[JViello]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

I was really surprised to see that Bridgeport actually gained population. Must be the fact that it's the closest place to NY where the housing is pretty cheap (Bridgeport itself, not the surrounding towns, though they too are a little bit cheaper than the parts of Fairfield Co. closer to southern Westchester like Greenwich, etc.).

Oh, having experience with CT, NY and NJ, I have to say Mike is right on with the comparison. The NY transplant to CT tends to be the kind who doesn't even like to set foot in NJ if they don't have to, for example (or someone like me who for similar reasons hates much of Long Island).

But speaking of Jersey, I have to say when I commute on 95 and the Merritt in the morning I see a surprising number of cars with NJ plates. People think my commutes are crazy, I'd never do theirs, especially since they have to pay for and cross at least one toll bridge. But I wonder if there's anywhere else where there's people who cross TWO states to get to work, maybe (though it's rural) near the "Four Corners" area or where the states are small like other parts of New England or that little area where Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia are like 10 miles from each other.

I'm pretty staunch in that the cities gained population based on two things.

Spillover from other places such as Stamford getting rid of section 8, people from NYC moving up for whatever, AND the big one...better counting. They seemed to really push the census hard in the urban areas this time. I have a feeling a lot of these people were there all along.

Specifically if you look at the statistics, CT lost almost 100,000 white folks, but gained 250,000 black and hispanic - which the majority just happen to live in the cities.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Not true at all. Have you been to East Haven, Derby, Ansonia, Waterbury and West Haven? Those towns are overrun with Italians who think "I'm bettuh dan you".

Your stereotype of NJ is equivalent to someone saying CT is 100% WASP. It's really not like that.

It's not a stereotype - it's an attitude, and let me tell you, it's prevalent not just in Jersey but elsewhere in the metro area. There, it seems there's this attitude where being pushy and rude is accepted and encouraged. It's a virture. Not saying people in this state are all friendly and nice, bad attitudes exist among people here, too - but in Jersey and the city's immediate surroundings it seems this arrogance is amplified. The more I've been exposed to it, the more grateful I am that I live where I do.

[JViello]

It happened in the early 90's as well when over 100,000 white folks left the state and our cities were backfilled with "NY spillover" as another thread said. I wonder how it's going to play out going forward with it happening yet again.

From the 2010 census.

Hispanic or Latino +158,764

White -92,583

Black or African American +39,548

Asian + 52,527

Anyone have a take on why white people are fleeing the state? Is it the same issues that caused it in our cities back in the day?

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but demographics are what they are and generally speaking the white people in CT are middle class, higher income earners and attain higher education levels.

So with CT losing another 100,000 of these people, how will that fair for the state? With roughly 250,000 minorities being added to the state, how will that affect us as well.

I suppose the bright spot is the Asian influence as they generally are high income earners, family oriented and well educated. But at the same time many are Indian/Pakistani and while nice people it can go either way. Some come from very very poor sections of their country live that way here, and some do not.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

but in Jersey and the city's immediate surroundings it seems this arrogance is amplified. The more I've been exposed to it, the more grateful I am that I live where I do.

I have to agree with that. You almost have to be "over agressive" with those folks sometime. No doesn't mean no until it's NO. Lots of passive agressive persuasion as well. "no no, try this". I don't wan't to. "here, you'll love it". What part of I'm not interested do you not get?

Just watch the show Cake Boss and it's all right there in living color. lol

[Kristin85]

I'm not surprised or concerned with this. Back in the early 2000s I was in high school in Bridgeport and there were more Asians than whites in the entire city. Many of my Asian friends came from abroad and were extremely studious. My black/Hispanic friends that weren't born in CT either came from NY, Haiti, the Dominican, or Puerto Rico. The only real "troublemakers" were those coming from other areas of the US; not immigrants. As long as the people coming into CT aren't from other states in the area, I don't think this spells anything bad for the state.

As for the white flight, I don't think it has anything to do with people not wanting to live in a diverse location. I think it has to do with the larger number of minorities in the state being liberal and changing the political climate of CT. Many whites that lived here for years saw their local governments turning liberal and taxing more, so they moved. Same story of what's happening this year.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

It's not a stereotype - it's an attitude, and let me tell you, it's prevalent not just in Jersey but elsewhere in the metro area. There, it seems there's this attitude where being pushy and rude is accepted and encouraged. It's a virture. Not saying people in this state are all friendly and nice, bad attitudes exist among people here, too - but in Jersey and the city's immediate surroundings it seems this arrogance is amplified. The more I've been exposed to it, the more grateful I am that I live where I do.

It exists in CT, but as you say it's not as prevalent or amplified.

Part of it is that the "transplants" to CT tend to be from points north of the City (Westchester, even Putnam and Dutchess), a part of the area that historically has more of a "snob" reputation than a "rude, pushy" one (or in the case of Putnam and Dutchess, places where NYC people who did not fit the stereotype flocked to). Or they come from the Bronx, which from my experience while there's still a lot of the "pushy and rude", there is overall less so than from Brooklyn or Queens, it's more of a "tough" personality/culture than a "rude" one.

Historically, mainly for the obvious geographic reasons, LI and NJ tended to get the transplants from Brooklyn and Queens, while Westchester (and eventually CT) more of the Bronx transplants.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Kristin85

I'm not surprised or concerned with this. Back in the early 2000s I was in high school in Bridgeport and there were more Asians than whites in the entire city. Many of my Asian friends came from abroad and were extremely studious. My black/Hispanic friends that weren't born in CT either came from NY, Haiti, the Dominican, or Puerto Rico. The only real "troublemakers" were those coming from other areas of the US; not immigrants. As long as the people coming into CT aren't from other states in the area, I don't think this spells anything bad for the state.

As for the white flight, I don't think it has anything to do with people not wanting to live in a diverse location. I think it has to do with the larger number of minorities in the state being liberal and changing the political climate of CT. Many whites that lived here for years saw their local governments turning liberal and taxing more, so they moved. Same story of what's happening this year.

Interesting quote from the USA Today article.

About four out of five Connecticut youths are Hispanic or not white, he says.

Connecticut becomes more dense with N.Y. spillover - USATODAY.com

[wtby4000]

Originally Posted by JViello

So with CT losing another 100,000 of these people, how will that fair for the state?

when is the state fair, anyway?

[Beeker2211]

I can't find verification for that statistic... It seems pulled out of literally nowhere. As for "white flight" might have more to do with birth-rates. Middle to high income earners tend to have less children. So the churn of deaths isn't being replaced by births in that demographic group at a low but noticeable level. As well, senior migration.

However, a good portion of it could also be that we produce way more college prepared students and can't be absorbed entirely in our higher education system (we have about 150k, can't remember the exact number, or so higher ed students at any one time in state). The trend was in the couple decades or so that students set up shop closer to where they went to uni, but increasingly (in the past 3 years or so) students have been coming back to their home areas after graduation. We will have to wait and see how the housing market reemerges.

~Peace

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by JViello

I have to agree with that. You almost have to be "over agressive" with those folks sometime. No doesn't mean no until it's NO. Lots of passive agressive persuasion as well. "no no, try this". I don't wan't to. "here, you'll love it". What part of I'm not interested do you not get?

Yep, pretty much. And again, I'm not saying it's everyone or even the majority of people (though that may be true) but when it's that constant attitude of "move it - I'm in a rush" - as if they're the only ones under pressure and in a hurry, it becomes real irritating real fast. And this, combined with an attitude of superiority (which is unjustified) is a real turnoff. Which is why whenever I see people with NY/NJ plates or license plate frames around here, I'm always asking myself "what sort of transplants are we attracting?"