Connecticut
John Thompson 
Growing up I was always under the impression this was a suburb of wealthy NYers. Watching COPS reruns has given me the new impression it’s a state full of crime ridden ghettos. Is there a great economic divide?
| by Anonymous | reply 270 | September 4, 2020 1:44 PM |
If ONLY there was a way to learn about the demographics of Connecticut. If ONLY our world view wasn't based on subjective impressions.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 8, 2019 9:34 PM |
Connecticut is kind of a hell hole, generally speaking. My mother grew up there, and I still have relatives there. She moved from there about 10 years ago, and we are all thrilled. The geography is beautiful in some parts, but it is quite Children of the Corn in other parts. Not that every state doesn't have a mixture like that, I suppose!
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 8, 2019 9:37 PM |
Aside from Fairfield County, home to upscale Darien, Greenwich, and New Canaan, Connecticut is working and middle class.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 8, 2019 9:40 PM |
New Jersey should have CTs PR agent.
How one state could have such a trashy image and the other can have such a to the manor born country club image, when both states are basically the same (two of the richest per capita, there are gorgeous old money parts, gorgeous new money parts, and shit parts) never ceases to amaze me.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 8, 2019 9:40 PM |
The Connecticut shore is mostly a very wealthy area. Once you go inland, you start seeing hillbillies. I wouldn’t call it a hellhole.
It’s cities do suck, though. Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, all suck.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 8, 2019 9:40 PM |
R4 there’s also Litchfield County.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 8, 2019 9:41 PM |
Fairfield County is the NYC suburb and is generally affluent - but you also have Bridgeport, the largest and most economically depressed city in CT, within Fairfield County. There is a great divide among the wealthy and impoverished areas throughout the state.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 8, 2019 9:42 PM |
Grew up in Westport. Huge divide (and attitude - from both directions) between Fairfield and the rest of the state.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 8, 2019 9:44 PM |
Live there and hate it - but the job pays well. I will leave once my working career has ended.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 8, 2019 9:45 PM |
There were one of those disruptions in a mall videos posted on DL last week and that took place in CT.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 8, 2019 9:45 PM |
Litchfield county is affluent and very beautiful
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 8, 2019 9:51 PM |
I have a good friend from New Britain. Is it a dump or is it OK?
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 8, 2019 9:55 PM |
Wherever Countess LuAnn is from (basically dead center of CT) is the perfect example of the depressed working class area OP and some others here are talking about.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 8, 2019 9:57 PM |
I went to boarding school in Connecticut. Indeed, there are clusters of extreme wealth...just take a flight out of NYC and head north, hundreds o homes with swimming pools. That being said, when I was in CT the small factory towns in Ct were largely made up of well paid factory workers. In addition to Westport, Darien etc...Bridgeprt and other blue collar towns were thriving with well- paid workers …
I saw these workers when on the sailing team of my school...as we headed for LI Sound and CT River for practice and meets, there were scores of working-class folk headed to the shores with their power boats. This was part of the scene for the Northeast Midwest Corridor...factory towns...that's all gone now. I can remember thinking as I watched station wagons polling power boats ...that 'rich or wealthy' does not necessarily limited the celebrated wealthy, but well-paid factory/blue collar workers as well....this is what really makes for a wealthy or affluent state or region. I've maintained this sensibility since those days...But now those factory towns are miserable, deserted, and crime infested...
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 8, 2019 9:59 PM |
It’s either 1st or 2nd in Democratic voting nationwide (above 60%)
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 8, 2019 10:01 PM |
The McMahon Family hail from Greenwich R17 so that offsets your stat.
I still have a shameful lust in my heart for Shane McMahon despite knowing what kind of stock he issues from and what destruction his family has helped wreak.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 8, 2019 10:02 PM |
The Connecticut shoreline is affluent with the exceptions of Bridgeport and New Haven. Northwestern Ct. (Litchfield) is bucolic and very wealthy. Hartford not so hot; West Hartford ok. Luann grew up in Berlin which, as another poster noted, is dead center of the state and an unremittingly blue collar area.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 8, 2019 10:09 PM |
CT is overall a very wealthy state with high property taxes due to a close proximity to Boston and NYC. Parts of New Haven county on the shoreline and Litchfield and Fairfield counties are among the wealthiest parts of the country. Even the middle class is wealthier then the working class in the southern and mid west states. I have lived their for 64 years and recently moved to Wilmington NC for retirement where the cost of living is so much cheaper, better weather, roads, lower taxes and some real charming people. NC lacks the culture that living in CT affords you to access via NYC and Boston.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 8, 2019 10:11 PM |
R16 is accurate and my family included both strata - Choate, Hotchkiss and Yale preppies, and sporty sand fleas of the Fairfield working class.
There was - great pizza and bakeries and very safe beaches. We were completely free all summer.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 8, 2019 10:11 PM |
Latecomers, r18. Money but (duh) no class or family background.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 8, 2019 10:12 PM |
Until the mid-80s, r20, Connecticut had no real property tax, which allowed a lot of old and (and in some cases formerly) moneyed families to maintain their enormous houses on the shoreline east of New Haven. Katherine Hepburn was one of the landowners who spearheaded the resistance to the proposed tax reform; my dad was another. They lost.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 8, 2019 10:15 PM |
R5 again - so my question remains Why does CT have “that image” - and you know what I mean? And why does NJ in contrast have the image it does (when if anything it’s a richer state)?
It doesn’t really make any sense when you think about it - except that one happens to be blessed with a better image.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 8, 2019 10:19 PM |
Oh brother. Why does Paris have the image of chic but not London?
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 8, 2019 10:21 PM |
I moved here from Albuquerque and Ralph and I love it here.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | January 8, 2019 10:23 PM |
It's like tale of two cities (states) divided by lower Fairfield County and the rest of the state. Our most recent governor did his best to turn it into another Rhode Island - a depressed state full of corruption and mismanagement. Back in the day it was a glittering jewel - at one time 35 or the 100 fortune 500 companies were headquartered here - now there are around 14. Housing never recovered from the highs of 2006. It will be a long road back. Currently ranks 4th of 50 in people fleeing to other states.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 8, 2019 10:24 PM |
There are indeed two Connecticuts.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 8, 2019 10:29 PM |
The taxes are brutal here and the State cannot get its finances in order. I was frankly pleasantly surprised, considering the economy, that we voted another democrat in as Governor.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | January 8, 2019 10:30 PM |
I hate CT almost as much as I hate Trump. People who have always lived there have no idea how odd their behavior is. I was there for grad school and I have no idea how I survived the assholes who live there.
For example, when I was living there, the Nutmeggers were staging huge protests over a mall that was to be built in Manchester (AFAIK, at the time, there was only one other mall in the entire state). Finally, it got built and the traffic around it was terrible! from all the people who didn't want the mall built in the first place. They really hated it going up but they couldn't wait to shop there once they had it.
The people who live there are twisted. I have stories galore.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 8, 2019 10:32 PM |
I hope your other stories are more persuasive, r30. That one just sounds like human nature.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 8, 2019 10:34 PM |
R25 because it’s French, smartass. Not exactly a good analogy.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | January 8, 2019 10:34 PM |
OP,
ALL STATES are full of crime ridden ghettos, all states have a great economic divide.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | January 8, 2019 10:36 PM |
I had Italian relatives in Bristol and Jewish relatives in a nearby town I can't remember.
I think all of them live in Florida now.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 8, 2019 10:39 PM |
R30, you sound like one of those people who thinks everything is an interesting story. Wrong.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 8, 2019 10:40 PM |
You're 100% right R5/R24. I live in Morris county NJ and my neighbour is from CT and acts like she's from landed gentry with all her airs and graces, it makes me lol. I'm originally from England and call her Mrs Bucket (Boo-kaaay) behind her back. Our area of NJ is much nicer than her part of CT, but you'd think she was slumming it.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 8, 2019 10:41 PM |
Your pizza is pretty damn good and this is coming from a NJ born/raised, ex NYC resident. I've been a bunch of times for The Peoples Court audience as well as Springer, Wilkos and Maury audience. That is the extent of my travels to your humble state, it's pretty to look at but I'd probably develop a severe drug problem because there ain't shit to do except hop on a train and go to the city.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 8, 2019 10:50 PM |
Norwich was great if you needed a thermos or a stay in the looney bin.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | January 8, 2019 10:52 PM |
R38 is correct. Most of Connecticut's smaller cities have absolutely nothing going for them.
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | January 8, 2019 10:55 PM |
The ghetto nightclubs in Bridgeport are OUT OF THIS WORLD skanky and fun.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 8, 2019 10:57 PM |
What r33 said. How on earth is OP stunned that states aren't monolithic entities. Of course there is the wealthy and the poor. Did you think all 3.5 million people who live there were from wealthy WASP families?!
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | January 8, 2019 11:00 PM |
The biggest cities with the exception of Stamford are crap. Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. Stamford, until the 90s was BAD. During Dan Malloy's term as mayor they tore down all the public housing projects(4, I believe) and the once blighted waterfront was built up. North Stamford is pretty much an extension of New Canaan.
Norwalk is a funny place. Darien to the west. New Canaan and Wilton to the north and Westport to the east. Norwalk is pretty much two different worlds. All your projects are concentrated in South Norwalk which borders Rowayton which is high dollar.
Bridgeport, as bad as it is isn't nearly as bad as when Father Panik Village was still in existence. North of Bridgeport is Trumbull, very white, very rich, very Republican.
Greenwich, as affluent as it is, is home to public housing projects.
Litchfield County is very nice, very picturesque, but there's strange happening there. Newtown, Dudleyville, Cornwall, etc.
The "valley", which is home to Derby, Ansonia, Shelton, Seymour, Naugutuck, Beacon Falls, is looked down upon by the upper crust Fairfield County ilk.
Wolcott is like Mississippi in Connecticut. Just outside Waterbury, it was a big KKK hangout. There is even a street Klan Drive in Wolcott.
I'm homesick and do miss Connecticut. As me anything else.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | January 8, 2019 11:02 PM |
This is standard M.O. on DL - start a three with a dumb-assed set-up, hey it might get clicks. Finally we should be thankful otherwise it's Instahos and gay DIVA stanning.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 8, 2019 11:03 PM |
I went to college with the mayor of Bridgeport. He was elected as mayor. Then he went to jail for corruption. Then he was re-elected as mayor.
He’s married today, but I’m pretty sure he was fucking around with another dorm member. He was a big coke head, too. Nice enough of a person.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 8, 2019 11:06 PM |
My great-granny had a mansion in Black Rock. I had an auntie, school teacher, and uncle, cop, who were "working class"/"middle class" but had a fine sailboat at the Black Rock yacht club and a very pretty little colonial house. Meanwhile Blackrock was eventually surrounded by blight.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 45 | January 8, 2019 11:09 PM |
I think the more affected you are the 'newer' you are....may be wrong...I'm not talking about values and standards,,,I mean just basic manners and being cautiously polite. Does anyone remember Millicent Fenwick? I not sure she was from CT or New England, but she was certainly from 'horse country' before she waded into politics...I know a lot of folk don't like Barbara Bush...I think she got nastier as years went on...maybe because the Republicans were becoming increasing declassee I swear Jeb Bush looked stunned when those 16 Repubs assembled to debate and trump made a remark about the only female, present. ...b Can you imagine Barbara Bush having high tea with Sarah Palin..? LOL
A whole different can of worms is the black bourgeoise, my crowd...I know for sure the more affected people are the newer they are. I have a cousin who proudly announces she is a snob....then I have friends who are rooted in the old black bourgeoise...they don't want center stage or people asking anything questions...My cousin revealed her newness compared to a friend who has never seen the inside of an American pubic school and has a subway station named after her family...Smith educated and reticent..but polite..
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | January 8, 2019 11:15 PM |
R41 I think the OP is aware of that, but again, why does CT have an image that no other state has? Because it has more boarding schools than any other state - perhaps?
I think that’s the point he was trying to make.
Even Greenwich, the richest part of CT, has shit parts (Cos Cob, parts of Riverside).
The Old Saybrook / Madison area is beautiful and underrated.
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | January 8, 2019 11:15 PM |
R42 What are the towns around the Goodspeed Opera House like? Year-round or resort or a suburb of where? Is it in a flood plain? It seems so far away from everywhere but isn't, really. How far is LI Sound?
Is New London any good for Coast Guard dick? Is there any such thing as Coast Guard dick?
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 8, 2019 11:17 PM |
We have friends in West Hartford. We have not visited but have seen photos of their home, which looks very upscale. So I'm curious: If Hartford is so bad, how can West Hartford be so nice? Aren't they right next to each other? How can a lot of the crime in Hartford not spill over into West Hartford? Or does it?
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | January 8, 2019 11:22 PM |
Hartford was a rich city, and the capitol of course. It declined. The Wadsworth is a remnant of Hartford's former riches. Hartford was once a financial powerhouse.
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | January 8, 2019 11:24 PM |
R25, i know!.😂 but that's who we have a lot of here of late.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | January 8, 2019 11:26 PM |
From Bridgeport. Very sad place. There are plenty of pockets of Old Money (friends of families who are “names” here). They are the Real Deal, but a passing generation.
Lots of Portuguese on the coast. Resentful blacks. Blue collar like the rest of NE. I don’t care. It’s home.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 8, 2019 11:34 PM |
Litchfield County is very nice, very picturesque, but there's strange happening there. Newtown, Dudleyville, Cornwall, etc.
There are strange things everywhere, R42. If you/re implying Newtown is odd because of gun violence, then think again. It's common all over the country. And Newtown is in Fairfield County, Dudleytown was an unincorporated area of Cornwall, said to be haunted. It's nothing but a few cellar holes now, all private land. I live in a small town in Litchfield County.. My closest movie theater a few miles down the road, shows current and independent stuff that you don't typically find. It's housed in a barn from 1927. The restaurants around the area are amazing. I may grumble about the prices at times, but it's usually worth it. The local shopping is an eclectic mix. Yeah, i do have to drive a bit to get to a big box store, but I'll take that trade off. The area is a made up of creative types, former and current NY'ers mixed with blue bloods, old hippies and a few hicks. The taxes while high are nothing compared to NY and NJ. I have a nice small house just off the lake with great views. My taxes are under 7k a year,
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 8, 2019 11:36 PM |
R50 is Trinity College in Hartford or West Hartford?
I’ve never known a single public school person to go there. For whatever reason it’s huge with the boarding schools.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | January 8, 2019 11:36 PM |
R55, Trinity is in Hartford, near the West Hartford border. The crime in Hartford is wildly over hyped. It's not so much unsafe as just dull. The crime is pretty localized to the North End, which is having some redevelopment. I have a few friends in Hartford who I typically meet for dinner in West Hartford, simply because there is more to do,
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | January 8, 2019 11:44 PM |
Newtown was always a nothing town.
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | January 8, 2019 11:44 PM |
Trinity only recently ticked up in competitiveness and it's endowment is low, at half a billion, for such an old and prestigious little school.
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | January 8, 2019 11:47 PM |
Connecticut has always had property taxes. It was income tax that it lacked. The state is a patchwork of places affluent and otherwise. The cores of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford have seen better days---these are cities that lost a lot of their industry in the 60s & 70s and Hartford lost a lot of white collar jobs because of mergers in the insurance industry.. The smaller cities are a mixed bag. Not all of Fairfield is wealthy, but a lot of it is. There are well off areas W of Hartford, along the store and in the NW corner of the state. The eastern part of the state is more like Maine or West Virginia and has been struggling for decades.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | January 8, 2019 11:51 PM |
Trinity is a basically a safety school for NE private school kids. Kind of like a finishing school/pre-country club for a certain demographic. No poor or middle class person should go there without a substantial grant scholarship, UConn is better value for money.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | January 8, 2019 11:52 PM |
Ditto to neighboring Essex, R62.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | January 8, 2019 11:55 PM |
R49 UES need Harlem and their help in close proximity. Get it now?
DL professor of socioeconomics, anthropology, sociology, gemology, political sciences, international relations, cultural anthropology, psychology, economics, physics, law torts.
On a volunteer basis only
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | January 9, 2019 12:04 AM |
Lifelong CT resident. CT has it's charms, its gorgeous and not just in the fall. There are woods everywhere and amazing state parks. The education system and quality of life here is great. But there's no real city like Boston or Providence. CT just has large towns.
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | January 9, 2019 12:18 AM |
Hartford and New Haven were once not so different than Providence. Hartford metropolitan is 1 million!
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | January 9, 2019 12:23 AM |
CT = Who's The Boss and Martha Stewart.
NJ = Bruce Springsteen and The Sopranos.
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | January 9, 2019 12:36 AM |
Oh geez. There is a lot more to CT than just Fairfield County. The Guilford to Groton/Stonington stretch of the coastal part of the state is much nicer/more New Englandy in my opinion. Farmington River Valley west to the NY state line is great, too. Full of picturesque small, NE towns (some close to 400 years old now).
Yeah, NJ gets a bad rap and has some beautiful spots, I just think the cold sore that is Newark and it’s environs is astronomically worse than the smaller blights in Connecticut- parts of New Haven, Bridgeport, etc.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | January 9, 2019 12:38 AM |
r47, the Byram part of Greenwich seems pretty shitty to me too.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 69 | January 9, 2019 12:39 AM |
R47, because like Vermont, CT has a large French Canadian base population from up in Quebec way. Don't believe me? Take a phone book from today or 25 years ago. The La/Le surname section never ends. Along withe De section. Skim through the phone book.
They rarely go south to NY. They're all concentrated in New England. Fits like a glove. Quebec is full of pioneer stock. They're a different breed in that province. Those people populate the US lands south of Quebec. Vermont is so progressive because it is a Quebec satellite. New Hampshire is more of the blue collar FCs. They even named Vermont.
NY is full of Ellis Island newbies compared to them.
Another Tri-State example would be Staten Island and Long Island as night and day.
| by Anonymous | reply 70 | January 9, 2019 1:13 AM |
R69, isn't that an old historical homestead from the 1700s?
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | January 9, 2019 1:15 AM |
CTs financially is circling the drain. Previous governor couldn’t stop promising, spending, and then taxing. Problem is all the taxpayers and tax paying corporations are leaving. Very similar to Illinois.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | January 9, 2019 1:18 AM |
Torrington is depressing and a million miles from anything except Waterbury.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | January 9, 2019 1:18 AM |
Yeah but R68, the geography of NJ is built on swampland. Flooded roads. Lots of guidos. No need to bring up Princeton. It's a hike to Manhattan. No high end ocean communities like LI.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | January 9, 2019 1:27 AM |
R74 go just west of the turnpike and it’s all hills. And that’s not very far at all.
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | January 9, 2019 2:24 AM |
R73, Torrington is starting to get it's due. Between the Nutmeg Ballet which has a bunch of cachet, The restored Warner Theatre pulling in some major talent and a few new art galleries, I think there's a bit of momentum.We're desperately waiting to see what happens to the Yankee Pedliar Inn. Signs aren't looking great there, but it could be spectacular. The downtown area is a true time capsule and ripe for someone with some big money, because the core of the town is cute as fuck. This NYT piece is indicative of what's happening. The gays will fix it all. There's some great housing stock as well. From what I am seeing, more and more creative expats from NY are moving out to Litchfield County because it's relatively cheap and the countryside is a draw. As long as you have a car, you can get back to the city in under 2 hours.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 76 | January 9, 2019 2:39 AM |
I have friends in Litchfield. They bought a cute little house with a lot of land for relatively cheap price. Like around $400K. The're surrounded by woods and it's about a 20 minute drive to the train station, 30 minutes to shopping etc. very pretty up there, but quite isolated. I would go a little bonkers there full time. Love spending weekends up there, but challenging to find a good place to eat, especially after 8pm.
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | January 9, 2019 2:47 AM |
Had college friends from Wilton and Darien, which are both lovely towns. Went to a wealthy friend’s wedding in Lakeville, which is a really gorgeous place. I’m not sure what people do there, other than be wealthy, but I wanted to pack up and move there.
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | January 9, 2019 2:48 AM |
I began my professional career with Connecticut General, now known as the CIGNA Companies; its headquarters were based in Meriden, CT. It was so weird to be traveling through miles upon miles of pastureland to reach it, only to crest a hill and see a huge modern-glass office complex set smack in the middle of it. It was a very 'science fiction' moment.
During my first management training program there, I stayed at Avon Old Farms. I'd hired a taxi to take me there from Bradley International. Because it required a long, long drive through more greenery, into the woods, into a very remote area, I'd thought the taxi driver was kidnapping me.
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | January 9, 2019 2:53 AM |
Connecticut General was headquartered in Bloomfield, which is near Avon---perhaps why they had you stay there. The HQ is an archtiectural landmark--in the wood, but only sortof. Basically just in the m iddle of suburbia. Meridan is many miles away from there.
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | January 9, 2019 2:59 AM |
@R80 - Thank you for the clarity.
My tenure there began in the early/mid '80s; hence the area's 'remoteness,' at the time (and my forgotten sense of direction/geography).
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | January 9, 2019 3:04 AM |
Lived there in the early 80s. It was suburbs then.
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | January 9, 2019 3:07 AM |
Finding this thread fascinating to read, picturing all the places posters are mentioning. When I think of Connecticut I envision polo sweaters and Martha Stewart and huge white cottages on the shore. Logically I knew there were rougher/normal parts of CT. Anyway, unlike some people here, I believe CT really does sound more drastically divided than many states. As R78 pointed out, what do the wealthy do? Stay in their bubble? And R30, I believe you.
| by Anonymous | reply 84 | January 9, 2019 3:16 AM |
Vaguely remember reading somewhere that the state's headed in a bad direction, insurance companies are leaving Hartford etc.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | January 9, 2019 3:16 AM |
Parts of Hartford are very dangerous indeed. Newark has the Itonbound district and NJPac, assets Hartford would give its left nut. to get. Newark is also very close to NYC.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | January 9, 2019 3:17 AM |
The charm of Hartford is it's history. It is one of the oldest towns in the county. Hartford has the oldest public park, the oldest public art museum and the oldest public secondary school in America. If you're into that sort of thing, Hartford is a great spot.
I've been here all my life, the thing I miss most when I visit other places for an extended period of time are the trees. CT has trees EVERYWHERE. The whole state feels like one huge park
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | January 9, 2019 3:22 AM |
R77, you will find a good number of places open after 8. Just usually not on a Monday. Practically everything's closed on Monday for dinner. Most places, especially in the winter close the kitchen at 10. It;s just a matter of getting to know the area, Regarding the outlook of the rest of the state, CVS has bought Aetna, and is ensuring that it will remain. Plenty of other insurance related business in Hartford. We do have an issue with more leaving the state than coming in. Many are retiring to Florida so they can live larger, Buy a bigger house or condo, I've traveled a bunch, but this little spot out in the woods has beauty and culture in spades. I am happy to have such a weird mix of neighbors. When the snow has gotten particularly bad, I have threatened to move to Florida. but I don't really see that as happening. It's too beautiful here, the people, the land and the amenities. Where else am I gonna accidentally knock Dustin Hoffman over and buy him a drink?
| by Anonymous | reply 88 | January 9, 2019 3:30 AM |
CT also is extremely old fashioned. 90% of the towns are still governed by a town hall that meets to set the budget each year.
It was illegal for any store to sell alcohol on a Sunday until like 4 years ago.
| by Anonymous | reply 89 | January 9, 2019 3:32 AM |
That's classic New England, R89. Towns govern themselves.
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | January 9, 2019 3:39 AM |
R84 of course the irony is Martha Stewart is from New Jersey, and not even a particularly great town (Nutley).
More proof that in life everything is about image.
| by Anonymous | reply 91 | January 9, 2019 4:31 AM |
Good factual thread for non-natives. That said it is making my head spin to envisage places named Chester, Essex, Greenwich, Avon, Lichfield (but you spell it with a ‘t’?), Bristol & Cornwall as neighbouring county towns & regions in the same state. How on Earth did such a thing come about?
In the U.K. they’re all distinct places separated by many miles as well as by dialect (even language in the case of the Manx), politics, size/population and socioeconomic strata. Few are close or comparable in these ways. I don’t think I could move to America and see these place names I know all jumbled up together.
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | January 9, 2019 8:55 AM |
Speaking of Essex this is one of the places our parents would do one of their “day trips” - and have dinner here. It was beautiful.
We also used to go up to the Cobbs Mill Inn in Weston a lot, but that no longer exists. We would feed the ducks.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 93 | January 9, 2019 9:22 AM |
r92, have you heard how they pronounce Thames in New London, CT?
| by Anonymous | reply 94 | January 9, 2019 9:36 AM |
Some stunning New England quaint towns - with horrid broke-down cities. Used to be WASPy wealthy - now heading towards bankruptcy as companies flee and wealthy people choose to live in NYC. But still some beautiful areas and houses in Fairfield and Litchfield counties. Nicer than upstate NY - where all the old hipsters are going like Hudson. Much more elegant and beautiful - but much less active and fewer things to do including restaurants. But the cities are cesspools - not as bad as NJ cities but same concentration of poverty surrounded by wealth.
| by Anonymous | reply 95 | January 9, 2019 9:42 AM |
Litchfield County is hime to M!
| by Anonymous | reply 96 | January 9, 2019 10:18 AM |
R84, yes. The wealthy stay in their bubble. They use their money (quite effectively, I might add) to insulate themselves from anyone making less than a million dollars a year.
To add insult to injury, many of the wealthy also have second homes in Florida, which they declare their “primary residence” to avoid paying Connecticut taxes. I used to work with a guy from Greenwich who told me “I’m the only guy in my neighborhood who lives in Connecticut.”
Meanwhile, more than 80% of kids in Bridgeport are living below the poverty line (at least according to the United Way rep who visits our company every year).
Wealthy residents who use loopholes to avoid paying taxes + a shrinking corporate tax base + powerful public unions that guarantee relatively young retirees huge (but chronically underfunded) pensions for decades + growing poverty in the state’s largest cities = a shitty, expensive place to live if you’re middle class. That’s why young people and non-public union retirees are fleeing in droves. With highway tolls on the horizon, the mass migration out of CT is only going to increase.
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | January 9, 2019 10:23 AM |
Great thread, as someone else mentioned...
Boston wooed General Electric from Connecticut a couple of years ago, a big coup for Boston.
I actually met someone recently who called Hartford "beautiful." I corrected him, explaining that's the opportunity of its image; I think he was just passing through or just saw a good part.
But I did see a brochure for the Connecticut Wine Trail, so that's a plus.
| by Anonymous | reply 98 | January 9, 2019 10:24 AM |
Sounds like you live in Bantam, r54, which is such a great little spot
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | January 9, 2019 10:59 AM |
I had friends who moved to Fairfield back in the 80's. Had a lovely home in a very pretty neighborhood. The neighbors on both sides were brothers and owners/operators of 1 of the worst sweat shops in New York City that employed nothing but illegal aliens who were all treated lower than puppy mill animals. They spent most of their time bitching at my friends about one made up thing or another trying to make them miserable so they'd sell them the house and move. One of the jerks eventually was indicted for some sort of criminal activity and went to prison on a long sentence and the wife had to sell the house. The other brother eventually lost his house to foreclosure when the sweat shop was shut down by the state.
| by Anonymous | reply 100 | January 9, 2019 11:09 AM |
[quote]I have a good friend from New Britain. Is it a dump or is it OK?
It’s not great. It’s not as bad as, say, Bridgeport (aka “Bloodsport”) but it’s not a place you’d want to live if you had a choice.
Trinity College is home to an incredibly dominant squash program: 17 national championships in the past 20 years.
| by Anonymous | reply 101 | January 9, 2019 11:24 AM |
There are wealthy areas in every part of the state. Certainly Fairfield County and Litchfield County have been mentioned, but there are upper middle class suburbs of Hartford (West Hartford, Avon, Glastonbury) and wealthy towns by the shore (Stonington, Lyme).
Like most states, the cities are the poorest areas (Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport), but even those have some nice sections, there are just fewer and fewer.
| by Anonymous | reply 102 | January 9, 2019 11:43 AM |
R42, is Rowayton considered part of Darien? I had cousins move to Darien back in the '70s, but I think their neighborhood was called "Rowayton." Or it was some other name that was longer than "Darien." Maybe their train station bore that other name.
| by Anonymous | reply 103 | January 9, 2019 12:02 PM |
Rowayton is part of Norwalk.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 104 | January 9, 2019 12:37 PM |
Puleeeze, R91. No weathy personality stays where they came from - including you if the shoe fits.
| by Anonymous | reply 105 | January 9, 2019 1:04 PM |
[quote]How on Earth did such a thing come about?
It’s called New England for a reason. The English who imigrated here named towns after places back home.
| by Anonymous | reply 106 | January 9, 2019 1:42 PM |
How New England Got Its Place Names
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 107 | January 9, 2019 1:47 PM |
R103 - you mean Noroton? Lovely, lovely,, lovely - though lots of new money moved in down by the bay and arguably destroyed the character by replacing charming capes with 4-story monstrosities. Happening all along the shoreline up and down the state. Part of Fairfield looks like Manhattan down by the beach - rebuilt that way after the Hurricane Sandy.
| by Anonymous | reply 108 | January 9, 2019 1:53 PM |
I would say in my area, celebrities actually pitch in for local activities. Christine Baranski has taken over for Diane Von Furstenberg who took over from Eartha Kitt, the duties of chairing the HVA association fundraiser, a local environmental group. I've seen Peter Gallagher and Denis Leary donate time to benefit a local library fundraiser. Sam Waterston and Mia Farrow starred in Love Letters at a local school benefit. Hell, even Patti Lupone had a show at the local Montessori school recently, So, no. Not all celebrities are hiding behind their hedges. I'm telling you, it's a facinating little world out here.
| by Anonymous | reply 109 | January 9, 2019 4:06 PM |
R92, CT town names are all British-ish or Indian (excuse me, Native American), as it is with most of New England.
Except Cos Cob. What is that?
| by Anonymous | reply 110 | January 9, 2019 5:15 PM |
"The name of the historic community of Cos Cob has been attributed in lore to either an English derivation of a Native American word, Cassacubque, meaning “a great ledge of rocks,” or to the description of a cob, a round clay structure, built by a man named Coe, hence “Coe's Cob;" but neither has been verified."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 111 | January 9, 2019 5:37 PM |
there is a map from the 1600s at the Greenwich Historical Society that shows Cos Cob as Coscobneck. There is Mamaroneck in NY just a bit further along the coast of the LI Sound.
| by Anonymous | reply 112 | January 9, 2019 5:43 PM |
Yes, thank you R106/R110, I had gleaned that much. I suppose what I was driving at was the random nature of name assortment, not that it had happened at all. My question was unclear, mea culpa.
R94 I don’t know and shudder to think. Homophonically akin to ‘dames’? ‘Glao-cesster’ is enough of a horror.
| by Anonymous | reply 113 | January 9, 2019 6:06 PM |
Also Rye Neck, r112, which is one of several villages between between Mamaroneck and Cos Cob.
| by Anonymous | reply 114 | January 9, 2019 7:40 PM |
Isn't that Rye Brook, R114?
| by Anonymous | reply 115 | January 9, 2019 8:57 PM |
There is a Rye Brook, yes, but also a Rye Neck. At least there was when I was growing up in Larchmont/Mamaroneck a zillion years ago; maybe it was later incorporated into Rye.
| by Anonymous | reply 116 | January 9, 2019 10:26 PM |
But...but I thought California was sunny and warm & full of blond surfers!
But I thought North Dakota was always was full of snow & pretty blue eyed Swedish & Norwegian girls!
But I thought New York was full of blacks, Hispanics & liberal Jews!
But I thought Iowa was full of corn fed, all American football heroes!
But I thought Texas was full of oil barons & cowboys!
But I thought Canada was full of white people who always say “Eh?” and “aboot.”
| by Anonymous | reply 117 | January 9, 2019 10:51 PM |
R117 but...I thought Datalounge was full of snarky bitchy queens!!
| by Anonymous | reply 118 | January 9, 2019 10:55 PM |
[quote] Newtown was always a nothing town.
I liked newtown. My husband’s cousin lived there for a few years (after the shooting) and it was a pretty town.. right across the street from the cousin was a YUGE horse farm going in, built by one of the Bain Capital biggies. When I saw it from behind the property, I thought it was a college being built, there were so many buildings going in and pathways.
| by Anonymous | reply 119 | January 9, 2019 11:07 PM |
I see a lot of folks here sneer at New Haven, but it’s got arguably the most interesting dining scene in all of Connecticut, great art galleries (courtesy of Yale - mostly free to enter), a decent live theater scene for a city its size, and nightlife isn’t bad there. No, I don’t live here. Just a New Yorker who likes taking weekend trips all over Connecticut because it’s so close and there’s so much beauty there.
It’s true that Connecticut’s cities suffer the kind of poverty seen in cities across the Rust Belt, but some of those cities have art/food/architecture and more worth checking out if you’re not the type of traveler who requires a sterile, Disneyfied environment.
Also, I don’t think anyone has mentioned the Quiet Corner - i.e., Northeastern Connecticut. It’s mostly rural with beautiful backroads for a scenic drive and many farms worth visiting for amazing produce, cheese, etc.
| by Anonymous | reply 120 | January 9, 2019 11:30 PM |
There's a Lisbon and a Lebanon, r92. Don't forget Noank and Niantic, r110.
| by Anonymous | reply 121 | January 9, 2019 11:33 PM |
Works both ways, R92.
The Kennedys Hyannis port compound is in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Not far from Truro!
Reading British books, I was confounded why anyone would go to Taunton, Tiverton, Swansea and other names that aren't very touristy, shall we say, in New England.
| by Anonymous | reply 122 | January 10, 2019 12:05 AM |
Isn’t the Quiet Corner where all the deplorables are?
| by Anonymous | reply 123 | January 10, 2019 5:06 AM |
R48 , If Trump doesn't pay them , there soon will be.
| by Anonymous | reply 124 | January 10, 2019 5:47 AM |
R120 well, ethnic towns and cities and generally going to have better than average. The pizza there has always looked great.
The only place I ever ate in new haven was a book store slash cafe called Atticus and they had the BEST scones and muffins. I think it still exists?
| by Anonymous | reply 125 | January 10, 2019 5:50 AM |
It's strange - CT is considered wealthy based on average income numbers. It has among the highest taxe rates in the country in every category - top 5 or top 10 highest in personal income tax, corporate income tax, property tax, gas tax. They're "only" 20th in Sales tax. So you figure if you're collecting all that tax money, and it's a high tax rate on a large income number, the state should have all kinds of revenue. But they've run in the red for years now, and it just gets worse and worse.
[quote]Recent figures show that tax revenue from the state's top 100 highest-paying taxpayers declined 45 percent from 2015–16. More broadly, analysts for the Malloy administration and the state legislature's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis project that tax revenues in 2017–18 will fall $2.2 billion, or 11.3 percent, short of the funding needed to maintain current services.
So if taxes are high, but tax revenues are declining, I'm guessing corporations and wealthy individuals are leaving the state.
| by Anonymous | reply 126 | January 10, 2019 6:06 AM |
So what is New Britain like? Is it a dump?
| by Anonymous | reply 127 | January 10, 2019 6:19 AM |
New Britain used to be much dumpier than it is now. After all, let's not forget it's Paul Manafort's home town.
Recent urban grants have spiffed up Little Poland in the Broad Street area. The Polish restaurants are really good if you're into bigos, kielbasa, pierogis, buttered rye bread, potato pancakes and Polish beer. Capital Lunch is a legendary weiner place nearby -- similar to New York System in the Olneyville section of Providence.
The CCSU campus has been much improved. It's nicer since commuters' cars no longer bisect it.
New Britain also has some wonderful residential architecture from its golden manufacturing age near Stanley Quarter and Walnut Hill parks. Queen Annes and other fine examples from the gilded age can be purchased at bargain basement prices in relatively safe neighborhoods.
Near Walnut Hill Park is the world class New Britain Museum of American Art. It's worth a trip from anywhere to see some rare first rate art in a lovely setting.
| by Anonymous | reply 128 | January 10, 2019 8:09 AM |
R126, all the rich people moved to Florida!
| by Anonymous | reply 129 | January 10, 2019 11:51 AM |
I am a unfamiliar with New Britain, but with a little work this one is a stunner R128. Any idea about the area?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 130 | January 11, 2019 2:14 AM |
[quote]Hell, even Patti Lupone had a show at the local Montessori school recently
Were the children being punished for something?
| by Anonymous | reply 131 | January 11, 2019 3:13 AM |
[quote]I don’t think I could move to America and see these place names I know all jumbled up together.
Move to the Southwest. Mostly Spanish and Indian place names out this way.
| by Anonymous | reply 132 | January 11, 2019 3:14 AM |
Thanks for your positive feedback on New Haven, R120. I was about to post something similar myself. And R125, Atticus is still at its original location and the baked goods are still excellent.
One of the things that I don’t think anyone has mentioned is that Connecticut doesn’t have counties as anything other than geographic districts, so every town and city is on its own. One result is that suburbs get richer while the cities go downhill.
There are regular incidents where homeless people are put on busses or trains to a nearby city where at least some type of support structure exists.
Fortunately, New Haven, had been able to buck the trend of CT declining cities, no thanks to Yale. It employs a lot of people, but fights every cent, and is continually crying poor despite an endowment in the billions.
Our former mayor fought a mall for an IKEA which pulls people in from a wide area. The restaurant scene is thriving, and it’s become quite a destination for young people who have found that New Haven is within two hours of Boston and New York, and even closer to one of the country’s best airports.
It’s pedestrian and bike friendly. And you can live without a car. I moved here many years ago because I could afford to live in southwestern CT where I worked. I’m retired now, travel a lot, and despite the gloomy winter weather, like living here a lot
| by Anonymous | reply 133 | January 11, 2019 3:42 AM |
I meant I could NOT afford to live in southwestern CT
| by Anonymous | reply 134 | January 11, 2019 3:46 AM |
It’s true, New Haven does have good restaurants.
| by Anonymous | reply 135 | January 11, 2019 4:13 AM |
And while New Yorkers will scoff, New Haven truly has the best pizza in the country.
| by Anonymous | reply 136 | January 11, 2019 5:48 PM |
There are plenty of New Yorkers who can't drive near or past N.H. without a stop at Sally's or Pepe's.
| by Anonymous | reply 137 | January 11, 2019 8:28 PM |
I must admit I wasn't a big fan of Pepe's. We were going to stop at Sally's, but it was closed. Which is better, to those who have had both.
Also, does anybody know Colony? The original is in Stamford, but they've since opened more up in Fairfield and Norwalk. That was my favorite pizza.
| by Anonymous | reply 138 | January 11, 2019 9:39 PM |
Are there really a host of Richard and Emily Gilmores in Hartford? That couple enjoyed quite an upper class social scene on Gilmore Girls— it made it seem there was a large number of WASPs, even a DAR branch. Is that accurate? What about towns like Stars Hollow?
| by Anonymous | reply 139 | January 11, 2019 10:03 PM |
Accurate, r139.
r138, I've always had a slight preference for Sally's, but I know people who won't cross the street if Pepe's is mobbed. I don't live in the area any more so am reduced to a couple of pizzas ever summer. There's really nothing like New Haven pizza IMO.
| by Anonymous | reply 140 | January 11, 2019 10:21 PM |
Modern Apizza is my favorite pizza in New Haven. Pepe's and Sally's have more name recognition.
Yes, R139. The West End of Hartford which wraps around Elizabeth Park has gorgeous old homes. One of the most famous on Scarborough Street. is the Austin House designed by Chick Austin, He was the director of the Wadsworth Atheneum from the mid 20's through the mid 40's. He married a society girl and was influential in bringing Picasso to the US as well as Nureyev. At one point, as hard as it is to believe, Hartford was the place to be for avante garde arts. He was a major cultural influencer. Later, he ended up at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota and lived with a male lover for many years without divorcing his wife. His biography, The Magician of The Modern is absolutely fascinating. I recommend it to anyone interested in the arts. The house was built as a stage set, and is composed of architectural antiquities the couple bought on their honeymoon through Europe. It's absolutely worth taking a tour, the house is a gem.
Star's Hollow was based on Washington Depot, in Litchfield County, a much more bucolic area as I've previously described. Hartford is over an hour away, so they took a bit of dramatic license on the show about that.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 141 | January 12, 2019 2:49 AM |
The Austin House is divoone.
| by Anonymous | reply 142 | January 12, 2019 2:55 AM |
Have you toured it R142? Its such a surprising little place.
| by Anonymous | reply 143 | January 12, 2019 3:10 AM |
Yep. There was that guy who wrote the blog Big Old Houses who did a report. I discovered so many houses I didn't know about. But, he died. :(
| by Anonymous | reply 144 | January 12, 2019 3:14 AM |
Aww, didn't know that. That's too bad.
| by Anonymous | reply 145 | January 12, 2019 3:27 AM |
R14 It used to be called Hard Hittin' New Britain. Maybe it's improved- I haven't been there in 15 years or so. It wasn't an awesome place to be, but not so bad as Bridgeport. That place is a pit. So many junkies.
| by Anonymous | reply 146 | January 12, 2019 3:28 AM |
And don’t forget we have Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan. Perfect day trip from NYC. Train stops opposite the Visitor Center.
| by Anonymous | reply 147 | January 12, 2019 3:28 AM |
Lots of amazing architecture, around here, R147. Definitely not just cookie cutter bullshit.
| by Anonymous | reply 148 | January 12, 2019 3:37 AM |
You're not wrong r58. Newtown was boring as hell. I grew up there in the 80's and 90's and if we wanted to do something fun we pretty much had to go to Danbury.
But I loved it. I loved that there was so much space. Houses in my neighborhood were spread out and everyone had a yard. We rode our bikes everywhere. Stayed outside all day playing. I live down South now and everything is housing developments with brand new houses built five feet apart from each other. Feels super cramped to me.
My mom worked in Waterbury and sometimes I would go to work with her. I definitely learned how fortunate I was living in Newtown when I saw how run-down Waterbury was and how rough the people were. Drinking and swearing in the street was commonplace.
| by Anonymous | reply 149 | January 12, 2019 3:41 AM |
I know New Haven pizza is supposed to be the best but it’s a trademark that the crust is very burnt - a huge pet peeve of mine - and not much cheese (another pet peeve). I always order pizza light crust, a bagel / English muffin lightly toasted, etc. I hate burnt anything.
| by Anonymous | reply 150 | January 12, 2019 4:04 AM |
R150 That’s ridiculous. If you don’t like a charred crust, light on cheese, pizza stay home. Go out to Donino’s or whatever, and get one to your exact specifications. Move on.
| by Anonymous | reply 151 | January 12, 2019 4:40 AM |
It's a slight char, R150. What do you expect from a wood or coal fire? You may be a bit of a dimwit.
| by Anonymous | reply 152 | January 12, 2019 4:45 AM |
Geez r151/r152 no need to get offended - but to me that looks awful. Stay home? Well I live in NY so I’m not going there anytime soon. And it doesn’t mean I’m “unsophisticated and like Dominos” - which also sucks and the cheese is always all bubbles.
Sorry this looks totally unappetizing.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 153 | January 12, 2019 5:26 AM |
The West End of Hartford is indeed lovely, big houses built in the early 20th century, very "Great Gatsby" vibe. It's right on the border of West Hartford. The rest of Hartford is a crime-ridden ghetto hellhole.
| by Anonymous | reply 154 | January 12, 2019 6:19 AM |
No it is not, R154. Most of Hartford is meh. Plenty of middle class neighborhoods. White people are terrified of cities in Connecticut. You can buy a penthouse condo downtown for pennies. Upper Albany and the North End can be shady. Some good Jamaican and Bolivian food on Upper Albany, though. I'm usually the only white person there. I'm not gonna hang out for forever, but, I'm happy to get my takeout. Anyone that thinks that Hartford is a hellhole has never seen a real hellhole. Hartford's problem is that white people won't come up from the suburbs to see what's happening.
| by Anonymous | reply 155 | January 12, 2019 6:31 AM |
I’m with R150, New Haven pizza is too chewy. If I’m going to wear out my jaw muscles, it’ll be for a better cause.
| by Anonymous | reply 156 | January 12, 2019 6:33 AM |
r155 there are not "plenty of middle class neighborhoods" in Hartford. WTF?? It's a fucking dump and dangerous.
| by Anonymous | reply 157 | January 12, 2019 6:50 AM |
Becky honey. I'm sure you're from Avon and scared of black folks. Yep the North End isn't good. But if you read my post, and you know the area, you know I'm right.
| by Anonymous | reply 158 | January 12, 2019 6:56 AM |
Read your statistics. Sorry, facts. Crime in our nation is down, dramatically. Shows like Cops perpetuate systemic racism. Yes these non-lawabiding people exist, they are not just a large segment of the population. Watch it for the voyeuristic show that it is, not a representation of the real truth.
| by Anonymous | reply 159 | January 12, 2019 7:19 AM |
[quote]Drinking and swearing in the street was commonplace.
Merciful heavens!
| by Anonymous | reply 160 | January 12, 2019 10:11 AM |
[quote]Becky honey. I'm sure you're from Avon and scared of black folks. Yep the North End isn't good. But if you read my post, and you know the area, you know I'm right.
Bull. Shit. Hartford is a sewer. Even the downtown business district is a ghost town after 6:30 and walking to your car isn't all that safe.
| by Anonymous | reply 161 | January 12, 2019 12:32 PM |
This is an informative Hartford thread from City Data.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 162 | January 12, 2019 12:49 PM |
I do like the space. Old houses on a few acres. So much nicer then the cramped new housing developments of the West and South. Some beautiful country. But the cities suck. And the state has financial problems - like much of the North.
| by Anonymous | reply 163 | January 12, 2019 6:54 PM |
I went to boarding school on the confluence of the Connecticut and Farmington rivers. It was lovely and tasteful.
| by Anonymous | reply 164 | January 12, 2019 7:06 PM |
R5 because northern NJ smells like utter shit and CT doesn't!
| by Anonymous | reply 165 | January 12, 2019 7:07 PM |
R25 London was always big on grass roots rock and roll chic especially from The Beatles, The Who, Stones and Kinks. The British Mod thing was extremely influential as well. Not to mention Punk. There are French kids that wearing Jam and Clash shirts in The 80s.
The whole French fashion thing is from the top up. Though give a French girl the same money as a British girl and they will certainly look "more chic" no doubt.
| by Anonymous | reply 166 | January 12, 2019 7:31 PM |
New Haven is ginzo, I thought. 5 pinky rings.
| by Anonymous | reply 167 | January 12, 2019 8:15 PM |
Bingo R5
There's a whole area of NJ around Bernardsville that's very old money WASP, it's where Jackie Onassis had her horse farm (and not far from where Mar A Lago North is too.) And a giant swath of Norman Rockwell looking upper middle class suburbia (Montclair, Summit, Short Hills, Westfield, Chatham et al)
Plus most of those NJ towns are not far from NYC.
I remember going to bar/bat mitzvahs for camp friends who lived in Westport and Greenwich (we lived UWS) and how far it was--my dad was not happy about it, lol. Getting out to Short Hills and Montclair was much quicker.
| by Anonymous | reply 168 | January 12, 2019 8:42 PM |
The area that r164 describes is lousy with boarding schools. And very lovely and bucolic.
| by Anonymous | reply 169 | January 12, 2019 10:13 PM |
Farmington is a pretty town. In fact all of the towns west of the river are pretty.
| by Anonymous | reply 170 | January 12, 2019 10:14 PM |
Are towns east of the river not pretty?
| by Anonymous | reply 171 | January 12, 2019 10:53 PM |
East of the river was more working-class, but that's changed for some of those towns in recent years and they've become more upper-middle class. Other towns east of the river like East Hartford and Manchester have gone downhill because Hartford's trash have overflowed into them.
| by Anonymous | reply 172 | January 12, 2019 11:22 PM |
If you are getting your information about living in Connecticut from episodes of COPS or other police shows, you are only getting shown Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Waterbury for the most part.
| by Anonymous | reply 173 | January 12, 2019 11:43 PM |
Loomis, Ms. Porter's, Choate, etc...
| by Anonymous | reply 174 | January 12, 2019 11:46 PM |
Our state bird is the private school.
| by Anonymous | reply 175 | January 13, 2019 3:29 AM |
Hartford is the most dangerous mid- to large-sized city in New England.
More dangerous than New Haven*, Bridgeport, New Britain, and Waterbury, CT; Providence, RI; Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Fall River, and Lawrence, MA; Manchester and Nashua, NH; and Portland, ME.
Your chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Hartford is 1 in 92. In Connecticut as a whole, 1 in 432, so, what - almost five times more likely than in the state as a whole?
* Not that New Haven is a helluva lot safer: 1 in 119 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. Surprisingly, Waterbury and Bridgeport are safer. Springfield, MA (sort of Hartford North) is safer.
| by Anonymous | reply 176 | January 13, 2019 3:12 PM |
Wealthy “Florida” residents Joe and Mika dicking over the state of Connecticut by dodging state taxes with a little help from their NBC buddy, Andy Lack!
This is why Cinnecticut is broke—and why only the wealthy and the poor can afford living there anymore.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 177 | January 27, 2019 2:57 PM |
My friend's street was featured in COPS a number of times. He lived in Maplewood, NJ. I thought it seemed like a nice area, for, you know the area.
| by Anonymous | reply 179 | January 27, 2019 3:05 PM |
I like the Moosup Meetup in March! OMG, it’s so fun!
And the spaghetti could use some seasoning, but the fireman serve it topless!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 180 | January 27, 2019 4:01 PM |
Westport went down hill after they started letting "show people" in.
| by Anonymous | reply 181 | January 27, 2019 4:08 PM |
It’s headed in the wrong direction. Used to be a wealthy low tax state - now it’s the reverse. And with no SALT deduction, the increased taxes will drive more people away. I was up there this summer for the first time in 8 years (NW), and was shocked how it’s deteriorated. The old New England stock seems to have turned into West Virginia type poverty. Jobs are disappearing and the southeast part of the state is becoming less attractive to NYC residents.
| by Anonymous | reply 182 | January 27, 2019 4:34 PM |
I left Westport about 10 years ago as it was getting overbuilt and too many trashy stock traders moved in. In Guilford CT now, very charming 15 min from New Haven culture and food and on the train line to NYC (2 hours each way) and Boston (via Amtrak).
Pleasant and progressive, you must travel 20 minutes for good shopping, that's the main flaw. Oh and it's quiet at night must go to New Haven for "nightlife".
| by Anonymous | reply 183 | January 30, 2019 11:32 AM |
Theys a lot of geddos in Conneticut, but theys nice places to
| by Anonymous | reply 184 | January 30, 2019 11:41 AM |
When I was young, I remember seeing field after field of tobacco, very close to the capital, Hartford. There’s lots of agriculture in CT.
| by Anonymous | reply 185 | January 30, 2019 7:19 PM |
I'm doing some googling of the towns mentioned.. lol. I love to look at small towns, villages... and look up the real estate. It's interesting.
| by Anonymous | reply 187 | January 30, 2019 9:03 PM |
Some beautiful towns and antique houses in the NW section - Litchfield, Sharon, Norfolk, Roxbury. Some really great houses in CT. Great weekend hoe territory. Especially compared to update NY/Hudson ugliness.
| by Anonymous | reply 188 | January 30, 2019 9:06 PM |
I'm sure there are a lot of gardeners and gardens, so hoes could apply.. especially on the weekends. ;)
| by Anonymous | reply 190 | January 30, 2019 10:01 PM |
I like to look at CT real estate sites at places like Newtown. Big houses, nice decor, acres of wooded land & fields & barns for less than $600k. Amazing. But it’s too far from the city for me. Too long a commute
| by Anonymous | reply 191 | January 30, 2019 11:11 PM |
I think you need to have a job somewhere other than NYC (or one that doesn't require you to show up every day), or the resources to buy a weekend property.
| by Anonymous | reply 192 | January 30, 2019 11:13 PM |
This article really spoke to me. You might like it, R191.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 193 | January 30, 2019 11:30 PM |
Most people who have second homes outside of NYC aren't the type who are required to be at work M-F.
| by Anonymous | reply 195 | January 30, 2019 11:42 PM |
Pfizer’s had a plant in Groton, and wanted to expand with new offices in New London. The city seized an entire neighborhood by eminent domain, then virtually gave it to Pfizer’s with a 10-year tax abatement. The eminent domain case went up to the SCOTUS.
So, Pfizer got its plant. Local business got nothing, as the Pfizer workers didn’t hang out locally, except for one nearby restaurant. After 9 years, Pfizer closed its plant. The city lost.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 196 | January 30, 2019 11:43 PM |
R196, The case was made into a movie, called Little Pink House starring Catherine Keener, last year. It's excellent. But then, she always is.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 197 | January 30, 2019 11:56 PM |
The Pfizer debacle is a great example of why CT is losing business. The state gives ridiculous tax breaks (aka you don't have to pay jack shit) and then when the company uses up all the tax breaks and will have to start actually paying taxes (the horror!) they leave CT. It's been an ongoing cycle for quite a while now.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a nice thread about the scenic loveliness of CT so I'll shut up now.
| by Anonymous | reply 198 | January 31, 2019 12:12 AM |
[quote] R198: Is there a great economic divide?
Yes. Lots of yachting on the coast, if that’s your thing.
| by Anonymous | reply 199 | January 31, 2019 12:45 AM |
"yachting on the coast," dear? More like people with frontage on the Sound or belong to a club do a lot of sailing--mostly small sailboats--and the real die-hards do it all year. Growing up, I crewed for my dad, and later skippered my own boat, in the winter Frostbite series.
| by Anonymous | reply 200 | January 31, 2019 1:13 PM |
Aren’t sailing ships called yachts, if they are big enough?
| by Anonymous | reply 201 | January 31, 2019 1:24 PM |
I wondered how long that would take. ^^
| by Anonymous | reply 203 | January 31, 2019 4:51 PM |
Thirty-three feet long at the waterline seems to be the defining distinction. Why? "It just seems right."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 204 | January 31, 2019 5:19 PM |
Until watching film "The Swimmer" with Mr. Burt Lancaster had no idea Connecticut had so many mountains.
Also found the social pecking order as denoted by swimming pools (as depicted in film) interesting as well.
The wealthy have their own of course, or go to small intimate private clubs. A bit down the social ladder the clubs get larger (such as the one where a young Joan Rivers is seen), until finally you reach the middle and lower classes where they aren't very grand but packed like sardines.
| by Anonymous | reply 206 | February 12, 2019 1:30 PM |
That is the CT of long ago R205. Swimming clubs and social pecking order are mostly long gone. People isolated in their sealed off McMansions communicating via text.
| by Anonymous | reply 207 | February 12, 2019 2:24 PM |
Oh how sad; one did look forward to visiting Westport and seeing the local matrons in their native habitat. You know lounging in their caftans and planning a brunch......
| by Anonymous | reply 208 | February 12, 2019 2:31 PM |
Like the Main Line and Gold Coast, the WASPy life of leisure is not more in CT. Sigh....
| by Anonymous | reply 209 | February 12, 2019 2:37 PM |
As mentioned upthread, Fairfield County is far from NYC (Westport is a good hour even on the express train) and people these days move there because they can get bigger houses on more land for less money than in lower Westchester or closer-in NJ (the Monctlair/Short Hills/Westfield area) And CT property taxes are much lower.
And while Darien and New Canaan have remained pretty staunchly WASP and Irish-Catholic, the rest of Fairfield suburbia is much less so, Westport in particular
| by Anonymous | reply 210 | February 12, 2019 2:43 PM |
Lots of mountains in CT, they're all very pretty. We have bears and moose, and also bobcats. Bobcat sightings often make the news.
My mother's neighbors across the street have a huge moose that comes into their backyard occasionally. They keep boxes of cereal to feed it whenever it appears.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 211 | February 12, 2019 2:44 PM |
I live in the Gold Coast, that lifestyle is still very much around lol
It's definitely scaled back some but it's still largely wealthy wasps
| by Anonymous | reply 212 | February 12, 2019 2:45 PM |
R211 I agree 100%. There is great hiking and fishing. And huge variety. There are more than 10 spots within a half hour drive no matter what part of the state you live in
| by Anonymous | reply 213 | February 12, 2019 2:46 PM |
That world no longer exists for the most part, R212
Westport is very Jewish and has been for at least 20 years, ditto Stamford. Greenwich is rapidly becoming a mix of Jewish/Asian/transferred executives from other countries. New Canaan and Darien are local Irish Catholics with jobs in finance and midwestern and Southern WASP transplants who want top public schools but don't want to live in Rye or Bronxville, which are pretty much their only other options if they don't want to be a minority.
The wealthy WASPs are all over 60, which, given Datalounge, means it's the people R212 knows, people who have lived there since the 1960s and 70s
| by Anonymous | reply 214 | February 12, 2019 3:03 PM |
R211, only the wealthy Moose live in Conn.
| by Anonymous | reply 215 | February 12, 2019 3:10 PM |
I originally come from Rhode Island and have been into Connecticut many times. I will say most of it is as shithole as RI is at this time. When manufacturing left it left a legacy of heavy metal pollution and joblessness.
| by Anonymous | reply 216 | February 12, 2019 4:10 PM |
R44 - was your dorm co-ed? I had heard around the time of his conviction he was caught with a man in his home in Black Rock by his wife, but never been able to verify.
| by Anonymous | reply 217 | February 12, 2019 4:26 PM |
R206 - you might find this interesting. The movie was filmed in Fairfield CT and the house used in the film has been on the market FOREVER.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 218 | February 12, 2019 4:33 PM |
R206 Speaking of Joan Rivers - her home in New Milford CT was lovely....
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 219 | February 12, 2019 4:37 PM |
Better article on Joan's house with interior shots
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 220 | February 12, 2019 4:39 PM |
That whole area--Litchfield foothills--is quite beautiful. Fairly bucolic, but there's some decent shopping (very good quality clothing; antiques) and very nice restaurants.
| by Anonymous | reply 221 | February 12, 2019 5:11 PM |
Lots of celebs have houses in Litchfield County. Meryl is in Salisbury.
| by Anonymous | reply 222 | February 12, 2019 5:12 PM |
Baranski, LuPone, Sondheim, Farrow. Miller and Roth.
| by Anonymous | reply 223 | February 12, 2019 5:25 PM |
Lichfield is heaven. The anti-upstate NY - without the drugged out unemployables, Section 8 housing and dilapidated shacks. The nicest weekend retreat for NYC without a doubt. The Hamptons are now suburbia with McMansions, crowds and overpriced, overhyped towns.
| by Anonymous | reply 224 | February 12, 2019 6:10 PM |
filled with cunts who think they're better than everyone else
| by Anonymous | reply 226 | February 12, 2019 6:43 PM |
That's because we ARE, dearest R226.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 227 | February 12, 2019 6:47 PM |
I'm afraid r227 is right, r226. Someone has to be superior, or there'd be no one for you to be inferior to.
| by Anonymous | reply 228 | February 12, 2019 7:07 PM |
R218 Thank you. Not a bad looking spread and cheaper than a condo near the High Line. *LOL*
| by Anonymous | reply 229 | February 13, 2019 12:22 AM |
Good , if a bit old list of celebrities who live in Litchfield County. Debbie Harry recently bought in Roxbury. Waiting to bump into her at the market.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 231 | February 13, 2019 4:01 AM |
yes, r230, I'm quite aware Roth is dead. He lived in Bridgewater until his death.
| by Anonymous | reply 233 | February 13, 2019 12:57 PM |
Cool R233
Are there other famous dead people you can put on your list?
Should there be a statute of limitations on how recently they died to be on your list?
Maybe call it "Current and Recently Deceased Residents of Litchfield County"
| by Anonymous | reply 234 | February 13, 2019 1:15 PM |
Bette Davis lived in Westport in the 60s and 70s. The old-timers still talk about her.
| by Anonymous | reply 235 | February 13, 2019 1:44 PM |
R235 - read "Me and Jezebel" for an interesting story. Bette basically crashed a friend's house and stayed far longer than welcome
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 236 | February 13, 2019 3:38 PM |
That was an interesting book r236. Bette stayed with a friend of a friend she didn't even really know for an entire month and of course took over the house and the family's lives. It was in the 80s when Bette was elderly and kind of addled.
| by Anonymous | reply 237 | February 13, 2019 4:07 PM |
R233, you're incorrect. Roth lived in Warren.
| by Anonymous | reply 238 | February 13, 2019 11:57 PM |
Mea fucking culpa, r238. You do realize that each of this little towns is about a square mile, and they all just bleed into one another.
| by Anonymous | reply 239 | February 14, 2019 12:10 AM |
Henry Kissinger lives in Kent but I'm not sure he still knows he's there.
| by Anonymous | reply 240 | February 14, 2019 12:17 AM |
You're still wrong, R233. And the county is 920 square miles comprised of 26 towns. Clearly wrong once more.
| by Anonymous | reply 241 | February 14, 2019 12:18 AM |
Connecticut is one of the six New England States. Pretty shorelines and old villages. Yale's nice but New Haven has its iffy areas. For NYC Burbs, try New Jersey: a true hell hole...jk!. The 'Garden State' in fact, is Massachusetts. Love the Northeast, its history, seashores and villages/cities.
| by Anonymous | reply 242 | February 14, 2019 12:24 AM |
What's wrong with you, r241?
| by Anonymous | reply 243 | February 14, 2019 12:27 AM |
[quote]Yale's nice but New Haven has its iffy areas.
"Iffy?" New Haven is a ghetto hellhole. Also, Hartford and Bridgeport.
| by Anonymous | reply 244 | February 14, 2019 12:36 AM |
Nothing, R243. I was pointing out an incorrect statement and someone got snippy.
| by Anonymous | reply 245 | February 14, 2019 12:47 AM |
[quote] Bette basically crashed a friend's house and stayed far longer than welcome
"The Cunt Who Came to Dinner."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 246 | February 14, 2019 2:30 AM |
R244, if you live in a gated subdivision, I see your point. However, cities aren't as scary as you think they are.
| by Anonymous | reply 247 | February 14, 2019 5:27 AM |
Nice try r247. New Haven (most of it) Hartford and Bridgeport are shit.
| by Anonymous | reply 248 | February 14, 2019 5:30 AM |
Problems abound, R247 with all three cities. But people saying they are ghetto hellholes? It scares people away from reinvesting into cities that have potential. I just don't understand that gated subdivision mentality, I guess. If you want to live in mindless suburbia, fine. But let's be clear. All of these cities have nice areas to live in and are mostly ripe for redevelopment.
| by Anonymous | reply 249 | February 14, 2019 5:40 AM |
r249 with the exception of the West End, Hartford is ghetto. With the exception of the immediate area around Yale and a sliver of downtown New Haven is ghetto. Bridgeport is all ghetto. Most people do not feel like urban pioneers, living in dangerous neighborhoods. It's not a subdivision mentality, it's just a matter of personal safety. Redevelopment worked in NYC because areas like Williamsburg weren't all that populated to begin with. There's a HUGE difference between turning a neighborhood that's mostly industrial and full of abandoned warehouses around vs. a neighborhood that's home to a large population of thugs.
| by Anonymous | reply 250 | February 14, 2019 12:54 PM |
A friend of mine attending Yale saw his dog shot and killed in gang-related crossfire in New Haven a couple of years ago. He bailed on New Haven and moved to Hamden within a week. New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport are among the three most dangerous cities in New England.
| by Anonymous | reply 251 | February 14, 2019 3:40 PM |
Waterbury isn't quite as ghetto, but it's not great either.
| by Anonymous | reply 253 | February 14, 2019 6:55 PM |
My niece worked at Yale New Haven Hospital a few years ago, often leaving the hospital after midnight. They had security escorts to take employees to their cars and the security guards told people not to wait at red lights. Stop, look and if no cars are coming, go.
| by Anonymous | reply 254 | February 14, 2019 7:02 PM |
So R233 has dead people living in the wrong towns.
| by Anonymous | reply 255 | February 14, 2019 7:05 PM |
My dad was a patient there a few years ago. The hospital has a really nice hotel-like place (rooms or suites with kitchenettes) for out of town families. The place was like a fortress, and the instructions guests got were exactly what r254 describes. Basically, whe traveling the two blocks between the hospital and the lodging, run like hell. Really late at night they would sometimes have a security person drive you back in a golf cart.
| by Anonymous | reply 256 | February 14, 2019 7:07 PM |
My reason for mentioning Waterbury is towns all over are getting hit with car thefts - supposedly gangs caravanning out of Waterbury and stealing several cars from the same town in one night.
| by Anonymous | reply 257 | February 14, 2019 7:43 PM |
I've visited relatives at Yale New Haven Hospital and leaving the hospital at night to go to your car is kind of scary. I once asked a (black) security guard if there was anyplace I could walk to for something to eat and he told me I really didn't want to do that, in that neighborhood.
| by Anonymous | reply 258 | February 14, 2019 8:20 PM |
^^That probably explains why the hospital has such an enormous food court.
| by Anonymous | reply 259 | February 14, 2019 8:23 PM |
And the food is pretty good, too. Not the usual hospital crap.
| by Anonymous | reply 260 | February 14, 2019 8:34 PM |
Agree--sad to say, my only positive experience of Y-NH hospital was the food court.
| by Anonymous | reply 261 | February 14, 2019 8:36 PM |
New Haven has one of the highest crime rates in the US.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 262 | February 14, 2019 9:33 PM |
This article addresses some of the issues we were discussing.
[quote]Separated by Design: How Some of America’s Richest Towns Fight Affordable Housing
[quote]In southwest Connecticut, the gap between rich and poor is wider than anywhere else in the country. Invisible walls created by local zoning boards and the state government block affordable housing and, by extension, the people who need it.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 263 | June 24, 2019 6:04 AM |
So will people fleeing NYC in the age of coronavirus reverse the population decline in CT?
| by Anonymous | reply 264 | September 2, 2020 11:22 PM |
I have an Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut.
He's hiding a deep dark secret from the war years.
| by Anonymous | reply 265 | September 2, 2020 11:30 PM |
So why does CT have so many gun mfg groups there? Just chance?
| by Anonymous | reply 266 | September 3, 2020 3:51 AM |
Why do so many Irish Americans vote Republican?
| by Anonymous | reply 267 | September 3, 2020 6:05 AM |
R267 Irish and Italian Catholics are generally very provincial and many are just plain bigots (think how many are cops — that tells you everything ).
| by Anonymous | reply 268 | September 3, 2020 8:27 AM |
MAGATs with their KEEP AMERICA TRASH outside the capitol building this morning.
| by Anonymous | reply 269 | September 4, 2020 1:43 PM |
