Submitted by UNCERTAIN_BUCKET t3_1189if5 in Connecticut
I'm headed over from UK having never lived in the US before and of course will expect it to be quite different. I keep hearing mixed reviews about New London itself, so just wondering what may be the best areas to look at? I'm leaning towards waterford, Mystic and Groton currently. I'm in my mid 20's, like the outdoors and very social, so I'm hoping with somewhere with enough to do!
God knows I do
I'm in the greater Hartford area (north of New London, central to CT) so I can't weigh in much but just wanted to say welcome to CT and US and best of luck to you on your emigration. Can't be easy leaving home.
The few times a year I'm around coastal CT it's always nice, so I'm sure you'll find something that you like. Downtown Mystic has a nice area for nightlife. Other towns may too, but I remember being in Mystic a few years ago and there was a lot going on--good food and drink and lots of socializing.
I live in Waterford, used to live in Stonington. I’d look at Mystic for social reasons. It gets busy in the summer but the social scene is better than New London, Waterford, or Groton.
Mystic is great if you're a tourist but it gets real old real quick of you're local. You'll want to avoid downtown from April-October as it's a parking lot (ironically since Mystic desperately NEEDS a parking lot).
Also keep in mind the "social" is going to be 90% tourists. Again, not as many locals in most of the bars and restaurants.
Skip Groton if you think you won't like New London. Mystic has the most restaurants/bars because it's very touristy. Personally, I love New London. Waterford is right next to New London and more suburban.
I've lived in Bristol, Coventry (also known in the uk for being rough) and London. So big cities with good and bad bits. So all what people say about NEW London makes me think it actually isn't bad from what I'm used to. What do you love most about New London?
It is a great art city. There is always a young population due to its having two very expensive colleges. It has a kind of grunge rock feel to it. Try staying at a hotel for a couple of weeks before you rent an apartment. As stated earlier, there are parts of it that are sadly shabby, not cute shabby, but run down and miserable. Be picky, my friend, and you can live a good life in new London!
It’s not bad, there are bad areas in NL but it also has some nice historic areas.
I live on a quiet street, but can be in a shopping in area in 10 minutes. There's a lot of art and downtown is cute with some decent restaurants. It's also on the Thames River and LI Sound
Waterford, Niantic and the Lyme area are all beautiful areas. I don't know about the social life though.
Niantic is nice. The Black Sheep is often a fun pub scene with live music and trivia (at least based on 5ish years ago when I lived in Lyme). Lyme/old Lyme has literally nothing.
Agreed. Have eaten many a delicious meal at the Black Sheep. Good beach and nice shops in Niantic.
"An American thinks 100 years is a long time; Englishmen think 100 miles is a long way." Stonington is nice; close to RI beaches and a lovely little town. It really depends on which side of the river hosts your new employer; focus on that side of the Thames. Oh, and welcome to Connecticut; I already love your accent!
That is so true! I got chatting to some Americans here in a pub, and it blew their minds the pub they were currently in was older than the United States. Old stuff/history is everywhere this side of the pond. Thanks for the advice too!
Our Thames River is NOT pronounced like your Thames River. That said, the bridge over it will be a construction delay for the next couple of years (was just awarded a big federal grant to repair) so I'd recommend living on the same side of the bridge that you work on.
Work on the GSB is on the superstructure for the next 2-3 years, no work up top causing construction delays for at least 4 years (phase 2/3)
It really comes down to your price range. This area of CT has a wide range of housing costs, and you will get what you pay for.
Mystic has a lot of nice restaurants and some sort of a night life but it’s incredibly expensive and gets mobbed by tourists in the summer.
Waterford is pretty non-descript, has some nice areas and some eh areas but it’s all just various levels of suburbia.
Groton is basically Waterford but not as nice, albeit more affordable and with more strip clubs / strip malls. If you go to the Noank part of Groton it’s nicer, more quintessential coastal New England, but stupidly expensive but without the restaurants/nightlife that mystic has.
East Lyme is basically Waterford but a little nicer.
Stonington is nice, lots of large properties there so lots of privacy. Stonington by the water (stonington borough) is quite nice but basically it’s mystic with fewer restaurants. Pawcatuck, which is part of stonington, is more affordable and is pretty close to westerly RI right across the border which is a super cute little town.
If you’re willing to go inland there’s more affordable towns but they start getting a bit more rural.
New London has a lot more going for it than most people around here are willing to admit. It has a decent stretch of bars on bank street and some pretty good restaurants. It has some less nice sections of it certainly but people talk about it like you’re going to get shot or robbed or something when in reality its just where most of the black people in the tri-town area live (gasp) so people talk a lot of shit about it.
Spot on.
I'd recommend Stonington, particularly pawcatuck. That's the area I live in. Mystic is great but is very, very crowded in the summer. Pawcatuck is right next to Westerly, Rhode Island which has a great downtown and is way less busy than Mystic. Stonington Borough is a very nice, old school new England neighborhood with some lovely restaurants but the age group there is a bit (ok a lot) older than you. There is quicker access to beaches from Stonington/pawcatuck than towns west. Not sure what your outdoorsy interests are but it's a great area for fishing, there is good hiking close by, and judging by the number of cyclists I'd say that's a great option too.
I wouldn't recommend living in New London proper but the surrounding areas aren't that bad and everything is within relatively close driving distance regardless of where you choose to live. Waterford and Niantic are west of the Thames, if you don't want to commute over the Goldstar Bridge, otherwise Groton and Mystic are perfectly fine on the east side (tho Mystic is more expensive and a bit further away).
Although, if you want a little less urban and don't mind a little bit more of a commute, Uncasville/Montville on the west side of the river, and Gales Ferry on the east side are nice little areas that are a bit more sparsely populated.
But yeah, plenty of woods, plenty of parks, and hiking, and beaches (tho the beaches in RI are better imo), so plenty of outdoor stuff. And between New London and Mystic, plenty of social stuff. Nothing to the grand scale that you'd get in one of the major cities, but satisfactory enough for a local scene. Plenty of good food too, especially the pizza.
If it were me, I would be looking north of New London, not East or West. I95 can be a nightmare during a commute that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I would be looking for somewhere in Montville, Uncasville, or even Salem. I would rather a longer drive once a week to go to Mystic or some other entertainment'y place vs living in the entertainment'y place and commuting an hour each way in traffic every day for work.
Remember, we're very different than you realize when it comes to travel. Do not plan on taking a train, subway, or bus to work. Everyone in this part of the state drives to work, and they almost all use I-95. A little weather makes the whole interstate a parking lot down there. If you're north of New London, you can go in to work on back roads and avoid the interstate.
I wouldn’t discount New London proper. The downtown area has lots of great restaurants and bars, and they are renovating a lot of the buildings to include luxury apartments. It’s very walkable if you live downtown as well — transportation hub to everywhere with the bus/ferry/trains right there.
I just moved to east lyme. I think it’s the sweet spot for me. Easy to get up North with route 9, 20 minutes to mystic, closer to Groton/New London, and it’s a small town with (almost) everything you need in Flanders Village with beachy stuff in Niantic, and the whole area is surrounded by wooded/outdoorsy state parks and beaches.
If you can afford it, Mystic is the place to live.
I saw a rule recently called the 80/20 rule. Live where your life will be easier 80% of the time.
You could have a few minute commute every day and drive 20/30 minutes 2/3 times a week, or drive 20/30 minutes every day and go somewhere easily 2/3 times a week.
There is a combination of factors. Price, size, quality of life stuff that matters, but id figure where that works out well and go from there.
I like that, that's good advice. Thanks!
Funny - I saw that rule in my Axios newsletter today
This is a pretty quiet part of the state, especially this time of year. Norwich has a lot of rental properties and is close to the casinos if that's your cup of tea. It's about 15-20 minutes north of NL. These are huge casino resorts so keep in mind that there's a lot to do besides gambling, like dining, going to the arcade, seeing live events and concerts etc. Waterford itself is beautiful but very boring. If you live in Groton, I'm sure you'll find yourself crossing the bridge often to go into NL. I just moved to New London honestly because I love the place and find it the livliest out of the towns you mentioned especially if you're in you're in your 20s. Great food, 3 colleges, live music, lots of cultural events, museums, indoor skate park, bars , and local art scene. It's also a bikable small city, and you can hop on a ferry whenever you want to go explore. It has dingy parts, but also really beautiful gilded age homes. Idk how you're looking for an apartment, but if you're looking for roommates, there are always postings on craigslist, that's how I found my place. Good luck with the move, and welcome.
Edit: just read that you are outdoorsy. No matter what town you settle in you'll be surrounded by nature.
Thanks, that's really helpful! I think lively will suit me also.
I mean relatively lively. Like I mentioned overall it's a very quiet part of CT, but then again most of CT is quiet. Moving to a new country is a big change, and it can take awhile to meet people. You will most likely have a tougher time in a suburban or rural area meeting people, and isolation can be a painful thing. Find a biker gang lol.
FYI, By the way the river is called the Thames here with a hard TH sound like the word The for some reason. Not the "Temes" as it is in England.
Where you live really depends on your budget an how long you are willing to commute.
Mystic is INCREDIBLY gentrified and touristy, absolute pain in the ass to live there. Waterford’s alright but a little bland, Groton town’s ok but I prefer Groton City (one exit over). New London is definitely your best bet, it’s not like it used to be but it’s still very enjoyable to live there. Where in the UK are you coming from? I’ve got cousins in Nottingham
I grew up in Montville, just north of New London, and have lived in Norwich, Waterford and New London proper.
If you're used to urban living (it sounds like you lived in some decently dense cities in the UK) and want to be able to walk to literally anything, and enjoy things like coffee shops and live music, just move to New London. It's a cool place and the only thing resembling an actual city in this part of the state, considering how hollowed-out and economically depressed Norwich is.
If you're moving to near downtown, try to stay east of Jay/Huntington Streets. If you're looking for a more suburban residential area things are pretty nice south of the hospital. Those aren't ironclad, of course, but it's probably a good place to get started with your search. Depending on your tolerance of crime/vagrancy/squalor you can expand your search from there.
Montville, Waterford, Groton, Ledyard, East Lyme... meh. They're all pretty much the same from where I'm standing. All perfectly decent car-reliant suburbs.
Mystic would probably be your best bet. It gets crowded in the summer, but it’s a great place to live and plenty of places for food and drink. Anything you want to do in surrounding towns is a short commute. Prices are high for rental/homeownership but there will be zero issues.
Or you can move to another local town and visit Mystic since it's 10 minutes away and avoid the chaos and traffic much of the year
This was really helpful. Good job.
Honestly the state is pretty "small" I travel all over the state for hiking, events, etc. Look at taxes and cost of living in certain areas over the night life. You can find that anywhere
I would stay out of New London and definitely look into Mystic
New London is absolutely nothing like real London lol I've been told by Brits. Theres nice parts and there's garbage parts of New London. Lots of dumpy rentals, lots of homes built in the 40s that were turned into multi family rentals and never well kept up. Waterford and mystic are the nicer areas, along with east lyme and stonington. Montville is a bit more depressed in a lot of spots but still a nice place to live
You can find yourself in places of groton, new London, and Norwich that will have you wanting to go back home
if you're a water person, i'd expand your search into westerly, ri. the rhode island beaches are better than connecticut and it faces the open ocean so you get actual waves. westerly is about 20 minutes from new london and is a decent size town with bars and restaurants.
otherwise, this area of connecticut gets rural pretty quick as you head inland. if living on a bit of land in the woods is your thing, you've got that as an option as well.
I would look around Lyme, Hadlyme, Essex, Deep River. Waterford and Niantic are nice too. New London isn’t the way it used to be. There isn’t really anything to do anymore. And housing is expensive and not worth it. East Haddam has a lot of houses for sale as well. Colchester is nice. Salem.
Old London
What’s your budget?
$2500 a month, from what I've seen that's enough for a decent 2 bed apartment or a house a bit further out.
Ansonia
I know they're called New England and New London but they're not literal names fyi
Good one
Goingone t1_j9g3c9h wrote
You might end up liking the old London better.