Ohio vs Connecticut? (living, best, cost, state)

[RunD1987]

Cost of living?
Crime?
Outdoor options? State and National Parks.
Better cities?
Best weather?
Better Healthcare system? Best hospitals?
Best public universities?
Least amount of traffic?

[march2]

This is from my personal experiences and different parts of a state can be drastically different (ie southern CT/northern CT). Overall:

Cost of living? OH
Crime? CT
Outdoor options? State and National Parks? CT
Better cities? OH
Best weather? OH
Better Healthcare system? Best hospitals? OH
Best public universities? Not sure
Least amount of traffic? OH
Winner in my book: OH

[theurbanfiles]

Cost of living? OH
Crime? Both have plenty of safe areas
Outdoor options? State and National Parks. Tie
Better cities? OH
Best weather? OH
Better Healthcare system? Best hospitals? OH
Best public universities? OH
Least amount of traffic? OH

[SeaDoo342]

Cost of living? CT is one of the most expensive states to live, so OH wins this

Crime? CT ranks as the 11th safest state, OH ranks as 16th safest, so CT wins this

Outdoor options? No clue

Better cities? Hard to compare. As states, OH wins, but CT has NYC and Boston an hour away, so really, CT wins when it comes to access to cities

Best weather? I'd go with CT, midwest weather is awful

Better Healthcare system? Best hospitals? Midwest has the best hospitals in the country but for a day to day person, CT probably has closer access to world class hospitals

Best public universities? Both OH state and UCONN are great but I'd give the edge to UCONN

Least amount of traffic? CT's traffic is some of the worst in the country so OH wins this

Overall, I think CT is a much better state - but only if you can afford it.

[C24L]

I like CT better than Ohio

[wolf39us]

I haven't been to Ohio yet, so I can't really say. The cities of Connecticut are not all that great. What we do have is NYC and Boston which ARE great!

[yellowboy06]

Ohio. Low cost of living beautiful Amish country and lakes, wonderful forests and rivers, great classic old cities, no traffic or overpopulation, yea like the song goes "peace Connecticut"

[pm72]

Anyway to add a poll to this?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by RunD1987

Cost of living?
Crime?
Outdoor options? State and National Parks.
Better cities?
Best weather?
Better Healthcare system? Best hospitals?
Best public universities?
Least amount of traffic?

Cost of Living - Easily Ohio
Crime - Easily CT with much of the state rural, less populated
Outdoor options - Probably a draw
Better Cities - Depends on definition but based on traditional measures, probably OH
Best Weather - OH's varies more, so probably OH
Better Healthcare - Probably a draw with Yale U and Cleveland Clinic as leaders
Best Public Universities - Ohio with OSU, U of Cincinnati, Miami OH and Ohio U all better caliber. UConn stands alone in CT
Least Traffic - probably CT based on population and having fewer big cities

[The_Quiet_One]

First, as a little bit of trivia, the northeastern part of Ohio (Cleveland area) was once part of Connecticut. Connecticut used its charter to lay claim to that area until the US Constitution was formed. It was referred to as the Western Reserve. Connecticut later sold all the land and used the money to fund the state's school system for about the next century. Many towns in that part of Ohio were named after Connecticut towns, and even located geographically similarly in relation to each other. The founder of Cleveland was from Connecticut. The towns were also set up around a town meetinghouse similar to Connecticut towns.

To answer the question:

Cost of living: CT is more expensive, but you get what you pay for. CT offers more services overall, especially for the poor. Ohio is cheaper overall.

Crime: CT as a state usually ranks very safe while its individual cities rank very high in crime. So by overall state statistics I'd give it to CT, but it depends specifically on where you live

Outdoor options: As a larger state, Ohio has more options. But I think CT has better variety. You can get an ocean feeling at Long Island Sound or a mountain feeling at the foothills of the Berkshires, and only have to drive barely an hour in between.

Better cities: Ohio and CT are similar in that neither is dominated by one city. Ohio by far has the larger cities, but CT's are still competitive considering their size. Looking at the recent thread, "50 Most Valuable Public US Companies," shows Connecticut cities represented more than Ohio cities, if that is any measure (Cincinnati-1, Hartford-2, Bridgeport-1).

Best weather: CT has more varied weather and better foliage

Better Healthcare system: CT has better access for more people across all economic classes

Best hospitals: CT has some of the best hospitals in the world

Best public universities: thanks to selling the Western Reserve, CT had a long head start in setting up one of the nation's better public university systems. The state also has very respected private universities.

Least amount of traffic: CT has worse traffic since it is more compact. However CT also has much better public transportation options than Ohio for avoiding that traffic in between cities. All of CT's major cities are connected by commuter rail, and most also have Amtrak connections.

Overall I think both states are good. It really depends on whether you like the Midwest or Northeast better. I personally prefer Connecticut and think it's the better state to live in, but if I ever find myself living in Ohio I wouldn't be disappointed.