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[waitingword]

Any opinions?  How are the surrounding communities?  Is it a good school to work for?  What are the pros and cons?  THanks! 

[eugenides]

Please search.

This school was extensively discussed before.

[larryc]

Yes.

[waitingword]

Thanks found that thread... wondering if you guys have any opinions on the surrounding towns besides mansfield.  thanks!

[larryc]

Eastern Connecticut is where I grew up. The towns are either bedroom commuter towns for Hartford, rural former farm towns, or decayed mill towns. You are not going to find a hip urban community kind of place, but it is often pretty. Some towns can be affordable by east coast standards.

[collegekidsmom]

What kind of place would appeal to you?it would be easier to tell you if Storrs or towns around(Coventry, Willimantic, Willington, Ashford, Eastford, Gurleyville!)etc.) are right for you if you told us what kind of place you are hoping to find.

[waitingword]

thanks guys... i'm looking for not so small, other college profs, kid friendly, progressive... any of those towns fit? 

[prytania3]

Don't go to Willimantic. Bad problem with heroin in that town throughout the social stratification.

[waitingword]

Yikes... saw that 60 min did a special on that.  How close is that town and do you know if the problem is pervasive in the area?  (i have little kids so safety is a priority)

[prytania3]

Yikes... saw that 60 min did a special on that.  How close is that town and do you know if the problem is pervasive in the area?  (i have little kids so safety is a priority)

I'm in southern CT, but my understanding is that it's Willimantic and not surrounding areas. The Hartford Courant did a piece on it some years ago and they won a Pulitzer, I think. The thing is that drugs are everywhere, so you can't avoid them, but it seems like there's just more of them in Willimantic.

I like the area around Hartford, though. It's not as snooty as Fairfield County where I am. Also it's much more affordable.

Working for the State of CT is overall a good deal. It's union and the pay is high in comparison to other states.

http://www.courant.com/news/specials/hc-1heroin.artoct20,0,4288805.story

[larryc]

thanks guys... i'm looking for not so small, other college profs, kid friendly, progressive... any of those towns fit? 

Kid friendly, yes--the others are iffy. And eastern Connecticut is rural, except for the dying mill towns like Willimantic. Still UConn is a huge school and that in itself creates a certain amount of culture. And you are not much more than an hour from Boston or Providence.

(And please use standard capitalization on this academic form, as a courtesy to the rest of us.)

[collegekidsmom]

I agree with larryc's description-I also grew up there and used to work at UCONN, and many of the surrounding towns are small, rural, pretty, progressive in the way that all of New England would be. What you would not have is cool urban areas right there, not much nightlife nearby, and not much diversity in any surrounding areas. The issues in Willimantic have nothing to do with the towns around the university. Schools in many towns are good, and the area is a good one for raising children-if you like that small town, suburban kind of life. UCONN is really big enough so that there is a lot going on there.

[oldfullprof]

Family Studies and Sociology are supposed to have bad problems.

[hollow_man]

Their basketball team is terrible.

[canadia]

Their basketball team is terrible.

I remember in one of the Storrs threads a prof said that he/she/hu couldn't even make comments like "the opponent played well" b/c the entire student body is really into hoops and sports in general.