[Csiko]

I like Wallingford, but I'm a little biased since I live here.

But never losing power in a storm in the past two crazy years, weather-wise, and having a $40-60 electric bill is the best thing ever.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

I like New London. It’s a quintessential small seaside New England city that’s fairly eclectic with a very historic feel and nice architecture with a good amount of grit.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by mels

Disagree. Milford is in no way blue collar compared to your valley towns (Derby, Naugatuck), East Haven, etc. It is more affordable than most Fairfield County towns? Absolutely. There are pockets of "blue collar" in Milford but it is too economically diverse to paint the whole city with such a broad brush.

See I would consider the valley towns to be below blue collar with elevated poverty rates. Milford is gentrifying to a more upscale community as professionals priced out of the Gold Coast move North/East. However the core of Milford is blue collar. Incomes and school test scores are basically at state median. Manufacturing still has a fairly sizable presence in town. While there are pockets of wealth north and along the shore, Milford does also have a huge truck stop and a Cracker Barrel. Not exactly scientific, but still contributes to the image.

East Haven is also a good nominee.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by mels

Disagree. Milford is in no way blue collar compared to your valley towns (Derby, Naugatuck), East Haven, etc. It is more affordable than most Fairfield County towns? Absolutely. There are pockets of "blue collar" in Milford but it is too economically diverse to paint the whole city with such a broad brush.

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

See I would consider the valley towns to be below blue collar with elevated poverty rates. Milford is gentrifying to a more upscale community as professionals priced out of the Gold Coast move North/East. However the core of Milford is blue collar. Incomes and school test scores are basically at state median. Manufacturing still has a fairly sizable presence in town. While there are pockets of wealth north and along the shore, Milford does also have a huge truck stop and a Cracker Barrel. Not exactly scientific, but still contributes to the image.

East Haven is also a good nominee.

I've always gotten a blue collar feel to most of Milford, and moreso in most of the valley towns. I wouldn't really compare Milford to FFC though, as Milford is in NHC.

I did live in lower FFC for many years, and I think that tends to influence people on how they perceive much of NHC. It's like another world down there. I know people in lower FFC who think Trumbull and Fairfield are blue collar!

Editing to say that the OP was asking about towns, but Milford is a city with over 50k people.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

See I would consider the valley towns to be below blue collar with elevated poverty rates. Milford is gentrifying to a more upscale community as professionals priced out of the Gold Coast move North/East. However the core of Milford is blue collar. Incomes and school test scores are basically at state median. Manufacturing still has a fairly sizable presence in town. While there are pockets of wealth north and along the shore, Milford does also have a huge truck stop and a Cracker Barrel. Not exactly scientific, but still contributes to the image.

East Haven is also a good nominee.

It's funny that people group "valley towns" into one, when one of them has a higher income than many towns in FFC.

As for poverty and HH incomes, the state average is 10.9% and $65,353 respectively.

• Ansonia: 7.6% with a HH income of $55,271
• Beacon Falls: $4.2% with a HH income of $76,620
• Derby: 8.3% with a HH income of $55,475
• Naugatuck: 8.4% with a HH income of $60,368
• Oxford: 2.1% with a HH income of $111,122 (income higher than Trumbull, Brookfield, Monroe, Orange and Bethel)
• Seymour: 3.7% with a HH income of $75,482
• Shelton: 3.2% with a HH income of $83,128

These are not "elevated" poverty rates as all are lower than the state average and many cities in FFC. In fact, some of the poverty rates are lower than Wilton's, which is 4.7%!

My point? The valley is, statistically, far from being "below blue collar". Most of the towns are actually above blue collar, one being solidly white collar. The stereotype of that area being a cluster of poor manufacturing towns is laughable.

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

I did live in lower FFC for many years, and I think that tends to influence people on how they perceive much of NHC. It's like another world down there. I know people in lower FFC who think Trumbull and Fairfield are blue collar!

Absolutely. I lived there, too, and the fact that it's arguably the wealthiest area in the country definitely skews one's perception of reality.

That said, I would never consider Milford a blue collar community.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

See I would consider the valley towns to be below blue collar with elevated poverty rates. Milford is gentrifying to a more upscale community as professionals priced out of the Gold Coast move North/East. However the core of Milford is blue collar. Incomes and school test scores are basically at state median. Manufacturing still has a fairly sizable presence in town. While there are pockets of wealth north and along the shore, Milford does also have a huge truck stop and a Cracker Barrel. Not exactly scientific, but still contributes to the image.

East Haven is also a good nominee.

Elevated poverty rates? Derby/Ansonia have their issues - but I wouldn't say they're "below blue collar" as an average.

Milford HHI is $75,926, CT average is $65,753. Median home value is $310,893 ($358,346 for SFH), CT average is $291,200 (compared to East Haven at $241,587). Both high school perform above the state average in CAPT. Foran a decent margin above. And that's no surprise given Law serves Devon (the decidedly blue collar area of town). It is not Wilton's scores, that's for sure, and it's certainly quite a lot "poorer". But if you compare it to the rest of the state, it's harder to classify. And I don't know if I'd say the core of Milford is blue collar, I think the core of Milford is middle-income with a mix of blue collar and white collar. Most of the homes in my neighborhood are $300k+ and it's a pretty average neighborhood in Milford. If Devon was its own town, it would be a stretch to call Milford blue collar at all.

RE: the truck stop, it's been there forever. It's a service to 95, not to the town. Most residents don't go near it unless they need access to the exit 40 onramp. And nothing wrong with Cracker Barrel (again, opened to service 95 travelers, not residents).

Many of the aforementioned towns in this thread: East Haven, Clinton, Ansonia. That's blue collar. Not poverty stricken.

I'll also say I'm not one to consider blue collar a stigma. I actually prefer their company in many cases.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Many of the aforementioned towns in this thread: East Haven, Clinton, Ansonia. That's blue collar. Not poverty stricken.

Yes, exactly.

[mels]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Absolutely. I lived there, too, and the fact that it's arguably the wealthiest area in the country definitely skews one's perception of reality.

That said, I would never consider Milford a blue collar community.

Agreed on all counts. It is easy to stay in the bubble that is Fairfield County, it shelters you from the rest of Connecticut (I also used to live in Ffld. County). To someone who lives and plays in Wilton, perhaps Milford appears to be blue collar. In reality, all signs point to "no", as illustrated above by Stylo and others.

[Stylo]

Thanks for those stats kid, poverty is definitely not an issue in the valley towns. Most of the stigma I hear about them comes from FFC residents. It's all relative perception.

Many residents in rural eastern CT would probably consider Seymour to be pretty fancy.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

I come up with different figures for both poverty rates and income for the state and all towns listed below. State HH income is above $70,000. 9.2% poverty rate for the state overall (ACS 2010). Manufacturing employment int he valley towns and Milford is still quite high.

I also don't view Oxford as a valley town.

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

It's funny that people group "valley towns" into one, when one of them has a higher income than many towns in FFC.


As for poverty and HH incomes, the state average is 10.9% and $65,353 respectively.

• Ansonia: 7.6% with a HH income of $55,271
• Beacon Falls: $4.2% with a HH income of $76,620
• Derby: 8.3% with a HH income of $55,475
• Naugatuck: 8.4% with a HH income of $60,368
• Oxford: 2.1% with a HH income of $111,122 (income higher than Trumbull, Brookfield, Monroe, Orange and Bethel)
• Seymour: 3.7% with a HH income of $75,482
• Shelton: 3.2% with a HH income of $83,128

These are not "elevated" poverty rates as all are lower than the state average and many cities in FFC.

My point? The valley is, statistically, far from being "below blue collar". Most of the towns are actually above blue collar, one being solidly white collar. The stereotype of that area being a cluster of poor manufacturing towns is laughable.



Absolutely. I lived there, too, and the fact that it's arguably the wealthiest area in the country definitely skews one's perception of reality.

That said, I would never consider Milford a blue collar community.