In my neighborhood when houses hit the market, there will be 20-30 people lined up for the first open house...if the price is reasonable, they sell in a couple weeks.

There are some great east of the river towns- driving into Hartford in the morning is so much easier because you have the sun at your back, and the sun at your back in the way home as well. I’ve lived on both sides and currently live in South Windsor - nice family town with good trick or treating!

There's also Uconn and St Francis in close range of the town--10 minute drive without any highways to maneuver.

Throwing my hat into the ring for West Hartford. It's a little pricer than some of the other towns but there's a good number of duplexes, smaller properties, etc. Having grown up here it's an amazing place to raise a family, the center is awesome, and it's got some of the best schools in the country.

If you are coming from the Midwest 30-45mins probably isn’t considered a ridiculous commute. In CT it is

This is partially because people in this state where very few things go wrong are just predisposed to complain about anything. Partially because with the traffic it is a little worse than doing it from outside a midwestern city to an office park on the perimeter. But honestly it’s not that bad

As you noticed, property taxes take some getting used to, don't forget that includes vehicles so if you're fond of newer, pricier cars that bill will sting as well. Property taxes are pretty consistent year over year in any given town, depends on the local spending habits.

East of the river offers a lot of options, if you want a great public education for the kids Glastonbury needs to be considered. Much of the more rural towns rely on propane or oil for heat, neither is cheap at the moment. Heat pumps and geothermal require electricity, we're one of the most expensive states for that. Wood stoves and pellets are good options/supplements if you're willing to micromanage your heat source.

Having said all that, if your wife is going to work long term in Farmington, stay in that area. Good luck!

I would also put these 2 towns at the top of your list. West Hartford has a great walkable downtown area and is a bit more developed/urban than Glastonbury. Glastonbury you will be able to get a bigger yard and house for the same price. But both of these towns are more expensive than average because they are desirable with great schools, but if you can afford it then go for it.

Commute from Glastonbury to Hartford is not bad. 10 minutes on route 2 from center of town to downtown Hartford without traffic, but more like 20 during rush hour.

W. Hartford to E. Hartford commute would be a little worse traffic but still doable.

If your wife ends up working in Hartford and you are working in E. Hartford (Pratt & Whitney??) then I’d choose Glastonbury.

I used to live in w. Hartford, now live in Glastonbury. Never lived in South Windsor but that’s next to east Hartford and seems nice too.

Both towns have great schools and even the 'lower ranked' schools are still very good. They elementary schools have a real community feel.

Inventory is super low right now, and pricing is kind of wonky: I have a friend who is a realtor in the area and he describes it as follows. 50% houses are over-priced in an effort to cash in and are staying on the market, 25% are fairly priced and go quickly for asking or above, and 25% are homeowners not really interested in selling but testing the waters so price is variable. As a result, buyers are all over the map - I toured two houses at the same price point: one had significant signs of basic concern - foundation, code violations, water damage, and the other had none. Both were in equivalent neighborhoods but the first was under contract for a little under asking within 1 month while the second sat for 6 months and underwent two Price reductions. I’ve bought twice in CT in Hartford county and the current market is just…really weird.

I appreciated seeing this answer- I moved to Glastonbury 3 months ago, work downtown Hartford and thought it would be a super easy commute. But the Route 2 ‘construction’ (in quotes because it’s not like lanes are shut down) makes it a solid 30+ minute commute during busy hours (7-830 am and 430-6 p.m.). Have you found the same? It’s a guaranteed 15-20 min drive if I WFH until like 9 am or leave work after 6.

Also, a new RN job with the Newington VA just got posted. If she can get into the VA… great pay, vacation time, benefits… and unlike the other hospitals in the area, sick time is separate from vacation time and can be used if a loved one/kids are sick. I know so many coworkers who got screwed out of their vacation time because they had to stay home days/weeks to take care of little ones.

Yeah for sure

I would definitely pick Glastonbury especially to raise a family and be community friendly ❤️ I use to work in Glastonbury and everyone was so welcoming and beautiful 😍 I’m from Enfield CT..

South Windsor is your best bet and option.

The lake area has sewers.

Hmm No gas. Some have sewers near the lake. People are shifting to heat pumps and solar. Low crime. The lake is beautiful too. Hebron is also nice.

I think the west hartford/east hartford commute is much more painful than the glastonbury/hartford commute due to driving THROUGH hartford on the highway, as opposed to driving TO hartford and taking the exit.

I forgot to mention, any commute which uses I-84 to get from Hartford to East Hartford or bad is really the worst commute in the area. But it can get a lot worse. Because they've been trying to figure out how to "fix" it for years now. And once they come up with a plan, and start building it, you'll also have years of construction interruptions on that piece of road.

The hospitals in Hartford itself are much larger. And that probably means more opportunity. The rest of the healthcare is huge numbers of offices for medical specialists. So many small facilities rather than any large one. But most of them are tied into franchises like Hartford Healthcare, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, or Yale.

There are many smaller technical/industrial firms in the area, in many industries. Many of them are subcontractors for larger producers.

No, they’re all good. Some of the elementary schools have higher test scores than others, but that more reflects the slight differences in socioeconomic status of the various neighborhoods. Both towns are fairly racially diverse, with Rocky Hill especially having a decently sized south Asian population. Both have lots of parks, services, shopping, and things to do. Wethersfield has a beautiful historic district. Rocky Hill has some fantastic hiking for such a small town.

You really can’t go wrong.

Yes. It’s in the northeast quadrant of the state. Just do a Google search for Connecticut crumbling foundations and you’ll get all sorts of info.

No, it’s a separate town. I wouldn’t call it rural. There’s a busy shopping area and the main road through town (Rt 44) is busy. But it doesn’t feel like suburbia, there aren’t a lot of large subdivisions, most people have pretty large lots, woodsy, good amount of protected space. There are a couple small farms, mostly veggies, eggs, honey. I think most of the dairy farmers that were around when I was a kid are gone. But it’s not an agricultural area, at least not anymore. It’s a small town, more rural than Farmington and Avon but less rural than New Hartford. There is a lot of wildlife, especially bears, but also deer, eagles, hawks, fox, etc. Collinsville is the former factory area (old ax and machete factory) with a cute Main Street, dining, a few shops, events like a popular weekly farmer’s market and annual Halloween parade. It’s along the Farmington River, with a neat rail trail and opportunities for canoeing and tubing.

New Hartford is definitely more rural. Lots of state parks and reservoir land. The further west you go on Rt 44, the more woodsy it gets. One of the few regional school districts (CT is very town-oriented, not a lot of regionalization or county government). Most of the schools in CT are good, outside of the cities.

On your list, I’d say some towns are more suburban in feel than Canton / New Hartford, like Cromwell, Berlin, Wallingford, Plainville. Haddam is more rural. Cheshire is similar to Canton. Glastonbury and Wethersfield were agricultural, now similar to Canton. Middlefield is more agricultural, with a major fruit orchard (Durham is another option down that way). West Hartford is more built up, not exactly urban but definitely a larger town with less overall open space. They’re all kinda similar, in that each is a small town with some woods and small farms and a shopping area. But vary in terms of density, proximity to highway, vibe.

The prices seem to be plateauing right now I think

Thanks for your I put and sorry for the confusion. What I meant to say was that there is a good chance my wife will work on the west side and I'll be in the east side. So, depending on which side we live on, I e person will have a tougher commute!!

The crumbling foundation issue you mentioned, is that confined to the east of river?

Do houses have gas/sewer there?