[rrr2009]

My husband got job in Industrial Park, Cheshire :-)
Our priorities to find a apartment or a rental would be

1. Good elementary school.
2. Good pre-school.
3. Good neighborhood, helpful, down-to-earth neighbors
4. Access to park/recreation (soccer, baseball, skating etc.,
5. Lesser commute (~5miles ?)

We may buy a home eventually, for now we want to rent a place to live. It is happening sooner than we expected that we have very less time even to do extensive research. So I rely on the forum friends for advice/ideas etc.,

[KH02]

Cheshire itself would fit your criteria, however, there are not many rentals to be had in Cheshire. You could also check nearby Southington, which may have a few more rental opportunities. The schools in both towns are good. Preschools are NOT public in CT, you need to pay for them, so it doesn't matter what town you live in, you can pick your child's preschool in whatever town you would like.
I'm assuming you have children so if your renting a 3 bedroom apartment or house in either of those two towns, you would most likely be looking at $1400 a month or more for a rental...

Good Luck in your search!

[7 Wishes]

Are you sure that no town in CT has public pre-schools? I'm fairly sure that Trumbull has them (not near Cheshire though so I'm not suggesting it as a town).

[KH02]

a few do...but not near where the poster wanted to be...

[JayCT]

I agree with the suggestion to look in Southington. The schools are good and there are a wide range of housing options. Jay

[parentologist]

Southington has preschool in the elementary school, but it's difficult to get into it. A lot of families send their children to private preschool. Southington has half day kgtn. I think Cheshire has half day, too. Southington schools are okay, not a whole lot of money being poured into the schools, but not a large underclass population, either, although they are present. Southington has surprisingly good special ed programs. Hartford magazine just rated towns, grouped by size, and Southington came out pretty high overall in the large town section of Hartford County. I would agree with the above posters that for a first place to land, with lots of rental and purchase options, decent schools, potential for down-to-earth neighbors, Southington would be a good choice.

[KH02]

Originally Posted by parentologist

Southington has preschool in the elementary school, but it's difficult to get into it. A lot of families send their children to private preschool. Southington has half day kgtn. I think Cheshire has half day, too. Southington schools are okay, not a whole lot of money being poured into the schools, but not a large underclass population, either, although they are present. Southington has surprisingly good special ed programs. Hartford magazine just rated towns, grouped by size, and Southington came out pretty high overall in the large town section of Hartford County. I would agree with the above posters that for a first place to land, with lots of rental and purchase options, decent schools, potential for down-to-earth neighbors, Southington would be a good choice.

Southington has a public preschool but it's a model classroom, meaning it's only in 1 elementary school and 50% of the kids they take are special needs (or need help in certain areas of development) then the other half of the class is "model" students whom are on track for development. But it is not public in the sense that it's free, because there is a cost associated with it.
Also I would say southington's schools are better then "okay" they are very good. Not sure why you think they dont have money to put into schools when they just finished building the brand new Planstville elementary on Church street and revamping South End school as well.
Also I wouldn't say alot of families use private schools. Overall, I would say closet to 90% use public schools in Southington, since they are good schools. All the families I know that use private and live there, do so because of religion and nothing else.

[parentologist]

A lot of families send their children to private PREschool. Yes, I would agree that most Southington families send their children to public school after having sent them to private preschool. As for money spent on the schools, Southington's per capita school spending is not high compared to other towns in CT, nor as a percentage of its budget. Take a look at the recent Hartford magazine's article (which, by the way, ranked Southington only after Glastonbury and ahead of West Hartford for overall quality of life in a large town). Southington doesn't spend as much on schools overall.

[rrr2009]

Any suggestions for apartments? Rental places?

[KH02]

Southington and Cheshire do not have alot of apartment complexes. Your best bet is to look in Craigslist.com for rentals or the local papers.
Southington has a free weekly paper called the Southington Observer, I believe they have a website, you could check their classified ads as well for rentals.

Good Luck