[darkone]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Danbury, Waterbury and New Haven are all statistically located in the NYC Metro area. Metro North runs to all three cities, and all receive NY local television stations.

You cannot compare the size of the two Metro Areas when NYC ranks 1 and Boston ranks 25. Sounds like you haven't been to Candlewood Lake or the Litchfield Hills in Connecticut, where a large percentage of weekenders are from Manhattan. Same goes for the shoreline towns east of New Haven. Also many locals are former Manhattanites.

Yes, Waterbury and New Haven may be in the defined metro area, and New Haven can especially feel that way, however they (and the areas surrounding them) seem to have their own identity, history and are more satellite cities (although not quite) if anything. I don't feel that I've entered the New York region when driving through Waterbury for instance, but I know I'm getting closer.

Of course the scale of the NYC metro area is much greater than that of Boston, but it is more like #1 and #10 in size nationally, when comparing the (C)MSAs.

Of course there are many Manhattanites who either have moved out to Branford or Litchfield or Cheshire but I'm not talking about those people, as they are now Connecticut residents. The average person in Manhattan, which is at the very center of the metro area, will feel that the Connecticut countryside is a world away. The real New York suburbs are on Long Island, in NJ, in Westchester, Rockland and Orange County and extend into Fairfield County. Congratulations about having metro north in New Haven and Waterbury. You are still 1.5-2 hours and 80 miles away from "the city". Waterbury is 95 miles away.

These places are part of the NY Metro area in the same way that Bethlehem and Mt. Pocono,PA are - relatively close by on a national scale, with some commuter and transplant ties, but not much more. There are a lot of Manhattan and NY Metro weekenders in Lake George, the Catskills, the Poconos, Vermont, the Berkshires - the more adventurous and ambitious ones head past the short-distance Connecticut attractions.

Yes, there are a lot of weekenders from NY in Litchfield and Candlewood Lake, because the like the feeling of escaping the metro area. Thanks for making my point.

[pmeek2309]

Originally Posted by darkone

Yes, Waterbury and New Haven may be in the defined metro area, and New Haven can especially feel that way, however they (and the areas surrounding them) seem to have their own identity, history and are more satellite cities (although not quite) if anything. I don't feel that I've entered the New York region when driving through Waterbury for instance, but I know I'm getting closer.

Of course the scale of the NYC metro area is much greater than that of Boston, but it is more like #1 and #10 in size nationally, when comparing the (C)MSAs.

Of course there are many Manhattanites who either have moved out to Branford or Litchfield or Cheshire but I'm not talking about those people, as they are now Connecticut residents. The average person in Manhattan, which is at the very center of the metro area, will feel that the Connecticut countryside is a world away. The real New York suburbs are on Long Island, in NJ, in Westchester, Rockland and Orange County and extend into Fairfield County. Congratulations about having metro north in New Haven and Waterbury. You are still 1.5-2 hours and 80 miles away from "the city". Waterbury is 95 miles away.

These places are part of the NY Metro area in the same way that Bethlehem and Mt. Pocono,PA are - relatively close by on a national scale, with some commuter and transplant ties, but not much more. There are a lot of Manhattan and NY Metro weekenders in Lake George, the Catskills, the Poconos, Vermont, the Berkshires - the more adventurous and ambitious ones head past the short-distance Connecticut attractions.

Yes, there are a lot of weekenders from NY in Litchfield and Candlewood Lake, because the like the feeling of escaping the metro area. Thanks for making my point.

What point was made? People in the Poconos and Bethlehem PA don't commute to Manhattan the way people south of Waterbury and New Haven do from my understanding. As a brand new resident here I can already tell that most of southern Connecticut depends largely on NY. The few Manhattanites I know feel that any suburb is a world away whether it's in Jersey, LI, Westchester or Connecticut.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by pmeek2309

What point was made? People in the Poconos and Bethlehem PA don't commute to Manhattan the way people south of Waterbury and New Haven do from my understanding. As a brand new resident here I can already tell that most of southern Connecticut depends largely on NY. The few Manhattanites I know feel that any suburb is a world away whether it's in Jersey, LI, Westchester or Connecticut.

Actually, they do. Years ago on Hot97 during the Howard and Stephanie morning show, there would be commercials for new subdivisions in Pennsylvania(!) aimed at New Yorkers who were previously looking for properties north and east of the City. This was back in the early '90s.

These metros can be a strange thing. Imagine shopping in Wallingford to return home in Durham, which is part of the Hartford metro...see what I mean?

[JayCT]

When I lived in NJ in the 80's, PA was an outer suburb of New York and there were a lot of ads around for cheap new homes there. That has continued to this day. Jay

[wavehunter007]

Originally Posted by darkone

Yes, Waterbury and New Haven may be in the defined metro area, and New Haven can especially feel that way, however they (and the areas surrounding them) seem to have their own identity, history and are more satellite cities (although not quite) if anything. I don't feel that I've entered the New York region when driving through Waterbury for instance, but I know I'm getting closer.

Of course the scale of the NYC metro area is much greater than that of Boston, but it is more like #1 and #10 in size nationally, when comparing the (C)MSAs.

Of course there are many Manhattanites who either have moved out to Branford or Litchfield or Cheshire but I'm not talking about those people, as they are now Connecticut residents. The average person in Manhattan, which is at the very center of the metro area, will feel that the Connecticut countryside is a world away. The real New York suburbs are on Long Island, in NJ, in Westchester, Rockland and Orange County and extend into Fairfield County. Congratulations about having metro north in New Haven and Waterbury. You are still 1.5-2 hours and 80 miles away from "the city". Waterbury is 95 miles away.

These places are part of the NY Metro area in the same way that Bethlehem and Mt. Pocono,PA are - relatively close by on a national scale, with some commuter and transplant ties, but not much more. There are a lot of Manhattan and NY Metro weekenders in Lake George, the Catskills, the Poconos, Vermont, the Berkshires - the more adventurous and ambitious ones head past the short-distance Connecticut attractions.

Yes, there are a lot of weekenders from NY in Litchfield and Candlewood Lake, because the like the feeling of escaping the metro area. Thanks for making my point.

Not to keep this tug of war going....

But………..

The above statement is absurd.

Places like Bethlehem and Mt. Pocono, PA…….. are in NO WAY like the cites and towns in southern Connecticut in terms of ties to NYC and Manhattan. According to several sources, as many as 30,000 CT residents earn a living IN NYC! I highly doubt, that can be said for Mt. Pocono, PA or Bethlehem, PA.

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers also work in Stamford, Greenwich, and other areas of southwestern CT….and not in places like Mt. Pocono, PA or Bethemem, PA. It is totally ridiculous to say southern Connecticut is no more tied to NYC than those places. My wife works at Yale...and she takes the train into the city ONCE A WEEK...and I live in Middlesex County!

I also thought it was interesting that you used New Haven and Waterbury as being 1.5 to 2 hours away. Stamford, Greenwich, Daian, and many other places are less than 35 min away - relatively close…far closer than anywhere in PA!. There are 78,000 New Jersey residents who drive/take the train more than 1 hour to get into NYC for work, should they be excluded from being in the Tri-State area.

Remember, the NYC area is not like some pint-sized metro area like Boston or Atlanta……a 90- min commute into the largest city in North America is not a bad deal!


Obviously you’re not from around here…..

[reason180]

Originally Posted by darkone

Congratulations about having metro north in New Haven and Waterbury. You are still 1.5-2 hours and 80 miles away from "the city". Waterbury is 95 miles away.

On the weekend you can drive from the Waterbury Metro to NYC in under 90 minutes. And New Haven is 59 miles to the Bronx. Waterbury is about 65 miles to the Bronx.

My Mom has a friend that grew up in Litchfield. I asked her if she remembered when the train used to go up there. She told me of course. She said her sister met a guy from the Bronx that was working around Litchfield and when he moved back to NYC she would take the train there every weekend to stay with him. She also told us that her father worked a few summers at the Brooklyn shipyards. She said he would stay in a rooming house in Brooklyn and come back to CT a few weekends to see his kids.

Recently I took a livery cab in Brooklyn and out of curiosity I asked the driver if anybody ever asked him to go up to CT. He told me a few times. He said there is a woman that haves him drive her to Waterbury about once every 3 months. When he found out I lived in Waterbury for a little while he got excited and told me he liked it there and wanted to know where he should look for a home because NYC is too expensive. I think it is very common for immigrants to live in NYC for 10 years and then in search of cheaper housing they end up in CT. This has been happening for over 100 years. Plus, when NYC got really bad during the 70's to early 90's lots of New Yorkers moved to CT. Many of my classmate's parents were originally from NYC.

My rambling post does have a point: CT has its own identity, but it has more ties to NYC than many people realize.

One last thing: Living in New York I have met many native New Yorkers that love CT. They don’t all think it is the sticks! Many of them have family there, went to school there, etc…and they tell me they want to move to Connecticut. Only a few times have I heard, oh CT is the sticks……I even heard on a couple occasions a few New Yorkers that have family in some of CT’s rougher areas tell me they thought CT had rougher streets than NYC. I should get into real estate because at the moment I’m counseling three former co-workers/classmates on where they should look for homes. And a note to those on this board, they aren’t all interested in western CT…some of them are interested in living in central and eastern ct.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

When I lived in NJ in the 80's, PA was an outer suburb of New York and there were a lot of ads around for cheap new homes there. That has continued to this day. Jay

I have seen ads for PA housing, but this doesn't mean people are commuting the way they do from CT. I'd like to see the numbers on this if people claim that the NE PA economy is tied to NYC the way Fairfield County's is.

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

The above statement is absurd. Obviously you’re not from around here…..

That's why I didn't even respond - but I agree with your response.

Heck - where I live in Long Island now (for a short time) the commute takes longer than it does from Bridgeport, more similar to the commute from New Haven. And guess what? People here identify more with the city than they do towns just a few miles to the east.

I know many people who live in Manhattan - one of my coworkers said that anyone he met who moved to NE PA were NYC newbies who moved from elsewhere and needed to find cheap housing that was not in the city.

But I guess you're right - we can eliminate central Long Island, much of NJ and almost all of CT from the NY Metro area list. MNRR just runs up to Waterbury, Danbury and New Haven to humor us.

I guess the poster we responded to suffers from an inferiority complex. Those dang New Englanders!

[K.O.N.Y]

growing up in nyc when i was younger, i used to think ct was some far away place with nothing but rich white people.

[JoeYanxfan]

Originally Posted by K.O.N.Y

growing up in nyc when i was younger, i used to think ct was some far away place with nothing but rich white people.

Well, I hope ya kno it aint.

[bluecountry]

Alright...I'm going to add a few questions.

First..this weekend I was up in the Hartford area..and I saw a lot of Red Sox gear...way more than Yankees.
I also noticed the Courant does not have a beat writer for the Yanks.

1) Has it always been this way...has Boston always been more visible in Hartford?
-What would you say the split is?

2) What about the following areas...would you be able to give a split?
A. Danbury
B. Waterbury
C. New Haven
D. Litchfield
E. Old Saybrook

3) I'm moving to Tolland, CT. When I was there before...the grocery store was selling ONLY Boston sports gear. I'm curious...is Tolland big Red Sox County like FF County is to NY...or is it more split?
I knew people in Manchester and Vernon who were NYY fans...so I thought Hartford and Tolland County had a good split..not an ext of Boston.


Thanks!