[skytrekker]

Stormweary

on AC- I have central air- and as the summers have passed, it is becoming warmer here- I would guess for every 10 days here in July and August I would use the AC a third of the time- or 3-4 days in ten.

[bridgeportsbest23]

bridgeport is the nicer of the two because many people dont see the nice pat of bridgeport which is the northend and some of the west end which look better then certain parts of shelton and people who say that bridgeport is bad they dont know nothing because they dont even live in bridgeport to me bridgeport is nice i live there i go out and walk any hours i think why peoplesay bridgeport is bad is that they see alot of black and hispanocs living there.and u cant compare thse other little towns with 33,000 with the biggest city in ct which has about 140,000 people thats about more then 4x the population of these other near by towns. so actually the crime rate is not that bad for a big city like bridgeport......because u could combine shelton trumbull,monroe,derby, and bridgeport will have more residents then all thse towns combined if u live in bridgeport it fell safe to us its just people who no nothing about bridgeport are very quick to give there opinion without knowing anything.

[connkid]

I couldn't help but nod with approval as I read the comments of both JViello and Skytrekker regarding the merits of living in CT v. Florida or the southeast!

I grew-up in the Hartford area (Manchester and Windsor), and left in 1974, a year after graduating from Windsor High School, as my father took a job in Palo Alto, CA, the San Francisco Bay area.

Let me share with you my insights, for what their worth, on moving to CA, more particularly the San Francisco Bay area. Although not as congested as the Los Angeles basin or Orange county, the Bay Area has continued to grow (just over seven and one-half (7.5) million) souls populate the nine (9) counties that are known as the Bay area. People out here think nothing of commuting to work driving 65, 75, up-to 100-plus mile treks to work on a daily basis. To many, it's the chance to have a piece of the 'California Dream'! The California Dream may have been here in the 1950's and 1960's, but as with many other things, the CA Dream is now a distant memory.

One does not live in CA, but merely exists. As mentioned above, the reason that so many people are driving the great distances they do from their homes to employment centres, is the fact that CA home prices are out-of-reach for so many. With developers constrained by many no-or-slow growth policies in many of the communities in the SF area, it produces a very wide schism of the well-off, to the less fortunate. The less fortunate are the ones who pay their dues with the long commutes.

The only positive item, and that is a highly debatable item, is the fact that due to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 in CA which literally 'froze' the taxation of real property. Property taxes are calculated, on an average 1.25 per cent of the assessed valuation of the homes' value through-out the state. Property taxes are capped and can't be raised more than two (2) per cent-per year. The debatable part: Schools in CA rank in the high fortieth (40th) percentiles when it comes to education and test scores, because of the growing population (36.5 million residents estimated in 2007) there are not enough schools to handle the growth. Unless you are fortunate enough to live in an affluent community, or you place them in private school, chances are your children will otherwise be functional illiterates.

Attitude: Yes there is certainly one to be had here! People in CA, by and large, don't see beyond the states boundries, and are woefully ignorant when it come to the eastern seaboard! There is a shallow-side to these folks as they are running about trying to find true happiness (remember what I stated earlier about living v. existing here?) and peace of mind. To the brie eating and wine swilling mob in this area, they truly believe that the Bay area is Nirvana!

How many of them have ever spent an Autumn in CT, or New England, with the granduer of the brilliant leaves turning dazzling orange or red? Not many I fear, as they're rising at 4.30am to make the trek to work!

As much as people are want to complain about almost anything, the thing I will never complain about is having the chance, -more correctly- the privilege to have grown-up and lived, really lived, a normal existence in Connecticut.

So I say to all those who may want to head west in search of the California Dream: look before you leap, as with so many things here, things are seen through a variety of rose-coloured glasses! If you're from Connecticut, never forget your roots and the stabilty of having grown-up in the land of steady habits, as life in CA is anything but steady!