[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by JayCT

This is not true. The average income for metro Hartford is nearly $55,000 and it was just ranked by Forbes as being the fourth city in the nation for income going the furthest. Hardly poor and hardly unaffordable. Jay

Atlanta: $55,700
Nashville: $63,000
Houston: $60,000
Dallas: $53,000
Boston: $75,700
SLC: $62,600
Denver: $62,500

All above (except boston) have way better COL (at least for nice neighborhoods with top schools). Some of those cities don't even have income tax.

[RunD1987]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

I left CT as have many others for numerous reasons. First and foremost was the lack of job opportunities year after year. Second, rising taxes. Third the high cost of living and housing. While the cost of housing seems to have leveled off to some degree, you really can't get much house for your money when compared to most other states. Yes, there are tradeoffs to be sure but at least I have found it is possible to get a home in a few places that will cost quite a bit less than any place in CT and still offer a reasonably good standard of living.

This post needs an award it's the truth!

[Karyn Trulove]

mlassoff, I agree that some folks live beyond there mean's I do not I have a very small home, but the town I live in is not cheap as far as taxes. I work for the public school's and I do not make alot. friends who make 130000 a year are doing great. my husband and I don't not make that amount but we love our job's. can't be about the money as far as your work place. I have lived here all my life and things have gone up as far as cost of living. we are not uncomfortable in our lives but I don't want to work beyond age 70.

[RunD1987]

I can say with myself making $30K a year and Fiancé in school only making $10K a year it's tough to live here not making anything above $50K. Really don't know how anyone does it.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by Karyn Trulove

mlassoff, I agree that some folks live beyond there mean's I do not I have a very small home, but the town I live in is not cheap as far as taxes. I work for the public school's and I do not make alot. friends who make 130000 a year are doing great. my husband and I don't not make that amount but we love our job's. can't be about the money as far as your work place. I have lived here all my life and things have gone up as far as cost of living. we are not uncomfortable in our lives but I don't want to work beyond age 70.

Hi Karyn.

I feel for you. Connecticut is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many who make even above average salaries. We need to have safe, affordable, housing options across the range of incomes. Additionally, we have to have a balance between the COL here and the things that make Connecticut an excellent place to live-- great education, etc.

I think we very quickly need to tackle the pension liability problem here. We can't afford to continue to pay for a current police department, one that just retired, one that retired 20 years ago and some that retired 40 years ago. It's not sustainable.

Next, I think we need to look at regionalization. I could give a crap about the provincial nature of Connecticut-- We don't need one-hundred something police chiefs and school superintendents making 200K+.

I came back here from Texas-- But I moved in my mid-thirties. I was well in to my career and had some luck in business.

I wish you the best.

[RunD1987]

Need to get rid of income tax in CT, cap property tax in CT at 30%, offer more job's for STEM/state college grads, and curtail goverment spending

[HumpDay]

Originally Posted by RunD1987

I can say with myself making $30K a year and Fiancé in school only making $10K a year it's tough to live here not making anything above $50K. Really don't know how anyone does it.

Not speaking for everyone but it seems like people buy things they don't need. There's people I know who make 40k a year in CT and are doing fine. Buying things that are "needs" are more important than things that are "wants". You don't need a $30,000 car or a $300,000 house. We're taught that buying expensive things will lead us to happiness and a higher status in society. I'm not blaming Consumerism (though it may sound like I am) but I think if people budget better, then living in CT making less than $50,000 a year is possible.

[Karyn Trulove]

mlassoff, I agree the state needs to do something, but as I said I have lived here all my life and it just keep's more expensive to live here. I drive a 2012 jeep and last year for car tax I paid 345.00. my husband drives a 2003 Chevy and we paid 180.00 with age I hoped the cost would go down but it really didn't. as the cost of living goes up I think the pay should. I sometimes think there are to many politicians have filled there pockets and are doing nothing for us, the working class. together my husband and I earn 620000 a year. we have a son that is getting ready to graduate high school and I hope he goes on to collage. we thought about down sizing to a condo but we would still pay about the same as we are now. we went to NC on vacation a few times and really liked what we saw. and I don't have to shovel any snow and thats a plus for me. in my town the fire dept had an ok fire house. the town thought it was a good idea for the fire house to be moved and rebuilt in a larger building. from what I'm told there's a weight room, a sauna and hot tub room as well. kudo's to them for having that but they don't need it. just my opinion. the police dept on the other hand is a small run down building. they needed a new building or sure. the cost of the high tech fire house could have been split to cover both but my town didn't think that way. so now were paying for a new police station as well. to many have there hands out and there not enough cash to go around. have a great evening and best of luck to you as well.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by HumpDay

Not speaking for everyone but it seems like people buy things they don't need. There's people I know who make 40k a year in CT and are doing fine. Buying things that are "needs" are more important than things that are "wants". You don't need a $30,000 car or a $300,000 house. We're taught that buying expensive things will lead us to happiness and a higher status in society. I'm not blaming Consumerism (though it may sound like I am) but I think if people budget better, then living in CT making less than $50,000 a year is possible.

and it's all for what? How much of life comforts need to be given up by the individual so that CT can **** all his, yours and my hard earned money away? and at the same time they are driving businesses and jobs away to other states?

Obviously one can "survive" in CT on 40k, but quality of life is going to be pretty lame and stressful. CT doles out over 45k in welfare according to the latest numbers i've seen. So a college educated person working in healthcare should have a lower quality of life than someone who simply takes handouts that are paid for with the tax dollars that come out of HIS paycheck?

We live in much more expensive times than previous generations. You don't "need" a computer, or "need" a smart phone, or "need" a car to "survive". But in reality, in this day and age, you do need them to be more successful. and they don't come cheap and they didn't exist for our parents or grandparents. How do you get to work without a car in a suburb state like CT? How do you stay competitive marketing yourself in the electronic age without LinkedIn? Find newer, more prosperous job opportunities without the internet? etc etc etc. These are all things most people would classify as not "needing" but really are an integral part of continued success and access to opportunity.

Millennials grandparents were able to live a very happy and respectable life with a SINGLE working blue collar parent (usually the father). Millennials parents often needed the other parent to work at least part time, often both full time, with all the additional expenses (a big one of which is college education for millennial children). Now we have all that, plus all the expenses of the electronic age, plus the never ending rising taxes in high cost states. Something has to change and moving to states with much higher wages or much lower cost of living looks like the winning model.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Sigequinox

and it's all for what? How much of life comforts need to be given up by the individual so that CT can **** all his, yours and my hard earned money away? .

$64,000 question and this is for governments in all states and the feds: We have seen private industry use technological gains to decrease headcount relative to revenue (revenue and operating profit per FTE are KPI at most big corps).


Why hasn't government done the same? With technological gains and a fairly stagnant Ct census, Ct should IMO have half, at most, its 1995 state headcount. To have more is feather-bedding, and that sank many a unionized company in the past. Imagine how much lower yes present payroll costs would be, but even more, how much lower the pension deficit would be.