Advice for potential New Britain resident

Submitted by AlphabetSoupAllDay t3_zyp9t4 in Connecticut

Any New Britain residents able to advise on what living close to Stanley Quarter Park (south of it) and close to Central CT State University is like? Husband and I are on the challenging journey of finding a home that meets our “must-haves” and budget.

I’m originally from Northern/Eastern CT but do not know New Britain well. The neighborhood near the park/university seems ok but wanted to get a resident or former resident’s take. Would it be safe to walk my dog alone and go jogging? Would it be a decent fit for middle aged child-free folks who enjoy food, coffee, beer/wine, art, and music?

We are child-free so we won’t be needing to send kiddos to school.

Thank you!

4

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

IndigoGrunt t1_j27604z wrote

My father lived on the east side of the park and I have many good memories hanging out there. Close to the mall and shopping areas. Alvarium brewery is good and the surrounding area has some good restaurants and coffee shops. Stanley quarter park has one of the best fireworks in the state on the fourth and I always go back for them. I think south and east of the park can have it's fair share of car break ins etc but I've never felt unsafe walking those areas.

8

PrestigiousSpring306 t1_j276uiq wrote

New Britain is literally fine everywhere outside a select few neighborhoods around Allen Street (Oak/Tremont). Nobody is gonna bother you unless you bother them really. CCSU area is fine, when schools in you might have to deal with some drunk college kids though. I would look toward the west end of town around Walnut Hill if you want something quieter.

8

Kellogg-Branch t1_j2784re wrote

The area is really lovely. New Britain has great food restaurants. There are some “normal” things that come with a small New England city recovering from its indistrial collapse though and some areas are depressed. The area over all offers great access to to broad range of activities.

5

Last-Instruction739 t1_j27hibu wrote

By CCSU or south of Walnut Hill park is nice as well as near Broad street. Be aware lots of housing near CCSU is rented to students so ask questions and check the hood out on a Thursday night if you can!

New Britain is a good city to live in. Lots of amenities and parks. Can be a little crime ridden in a few spots but mostly it’s a working class city.

Lived there for 10 years. Stanley and Walnut are great for walking dogs. No issues for me ever, I thought it was a fun place to live. Highly recommend Alvarium if you like beer!

6

Last-Instruction739 t1_j27i8p7 wrote

Replying to IndicationOver (#1,168,810)

By CCSU or south of Walnut Hill park is nice as well as near Broad street. Be aware lots of housing near CCSU is rented to students so ask questions and check the hood out on a Thursday night if you can!

New Britain is a good city to live in. Lots of amenities and parks. Can be a little crime ridden in a few spots but mostly it’s a working class city.

Lived there for 10 years. Stanley and Walnut are great for walking dogs. No issues for me ever, I thought it was a fun place to live. Highly recommend Alvarium if you like beer!

Ended up not buying a home there as the taxes are pretty high, but you do get a lot in terms of parks and city services. They have done a great job downtown as well but it’s still probably 10years away from being anything close to Middletown which was always the vision beginning 15 plus years ago.

7

BobbyBuzz008 t1_j27opzu wrote

I live in the neighborhood and it is a great, safe, walkable neighborhood. The neighborhood is patrolled by both NBPD and CCSU PD, and the crime rate here is very low so jogging/walking your dog is incredibly safe. There are a lot of food options downtown and you are 5 minutes from the Westfarms shopping area. There are countless restaurants, breweries, etc. New Britain is home to three theatre companies, a sympathy orchestra, the New Britain Museum of American Art as well as a collective art studio downtown, the New Britain Bees Baseball team ($6 tickets and $2 Hot Dogs) and many of the sports games at CCSU are free or cheap. Living in the neighborhood you are near both Stanley Quarter and A.W. Stanley Parks. If you enjoy golfing we have the Stanley Golf Course nearby and as a resident you are eligible for a discount. You would be severed by several CT Transit bus lines, with the main one being the 128 which will take you to downtown/westfarms in 10 minutes and downtown Hartford in 20 minutes. The closest CT Fasttrak station is the East Street Station with plenty of parking. I attached a link to the visit New Britain website. I would recommend watching the video and browsing the website.

The only thing you have to worry about is dealing with college students walking to and from their parties on Thursday nights from late August-October and late spring. Sometimes they can be loud and wake you up and occasionally you might have someone drunkenly pee in your yard. If you do run into issues with CCSU students, I would recommend attending the town and gown meetings at CCSU which are held monthly at the student center. But honestly that’s the least you have to worry about.

If you end up moving here and ever want to meet up, feel free to message me. https://www.visitnbct.com

18

LloydChristmas666666 t1_j28y4a5 wrote

Lots of stuff to do in the town and around the surrounding areas. Central, reservoir and AW Stanley/Stanley Quarter areas are all good.

3

Sheilar44 t1_j29706c wrote

Big sky gyms in new Britain and Newington are great

3

Jaded-Amoeba5831 t1_j29ih06 wrote

That particular area is extremely safe and city as a whole has made huge progress since the 90’s. Great parks, downtown area has been improving steadily yearly and easy highway excess to just about everywhere. Would recommend like others have said about nearby students rentals but that would be my only concern.

3

rainbowarmpit t1_j2bft7m wrote

Learn Polish and Spanish.

Welcome to Polirica 🇵🇱🇵🇷

1