that go to Block Island and Martha%26#39;s Vineyard.

Kae1,

Thank you so much for your post!! It%26#39;s great to hear from someone who recently moved to Mystic -at the moment that%26#39;s our top choice for consideration. It%26#39;s good to know that there%26#39;s a lot to entertain a little one and also I love hearing that the people are friendly. Being from the south you hear a lot of that stereotyping, but I have many friends from the north...people are people...you get different kinds everywhere.

Anyway, thanks again. We%26#39;re looking forward to our trip. If you read this and have any tips for us...realtors to talk to, areas to consider for housing to check out...anything...I%26#39;d appreciate it.

Tracy

A good web site that rates CT towns is www.connecticutmag.com

look at the right of the web page and it says '; rating the towns'; If you look in CT more towards NYC obviously things are more expensive and traffic is awful. Madison and east is a good choice. Small town next to mystic is Noank. Housing is twice as much as where I came from, I keep telling myself not as bad as CA. A good site to look at is www.realtor.com. I used a realtor from Madison since we looked there first. There are some reasonable houses, older in Mystic with water views and newer developments with smaller lots. Hope you like seafood. What time of year are you coming and I can give you some tips.

We%26#39;re planning for mid to late September. I actually spoke to a realtor out of Stonington, where I guess we%26#39;d look too. We might try to meet with him when we go. I%26#39;ve noticed a newer subdivision called Mystic Woods? Are there newer homes in walking distance to town? We like older homes too, just not up for a remodel (done that). We realize the cost of living will be greater and are trying to plan for that and be aware of what to expect (state income tax and car tax are new for us). Anything you%26#39;d warn about?

Did you look at Essex or Old Saybrook at all? I%26#39;ll look into Madison as well. I%26#39;ve seen the CTmag site - very helpful. Everything I read about Mystic sounds nice...it%26#39;s just hard to know from tourist sites what it%26#39;s like to LIVE in a place. Are you happy with the schools?

I like the idea of being not too far from NY, but also close to RI (I have cousins there)...and closer to the Cape and ferries to the islands. Love seafood. We also run and like to work out and I do yoga and such...are there good places for those kind of things?

I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks much,

Tracy

I%26#39;m not familiar with mystic woods. Most houses in walking distance are older circa 1900. I am partial to Mystic partly because it is a tourist town it has more to offer. Kids are in a good day care in Mystic. The grade school is good. Junior high and High school (Fitch) only rate ave. for CT. There is a good private school in New London, Williams School web site: www.williamsschool.org

I will most likely send them there. I%26#39;d imaging Stonington high school is better. The best public schools are in Madison and East Lyme. it%26#39;s a trade off because houses are more.

There is a nuclear power plant in waterford. Also in New London/Groton is HUGE Pfeizer drug company. The Submarine base is in Groton. Remember the casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are 10-15 min away.

There are lots of outdoor activities people are always out jogging and biking. In Groton there is bluff point hardpacked trail with views of the sound and it hooks up to Haley farm park here%26#39;s link: http://dep.state.ct.us/stateparks/search.htm

Gas is expensive here regular is priced at $3.17. Also there is sales tax on clothes if it is a single item over $45 (I think that%26#39;s the amount) Also, when my parents come to visit they think everyone drives crazy, they often get flipped off. Those are about the only negatives.

kae1, So your parents think we drive crazy, huh? I think so too :-)

It must be our close proximity to New York ;-)

Naomi

My dad does 55-65 mph on I-95 and can%26#39;t figure out what he%26#39;s doing wrong.