[Stylo]

Hartford will never been SV. Stanford was the main driving force there and that started decades ago.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Additionally, the "lack of young talent" is an excuse. It's code for "we want to pay low(er) wages" Plenty of educated and qualified young and old people in CT. The wages these companies want to pay won't even support a single person in NYC or Boston. They are much better off in Hartford or New Haven.

Plus when these young people have kids they will be coming right back to CT for the schools. It doesn't make any sense to chase changing demographics which in reality is what these companies are doing whether they know it or not.

They won't be coming back to CT if they feel they can get a better quality of life at a lower cost of living. I know we think CT is the only state with top-notch schools and this alone justifies the high cost of living, but the truth is, there ARE other states that provide excellent schools, with lower taxes and these states have more to do in them for children and adults alike.


We also shouldn't be banking on the idea that everyone will be having children in massive quantities anymore. People are waiting longer to marry and have children, if they do at all, and now, for the first time in history, singles outnumber married couples. For decades, the conventional wisdom was that you get married, have children, move to a house in the 'burbs, and spend leisure time on weekends going to your children's little league game and cutting coupons, but increasingly, people don't find this to be satisfying. Which is why they've put off parenting. Add to that the fact that many companies don't pay as competitively as they used to and college costs continue to soar, and this also provides less of an incentive to reproduce. This is why many municipalities are predicting a decline in public school enrollment in years ahead. All of this will play a role in what lies ahead for our state in the years to come. Obviously it's important that we invest in public education, but in this state? It seems that's where it ends, and that's not a wise path to follow.

[beerbeer]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Sorry, just had to correct these misstatements. I've driven Boston - Hartford back & forth probably 100+ times...no way is it shorter than 100 min (under best of conditions)...many times closer to 2 hrs. Also San Fran to Cupertino is 45 miles, much of that is a reverse commute, so you're talking 1 hr tops.

I've driven from San Fran to Cupertino in mid day and it a disaster. Getting out of SF is a 15-MPH nightmare. Going back into the city is worse.

BTW, I have driven numerous times from Bradley to Logan in less than 90 minutes on multiple ocassions.

It's just not that big a difference. That's just one example. There are many more where the smaller city competes very well with larger neighbors.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by beerbeer

I've driven from San Fran to Cupertino in mid day and it a disaster. Getting out of SF is a 15-MPH nightmare. Going back into the city is worse.

BTW, I have driven numerous times from Bradley to Logan in less than 90 minutes on multiple ocassions.

It's just not that big a difference. That's just one example. There are many more where the smaller city competes very well with larger neighbors.

It has always taken me at least two hours to drive to Boston from Hartford. The biggest delay was the Tolls on I 90 at the interchange with I 84. And traffic on 90 during the rush hour can be bad.

What time of day did you travel to Logan? Had to be at off peak travel hours.

Back on topic. While the new developments that are being built in the city is encouraging to the region, until some new companies start making noise about moving into the region, and don't require tax breaks to develop a project, the city and state will continue to add to the debt problem and it will not ultimately benefit the business climate.

[beerbeer]

This is the problem.

My Grandfather Started My Business. The State Is Hurting It. - Hartford Courant

[Vandy-bound]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

They won't be coming back to CT if they feel they can get a better quality of life at a lower cost of living. I know we think CT is the only state with top-notch schools and this alone justifies the high cost of living, but the truth is, there ARE other states that provide excellent schools, with lower taxes and these states have more to do in them for children and adults alike.

Yes. Exactly this. We came from TN schools that blew our CT school out of the water. High school classes (honors, pre-AP) were literally no more rigorous than some middle school classes in TN--especially for English and science. Quality of life in the Nashville area is pretty amazing, as the thousands of new residents can attest. Booming economy, no state income tax, reasonable property taxes. Salaries NOT substantially less than for a similar job in the NE. Personal preferences (climate, topology, location) and family might sway people to leave for a while and then come back to wherever they grew up, but the idea that CT is some sort of magical place with the best of everything is not backed by data.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by Vandy-bound

Yes. Exactly this. We came from TN schools that blew our CT school out of the water. High school classes (honors, pre-AP) were literally no more rigorous than some middle school classes in TN--especially for English and science. Quality of life in the Nashville area is pretty amazing, as the thousands of new residents can attest. Booming economy, no state income tax, reasonable property taxes. Salaries NOT substantially less than for a similar job in the NE. Personal preferences (climate, topology, location) and family might sway people to leave for a while and then come back to wherever they grew up, but the idea that CT is some sort of magical place with the best of everything is not backed by data.

If TN is so great, why would you come back to CT ? People usually don't leave great areas.

And CT is the best place for public schools backed by data. We have already covered this before. The only state that can compare is MA.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

If TN is so great, why would you come back to CT ? People usually don't leave great areas.

And CT is the best place for public schools backed by data. We have already covered this before. The only state that can compare is MA.

Nashville is great. The rest of Tennessee is a dump. My girlfriend lived for a couple years in the glitzy 'burbs south of Nashville. The skiing and sailing are lousy and it's pretty hot in the summer but it's otherwise a really good place to live if you like rich people enclaves. It doesn't have the crazed congestion of the affluent Northeast Corridor burbs and the infrastructure is all brand new. I don't know Connecticut schools but places like Brentwood TN are every bit as strong as Weston, Lexington, and the other high end Boston suburbs. Vanderbilt is a top-10 university. It's a major medical center. There are tons of professional jobs. It has all those music and entertainment industry people fueling the local economy.

School system performance is almost entirely correlated to the socioeconomic status of the parents. Rich people enclaves have great school systems because all the parents are college educated professionals. I'll bet the schools in Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, etc are just as awful as the schools in Springfield, New Bedford, Lawrence etc. There are rich people enclaves in any major metro area with top school systems. Connecticut and Massachusetts have a proportionally high number of those enclaves and poor people are jammed into a small number of failed cities. It's not anything the state government is doing. A kid in the Hartford public schools has pretty low odds of making the top half of socioeconomic status. A kid in Greenwich probably is going to succeed.

[JayCT]

Some good news on the commercial real estate front, Connecticut Childrens Medical Center is consolidating five offices in Hartford and East Hartford into one of the largest blocks of available office space downtown. The hospital is leasing 110,000 square feet of space at 10 Columbus Boulevard (a.k.a. The Candy Cane Building) at the southern edge of downtown. That is great news. Jay

CT Children's combining 400 jobs to downtown Hartford | HartfordBusiness.com

[JGBigGreen]

MA and NJ almost always place higher in rankings than CT and NH has placed higher several times recently. Which data source do you have lists CT as #1 for public schools?



[quote=MrGompers;48828477

And CT is the best place for public schools backed by data. We have already covered this before. The only state that can compare is MA.[/quote]