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Old 07-29-2015, 12:49 PM
 
5,687 posts, read 7,131,226 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
Yes I blame her for Mianus. How can you not? She cut spending to the barebones at CTDOT which directly lead to a cut in bridge inspections. The bridge may have collapsed several years after she left office but it was because of neglect caused by her cuts that continued until a bridge fell and woke people up that we cannot ignore our infrastructure. O'Neill is equally to blame as well.

And yes I blame her transportation problems today. She canceled the I-291 beltway from I-91 in Rocky Hill to I-84 in Farmington. The project was ready for construction. Right-of-way had been bought. Plans were developed to be ready for construction and she stopped it. IF that connection was made you would have congestion relief on what is the state's busiest highway, I-84 west of downtown. Route 7 and Route 25 were both delayed by her so today there is no highway to highway connection between I-95, the Merritt Parkway and I-84 in western Fairfield County. This created a disjointed and inefficient highway network in that part of the state.

Despite what you think Hartford is the largest employment center in the state with more than 113,000 jobs. A modern mass-transit system would likely have made downtown Hartford more attractive to employers because their employees would no longer have to sit in traffic to get to their jobs. Employers like The Hartford, Aetna, Metropolitan may not have left the core of the city for easily accessible suburbs. We of course will never know what would have happened. Ella Grasso was cheap and shortsighted and we are still paying for it. Jay
I vehemently disagree. In my view, conditions that exist are as a direct result of whoever is at the top or in charge at the time. In any organization, and that includes entities like municipalities, states and countries, things come from the top down. O'Neill could have found the funding and moved to immediately correct any deficiencies. It's all well and good to say that someone in the past caused conditions that currently exist, but if you keep on blaming them, it's nothing more than scapegoating, and then things never get solved. I don't know if you're from FFC, but "cheap and shortsighted" were the terms used to vilify her in Greenwich, back in the day. Not to mention the bluenoses just about went into orbit when she wanted to improve Bridgeport. (That little fracas seems to have gone down the memory hole, I can't even dig it up on the internet)

No, I wouldn't call her a visionary, she was more of a capable caretaker but that's what was needed at that point in time and she held it together.

Interesting how the FFC crowd vilified her back in the day for being "cheap", but these days scream bloody murder when Malloy wants to spend "their" money.
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Old 07-29-2015, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Northern Fairfield Co.
2,918 posts, read 3,210,256 times
Reputation: 1341
Back to the original post -- I think the media has been inaccurately portraying CT a certain way since at least the 1940s. One of my favorite movies ever is Carey Grant's "Mr Blandings Builds his Dream Home" (Madison Ave exec who relocates his NYC-apartment-dwelling Family to CT -- very funny and still relevant today, if you've never seen it) J.D. Salinger's short story "Uncle Wiggly in CT" (circa 1950); Lucy goes to the Country (~ mid '50s), etc. and isn't CT where Natalie Wood's character in Miracle on 34th Street always wanted to be and call home (or am I just imagining that? ... Doesn't matter though, because Natalie's holiday home is what CT represents (in a weird and contrived way) to many who don't live here and don't know it at all). It's always been portrayed as a wealthy (albeit sometimes a weird, screwed up, and sad place, ala Uncle Wiggly's) Shangri-la..

Last edited by Lalalally; 07-29-2015 at 01:11 PM..
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Old 07-29-2015, 01:19 PM
 
5,687 posts, read 7,131,226 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lalalally View Post
Back to the original post -- I think the media has been inaccurately portraying CT a certain way since at least the 1940s. One of my favorite movies ever is Carey Grant's "Mr Blandings Builds his Dream Home" (Madison Ave exec who relocates his NYC-apartment-dwelling Family to CT -- very funny and still relevant today, if you've never seen it) J.D. Salinger's short story "Uncle Wiggly in CT" (circa 1950); Lucy goes to the Country (~ mid '50s), etc. and isn't CT where Natalie Wood's character in Miracle on 34th Street always wanted to be and call home (or am I just imagining that? ... Doesn't matter though, because Natalie's holiday home is what CT represents (in a weird and contrived way) to many who don't live here and don't know it at all). It's always been portrayed as a wealthy (albeit sometimes a weird, screwed up, and sad place, ala Uncle Wiggly's) Shangri-la..
And let's not forget Christmas in Connecticut.

I was born in mid town Manhattan and raised in a wonderful little Westchester burb. The family decided to move to CT because of the NY real estate taxes. And also, if the truth be told, because of the Greenwich "cachet". It was culture shock for me, because the CT upper middle class was VERY different from the NY middle to upper middle class that I was used to. I found the people in general (in general,now, please note this) to be some real Stiffy Stiffersons. On the surface. Underneath that facade, however....

But I loved the old houses and rolling countryside and the scenery. I would move back, but if I did, it would be the Stonington area.
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Old 07-29-2015, 02:50 PM
 
4,714 posts, read 5,927,622 times
Reputation: 2178
Don’t forget – “Who’s the Boss” was that rich FFC divorcee in a big home who hired Tony Danza to be her housekeeper/male nanny (And, if you remember, Alyssa Milano played Danza’s daughter.) That show was on for a long time, if I recall, and I am sure that has contributed to some of the more modern images of CT being populated by only rich people and their servants.

(And, I remember a guy on ESPN radio saying that Greenwich was so rich that the household butlers have their own servants)
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Old 07-29-2015, 02:55 PM
 
2,971 posts, read 3,158,470 times
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An unwarranted reputation driven by a mere 6 very all wealthy towns out of what total is it for the whole state - 169?
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Old 07-29-2015, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,727 posts, read 56,531,322 times
Reputation: 11168
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmarc View Post
I vehemently disagree. In my view, conditions that exist are as a direct result of whoever is at the top or in charge at the time. In any organization, and that includes entities like municipalities, states and countries, things come from the top down. O'Neill could have found the funding and moved to immediately correct any deficiencies. It's all well and good to say that someone in the past caused conditions that currently exist, but if you keep on blaming them, it's nothing more than scapegoating, and then things never get solved. I don't know if you're from FFC, but "cheap and shortsighted" were the terms used to vilify her in Greenwich, back in the day. Not to mention the bluenoses just about went into orbit when she wanted to improve Bridgeport. (That little fracas seems to have gone down the memory hole, I can't even dig it up on the internet)

No, I wouldn't call her a visionary, she was more of a capable caretaker but that's what was needed at that point in time and she held it together.

Interesting how the FFC crowd vilified her back in the day for being "cheap", but these days scream bloody murder when Malloy wants to spend "their" money.
Well I guess we will just vehemently agree to vehemently disagree. This has nothing to do with "Scapegoating". Ask anyone with knowledge of the history of transportation in this state and they will agree a lot of very shortsighted decisions were made back in the 70's that affect this state to this day. This is fact.

From the 30's with the construction of the Merritt Parkway to the 60's with the construction of the interstate highway network, Connecticut had a very vibrant progressive transportation program. That all ended in the 70's. You are right that O'Neill should have done something before Mainus happened (would'a, should'a, could'a) but until that bridge collapsed there was no reason the average person or politician for that matter would have thought there was the level of infrastructure neglect going on in this state. O'Neill and the state legislature enacted an emergency bridge inspection program and quickly funded a lot of bridge rehab work but it was too late for the victims of the collapse.

For an unknown reason you appear to be just in denial not realizing or accepting this. And this has nothing to do with Fairfield County or Greenwich which just make no sense. Every decision made on transportation has a long term effect. Build a highway here and the impacts will be felt for generations. Not building a highway or maintaining a bridge also has an effect.

Also I am not sure what she was "holding together". The state had issues at that time but they were not horrible. She was just a cheap Connecticut Yankee refusing to accept that the world was changing and she did nothing to prepare for that change. That does not make her a "Capable Caregiver" in my book. Jay
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Old 07-29-2015, 02:57 PM
 
2,971 posts, read 3,158,470 times
Reputation: 1060
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT View Post
Well I guess we will just vehemently agree to vehemently disagree. This has nothing to do with "Scapegoating". Ask anyone with knowledge of the history of transportation in this state and they will agree a lot of very shortsighted decisions were made back in the 70's that affect this state to this day. This is fact.

From the 30's with the construction of the Merritt Parkway to the 60's with the construction of the interstate highway network, Connecticut had a very vibrant progressive transportation program. That all ended in the 70's. You are right that O'Neill should have done something before Mainus happened (would'a, should'a, could'a) but until that bridge collapsed there was no reason the average person or politician for that matter would have thought there was the level of infrastructure neglect going on in this state. O'Neill and the state legislature enacted an emergency bridge inspection program and quickly funded a lot of bridge rehab work but it was too late for the victims of the collapse.

For an unknown reason you appear to be just in denial not realizing or accepting this. And this has nothing to do with Fairfield County or Greenwich which just make no sense. Every decision made on transportation has a long term effect. Build a highway here and the impacts will be felt for generations. Not building a highway or maintaining a bridge also has an effect.

Also I am not sure what she was "holding together". The state had issues at that time but they were not horrible. She was just a cheap Connecticut Yankee refusing to accept that the world was changing and she did nothing to prepare for that change. That does not make her a "Capable Caregiver" in my book. Jay
and ironically she had a street named after her
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Old 07-29-2015, 03:04 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,727 posts, read 56,531,322 times
Reputation: 11168
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raider111 View Post
and ironically she had a street named after her
LOL. At least it is not a freeway. She was Governor and people liked her. There was no denying that she was the first female Governor elected without being preceded by her husband. There should be tributes to her. Jay
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Old 07-29-2015, 03:10 PM
 
1,195 posts, read 1,617,539 times
Reputation: 973
One thing I notice is that as I tell people I'm originally from CT (I live half the time in California), they ask me about the bad traffic, bad crime, and how crowded it is or this or that.

Since I never really spent much time in the big cities or in FFC, it's so jarring to hear the questions. After spending most of my life in the Litchfield County area and the CT River valley area, my own impression of CT is of quiet peacefulness and completely at odds with the outside view of it. You have to chalk this up to media I guess.
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Old 07-29-2015, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Northern Fairfield Co.
2,918 posts, read 3,210,256 times
Reputation: 1341
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewJeffCT View Post
Don’t forget – “Who’s the Boss” was that rich FFC divorcee in a big home who hired Tony Danza to be her housekeeper/male nanny (And, if you remember, Alyssa Milano played Danza’s daughter.) That show was on for a long time, if I recall, and I am sure that has contributed to some of the more modern images of CT being populated by only rich people and their servants.

(And, I remember a guy on ESPN radio saying that Greenwich was so rich that the household butlers have their own servants)
Yes!!! Totally forgot about that show.. Was once one of my favorites, but just as cliche!
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