[midcenturyman]

Reality

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by midcenturyman

You may be in for a surprise here. many of the CT cities are depressed as you have noticed, Hartford is a toilet, and West hartford is not all what people make it out to be. ( I used to live in Northampton, Mass. and W. Hartford does not come anywhere close as far as culture, dining, arts, etc. and of course it borders the toilet, Hartford. You will find the winters here pretty miserable if you do not like the cold and the ice that comes with it. You may also find "yankees" to be very off standish and no where near as outgoing and friendly (at least at first) as southerners. I am a "yankee" but have traveled all around this nation, and even I find New Englanders very cold and off standish and not very friendly (overall)

CT and New England in general tends to be more liberal than down south, and if your a gun owner, you will be in for a dissapointment, the guns laws here are very strict compared to TX. Also, if you were to stay here and buy a house, get ready to pay a lot in taxes, and a obtain a good sized mortgage if you want to live in the "good" towns, like Colchester, Glastonbury, Marlbourough, Avon, Simsbury, etc. away from all the welfare housing and crime that is so prevelant in Hartford, New haven new britain, etc. CT was king in manufacturing at one time, but all that is gone, and now you just have post industrialized, crime ridden cities with a high population of the "entitlement" folks to fill all the housing that still exists from the industrialized age.

I too would agree with another poster, you should really consider looking for a job back in TX, unless it is such a good opportunity to make lots of $$$$ and/or good training opportunity.

I actually, am counting down the days I can leave liberal CT and move down south or south/north west. It is too expensive here and there are too many industrialized areas that are in decline, add to that there are no real mountains here, and the whole tri-state area is VERY VERY congested....just too many people and not enough open spaces. I would move to TX tomoorrow....the people are great, the environment seems a lot more conservative, a whole lot more gun friendly, and much cheaper taxes... Just my two cents.

Hartford is not a toilet. It is the largest employment center in the state with over 100,000 jobs. Most of those jobs are well paying professional positions. Like any city, it has its good sections and its bad. That does not make it a toilet.

I also do not agree with your opinion of West Hartford and Northampton. Northampton is a funky college town while West Hartford is an affluent upscale suburb of a large city. Not really comparable. West Hartford has MANY excellent restaurants, probably the largest concentration in the state. They may not suit you but they do to most people otherwise they would not be so popular. Jay

[Stylo]

West Hartford does have a lot of good restaurants, but can't compete with New Haven or even Stamford for concentration.

[Henry10]

OP's job has been relocated to the Hartford Area. OP wants to keep the job, and is looking for a nice place to live in, and fairly short commute from. So Northampton is out of the question, even if it was a superior place (which it may or may not be for OP's interests). So WH seems to many commenters as optimal for OP's needs and wants.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Hartford is not a toilet. It is the largest employment center in the state with over 100,000 jobs. Most of those jobs are well paying professional positions. Like any city, it has its good sections and its bad. That does not make it a toilet.

I also do not agree with your opinion of West Hartford and Northampton. Northampton is a funky college town while West Hartford is an affluent upscale suburb of a large city. Not really comparable. West Hartford has MANY excellent restaurants, probably the largest concentration in the state. They may not suit you but they do to most people otherwise they would not be so popular. Jay

I would take Hartford over Springfield any day. And WH over Northampton too. But silly me, I like being closer to beaches, and large cities at the same time. And have 4 seasons, and much better schools, cultural institutions, and educated people than TX. And when I get tired of people, I can go to isolated places about 1-2 hours away.

[midcenturyman]

There is no large city abating Northampton, Mass. It is surrounded by Amherst, Easthampton, Westhampton, etc. Hardly anywhere the sizes of Norwalk, Bridgeport, New Haven, etc.

[midcenturyman]

Ok. Fair enough. I respect your opinion. I guess my perspective is from NOT liking to be near any large cities, so you can get an idea of my perspective. Northampton is a whole lot more cutural, with Iron Horse, Calvin theatre, an amazing bicycle rail trail, Northampton brewery, tons of eclectic and vintage shops, your right, truly not comparable. Yet, since I moved to CT, from Northampton area, everyone keeps telling me W.Hartford is so much like NoHo....sorry, not even close, especially with Hartford right next door. I feel a whole lot safer walking through NoHo at night over west hartford.

[midcenturyman]

You may be right about the employment, but I know a LOT of people who work in hartford, BUT, live in Colchester, Marlbourough, Glastonbury, Portland, Columbia, Andover, Hebron, etc. Many Northamptonites live and work right in town, walk to work, bicycle to work, etc. I do not see that with Hartford. People work there and then "flee" to the safe, clean rural suburbs when sun goes down. Maybe West hartford is like that, but too close to capitol for me.

[Henry10]

Northampton is a small college city, 15-20 minutes from Springfield. Not sure why you want to find an equivalent in CT. WH/ Hartford is something different, and right now I cant find an equivalent to in Springfield. Which means nothing. It's like me bashing CT why it doesn't have an area like Midtown Manhattan!!!

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by midcenturyman

Ok. Fair enough. I respect your opinion. I guess my perspective is from NOT liking to be near any large cities, so you can get an idea of my perspective. Northampton is a whole lot more cutural, with Iron Horse, Calvin theatre, an amazing bicycle rail trail, Northampton brewery, tons of eclectic and vintage shops, your right, truly not comparable. Yet, since I moved to CT, from Northampton area, everyone keeps telling me W.Hartford is so much like NoHo....sorry, not even close, especially with Hartford right next door. I feel a whole lot safer walking through NoHo at night over west hartford.

Anyone who feels intimidated walking the streets of WeHa needs to grow a pair.

You bash Hartford and then talk about what culture is has to offer. So which is it to be? Either spit, or get out of the ballpark.

If you're really that discontent here, then why stay? Move to Texas, as you have discussed because it's seemingly perfect, and let individuals like myself appreciate what living here has to offer. I could find a LONG list of things that would have me shy away from the areas you mentioned, but I won't bore you the details since I'm such a "liberal" in that regard.