City of
Bristol
About Bristol
Bristol is situated in Central Connecticut, twenty miles southwest of Hartford. It is a wonderfully diverse and family-friendly community that offers a wide range of historical, entertainment, and cultural opportunities.
The Bristol community is active in the arts, a wide range of sporting activities and preserving the City’s rich history of architecture, revolutionary clock making, and general manufacturing. With slightly more than 60,000 residents, Bristol is home to many commuters, but also employs a large workforce locally, with many employed at companies such as ESPN, in the fields of health care, information technology, and manufacturing, whose industries remain strong in the region.
Bristol sits on 26.5 square miles in Hartford County which includes 700 acres of beautiful parks. It has 26,737 housing units with a median home sale price of $207,400 and median household income of $73,604. The City has a mayor and city council form of government.
CITY SERVICES
The Bristol Public Library and the Manross Library in Forestville house a collection of over 193,000 books, 240 magazine subscriptions, and more than 9,200 video cassettes and DVDs. They also have a vast downloadable collection including e-books, audio books and magazines. The library offers meeting rooms, a computer lab, programs for adults, teens and children including computer classes, job search workshops, book discussions, and story time.
The Bristol Senior Center offers a variety of services and programs including computer and aerobic classes, counseling services and food programs. Bristol residents 55 and older are eligible to participate in everything the Senior Center has to offer.
The Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth & Community Services Department enhances the quality of life for all Bristol residents through the delivery of high-quality recreational services, over 700 acres of well-maintained parkland, an historic ballpark, indoor aquatics facility, and open space ranging from 25 acres to 250 acres that meet the diverse needs of the community.
The Youth and Community Services division of Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services is a community-based social service bureau caring for the well-being of the city’s youth and adults through advocacy, resource development and coordination of comprehensive service delivery systems to strengthen the healthy functioning of youth and their families, and other individuals in need, and provides opportunities for youth to act as responsible members of the community.
EDUCATION
Bristol has several elementary schools for students from kindergarten through grade five; two K-8 schools, West Bristol School and Greene-Hills School, Bristol’s two newest school buildings which provide increased parking and field space; room for computer labs and media centers; added accessibility for special needs students; and two middle schools, Northeast Middle School and Chippens Hill Middle School which, in addition to traditional courses, offer classes in computer technology, wellness, robotics and the arts.
Bristol has two public high schools, Bristol Eastern High School and Bristol Central High School, both of which rank among the highest in the state in the number of advanced placement courses offered and taken.
Bristol is also home to several top-quality parochial schools. Immanuel Lutheran School, St. Joseph School, and St. Matthews School all provide excellent educational opportunities for students from kindergarten through eighth grade. St. Paul Catholic High School is well established as an excellent facility that sends almost 100% of its graduates on to college each year.
DESTINATION
Bristol is home to several museums including the American Clock& Watch Museum and the New England Carousel Museum which are the perfect family destinations to enjoy all year long. Lake Compounce, the nation’s oldest continuously-operated amusement park, is also located in Bristol and makes a great place to visit May through December. The city is also home to the one-of-a-kind shopping experience known as The Bristol Bazaar.
ALL HEART PORTAL
For everything Bristol, the City is proud to offer the All Heart Portal at www.BristolAllHeart.com. The site is aimed at connecting the community and visitors with what to experience in Bristol from the fun attractions to a full community calendar with dozens of events and an interactive map, local food & drink establishments, neighborhoods to live, places to worship and more. Plus, it features a ‘Welcome to Bristol’ video, and blogs and videos that share the positive stories of “Heart” occurring throughout the community.