If you’re into the outdoors, check out the map on ctwoodlands.org for a shit ton of hiking trails throughout the state. Welcome to CT!

While Hartford is only a 15 minute drive to the health center, the commute will suck because that stretch of highway is clogged in the morning and afternoon. That being said, I’m a huge fan of downtown Hartford after living there for six years. The rents are actually not that much higher than what you’ll find in the nicer suburbs, like West Hartford, Avon, Canton, Farmington, etc. There’s a lot for a young person to explore in Hartford. Your car insurance premiums will be higher, but I’m sure that’s the case for any city. When I used to drive for Uber, I noticed that a lot more young professionals lived in West Hartford and hung out in the downtown area. You’re only getting restaurants and bars there, but maybe 20 year olds don’t really need much more. I think it really depends on your personality, lifestyle, and interests. Happy to chat more in PM. I’m a native Nutmegger.

Living in Connecticut, particularly closer to Hartford, isn't like what most people describe when they talk about East Coast living (i.e. New York and Boston). We've still got relatively affordable homes, especially relative to salaries at the health center.

Hartford itself is small. If you're coming from Nebraska and doing medical, I'm guessing you're coming from Omaha and the medical center there - it will seem similar in scale. Although Hartford is 1/4 the population of Omaha, the Hartford area has about 50% more people.

CT has a lot more rural parts than people think. Especially in Fairfield and Windham counties. It's also a lot hillier than people think coming from outside of the state. This leads to some great outdoors activities.

All that being said, figure out where to live first. Given that you mentioned graduating recently and working at the health center, this probably means West Hartford for you. Which is great. It's got a nice downtown, some good food, and is a little more upscale. You can choose to live in Hartford, but the additional commute would be annoying. Other towns in the area such as Farmington and Avon are going to be more expensive and cater primarily to large single family homes. From there, start looking for things to do and see.

Welcome to CT! I hope you like it here. I have lived in Frog Hollow neighborhood for about five years. I really like Hartford. There are a lot of efforts to improve the city and its great to have people moving to live here.

If you are out at Uconn in Farmington it's not a bad drive from the city. It does get congested at the usual times but not like larger cities. Check out Parkville Market for food or drinks. Great in the summer for siting outside and listening to some live music.

Feel free to msg me if you have any specific questions. Good luck.

A major difference between the Midwest and the East Coast is that things are much closer together here. I highly recommend, if you have the time, considering what medical student life is like, taking a weekend here and there to drive around the region and visit stuff. Boston’s about 90 minutes north, New York’s about 90 minutes south, and all sorts of cool stuff in between.

I moved to Connecticut in 2019 after living in seven different states within five years for a job in Hartford. Needless to say, I liked it so much that I bought a house here last year and am planning to stay long term. In 2019 I got an apartment (sight unseen) in Middletown. I loved the area and there are tons of relatively affordable apartments there… that might be a good option if you don’t have living arrangements lined up yet!

I went back to my parents’ house during Covid but when I returned to CT I got an apartment in Manchester (I came back with a giant puppy, so needed an affordable pet-friendly apartment and it was cheaper and bigger than my last place). Manchester is probably not an ideal commute for you but I love it here and it’s where I bought my house. Both Middletown and Manchester have tons of great restaurants, as does West Hartford, but living there solo was out of my price range.

I second Parkville Market! I love it there. Also the shops on Pratt street are lovely.. I’m partial to Hartford Prints. I’m also a big ice cream lover and am on a quest to try the best shops around the state, so if you need ice cream recs hit me up!

Edit: Also thought I should mention…I was 26 when I moved to CT. I am a single female and didn’t know anyone in the state when I got here

Don't live in Hartford

I grew up in the Midwest but recently lived in Farmington for nearly three years. Loved it, great outdoor spaces, great food, nice people. Check out Naples pizza, prepare for the DMV, and the bottle tax is annoying. But sales taxes are reasonable and overall cost of living isn’t nearly as bad as some people might lead you to believe. Keep an open mind and enjoy the ability to easily get to NYC, Boston, beaches and mountains.

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If the health center you're referring to is UCONN health, then I'd check out West Hartford center (aka blue back square), it's literally just down route 4 / Farmington Ave from there. There's a lot of restaurants and it has a pretty lively bar scene (at least pre-pandemic).

Also my favorite hidden(ish) gem in town is a Chinese restaurant called butterfly that does karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays. The food is good too.

Just to add something to consider, the bus system in and immediately around Hartford is pretty decent and since UCONN Health is a pretty big employer, there's solid transit accessibility to/from there and Hartford. You'll be looking at routes 66 and 121; 66 is a local bus and the 121 is a CTfastrak route, which is the state's only Bus Rapid Transit - think a mix of a bus and light rail. Both go through West Hartford too so they're options whether you live downtown or elsewhere in Hartford/West Hartford and want to avoid the driving commute or at least give yourself options.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! I’m excited for the move!

I’ll be 26 without knowing anyone too! Thank you! I’ll be back for the ice cream recs

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Thank you that is good info to know!

Dont move to Hartford

I noticed no one mentioned how hff is split up ethnically. So I'll break it down as best as I can.

Ethnically hfd is usually divided into neighborhoods of largely Hispanics and other smaller pockets of non American ethnicities in the South End? Iirc Bosnians used to populate the tail end of the south end near the edge bordering Wethersfield Ave. I heard Ukrainians are moving in now due to the war not sure how true it is though. ADOS in the North End near Barbour St. side. West Indians residents and businesses populate all along Albany Ave(where I live) and Blue Hills Neighborhood. With some ADOS and Hispanic population sprinkled. The West End of hfd is pretty mixed with everyone. Downtown is undergoing a resurgence with condos and moving in higher earners who work downtown, college students from the local business and med school.

I'm not going to get into the politics of why it's segregated. Just wanted to let you know how it is divided JiC you were curious

You don’t mention if you are coming for a full-time job at the medical center or if you are coming for your medical residency. If the latter, there are a bunch of medical residents who live in my condo building in downtown Hartford who are in their UConn medical residency, but they split their time between three hospitals: UConn Dempsey Hospital, Hospital of Central CT (New Britain ), and Hartford Hospital (downtown Hartford). They rent their condos from other former medical residents who wanted to be downtown because they could walk to Hartford Hospital and catch transit from downtown to the other two hospitals about 50% of the time (depending on shift vs. bus schedule). Not sure if this is your situation, but just thought I’d put that info out there.

I’m doing a dental residency, not medical so I think I will be at the Farmington hospital almost exclusively. But that is good to know, thank you!

The condos across from the medical center (The Forest) was a popular place to rent condo space fifteen-ish years ago for med students. I presume there were a few residents as well.