No, it’s a separate town. I wouldn’t call it rural. There’s a busy shopping area and the main road through town (Rt 44) is busy. But it doesn’t feel like suburbia, there aren’t a lot of large subdivisions, most people have pretty large lots, woodsy, good amount of protected space. There are a couple small farms, mostly veggies, eggs, honey. I think most of the dairy farmers that were around when I was a kid are gone. But it’s not an agricultural area, at least not anymore. It’s a small town, more rural than Farmington and Avon but less rural than New Hartford. There is a lot of wildlife, especially bears, but also deer, eagles, hawks, fox, etc. Collinsville is the former factory area (old ax and machete factory) with a cute Main Street, dining, a few shops, events like a popular weekly farmer’s market and annual Halloween parade. It’s along the Farmington River, with a neat rail trail and opportunities for canoeing and tubing.

New Hartford is definitely more rural. Lots of state parks and reservoir land. The further west you go on Rt 44, the more woodsy it gets. One of the few regional school districts (CT is very town-oriented, not a lot of regionalization or county government). Most of the schools in CT are good, outside of the cities.

On your list, I’d say some towns are more suburban in feel than Canton / New Hartford, like Cromwell, Berlin, Wallingford, Plainville. Haddam is more rural. Cheshire is similar to Canton. Glastonbury and Wethersfield were agricultural, now similar to Canton. Middlefield is more agricultural, with a major fruit orchard (Durham is another option down that way). West Hartford is more built up, not exactly urban but definitely a larger town with less overall open space. They’re all kinda similar, in that each is a small town with some woods and small farms and a shopping area. But vary in terms of density, proximity to highway, vibe.