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6. Lowell
7. Lynn
8. New Bedford
9. Fall River
10. Springfield (But with MGM idk how bad it is now)
I think Worcester passed Hartford in the past 2/3 years. Too many nightclub closures in Hartford. It’s had some new development but so has Worcester and maybe at a faster clip..
Is Stamford really that vibrant? Anyway, this thread feels a lot like this one.
On GDP economic size, Stamford is No. 1 in CT, bigger than New Haven/Hartford. On train station
traffic, yes, Stamford has more people going in and out commuting (before pandemic) than New Haven even though the New Haven union station is much bigger station. Both New Haven and Stamford have stops for Amtrak Acela trains, the only two in CT.
Stamford vs New Haven is about equal competing for top position. New Haven is college town with Yale, Stamford is becoming college town too with UConn Stamford campus (before pandemic of course).
There are more corporate night going in Stamford compared to New Haven. The down side on Stamford is that it is too close to Manhattan and local residents or employees might just go there on train in stead of night life locally. Overall folks would rate New Haven slightly higher than Stamford on city vitality.
On GDP economic size, Stamford is No. 1 in CT, bigger than New Haven/Hartford. On train station
traffic, yes, Stamford has more people going in and out commuting (before pandemic) than New Haven even though the New Haven union station is much bigger station. Both New Haven and Stamford have stops for Amtrak Acela trains, the only two in CT.
Stamford vs New Haven is about equal competing for top position. New Haven is college town with Yale, Stamford is becoming college town too with UConn Stamford campus (before pandemic of course).
There are more corporate night going in Stamford compared to New Haven. The down side on Stamford is that it is too close to Manhattan and local residents or employees might just go there on train in stead of night life locally. Overall folks would rate New Haven slightly higher than Stamford on city vitality.
New Haven is also on the Hartford Line rail service which is very exciting.
New Haven is also on the Hartford Line rail service which is very exciting.
I like New Haven and I think that without a doubt, it's more vibrant than Stamford. It's a far more interesting city, with more interesting nightlife and the fact that it's on 3 train lines make it an appealing place. I do realize that the city has improved tremendously over the last few year, I'd be a little uncomfortable raising a family and sending them to public school within the city limits. If I were a single guy, NH would be my number one city in which to live in CT. But since I have a wife, and I know that there are still some dangerous areas (although less than before), I'd be a little uncomfortable having my wife walk around certian parts of town.
On the other hand, I do like Stamford for its location and the fact that it has the most trains going to NYC or NH than any other station in CT. I also like that they've tried to build up the area near the train station. Not bad.
But let's not call Stamford "vibrant". I'd have no problem raising a family in Stamford, but the city seems very button up for my tastes. Certainly, I'd feel better about raising a family in Stamford, but I'd take my kids (if I had any) and wife to NH for culture.
Downtown Springfield, Cambridge, Worcester, Lynn, Lowell, New Bedford/Fall River
Downtown Providence
We are comparing Downtown areas and adjusting neighborhoods that connect with Downtown for etc New Haven Wooster Square/East Rock, Providence College Hill and Federal Hill so on
1. Which one has better nightlife/bars
2. Which one feel more urban and walkability
3. Transportation
4. Restaurants
5. Culture
6. Neighborhoods
7. Best small stores within downtown area
8. Foot traffic
To follow up on my previous post and to answer the OP
There's just something I can't stand about Hartford and Springfield and the whole North and Central CT area.
Fall River is a bit dingy, but still lively and I think that NB has come a long way. To be honest, if I had to live in any of these cities I would seriously consider NB or Lowell with a family.
In the case of Lowell, you get one of the most diverse school districts in the country and it's pretty safe as well. It's not as interesting as Providence or New Haven, but Boston is just a short train ride away.
I'd also argue that Worcester is coming along, and I'd happily move my family there as well. Lowell is probably more my tastes because it's more compact, but Worcester still feels like it has some culture - certainly more so than Hartfor or Springfield.
I won't say Hartford has the best downtown in New England, but I think it ranks higher than people are giving it credit for. Here is some information to consider:
Hartford has very strong minority neighborhoods adjacent to downtown, such as along Park Street, which is just as vibrant as any street in New Haven or Providence. The difference is it's not vibrant with wealthy white people. Safety/crime was not listed among the criteria.
According to this source (https://www.governing.com/gov-data/c...-city-map.html) from 2015/2016, Hartford has among the highest percentage of car-free households in the nation (over 30%), and the highest of any New England city except Boston/Cambridge. Hartford's percentage of car-free households is slightly ahead of San Francisco. Now, much of this is because of poverty, but the point is Hartford is walkable and has a lot of residents walking around and using public transit.
According to this 2015 survey (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...nsit_ridership), Hartford ranked 19th in the nation for the percentage of residents who use public transit (16.6%), which again is higher than any other New England city except Boston/Cambridge.
In both the sources above, Providence has only 21.7% car-free households and only 8.3% of residents using public transit.
Providence only has a slightly higher walk score than Hartford (78 to 71). Other than that, Hartford is a leader among cities not named Boston in New England in terms of walk, transit, and cycling scores.
And, according to this 2013 source (https://www.metrojacksonville.com/ar...ployees/page/1) Hartford ranks number 26 in the nation for the number of employees downtown. Hartford has 120,797 employees in the downtown, which is just behind Columbus and just ahead of Oakland. Providence ranked 46. Worcester did not rank in the top 100.
So, again, I wouldn't say Hartford is the best, but I can't see how places like Lowell, Worcester, and New Bedford can be ranked higher. According to the criteria in this post, Cambridge is the clear winner on almost all fronts. But I would place Hartford, New Haven, and Providence as near equals in the second tier. Stamford would be fifth below all of them.
I won't say Hartford has the best downtown in New England, but I think it ranks higher than people are giving it credit for. Here is some information to consider:
Hartford has very strong minority neighborhoods adjacent to downtown, such as along Park Street, which is just as vibrant as any street in New Haven or Providence. The difference is it's not vibrant with wealthy white people. Safety/crime was not listed among the criteria.
According to this source (https://www.governing.com/gov-data/c...-city-map.html) from 2015/2016, Hartford has among the highest percentage of car-free households in the nation (over 30%), and the highest of any New England city except Boston/Cambridge. Hartford's percentage of car-free households is slightly ahead of San Francisco. Now, much of this is because of poverty, but the point is Hartford is walkable and has a lot of residents walking around and using public transit.
According to this 2015 survey (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...nsit_ridership), Hartford ranked 19th in the nation for the percentage of residents who use public transit (16.6%), which again is higher than any other New England city except Boston/Cambridge.
In both the sources above, Providence has only 21.7% car-free households and only 8.3% of residents using public transit.
Providence only has a slightly higher walk score than Hartford (78 to 71). Other than that, Hartford is a leader among cities not named Boston in New England in terms of walk, transit, and cycling scores.
And, according to this 2013 source (https://www.metrojacksonville.com/ar...ployees/page/1) Hartford ranks number 26 in the nation for the number of employees downtown. Hartford has 120,797 employees in the downtown, which is just behind Columbus and just ahead of Oakland. Providence ranked 46. Worcester did not rank in the top 100.
So, again, I wouldn't say Hartford is the best, but I can't see how places like Lowell, Worcester, and New Bedford can be ranked higher. According to the criteria in this post, Cambridge is the clear winner on almost all fronts. But I would place Hartford, New Haven, and Providence as near equals in the second tier. Stamford would be fifth below all of them.
Hartford has pretty small city limits, compared to its metro. Like Worcester is 37 sq miles and a metro of like 500,000, while Hartford is about 2.5x larger with 1/2 the size city limits. So Worcester has fairly large swaths of suburban neighborhoods, the Canal District/Downtown/ Main South/Shrewsbury Street area alone probably has a better walkscore than Hartford.
Hartford no doubt has the most economically vital in New England outside of Boston, be a large margin, but it doesn't have a lot going on. Like Lowell for example has a lot of festivals, a concentration of bars and such that Hartford doesn't.
While Hartford has urban neighborhoods it also has an extremely well defined Downtown. its not like Springfield which kind of fades to the neighborhoods. You either have a huge park, CT River and blocks of parking lots North/South.
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