SunnySpring

Hi Folks. My husband and I are thinking about moving to CT from OR. He is from West Hartford but wants to live around Guilford/Madison area. We are looking for a better place for our kids to grow up and most importantly a significantly better public school education. New England can boast about this and sadly, Oregon cannot. Anyway, I know it's been done but I am somewhat terrified of the flight with our 1 year old twins. We are planning to go end Oct. early Nov. Alaska does one direct flight from PDX to BOS daily and although it is advisable to fly at night with babies there are no nighttime direct flights. I am not a fan of a stopover with babies. Anyone on here done much traveling with toddler twins? Also, does it seem nuts to move to New England for the education? The competition for college and good jobs is fierce today and I really want my kids to have a fighting chance by the time they are college age. TIA.

gail

This seems a little backwards to me. To answer your question, it is possible to fly cross-country with babies - people do it all the time. Two adults with 2 lap-babies, would be a bit much however, so not knowing if you are buying them seats or not.

But you are moving from Oregon to Connecticut for education only? Do either of you have jobs lined up? A place to live? Family in the area? There are certainly many school systems in Oregon and even more a lot closer to the Pacific Northwest that are excellent. "A fighting chance" for college and good jobs has little to do with being in OR versus CT.

Moving is only nuts when it is not thought through - I am hoping that you have given this more thought and planning than your post indicates, since the 6 hour flight is the least your concerns.

nytraveler

I must admit that I am amazed that you would come to a travel forum to determine if a cross-country move makes sense.

Frankly there is no way I would do that just for a "better" school district. There are good school districts in all states - no way does NE or CT have a lock on good school districts. And in case it has escaped your notice - the best school districts seem to have the most expensive housing and the highest school taxes. Also it would seem like the cost of living would be much higher in CT. (And since there are high quality colleges all across the US not sure why you think kids from CT schools have an advantage.)

Have you looked at all of these things and found jobs in CT and organized housing and now just having last second thoughts about the flight? That is easily doable if you buy your kids seats and put them in their car seats - which you will have to transport to CT anyway.

And every kid with good grades and test scores can go to a quality college - there is no "fighting chance" involved unless you are talking about the ivies. And in that case kids from other parts of the country often find it easier to get in that locals - since no many locals apply.

nytraveler

As you see from the link below both guilford and madison have schools that are rated from very high to not great - so even there it really depends on exactly where you live:

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ct/madison/schools/

janisj

I think your whole premise is faulty. Maybe the schools in your current specific area aren't good but there are MANY great school systems all over the Pacific Northwest.

If you want to move - fine -- but don't base it on "this state has crap schools and that state has great schools". I live in Northern California and w/ 10 miles of my house are one of the best high schools in the whole state and a couple near the very bottom of the table.

Fodorite018

Having moved a LOT with our family, our children attended schools in CT and then later here in OR. Janis nailed it perfectly. There are many very good schools here. You need to do way more research on this entire idea as what you are doing is just plain ignorant.

starrs

"He is from West Hartford but wants to live around Guilford/Madison area."

If he wants to move home, then he needs to state that's the reason.

You can find excellent schools in Oregon. There's no reason to move for "schools".


If there are two of you, you can handle the flight with twins.

Wishing you luck.

One last question: Where do YOU want to live?

clarkgriswold

That one nonstop means getting the babies up at 5am, is that gonna work in their world? Or are they going to be cranky all morning until nap time?

I would take a connecting flight to Hartford, so that if the kids are acting up, you don't bother a planeload of fellow passengers for 5.5 hours.

Take maybe a 1:30pm flight, after 2.5 hours you'll get a break to walk and sit and eat....then on the 2nd flight the babies will probably sleep all the way since it's evening.

Southwest has a 1pm that changes in Denver, and you won't have the extra charges for baggage that you will with Alaska. In fact you can just check most all your baggage. Babies board first so you can grab those front seats that face each other which the kids will tolerate more than having their faces stuck facing a seatback the whole time.

jubilada

I would much rather have a stopover with babies and young kids. You otherwise are changing diapers in plane bathrooms , not fun, and are confined to your seat with them without a break.

SunnySpring

WOW! I was so pleased to see I had 8 replies, and then I read them. Does anyone have anything nice to say?

gail: Yes, I am old enough and wise enough to have considered everything you have, and more, so not sure what exactly is backward about my proposal. Would you not move to provide your children with a better education and quality of life? All these great school districts in the Pacific NW (that includes OR) that you speak of...do you know them by name? Actually, you referred to them as school systems, hmmm.

nytraveler: You are amazed huh? Well, you see I have traveled to 23 countries and spent a total of 8 years living outside the USA, so when I placed this question on a travel forum it was because I thought people who had traveled/lived in New England and the Pacific NW might have some helpful advice. Re: higher cost of living…oh yeah, well we were paying nearly $8,000/year in property taxes to live in a reasonable home in Portland in a good school district (good for Portland), and in case it has escaped your notice (Eloquent? Not.), property taxes in OR are high next to other states, not to mention that Portland likes to nail people with a slew of other independent taxes and levies for various things. Have you considered that the kids attending a 10-rated school in Guilford could run probably run circles around the kids attending a 10-rated school in Portland.

Janisj: My premise is faulty? Who are you? Never mind, don’t care. I can tell though that you really don’t much about a good high school since you can’t even punctuate! Within 10 miles of your house are (singular = “is”) one of the best high schools…I rest my case.

mms: Janisj nailed it perfectly huh? I can see you two would make great ignorant, can’t write for crap friends. Why don’t you buddy up and offer the next poor sap on here some unfriendly advice. Oh wait, before you do that, show me the schools!

starrs: He lived in Guilford, was born in West Hartford. “…He needs to state the reason.” No he doesn’t! He is my husband and he can choose to want to live wherever for whatever reason! WOW! What are you, a shrink? Oh and by the way, where are these excellent Oregon schools?

clarkgriswold: Thank you for advising me about the Southwest flight that stops over in Denver. A midway stop is useful. The other flights I found had stopovers close to our destination and it didn’t make sense to fly 5.5 hours to make a transfer when we could fly 5.5 hours to Boston and drive the rest of the way. Thanks again.

jubilada: Thank you. I think we will be stuck changing diapers in the aircraft closet bathrooms anyway since not likely our little guys will hold on for 5.5 hours. I guess we have to be grateful we have modern technology and can get to/from the east coast so fast!

janisj

>> Who are you? Never mind, don’t care. I can tell though that you really don’t much about a good high school since you can’t even punctuate! Within 10 miles of your house are (singular = “is”) one of the best high schools…I rest my case.plural. Within 10 miles of my house are one of the best high schools in the whole state AND a couple near the very bottom of the table. So, yes, 'are' is correct and 'is' would not be.

AND

>>since you can’t even punctuate! punctuation . . . it was my grammar you didn't like.

(I think maybe you have more problems than needing good schools for your toddlers)

>>I can see you two would make great ignorant, can’t write for crap friends. Why don’t you buddy up and offer the next poor sap on here some unfriendly advice.

WhereAreWe

You asked 'does it seems nuts to move to New England for the education' and then get bent out of shape when people answer that question. Lol

Yes, it is nuts. Mostly because you are freaking out about the plane ride with 1 year olds when (news flash) they won't start school for several years. You do realize you don't have to move in the next month to give your 1 year olds a fighting chance at getting into a good college and finding a good job, don't you? I highly doubt their future employers will care where they went to pre-pre-school.

NewbE

Am I the only one who thinks a takedown of people who answer questions that were never asked is long overdue?

starrs

"TIA."

A bit premature, it would seem.

janisj

>> . . . takedown of people who answer questions that were never asked . . .<blue>Also, does it seem nuts to move to New England for the education?</blue>"

So exactly which 'non-askefd' question do you mean?

NewbE

Interesting how useless the OP found some Fodorite stalwarts' advice, isn't it?

SambaChula

Let me pose this question:
Can good schools mitigate the effects of helicopter parents?

nytraveler

I don't know what kind of neighborhood you live in but I hate to break it to you but $8000K in property taxes is NOT high - at least not high for this area. $8,000 would be low/unrealistic in most areas.

We just sold my mother's starter house (a cape cod with 3 bedrooms and one bath with original 1942 kitchen and bath) for $520K and the property taxes are about $11K per year - because this is a very good school district. (Last year 94% of graduates went to a 4 year college with several accepted at ivies and a fair number earning scholarships.)

My B and SIL live in a neighborhood not far away with less good schools (they don't have kids) and their small $450K house has taxes of almost $13K.

I fear you may be in for a shock both in terms of housing prices and property and school taxes. But as I mentioned the best schools are typically in places with more expensive houses and higher taxes.

That is why I provided a link to info on CT schools - so you could see how the schools in the areas you are looking at are rated.

I don;t know schools in your area - but can't imagine that there aren;t any strong schools there - although the housing costs and taxes may be more than you want or can pay. But I don't think it will be any different in CT.

ellenem

If the flight is your greatest concern about traveling with toddlers, perhaps try other airports in the area.

Delta and JetBlue both have non-stop red eyes between PDX and JFK.

United has a daytime nonstop flight between PDX and EWR.

jamie99

Sure wish Fodors would close relocation threads like TA does.

Sunny, you asked for answers on a free forum, sorry if you did not like the replies. Personally I would never relocate unless I had a jos) lined up in advance. I suggest for relocation info you consider posting on city-data.com