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Thinking of moving to Southington

UConnKev

UConnKev

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Currently reside in Rocky Hill but planning on moving in the next year or so.

Wife works at UConn Health in Farmington and I’m working in New Haven. I want my wife to be relatively close to her job and I don’t mind the commuting a longer distance.

I have a soon to be 3-year old and a baby due in December so we are hoping to get settled in before my oldest starts pre-school.

We drove around some parts of Southington and found some neighborhoods that we really liked but we don’t know too much about the area, school system, and the community as a whole. I know the town is big into sports which I do love but outside of that I don’t know much else.

Would love to hear some feedback, thanks!
 
ScottBonz said:
Thalberg.....it all kind of makes sense now. Flanders all the way baby.

Lived there from 2-26 in the same house on Pilgrim Lane. It’s alright town, nothing special but nothing terrible. A solid place to raise a family.

One thing I would point out is that I am still friend with a bunch from Southington. It’s weird, if I go to Southington person wedding the person had a ton of people from Southington. Core groups of friends seem to stay together long after unlike other towns. Probably just anecdotal.
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Middletown is another place where our core group still gets together when we're back in town, many years later. Class reunions every five years too so maybe it's Connecticut thing.
Good restaurants, lots of housing options but no really high end if that's what you're looking for. River Highlands nearby.
 
ScottBonz said:
Thalberg.....it all kind of makes sense now. Flanders all the way baby.

Lived there from 2-26 in the same house on Pilgrim Lane. It’s alright town, nothing special but nothing terrible. A solid place to raise a family.

One thing I would point out is that I am still friend with a bunch from Southington. It’s weird, if I go to Southington person wedding the person had a ton of people from Southington. Core groups of friends seem to stay together long after unlike other towns. Probably just anecdotal.
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I live around the corner on Thistle Lane.
 
8893 said:
I know Van Morrison also played there but I didn’t go. My brother did and it is widely regarded as the worst Van show ever. Apparently he was in a terrible mood and only played for 45 minutes before walking off the stage.

I believe I saw something yesterday saying that Aretha Franklin played there as well.
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I saw a decent show there with Public Image Limited, New Order and a third act I cannot recall - might have been Big Audio Dynamite.

Edit: just Googled it - it was the Sugarcubes
 
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It was back in the early 90s but I believe I saw Jackson Browne and Heart at LC (different shows).
 
I was at that Heart show. It was great. Also saw The Miami Sound Machine there which was really, really good.
 
Vuce said:
It was back in the early 90s but I believe I saw Jackson Browne and Heart at LC (different shows).
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I believe concerts were only held there for a couple of years during the time that Hershey owned LC. It was not a good concert arena, but they did have interesting shows.
 
UConnKev said:
Currently reside in Rocky Hill but planning on moving in the next year or so.

Wife works at UConn Health in Farmington and I’m working in New Haven. I want my wife to be relatively close to her job and I don’t mind the commuting a longer distance.

I have a soon to be 3-year old and a baby due in December so we are hoping to get settled in before my oldest starts pre-school.

We drove around some parts of Southington and found some neighborhoods that we really liked but we don’t know too much about the area, school system, and the community as a whole. I know the town is big into sports which I do love but outside of that I don’t know much else.

Would love to hear some feedback, thanks!
Expand ...

Currently live there. Recently out of HS there (UConn student now) and thought they did a solid job preparing me for college. Community is strong, check out southington talks on facebook. Football is huge. Played a couple years before being shit down from sports due to concussions and dont regret a second of it.
 
I saw Jackson Browne there. It was a decent concert as I recall over 25 years later.
 
ScottBonz said:
Thalberg.....it all kind of makes sense now. Flanders all the way baby.

Lived there from 2-26 in the same house on Pilgrim Lane. It’s alright town, nothing special but nothing terrible. A solid place to raise a family.

One thing I would point out is that I am still friend with a bunch from Southington. It’s weird, if I go to Southington person wedding the person had a ton of people from Southington. Core groups of friends seem to stay together long after unlike other towns. Probably just anecdotal.
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I thought you and papa @rich1122 hail from Ansonia?
 
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I have lived here the past 5 years after spending my first few years out of school in Hartford/West Hartford. I love it!

Great restaurants (new Mill is my fave, flair, nataz, viron rondo in Cheshire is 5 min from me). Also a bunch of parks, good school systems from what I’ve seen, and generally many nice areas of town- good for real estate growth.

Taxes are decent, but it’s still Connecticut.. I also really like how it’s centrally fairly close to everything. 20 min to new haven, 20 to Hartford, hour and 45 to Boston and NY

Good luck with your move!
 
sma4uconn said:
Lived in Southington for 31 years (minus college in MA). Grew up near Hatton Elementary. Wife and I have a house near the Aqua Turf (technically Plantsville). Having lived in both the eastern and southern part of town. I like the southern (Plantsville) part of town better. Easier access to both highways (84 & 691), and away from the congestion.
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And you’re near Tipping Chair
 
sma4uconn said:
Lived in Southington for 31 years (minus college in MA). Grew up near Hatton Elementary. Wife and I have a house near the Aqua Turf (technically Plantsville). Having lived in both the eastern and southern part of town. I like the southern (Plantsville) part of town better. Easier access to both highways (84 & 691), and away from the congestion.
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Do you know @ScottBonz ?
 
Live off Mt. Vernon rd on the west side of town. Never hear anything from lake compounce except fireworks when they do them. It’s quiet, but everything is within 10 min. Moved here a year ago and never looked back. My wife and I absolutely love it.
 
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Have been a resident on Southington for basically my whole life. Currently live on Mount Vernon, half way between Mount Southington & Lake Compounce (Kelley School District). Prior to that was closer to Mount Southington (Plantsville School disrict). Grew up in Plantsville off of Marion Ave. Daughter & Family live near Southington Country Club (South End School district). Any of the schools in town are high quality. Youth Sports are abundant (football, baseball, softball, lacrosse. soccer all have dedicated fields & basketball in area schools). The middle schools have arts, drama & band programs.
As a matter of fact, there is a great arts initiative down town. The 3 Town parks are well maintained & the local Rotary Club is spearheading the construction of a new all access playground at Memorial Park (Cost $ 200,000.00) to replace the existing playground which fell into disrepair.
People in town are friendly. Southington is a great town to raise a famliy.
About the commute: Wife works in Hartford, generally a 15-20 minute drive (although at rush hour it can take much longer). I work in Hamden (off of Dixwell Ave.) That's a 25 minute ride (I-84 to I-691 to Wilber Cross Parkway. (If you prefer Route 10 it's 45 minutes with every traffic light under the Sun).
As for restaurants: There's every chain imaginable, BUT, there are some great local independents: New Mill, Tuscany, Cava, Close Harbor Seafood, Spartans, Groggy Frog(BEST Burgers in town), Kizl's, Grace's Diner, Dominic & Vinnie's Pizza, Sam the Clam's, various restaurants on Center St. Back Nine Restaurant (at Southington Country Club) & the patio restaurant at Hawk's Landing Country Club are some to explore for starters.
Shopping is abundant: The running joke in town is that the only store that Southington doesn't have is Christmas Tree shops. The town has 2 Home Depots, a Lowe's, & a great independent (Superior Products on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike).
That's enough for now. Best of luck on the house hunting.
 
It's a great place to grow up. And to reinforce an earlier post, I still regularly hang out with friends I met at South End School in the late 70s, John F. Kennedy Junior High School in the mid 80s and working at the Aqua Turf in the late 80s. In fact, I'll be tailgating with several of them next Thursday.

I also "met" my wife at our 5 year reunion and we still have immediate family in town.

I moved away in the mid-90 and Southington is now a little bigger and more crowded than I remember it being as a kid, but the descriptions of it in this thread are pretty spot on. BTW - during WWII the Department of Defense created a pamphlet called Southington, CT - Microcosm of America that this thread basically confirms.
 
So much great info and I see a lot of posters took a trip down memory lane with Lake Compounce and the great bands.

A whole lot to digest but I look forward to continuing to check out our potential new home.

Thanks everyone!
 
Sometimes you see Mike Ditka roaming downtown. He’s usually hammered and smoking a cigar.

If you ask him about football he shoo’s you away.
 
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coachcap said:
Have been a resident on Southington for basically my whole life. Currently live on Mount Vernon, half way between Mount Southington & Lake Compounce (Kelley School District). Prior to that was closer to Mount Southington (Plantsville School disrict). Grew up in Plantsville off of Marion Ave. Daughter & Family live near Southington Country Club (South End School district). Any of the schools in town are high quality. Youth Sports are abundant (football, baseball, softball, lacrosse. soccer all have dedicated fields & basketball in area schools). The middle schools have arts, drama & band programs.
As a matter of fact, there is a great arts initiative down town. The 3 Town parks are well maintained & the local Rotary Club is spearheading the construction of a new all access playground at Memorial Park (Cost $ 200,000.00) to replace the existing playground which fell into disrepair.
People in town are friendly. Southington is a great town to raise a famliy.
About the commute: Wife works in Hartford, generally a 15-20 minute drive (although at rush hour it can take much longer). I work in Hamden (off of Dixwell Ave.) That's a 25 minute ride (I-84 to I-691 to Wilber Cross Parkway. (If you prefer Route 10 it's 45 minutes with every traffic light under the Sun).
As for restaurants: There's every chain imaginable, BUT, there are some great local independents: New Mill, Tuscany, Cava, Close Harbor Seafood, Spartans, Groggy Frog(BEST Burgers in town), Kizl's, Grace's Diner, Dominic & Vinnie's Pizza, Sam the Clam's, various restaurants on Center St. Back Nine Restaurant (at Southington Country Club) & the patio restaurant at Hawk's Landing Country Club are some to explore for starters.
Shopping is abundant: The running joke in town is that the only store that Southington doesn't have is Christmas Tree shops. The town has 2 Home Depots, a Lowe's, & a great independent (Superior Products on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike).
That's enough for now. Best of luck on the house hunting.
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The only thing I’d say is that it is NOT a 15-20 minute ride into Hartford unless you are on 84 before 7:15-7:30. Any later and it can be up to 45-60 minutes. One road in. I did the Bristol to Hartford route for 4 years.
 
CTBasketball said:
Sometimes you see Mike Ditka roaming downtown. He’s usually hammered and smoking a cigar.

If you ask him about football he shoo’s you away.
Expand ...
I've got some good Ditka and '85 Bears stories. Guy I know (John Vincent) has been singing at Ditka's restaurant for many years and they basically have a father son relationship. Ditka is starting to lose it.
 
Best skiing in the state.
 
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