Moving to Hartford from Atlanta

[rks30075]

Hi , I came across your site on a google search. I am moving to Hartford starting on Friday the 13th and throughout the next 90 days. I work with UPS and they are relocating me to work in a subsidiary. I am 29 single white male...born and bread in Georgia - that means I have been here all of my life. I was in New Hampshire about 3 years ago for a week but that was in the summer. So, I am brand new to New England and obviously new to Hartford.

I was hoping you folks might give me some advice. The perception of Hartford in Atlanta is that, well, it's cold, and crime is a problem. Reading your posts and seeing the pictures, I can deduce that the latter of the two is inacurate. What's the story with the cold...just deal with it I supose?

I am thinking of going the condo route so I can avoid house upkeep for a change. Does anyone have some suggestions for where the best spots in town are for the $225K-$275K price range? I am looking for a pulse not a sleeper town. I found a place called the linden on Coldwell bankers site. Looks pretty cool. Anybody know the history.

http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/Prop...1&page=property

That's it for now. Everyone seems pretty friendly on the site so I hope I didn't offend anyone with my comments. I am truely excited to make the move; it looks like a great town with a great history.

Cheers, rks

[CtownMikey]

I cant answer your questions about Hartford.. i'll leave that to the Hartford forumers, but I'm just curious what you consider a long drive to be because a great thing about New England is that things tend to be closer than the south and west.

NYC is 2

[MadVlad]

The Linden is a great start. A little pricey, but you might find a good condo in your range there. Tons of new developments going in downtown Hartford, not sure if any are in your range, maybe check out this:

College Street LLC

They've been going nuts in the area, you might find something in your price range. If you don't want the city proper, maybe try downtown West Hartford, a little more trendy, with little shops and boutiques and the like.

As far as the snow and cold, well, get yourself a girlfriend, the cold isn't so bad that way Seriously though, you kinda get used to it. Come mid-March, you'll feel all better. You'll also love the fall.

Just so you know, there are a few sketchy areas in Hartford, like all cities. Parts of the North End can get rough, around Park Street can get a little rough, and make sure you stay out of Dutch Point (kinda near the Colt Building, big blue onion dome by I-91, can't miss it).

Where you live could also depend on where you work, I know there's a UPS center at Bradley Airport, and one on Locust St., is it either of those?

Also, Bushnell Towers are nice, right on the park, close to basically everything downtown, and the condos in there should be in your range, if not even a little lower...

[Hartfordfan]

Welcome buddy and good luck. you will find hartford as a good place to live.

[JayHass]

Hi , I came across your site on a google search. I am moving to Hartford starting on Friday the 13th and throughout the next 90 days. I work with UPS and they are relocating me to work in a subsidiary. I am 29 single white male...born and bread in Georgia - that means I have been here all of my life. I was in New Hampshire about 3 years ago for a week but that was in the summer. So, I am brand new to New England and obviously new to Hartford.

I was hoping you folks might give me some advice. The perception of Hartford in Atlanta is that, well, it's cold, and crime is a problem. Reading your posts and seeing the pictures, I can deduce that the latter of the two is inacurate. What's the story with the cold...just deal with it I supose?

I am thinking of going the condo route so I can avoid house upkeep for a change. Does anyone have some suggestions for where the best spots in town are for the $225K-$275K price range? I am looking for a pulse not a sleeper town. I found a place called the linden on Coldwell bankers site. Looks pretty cool. Anybody know the history.

http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/Prop...1&page=property

That's it for now. Everyone seems pretty friendly on the site so I hope I didn't offend anyone with my comments. I am truely excited to make the move; it looks like a great town with a great history.

Cheers, rks

Welcome! Living in Charlotte and Orlando for a while and visiting Atlanta on a regular basis for business I think I have an idea what you are going to find here.

I wholeheartedly recommend the West side of Hartford and/or West Hartford. http://www.whchamber.com/westhartfordcenter/index.htm Shops, restuarants, bars, great neighborhoods etc etc

Another thing to keep in mind while you are searching is Hartford city limits are very small, so people in West Hartford or Manchester (About 9 miles outside the city) don't say they live in "Hartford" unlike the Atlanta area where people don't say I'm from Dunwoody or Sandy Springs, they say Atlanta.

Another area you might consider is Manchester/South Windsor. It's a commuter city but is literally 10 minutes to DT Hartford and is affordable and has every kind of retail store you could imagine with lots of new development going on with a decent downtown strip as well. It's closer to DT Hartford than North Atlanta is to downtown and without the traffic in Atlanta.

Here is a picture on I-84 right on the Manchester line heading into Hartford for reference on how close it really is.

The cold isn't so bad in Hartford compared to the stereotypical New England winter you hear about...it's not Minnesota. As others mentioned you have to get used to it and you will find ways we enjoy it up here. The only "really cold" months are January and February. December and March may remind you of January in Atlanta. You are moving to us at the worst time of the year, so keep that in mind. Get through your first winter and you will find Summers are legendary, fall is an institution and and you can access SO MUCH in such a short drive. The ocean is at your doorstep now, as is a world of mountain sports locally and more so about and hours drive just to the North. You have to head up to VT for a weekend of skiing and see the "ski life", if anything for the experience. Think buckhead in the woods surrounded by mountains and ski resorts.

Traffic will be a very pleasant surprise for you - as there really is none. (Now before the natives pipe up and say we have bad traffic you all need to actually live in Atlanta or Charlotte and you will welcome the small amount of traffic we have here.)

Don't be fooled. Hartford is coming along great and has a lot going for it for the city it's size. It can not compare to Atlanta in terms of size and/or nightlife. Not to say there is none, there is and you can have a good time in DT, but for you'll have to travel to NYC or Boston for a night if you pine for the big city life and I can assure you in that light nothing in Atlanta can compare.

Good luck and if you need any other info, feel free to email me. jay@hassturbo .com

Edit: Just curious - do you know Terry White who works in UPS Atlanta? If so, please email me I have a question to ask.

[rks30075]

You people are great. Thanks for everyone's comments. I had heard that W. Hartford was a good spot so I will keep that one at the top of the list. I hadn't thought about the traffic either. I am 9 miles from the office and my commute is a solid 30 minutes in atlanta, so this is good to hear.

I'll keep everyone in the loop as I go through the transition, and again, many thanks for everyone's input. If anyone has additional links they can add with useful info...that would be great.

Regards, rks

[RogerAnthony]

I went to Atlanta in 1997 and was nervous because I'd heard crime there was much more prevalent than here.

Do you want to live in Hartford itself or in a suburb? Hartford itself has some nice parts. Downtown is coming along. The West End has a good reputation. I myself love the Park Street area in Frog Hollow, but that isn't for everyone. As for suburbs West Hartford is where I grew up and has a nice center. Simsbury and Avon are also quite nice.

[beerbeer]

I lived in Midtown Atlanta (Colony Square) in the 80s.

Connecticut offers you much more in choices for close in lifestyle. You might like a small colonial town, almost rural, like Suffield with its green, or Tolland out near UConn. Those are only 30 minutes commutes to downtown.

There are rolling hills east and west of the city. Within 40 minutes you can find a place on a mountain stream.

West Hartford is a classic upscale suburb but it is only 4 miles to downtown. Avon and Farmington are a few more miles out of town but very upscale.

In the city, you might want to check out the Turmbull on the Park ($900 studio) for a while before you buy. It is a tiny downtown but it gets more interesting every year.

If you can stand an hour commute, you can live on the Connecticut shoreline where the river hits the sound in Old Saybrook or Old Lyme. It's beauitiful. Some of it is pricy but there are bargains. The drive down Route 9 to the shore is worth it to get a feel for the state.

Don't limit yourself to Hartford. The whole state is only 110 miles across and trhe cvity is in the middle.

[uconn99]

I would also suggest looking into possibly Eastern Connecticut. Columbia, Hebron, and Coventry all have nice developments and you can get a pretty good size house for under 300k.

Over in Windham if you are looking at getting a house cheap that you can fix up, there are a ton of Victorians in Willimantic in need of some love and care. Willimantic has some of the nicest Victorians in America and possibly the most dense concentration of them per capita in the US. One thing you would have to deal with is rt 6, not the best road and can get pretty busy at times. Commute time from Windham is about 35-40 minutes and Columbia/Hebron would be around a half hour.

[JayHass]

Hi , I came across your site on a google search. I am moving to Hartford starting on Friday the 13th and throughout the next 90 days. I work with UPS and they are relocating me to work in a subsidiary. I am 29 single white male...born and bread in Georgia - that means I have been here all of my life. I was in New Hampshire about 3 years ago for a week but that was in the summer. So, I am brand new to New England and obviously new to Hartford.

...

Cheers, rks

Just bringing this back to life...

RKS, are you with us yet? Thoughts? Where did you settle? Need any help or guidance?