Hello - I am considering relocating from LA to CT. I would work in Windsor, CT. My personal situation is that I am married with 2 kids. 1 kid will be a senior in high school and my 2nd child is going into 8th grade. I would probably not relocate the family until my daughter is done with high school (although I would work in CT for the year). My son would therefore go to highschool in CT beginning in 9th grade. I currently drive anywhere from 1.5 - 2 hours one way to go to work (if anyone understands the califronia 405 - I live 45 miles north - and traffic sucks). In reviewing the various CT areas, I am interested in West Harford. I have also seen a lot of good things about Fairfield County. My wife is from Japan (and I am also asian) - so I would like to move someplace that has some sense of diversity. any thoughts?

If I moved to Fairfield county - could I take a train to Windosr? Cost? Time?
If I drove from Fairfield county - is that even feasible?
What's it like to live in West Hartford?

I would like a somewhat "big city" feel (or close enough) but I current live in the suburbs of LA and therefore would probably do the same. Any other info that you could provide to help me make this decision would be great. From a cost of living standpoint - it looks like CT is slightly (about 11%) cheaper than LA - but not much. Oh - also, one of the considerations that I have is that in my field - NYC (Manhattan) has a lot of opportunities. It may be worth living in a place that I could commute to NYC in case the Windsor job situation changed.

I'm sure you'll get some great answers here but in the meantime you might post your questions on this relocation forum:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/connecticut/

Good luck!

Thanks - I did just that - but figured I would put the same question on a couple of different boards looking for as many responses as possible. Thanks again!

Hartford area is a long way from Fairfield County - it would take you anywhere from 1 to 2 hrs each way depending on where in Fairfield County you chose to live. You'd have to drive as there is not regular public transportation you could rely on.

The cost of living is not uniform across CT - depending on the town it could be 50% less than your current cost of living, or 100% more. Housing will be the biggest cost driver.

Hartford is at best a small to medium sized city. I would not characterize the area as a hotbed of diversity.

Only you can decide what is most important to you, and hence where you decide to live. For me, I'd put down roots close to Windsor so that I could have quality family time and not spend hours every day on the road. Living somewhere within reasonable commute distance to Manhattan means you'd be a long drive from Hartford.

If you want to work in Windsor, consider Manchester or for a smaller town, Vernon. If you are working a regular morning through afternoon job, I like living east or southeast of the job. It saves a lot of eyestrain from early morning drives and late afternoon drives back home.
Here's the list of train stations but I doubt that Hartford is where you want to live to ride Amtrak everyday to WND.
http://www.visitconnecticut.com/stat...n-information/

This is a very pleasant area of the country. You are not far -- an hour or so -- from the scenic Berkshire Hills in one direction and the ocean in another.

Hartford has many of the problems of former industrial centers, but it is still a financial and insurance center. The surrounding communities provide classic Eastern suburban living to commuters. There is a fair amount of traffic, but you would have to be very unlucky to have anything approaching you LA commute.

I would look for housing in the arc of towns from Windsor Locks through Simsbury to Avon and Farmington. I would not buy a house, however, until I had lived in the area for at least a year, preferably two.

If your wife will be employed, I might let the convenience to both of you be the deciding factor. The University of Connecticut Medical Center is in Farmington, and there are many private schools through the area. Lots of research companies and so forth.

Fairfield County is very wealthy and is a great commute into New York. It is not so good toward Windsor and Hartford.

This is a pretty sophisticated area. I don't think you will find that your ethnicity is a problem. It is not inexpensive, but neither is LA.

I know Southwest has a chart on their website about how early to get to various airports for both national and international flights. I follow those guidelines. Perhaps other airlines provide this info also.

I thought the two hours they suggested for a flight from Bradley, was absurd until I followed that guideline for a 6am flight and arrived at the gate as boarding began.

I agree with the other posters. Look closer to your work. Driving from the Fairfield area can be horrible even when there is no bad weather, but during a snowstorm it can be impossible.

Windsor itself has some very nice areas with historic homes and some less desirable areas. It also has a very good private school, Loomis - Chaffee, if you choose to spend the money but many of the surrounding towns have fine public schools too.

There is some charm about New England. As an older couple, we relocated six years ago to Watertown (Boston) to be near son and family. Yes, it is different that Missouri and we miss friends...sold a home and now in an apartment. It has gone well and it is a surprisingly progressive area. A niece and her DH have lived in W. Hartford, relocated downtown to renovate a town house. We lived several years in New Haven and one summer Martha's Vineyard as students.

Having said this, I wonder what work you are in that you can just up and move cross country. Also how does DW feel...and the kids (wise not to move till their graduations). You will not be avoiding traffic nor uncertain weather. It is a different land tthan Calif. though charming despite winter.

Surely this is a big leap in life. Don't be surprised at resistance...you kids have close friends no doubt

Fairfield is much more the classic CT suburb of NYC - easy commute to the city for professionals and executives, great schools and housing, lots of opportunities for the arts, dining and shopping - but nothing is inexpensive here. But living here is not great for a commute into anyplace near Hartford - which is a much more mixed (economically) area and you do need to be selective about school and where you live.

Both areas are mixed ethnically and some towns (not sure about CT) even have special asian groceries with items not to be found even in the better markets.

My parents moved me from Los Angeles to Fairfield County just before high school. I *HATED* every minute of it. I've lived in a number of states now, but CT is the only one I dislike to this day (for what that's worth -lol!).

Enfield, Ct.
Longmeadow, MA

Please do not move to Fairfield County. You would have to drive through some awful traffic for most of your ride to work. What looks like an hour may be three etc. the problem with CT is nothing is a straight line. I am moving from the Northern border to Groton (50 miles straight south) but you never drive exactly south getting there as you zigzag across the state. Even Farmington and Avon leave you no choice but Hartford but you miss the 95 crapshoot. I'd look at West Hartford for sure (restaurants, somewhat city atmosphere, etc) and a better drive to work.