5% of Americans have a similar or longer commute.

Grew up in Manchester, so I guess manchester?

Naugy, aside from some trashiness, has a lot of park and forest areas which make it feel more rural than it is. So I guess there.

I'd pick most of these places over Terryville.

How are you this good at picking equally terrible towns

Are you for real? How big of a fool does one need to be to live in West Hartford, for example, but maybe work in Stamford?!

"I'll also be upfront regarding the historic home part, in that price
range a lot of the historic/old homes are going to need A LOT of work.
I'm not saying this will always be the case but more often than not."

Be easy on them, I'm guessing OP being from FL, and not CT (or any of the original 13 colonies), I think they (and many) don't know what a "historic" home is. As in one with a is usually protected, has a plaque, etc. They could just mean an older colonial house, which there are tons here but don't qualify as being "historic".

Also, you raise a good point about what town. I think what a lot of people from outside of New England don't really understand is our town government and how it differs from the rest of the country's country government. The opposite is true when people like us move out of state to like PA. I remember on one of the West Hartford Facebook pages a poster moving to West Hartford from somewhere in the south ask about a recommendation for private schools because she read that Hartford schools rank low, unaware that West Hartford had its own school system, and believing Hartford schools covered the whole Hartford county, not the city.

That last sentence is a large part of why I am taking my happy ass out of Florida, along with my 4 daughters.

And thanks, this is good info!

I’m somewhat familiar with that area. I grew up in Brandon, and my dad and step mom live in Sarasota. It’s pretty busy down there… but where isn’t at this point.

Have you heard of the automobile?

There are so many! I’m an agent in Hartford county and id love to help. My favs are the Farmington valley and Glastonbury all have excellent school.

Grew up in Collinsville and highly recommend. It is a little far from the highway but otherwise it’s a lovely area. Love the history of the area, the rail trail, access to nature, local farms, all without feeling too rural. Lots of historic homes, and a lot of older homes (50s-80s) that are more affordable than the newer mcmansion developments, although they might be a bit small for a large family.

I also recommend the Unionville section of Farmington and Weatogue section of Simsbury. Affordable areas in really nice towns.

Moved from FL three+ years ago.My advice is DON"T DO IT. They tax EVERYTHING here. There are NO BEACHES HERE. The worst drivers on the planet live here. The shittiest roads you will ever drive on. Driving at night here is the worst.There are NO FUCKING LIGHTS, NO REFELECTORS ON THE ROAD and the shittiest of the shitty drivers work 2nd and 3rd shifts. There are three seasons.Winter, Leaf season and Winter.. It is an hour to go anywhere and an hour to find parking. This sub is full of haters that would down vote their momma if she spoke the truth about the shitty state STAY AWAY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Somewhere between hartford and new haven for jobs and decent schools.

Berlin, Cromwell, Wallingford, Newington - just some options.

>CT). We settled in Canton (Collinsville). Great schools, good a

It seems most of the replies you got were for a total house budget of 300k.

If you are looking to put down 250k, I would check out New Canaan and the surrounding towns.

Around Hartford Area:

Wethersfield, Newington, Rockhill and west Hartford. All affordable and good schools. Mostly insurance/financial and healthcare jobs in capital city and surrounding area. Great ethic, racial and economic mix. Lots of old beautiful homes especially old wethersfield and west Hartford.

Glastonbury, Farmington, simsbury - more expensive, somewhat better schools, more homogeneous. - upper middle class white and Asian folk. Commute for work. More fancy.

Fairfield county - very good schools. Way more expensive. Lots of jobs…commutable to NY and places like Stamford. Very fancy.

NW Corner - lots of rural areas. Very bucolic. Long commutes. Mix of very expensive towns and affordable. Some hicks.

NE corner. Rural. Maybe unfairly, but feels like this area is a bit depressed. Rural with some small cities. Hicks abound.

A lot of great shoreline towns east of New Have.

South East CT - basically Rhodesia Island. Haha. Not very familiar with this area.

And we promise to not take books/history away or ask your daughters when they are menstruating.

That doesn't make sense. We aren't that big of a state, but we don't have industries and specific companies everywhere. For instance if someone is in finance, then south west is the place. Insurance is Hartford area.

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I live in Bradenton FL / Lakewood Ranch

It definitely can in some states. As I said though 709k being the lowest is by no means the norm, it's heavily influenced by this market and lower-priced homes going under contract. Thats why I changed the search. I would say for Branford $525k-$550k is probably about average for a decent 4-bedroom house.

709k is insane.. that can buy an enormous property in most states cant it?

I’m born and raised here in FL, but have family all over New England. I have wanted out of Florida since I was a teenager and it’s finally looking possible. It used to be too expensive to consider going up north, but now Florida is not the cheap, low cost of living place it once was (not to mention how I feel about the political situation) and I’m antsy to leave this place behind.

What part of Florida do you live in?

I don’t know where I’ll be working. Maybe remotely, maybe not. I am more concerned about good schools and then finding work that fits into that.

Makes sense! I grew up in a house built in 1825 and my parents still live there. Definitely has its charm just comes with its quirks haha

The town I live in has quite a few houses that are 100+ years old, and while most of the old wood houses in Florida have rotted away, the remaining ones all have similar things to consider, so these are definitely all things on my radar.

That said, I’m not dead set that it must be an old house, but the history and old house charm is something I have loved since I was a little kid and I want to make my dreams come true lol!