[Stylo]

These arguments will not be tolerated. Please stick to the topic of the thread.

[prwdmd]

OK... great... so in conclusion pretty much everyone agrees that Connecticut just isn't that great of a place to live. There you have it OP.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by prwdmd

OK... great... so in conclusion pretty much everyone agrees that Connecticut just isn't that great of a place to live. There you have it OP.

If you ask for negativity, you get negativity. It's an Internet forum.

If so many people didn't think CT wasn't a great place to live, I'd have spent a lot less on my house.

[tallydude02]

My experiences in Connecticut are limited to driving through the state to get to Maine and at gas stations and restaurants.

Driving through Conneticut was not fun. So many reckless driving acts, aggressiveness, general rudeness on the road. Pittsburgh sure has its share of jerky driving, but in Connecticut it almost seems deliberate.

The service I received at the gas stations and restaurants were not positive either. Maybe I'm not used to rushed and impersonal service, but I expect a storekeeper to atleast appreciate my money I bring to their business.

Also a friend of mine moved to Conneticut in the 1980's after the steel bust in western Pennsylvania and he said he was treated horribly by the locals. They resented the fact that he came "from down south" and took a job from a local.

But with all that said, when we finally made it Maine, it was like a world of difference. Nicer people, more laid back, friendlier service, drivers who aren't trying to run you off the road.

I know my impressions are not fair, but it was my first impressions that stay stuck in my mind. Now when I travel to Maine, I just wait until I get to Mass. if I need anything.

[Stylo]

Don't know what restaurants you were stopping at, but go to any of the ones that I frequent along 84 or 95 and you'll be treated by extremely friendly servers. If you go to some crappy chain restaurant off 95, you might not get the best service. Is that really different anywhere else?

You can get bad service anywhere if you choose the wrong restaurant. So yes, your generalization is not fair just because you went to the wrong places.

[tallydude02]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Don't know what restaurants you were stopping at, but go to any of the ones that I frequent along 84 or 95 and you'll be treated by extremely friendly servers. If you go to some crappy chain restaurant off 95, you might not get the best service. Is that really different anywhere else?

You can get bad service anywhere if you choose the wrong restaurant. So yes, your generalization is not fair just because you went to the wrong places.

You are right, it was a regional chain restaurant off I-95 (Friendly's), but I've experienced efficient and friendly service at interstate locations throughout the midwest. The service in other parts of New England (MA and ME) at those type places was excellent. Connecticut just seems a bit too rushed for my tastes.

But on a positive note, I thought the scenery is Connecticut was awesome once you get past the cities. It looked a wealthy state and clean state.

[Stylo]

That doesn't surprise me (Friendly's). Never had good service at any of them. There's a reason they're not doing well.

I've eaten at a few travel-tourist chain spots near me and actually had great service: namely Cracker Barrel in Milford and Texas Roadhouse in West Haven. Outback in Orange and Danbury have had great service too, and they're right off the highway. But we have so many excellent independent restaurants in CT, that's it's almost a crime to frequent the chains. That's the thing: bottom of the barrel servers are winding up at places like Friendly's because we have such a rich food scene in many of our towns and cities.

Next time, stop at Pop's in Milford - right off exit 40. The epitome of friendly, and a textbook travel stop restaurant.

And the most wealthy section is actually the first one you drive through on the 95 corridor. The state becomes much more middle income past New Haven/Hartford.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by tallydude02

My experiences in Connecticut are limited to driving through the state to get to Maine and at gas stations and restaurants.

Driving through Conneticut was not fun. So many reckless driving acts, aggressiveness, general rudeness on the road. Pittsburgh sure has its share of jerky driving, but in Connecticut it almost seems deliberate.

The service I received at the gas stations and restaurants were not positive either. Maybe I'm not used to rushed and impersonal service, but I expect a storekeeper to atleast appreciate my money I bring to their business.

Also a friend of mine moved to Conneticut in the 1980's after the steel bust in western Pennsylvania and he said he was treated horribly by the locals. They resented the fact that he came "from down south" and took a job from a local.

But with all that said, when we finally made it Maine, it was like a world of difference. Nicer people, more laid back, friendlier service, drivers who aren't trying to run you off the road.

I know my impressions are not fair, but it was my first impressions that stay stuck in my mind. Now when I travel to Maine, I just wait until I get to Mass. if I need anything.

I agree with much of what you said, and IMO, while I love Connecticut, the main gripe I have is the aggressiveness of the drivers here, and the overall lack of friendliness. Everyone tries to be a step above the next person in whatever way possible, be it driving or in casual conversation.

Yes, a lot of it IS intentional whether people believe it or not. And for the past three years, we have ranked number 1 for reported incidents of road rage. It's interesting how you also recognize how it's intentional, because the vast majority of reported road rage is intentional in that the aggressor is going out of their way to harass another driver (gun it to cut someone off before they pass, tailgate another vehicle to get them to move over, brake checking, etc). People here are very aggressive and in my travels, there is a marked difference in the attitudes.

Connecticut has a lot of things going for it and I'll be the first to defend those, but one thing I can recognize is a few of our major faults.

Originally Posted by Stylo

That's the thing: bottom of the barrel servers are winding up at places like Friendly's because we have such a rich food scene in many of our towns and cities.

This is the furthest thing from the truth IMO. The chain restaurants go out of their way to preach friendliness and the customer is always right. In fact, the rudest, most obnoxious servers I've experienced in Connecticut were at those independent restaurants you speak so highly of. Their management could use a lesson in customer service as well.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

The chain restaurants go out of their way to preach friendliness and the customer is always right. In fact, the rudest, most obnoxious servers I've experienced in Connecticut were at those independent restaurants you speak so highly of. Their management could use a lesson in customer service as well.

Not exactly a new observation. Way back in 1932 the great humorist Robert Benchley wrote:

... New England, that "vacation-land of America," where the business slogan is "The customer is always in the way," ...

[kakers]

Add me to the list of people who aren't fans of ct. I spent 7 years there, and would not go back. I spent my early years in western mass in the berkshires, where my mom lived most of her life. Still have lots of family there, visited often after moving. Spent my grade school years outside Syracuse. After a year of college in upstate ny I transferred and finished my last 3 years at scsu. Incidentally, I really liked scsu. I got a great education there, but I also noticed there were a bunch of people in remedial classes in college learning things I had to know to even think about graduating high school. After school I worked for a couple years, then went to UHa for grad school. The day after I graduated I packed a truck and got the heck outta the state. Moved to Virginia Beach. Love it here.

While in CT I lived in New Haven, Middletown (just over the border from cromwell) Hamden, and East Hartford. I worked in Milford, Fairfield, and West Hartford.

Driving in CT is so horrible that I almost dropped out of grad school in my last semester because I was getting such bad anxiety driving in the state. Too many accidents that weren't my fault. Had a plow clear my car with me driving it off the road, totalled it. Rear ended. Had a car change lanes into me. Ridiculous. The first time when I called around to get insurance quotes for replacing the totalled car, I had an agent tell me they cannot hold your first accident against you. Basically, theres so many accidents they expect you to get into at least one. My husband, being from nj, drives with the assumption that other people don't want to hit you and will get out of your way, I had to tell him while driving through ct that this assumption doesn't work and people will change lanes right into you. Also if you need to change lanes people intentionally block you in, like it would effect them at all if you were to drive in their lane. And what's with the crawling on 15 under west rock? It's a tunnel!!!! Oh no!!!! It's one of the straightest and flattest stretches of that road. Speaking of the roads, I always referred to the roads in ct as a civil engineering disaster.

I also agree with those who have said that people are unfriendly. In va people day hi to you when they pass you. And they hold the door open for you if you are entering q building behind them, but in ct people are more likely to let the door close in your face. There's just this attitude that anything that would be beneficial for someone else is somehow going to be bad for you. Lots of cliqueiness and keeping up with the joneses and no, not just in southeast ct. I felt like it was permanent high school. I found it completely appropriate that stepford wives was set in ct.

I do have to say for people complaining of the snow, that's crazy. I called winter there "pansy winter" and I am not a cold weather person at all. Connecticut has winter without it being harsh.

I miss a few things about ct but by far for me the negatives outweigh the positives and I would never move back.

~Katy