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You won't find the kind of "night life" anywhere in Connecticut, that you'd find in a major metropolitan area. You just won't. If you want slamming nightlife, you go to New York, or Boston. There are a few clubs here and there which might accommodate your interests. But you have to look for them, since you haven't mentioned what your interests -are- yet. All you keep saying is you want nightlife, and restaurants. There's plenty of both in Hartford and in New Haven. They might not be the kind you -want-...but no one can direct you to what you want, if you don't tell us what that is.
You want Mexican? There's a tacqueria in just about every town in the state. You want sit-down dinner Mexican? I think New Haven, downtown, has six of them. You can walk to each, from a central parking spot. Do you want salsa dancing? Try Vend0me just one exit from Downtown New Haven. You want a gay bar? There's a few in New Haven. Saying "I want night life and restaurants" is about as useful to us, as saying "I want to see a cactus" to someone in Abilene.
There's Thai, Indian, Malaysian, a whole neighborhood of nothing but Italian restaurants and pizza joints, Indonesian, more Indian, vegetarian/vegan, several irish pubs and a couple of irish restaurants, a bunch of burger joints (including even McDonald's and Burger King if you want a taste of home, I guess), several kick-arse coffee shops including Willoughby's which makes Starbucks look like the cheap over-roasted crap that it is, several different varieties of something people refer to as "fusion," and if you go to the Yale hospital area, you'll see around 20 different lunch trucks each with its own gourmet offerings.
That's just New Haven. I don't know enough about Hartford to comment.
If that's not enough for you, then you really should just go back to Dallas.
If there's one thing CT has, it's a good dining scene. I travel for business and am routinely disappointed by the highly rated restaurants in other cities. New Haven alone has a better food scene than many cities several times its size. We're spoiled in this area.
You keep mentioning restaurants, and there's a lot of good food in West Hartford. bartaco, Plan B, Max Burger, Max's Oyster Bar, Barcelona, Treva, Pho Boston, Bricco, Black Bamboo, Arugala, Murasaki, Grants, East West Grille, Taste of India, Cora Cora, Pho Saigon, Shish Kebab, etc. Frank Pepe is opening a location, which is arguably some of the best pizza in the country. All very respectable restaurants. That's just in West Hartford. I'm surprised you didn't find more on Yelp. West Hartford has a very good dining scene. New Haven has an exceptional one. I don't know where you were looking that you came up short.
Huh? New Haven's nightlife and restaurant scene rivals that of the largest cities in the country IMO.
Nightlife, no. There's definitely plenty of nightlife in New Haven, but no, it doesn't rival the largest cities in the country. Restaurants, yes. But my point in the sentence you quoted, is that there is SUCH a variety, that there's no way to discern whether or not what we have, is what he wants, because he doesn't say what he wants.
A cactus in Abilene is a simile - because there are thousands of types of cactii in Texas, so saying "I want to see a cactus" when you're in Texas, is such a vague thing to ask for, that it's impossible to satisfy.
Maybe we should just appreciate our municipalities for what they are and stop comparing ourselves to major global cities. Because we're not, and I'm fine with that. I'm tired of hearing people compare us as an inferior alternative to Boston or New York. We can hold our own (if on a smaller scale), and having smaller cities may mean fewer restaurants and bars (God forbid!) but IMO the flipside of that means it's easier to find a neighborhood spot or a handful of places that you frequent, so it feels more like home each time you go. You get to know the bartenders and the regulars, and that's another way to meet people. I won't deny the merits of a major metro area, but in a city of millions, it's alot easier to get lost. Just my take on it.
I moved to Hartford from NYC. Yes, of course, there was more excitement in NYC, but I am busy pretty much every night of the week in Hartford.
First of all -- do you go to a gym/ are you interested in sports. Which sports? There are tennis clubs and a lot of excellent golf clubs here. There are many, many gyms. Dozens of yoga studios, workout groups, hiking organizations, swimming clubs, racquetball, etc.
There are also non-athletic clubs of all type -- poker, bridge, chess, book clubs, political organizations.
Do you like culture? We have two amazing fine arts museums, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the New Britain Museum, both of which have vibrant young professional organizations. There is the Hartford Symphony, plus all of the other activities at the Bushnell, two other theaters (Hartford Stage and Theaterworks); two big urban parks (Bushnell Park and Elizabeth Park) that have friends organizations with active horticultural groups, there is the CT Historic Society, always with a conference, the CT preservation group, with about a dozen historic homes sprinkled around the metro. What else? the Decorative Arts Council; the Costume & Textile Institute; the Amistad Society; The CT Forum. Trinity College is always hosting a lecture or intellectual happening. The Mark Twain House has frequent writing workshops. The churches have concerts all the time -- the amazing organ at the Catholic cathedral and great music at Asylum Hill Congregational.
Drinking? There are hundreds of watering holes, everything from The Spigot up to two private city clubs, the Hartford Club downtown and The Town & County Club in the West End.
Eating? Hundreds of restaurants, from the simple (Max Burger; Plan B Burger) to fancy (Max Downtown; Grant's; the Polytechnic ON20), with various locavore and green options (Firebox; Barcelona/ bartaco; Rizzuto's)
Plus, as you get to know people in the organizations, you start to get invited to a vibrant entertaining scene at people's homes -- I attend at least one dinner party every week.
The one great deficit in Hartford is world-class shopping. The mall really destroyed downtown's once-thriving shopping area. But you can find anything at Westfarms. And West Hartford Center has a sprinkling of fun shops (although it's becoming more and more a drinking & eating area).
Pick up a copy of Hartford magazine and look through the listings section. For an MSA of 500,000, I find Hartford to be great -- I am busy all the time here.
BTW, this is all in Hartford and West Hartford (except the NBMAA). I rarely go over the mountain or cross the river (unless going to NYC or to Boston). There is plenty to do here, you just have to make it happen.
Nightlife, no. There's definitely plenty of nightlife in New Haven, but no, it doesn't rival the largest cities in the country.
Yes, it absolutely does. Especially in the summer, nightlife in New Haven rivals Greenwich Village and parts of Boston and the like. It's no Miami with rooftop clubs, etc, but it's an insult to the city to claim "no nightlife". Even Milford's nightlife is very good for a suburb.
When is the last time you went out for a few drinks in New Haven on a Saturday night?
Yes, it absolutely does. Especially in the summer, nightlife in New Haven rivals Greenwich Village and parts of Boston and the like. It's no Miami with rooftop clubs, etc, but it's an insult to the city to claim "no nightlife". Even Milford's nightlife is very good for a suburb.
When is the last time you went out for a few drinks in New Haven on a Saturday night?
Eh, I never made any claim that it has "no nightlife." You made a claim that New Haven rivals any major metropolitan city. New York City is a major metropolitan city. So is Boston. New Haven doesn't rival either, and both are within an hour or two of New Haven. Downtown New Haven rivals *parts* of both. Greenwich Village isn't a major metropolitan city. It's a single neighborhood at one end of a major metropolitan city. So sure, the entire city of New Haven will rival one neighborhood in New York. But that's not what you said, and that's not what I refuted. You said it rivals the city. If you meant to say that it rivals one small section of the city, then sure I'll agree with you. But one city does not rival the other. It can't. New Haven has a handful of dance clubs. New York has several dozen dance clubs. Boston also has several dozen dance clubs. Comparing New Haven with Times Square, in terms of live entertainment...nah. Not even close. Not even almost close. How about comparing shopping in New Haven with Fashion Avenue? Nope. Not even in your wildest dreams would it be even vaguely similar. All of those comprise "a major metropolitan city." New Haven cannot compare.
New Haven has plenty of nightlife. I actually said that in the same post that you clipped and quoted. But no, it doesn't rival the nightlife of a major metropolitan city. If it could, it would -be- a major metropolitan city. Since it isn't, it doesn't.
Eh, I never made any claim that it has "no nightlife." You made a claim that New Haven rivals any major metropolitan city. New York City is a major metropolitan city. So is Boston. New Haven doesn't rival either, and both are within an hour or two of New Haven. Downtown New Haven rivals *parts* of both. Greenwich Village isn't a major metropolitan city. It's a single neighborhood at one end of a major metropolitan city. So sure, the entire city of New Haven will rival one neighborhood in New York. But that's not what you said, and that's not what I refuted. You said it rivals the city. If you meant to say that it rivals one small section of the city, then sure I'll agree with you. But one city does not rival the other. It can't. New Haven has a handful of dance clubs. New York has several dozen dance clubs. Boston also has several dozen dance clubs. Comparing New Haven with Times Square, in terms of live entertainment...nah. Not even close. Not even almost close. How about comparing shopping in New Haven with Fashion Avenue? Nope. Not even in your wildest dreams would it be even vaguely similar. All of those comprise "a major metropolitan city." New Haven cannot compare.
New Haven has plenty of nightlife. I actually said that in the same post that you clipped and quoted. But no, it doesn't rival the nightlife of a major metropolitan city. If it could, it would -be- a major metropolitan city. Since it isn't, it doesn't.
Uh, what? You're discounting the Village by saying it's just "a single neighborhood"? Did you know the Village is a major representation of NYC nightlife? Bleeker & McDougal is probably the most lively intersection on a summer Saturday night in Manhattan. And a lot of these nightclubs you speak of are not in "nightlife" areas; they stand alone. So tell me, where else is this nightlife in NYC that you claim to know so well? What neighborhoods, other than the Village, have nightlife like this? I know Manhattan nightlife well - I spent a lot of time down there in previous years.
You can't say that because New Haven isn't a major city, it lacks things that major cities have. That's completely and utterly false. Look at quality of restaurants. Charlotte, Austin, even San Diego can't compare to much of what New Haven has. New Haven definitely has large scale attributes for such a small city. Nightlife and restaurants are a perfect example.
Last edited by kidyankee764; 01-15-2013 at 06:27 AM..
Hey OP, being from Dallas myself, I can definitely relate to the big differences you note between Dallas and the cities in Connecticut. But as others have mentioned, the 2 are starkly different (in terms of how the areas developed, the population size here, etc.) and really shouldn't be compared. While Dallas has many benefits over Connecticut, if you are settled on moving here, I would suggest focusing on the pluses of CT life:
- proximity to NYC and Boston (Dallas does not compare to either city)
- proximity to nature (if you enjoy beaches, mountains and forests you will really appreciate CT's access to these natural treasures that are all missing from Dallas life)
As others have mentioned, there are many ways to meet people and create a social life. Join some meetups, newcomers clubs, etc. and once you meet people, your social life will develop naturally (even if it means socializing at each others' homes or at the same local restaurant/bar). That's the experience I had when I moved to Stamford (but unlike you, I had a 5 year stint in NYC between Dallas and CT) and hopefully yours will work out well too! Good luck, fellow Dallas transplant
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