[stormweary]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures!! I once lived upstate NY back in the 80's so I have a vague memory of the cold. When i tell people down here that i am considering a move to Ct. they give me this horrified look like why in the world.... I have some time before a decision is made and have plans to be up that way in June. I was there last May when my daughter graduated from UConn and it was rainy and cool a couple of days but what I Most remember were the flowers beginning to bloom and the rolling hills and remembering how lovely it is up there at other times of the year. I miss the change of seasons....

[stormweary]

jveillo,
Did you make it to the Wadsworth Atheneum? How was it?

[JViello]

Originally Posted by stormweary

Thanks for the wonderful pictures!! I once lived upstate NY back in the 80's so I have a vague memory of the cold. When i tell people down here that i am considering a move to Ct. they give me this horrified look like why in the world.... I have some time before a decision is made and have plans to be up that way in June. I was there last May when my daughter graduated from UConn and it was rainy and cool a couple of days but what I Most remember were the flowers beginning to bloom and the rolling hills and remembering how lovely it is up there at other times of the year. I miss the change of seasons....

I'm not going to say it doesnt' get cold here, but it's definetly not upstate NY. We are a more temperate climate than they have being on the shoreline.

No, I didn't make it to the Wadsworth. My brother in-law invited us over to his place in Glastonbury for some slow roasted briscut (sp?) and some good red wine...I couldn't resist. lol

[BigHouse9]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

That Hartford Courant article is written by individuals that have little understanding of either economics geography or demographics- and write more for sensationalism then getting ALL the facts.

Great point. We moved to NC in 2005 and I regret it in a big way. Money magazine ranked Cary, NC as one of the best places to live in the country and we drank the kool-ade. What a MISTAKE! Crowded, traffic, cookie cutter homes, strip malls and general hectic atmosphere. And the supposed cheaper cost of living is nothing but a smoke screen. It is actually more expensive to live here! Can't wait to come back as there is so much more to do up there and just a better way of living

[skytrekker]

The media today is great for manufacturing Kool Aid- especially as far as Economic Geography is concerned- they are totally ignorant of it! Instead they rely on that wonderful sweet 'Kool Aid' and endless mind boggling 'Spin' to manufacture information on where people 'want' to live. Some buy the Kool Aid- others do research and do not buy the 'goods'. 'Cultural Intangibles' are another component the media writers and pundits fail to put into the equation.

Bighouse9 sorry about your NC experience.

[BigHouse9]

We moved down here for other reasons too. We did the research and I swore I would not buy a house on a small lot but ended up doing so since we were close to RTP. So now I am in the cookie cutter lifestyle with countless strip malls within a 3 mile radius of my house.

My favorite one though is to hear people talk of how cold it is in the Northeast, both in terms of weather and people. Well it gets pretty cold in NC in the winter and I have never found the people in CT to be anything but friendly. I still have so many friends up there who are just great people. I never minded the snow as you could always put on a jacket and go out but we had a stretch here in the summer where you could not go outside at all because of the heat.

Basically I don't find anything ideal about this place in terms of raising a family.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

We moved down here for other reasons too. We did the research and I swore I would not buy a house on a small lot but ended up doing so since we were close to RTP. So now I am in the cookie cutter lifestyle with countless strip malls within a 3 mile radius of my house.

My favorite one though is to hear people talk of how cold it is in the Northeast, both in terms of weather and people. Well it gets pretty cold in NC in the winter and I have never found the people in CT to be anything but friendly. I still have so many friends up there who are just great people. I never minded the snow as you could always put on a jacket and go out but we had a stretch here in the summer where you could not go outside at all because of the heat.

Basically I don't find anything ideal about this place in terms of raising a family.

I spent some time in the Elon College area (Burlington), Greensboro and eventually settled in Charlotte to correspond with a job offer.

I wish I never went. I left NC with my hair on fire.

Regardless of statistics, sometimes it just doesn't fit. Some people from up here are fine with the HOA's, strip malls (Which I don't mind, we have them here but they are not the ONLY alternative), CLOGGED highways, fake nice people etc but it's not for me.

Not having a basement, and only a crawl space along with the SF being pumped up by heating/cooling garage space was a bit of a shock to me. The homes look great on paper until you realize you need a 3500sf house with 4-5 bedrooms and a 3 car garage to compete with a 1800sf home here with a full attic and basement which does not get counted in the total SF...

Anyhow, I'm rambling. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience - it's a tough realization and a PITA to move back and forth, I know.

But on the bright side, when you get back home you can get a real Napoletano pizza and eat till the aggravation goes away. lol

[BigHouse9]

Actually I have found a good pizza place close by which is a blessing. But you are so right about the HOA's and the fake nice people and especially about the houses. We figure that the sf of the garage is added into our house space and we have NO storage space whatsoever to speak of. We cannot park our cars in the garage and even if we could, it is still such a tight squeeze. And for a new house, it is so drafty and inefficient. My father in law, who lives 2 hours away, does not want us to move back and says "You have this nice new house instead of a 30 year old house!" I still think "What good is a new house on a pile of cr*p, you still live on a pile of cr*p!"

I am like you, I can't get out of here fast enough. The realization is very tough and it will be a huge pain to move back especially with a 2 year old and an 8 week old, but hopefully sometime this summer will be back up. That being said, I have been in touch with recruiters and old colleagues from work and have had plenty of job offers already. Seems like the Hartford economy is not suffering at all, especially for an IT person.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

Actually I have found a good pizza place close by which is a blessing. But you are so right about the HOA's and the fake nice people and especially about the houses. We figure that the sf of the garage is added into our house space and we have NO storage space whatsoever to speak of. We cannot park our cars in the garage and even if we could, it is still such a tight squeeze. And for a new house, it is so drafty and inefficient. My father in law, who lives 2 hours away, does not want us to move back and says "You have this nice new house instead of a 30 year old house!" I still think "What good is a new house on a pile of cr*p, you still live on a pile of cr*p!"

I am like you, I can't get out of here fast enough. The realization is very tough and it will be a huge pain to move back especially with a 2 year old and an 8 week old, but hopefully sometime this summer will be back up. That being said, I have been in touch with recruiters and old colleagues from work and have had plenty of job offers already. Seems like the Hartford economy is not suffering at all, especially for an IT person.

Yep, I agree about the home quality. I live now in a 53 year old house that I updated with all the modern "stuff" and wouldn't trade it for the world. Mature trees, mature lot and neighborhood etc.

I always thought the homes and modern contruction (They put stucco over STYROFOAM on the strip malls etc for crying out loud) down South was quick and dirty. (In my teens I worked as a Carpenter in CT) I can't imagine how those homes are going to age.

Our homes are expensive, yes but when you compare apples to apples, you get what you pay for. Price out a home in the burbs there with 1-2 acres, a full basement, and quality construction and see what it cost. From what I understand, basements are 50-75K upgrades!

As for IT jobs in the Hartford area - you shouldn't have a problem at all. It's a decent place to live, work and raise a family.

[stormweary]

ok. guys I am becoming more and more convinced to move...... I've compared rents and they are pretty much the same whether its a 3 br house or an apartment complex.( Manchester, Vernon area) Since I do adjunct teaching I checked Manchester CC web site and not only do they post what the salary range is (!) but its more than double what I am paid down here!! and it took an act of congress just about to find out what adjuncts make here... and I still feel like I'm getting the short of of the deal....
Right now I am renting in an older neighborhood and I like the feel of it but if I were to buy a house I'd have to move into one of those cookie cutter housing development and that depresses me. I moved out of one a year ago. I hated the whole HOA idea. People actually drive around to make sure you're following the "codes" Its nutty!

Question: Could a person live reasonably on $38,000 a year up there?