Where to live in CT

Unfortunately my wife is more interested in the research at UConn than she was with Boulder but you can't have everything ;)

Anyway once I get my visa we'll need somewhere to live. She will be at UConn obviously. I am a software developer so will most likely be getting a job in or around Hartford I would imagine, although I am open to other jobs, especially ones where I can work outdoors.

Where is good to live and commutable to both? By good I mean some or all of the following;
: cheap, safe, close to a climbing wall and preferably a crag for some after work climbing when there is enough daylight. Other factors are being able to walk to bars/pubs/restaurants. I guess we're not going to get all of those somewhere cheap but those are the things that are important. Manchester looked good for those except possibly crag access but maybe a bit expensive until I am getting paid. Looking to rent at first.

Sorry man- Hartford sucks and the rest of the state....

i would live in Providence ..RI and drive..serious

Don't let people tell you about Meriden.... Klan and such

But that's an extra hour and a half to the Gunks :( is it really that bad?

Dan Halperin wrote:But that's an extra hour and a half to the Gunks :( is it really that bad?

half of all Boston climbers rough the 4-hour traffic every weekend to the 'Gunks - the distance you're talking about isn't a big deal.

CT sucks.

I lived in Hartford for 3 years. It's not THAT bad. I would recommend living in West Hartford if you can. It's a nicer area, the downtown area has some nice places (Besito is a FANTASTIC and classy tequila bar). There is also an artspace that has local artist showings, events, and films. The cultural scene is definitely smaller than Boston (where I lived for 6 years) but if you're willing to dig, you can find things to do for sure.

As far as climbing: the local crags are surprisingly decent for weekends and afterwork, as long as you are interested in trad or TR. There is excellent bouldering, but the property rights issues are muddy.

For bigger and better climbing, Hartford is fairly central. The Gunks are <2 hours away, the Adirondacks are 4 hours away, Rumney is 3 hours away, Cathedral is 4 hours away. It's really not that bad. The hard part is just finding partners. I'd recommend hitting up Prime Climb, as the folks there are really laid back and friendly, and that's how I got in the groove when I moved down.

Feel free to PM me for more beta!

If your wife is going to be at UCONN then why not live in Willimantic? There is a great brew pub there and it's not too far to drive to climbing at Ragged, Ross Pond, Pinnacle, etc. or for close by week night climbing at Fifty-Footer and Pot Hole.

Brian

I agree that the West Hartford area would fit all of your credentials. A lot of yuppies though. 15-20 minutes from most of the surprisingly good traprock climbing. Centrally located for all Northeast climbing. An awesome gym is opening up in Glastonbury pretty soon.

While you probably need to stay in CT, also check out Western Mass. Good night life, great climbing community and still quite centrally located. I personally like the CT trad climbing better than W. Mass. climbing. Both are good though.

Willimantic is kind of rough and out of the way. I wouldn't want to live there.

Manchester, Glastonbury, Coventry, Andover, or even South Windsor would likely be a good choice for the Storrs/Hartford split. Easy access to the highway and not living in Hartford.

CT cragging is more fun than MP would have you believe. The best part on living here is the 2-4 hrs proximity to lots of destination areas in the north east and a 4 hour direct flight to Vegas from BDL for easy, quick trips to the desert.

I live in Manchester and commute thru Hartford daily. Uconn is 30 min the other way. Manchester has a little ity bity gym, but a giant one will open in March in Glastonbury. If it's anything like it's sister gyms, it should be impressive.

Thanks for the suggestions, a big new climbing wall sounds good. It does't have to be near Hartford, if I can get a decent job elsewhere we'e both willing to commute, it just has to be commutable to UConn. That's why I am looking for suggestions.

Storrs campus or Farmington campus. The medical school is in Farmington as is a lot of the biomedical research.

Matt is spot on. Craggin around central Connecticut is, IMO, the best in the state. I regularly make after work trips to Ragged (I work in west hartford)and get 4 hours of climbing in. The new gym in glastonbuy will be a nice addition (15 min from hartford). I would disagree about willimantic. It's a long drive to Ragged and Ross Pond certainly isn't a destination location.

Hartford has some nice bars and restaurants. I live there and it's really not that bad.

Yes CT sucks, but I only say that because of been here for years...live in Southington or Wallingford, they're nice towns and close to all the best climbing in the state.

Within 10 minutes drive of Southington:
East Peak, tons of great trad/toproping
Ragged Mntn, same but even more
The 2 best bouldering spots in CT
A bunch of off the radar cliffs, some sport
Firewall
Many more.....

Anyway what I'm trying to say is you've got enough climbing to keep you busy for a while. About 35 mins to Uconn and the same to New Haven, which is a great city with even better food.

My ex GF used to say that living in CT was very expensive. I can't verify that personally as I have never lived there myself. I am lukcy to be in upstate NY and about 2 hrs from the 'Dacks and 75 mins from the Gunks. I have the best of both worlds! :)

Good luck bro! I have always wanted to venture out to Colo and climb and see the state - just hasb't happened yet.

One has to do what one has to do bro. I commend you for 'supporting her endeavor' tho you are making a sacrifice on where you like to live!

I second the Wallingford/Meriden area... there's trad, sport, and bouldering all close by and while being near the coast. I dated a girl in Willimantic once and it was a ghetto. I would never live there, period, and I lived in Bridgeport for a few years!

cfuttner wrote:Storrs campus or Farmington campus. The medical school is in Farmington as is a lot of the biomedical research.

Storrs Campus.

Lots of suggestions, we really appreciate the info :)

Joe Lee wrote:Consider Rockville or Vernon. Nice towns. Right off the interstate. Fair commutes for both of you. You'll have to deal with traffic. She'll have to deal with winding single lane roads. Centrally located for climbing excursions and rock gyms. The social scene in rural New England is much more dispersed.

haha I'm from there and that's the first time I've ever heard anyone say that, however I won't totally disagree with you.

Vernon can be pretty nice in places and you'll be close to 84 which will get you right up to Uconn (Mansfield). But Manchester is also decent off the 384 side of things. Some of the nicer areas in the Hartford Metro are like they said Glastonbury, Simsbury, Avon, West Hartford but you pay for what you get. Like Matt said South Windsor is a great option too, and that whole SW / Manchester line is a pretty bustling place now. I would not recommend Willimantic.

Also if your wife is working in Mansfield, you are NOT going to want to drive from the other side of the state. Let's be realistic...driving to crag on a weekend is one thing, driving and hour + everyday is just not sensible.

And yeah I'll never move back there, but it's a doable state. The east side is heavily forested, it's rustic and there are some cool bars. Plus you can zoom up to VT and NH whenever you want.

Go Huskies!!

Michael Urban wrote:One has to do what one has to do bro. I commend you for 'supporting her endeavor' tho you are making a sacrifice on where you like to live!

My career is not that exciting, I want her to have one she really enjoys. We can always move out west later.

Scott McMahon wrote: Also if your wife is working in Mansfield, you are NOT going to want to drive from the other side of the state. Let's be realistic...driving to crag on a weekend is one thing, driving and hour + everyday is just not sensible.

Totally agree with that, an hour is the maximum commute I would like, unless the job is either really well paid or something that I really enjoy.

Dan Halperin wrote: Totally agree with that, an hour is the maximum commute I would like, unless the job is either really well paid or something that I really enjoy.

An hour is far... esp if there's an accident or it's raining and people take their stupid pills.

CaptainMo wrote: An hour is far... esp if there's an accident or it's raining and people take their stupid pills.

It is and is not ideal but I've done longer over here so I'm sure I can manage.

Dan Halperin wrote: It is and is not ideal but I've done longer over here so I'm sure I can manage.

I live in Norwalk which is closer to the city and traffic is generally worse but that said, for my commute home on Fridays in the summer, it used to take me 2-2.5 hrs to drive what is normally a 20 min drive.