movin outta CT (Hartford, Stamford, Greenwich: property taxes, housing, rental)

[Apple Annie]

WestGuy is 100% correct; and I always wonder why folks ask questions, get honest answers, and then don't want to believe it.

All that glitters is not gold, exactly. The only difference guys is THE WEATHER. You can go broke in NC a lot faster than in CT. No one should come to the south without a job. Are you ready to take 1/2 the salary you would get in CT?

Like others have said, don't burn your bridges because you may need to find a way back after the awakening.

[kd83]

i'm done..the original reason i posted this was to hear positives and its just turned into negative bickering...I wont be posting anymore..just know that change is what makes the world keep moving..staying stuck in your ways with your culture until you die is all well but I like to change..i like to try new things and move different places..if you dont like it I dont know what to say..I dont enjoy CT..I dont take pleasure in the "culture" we have to offer..I dont buy historical things and cultural things..I dont need antiques and to live in a house that was built in 1857 on a huge lot of land..I'm a renter..my gf is going to school at UNCC and I like to try new things..nuff said

[dandevder]

Well kd83 I will give you some positives! I moved from CT 2 years ago and would NEVER move back there!

I love NC. We make $15,000 more a year here than we were in CT. We pay less in taxes and insurance. My children are finally doing well in school. Yesterday it was 73 degrees outside and my daffodils have already bloomed. We now have real friends, not the fake ones who worry more about the kind of car you drive...you know the superficial ones! Overall it is a better lilfestyle down here. People are not always rushing around demanding things. Oh I could go on and on. Point is if you are open to a move you will not be unhappy.

I am sure my comments will make about 50 negative responses. But oh well. I heard much of that same negativity when we chose to move here as well. Each person is entitled to their own opinion. Best of luck on your move and feel free to pm me with any questions you have about the area. There are some really great things to see and do.

[BigHouse9]

Originally Posted by kd83

you are just repeating everything people have already said and had disproved or made fine arguments against..you make it seem like every neighborhood has cookie cutter houses and postage stamp lots..there are plenty yes b/c that is how most of the new developments go up but there are stillllll plenty that are not..so stop painting a 1-sided picture..

As for groceries? Where did you shop up here and where do you shop down there? I shop at shaws up here and super walmart is much cheaper down there FROM EXPERIENCE than shaws will ever be. My car insurance is going down..sounds like you got fuc*ed or need to change companies. I dont know what utilities are more expensive in raleigh but our elec bill here was 120 dollars last month and well I asked a bunch of different people down there what their average elec prices were for all elec homes and apts and the range was anywhere from 30-70 dollars sooooo again sounds like you're getting fuc*ed somehow. Just b/c you and your wife have to drive a lot more doesnt mean that 20-30 cents per gallon cheaper isnt a good thing. My gf and I will have to drive a lot LESS and gas is cheaper so its a huge benefit. Find a new job if you make less...that is nobody's fault but your own..In both my lines of work I will be making the same exact amount of money..is NC a place for teachers or stateworkers or anything that has a lower pay? NO..but not everybody is affected in that way. In fact if my ex gf relocates to the south she will get paid MORE than she is in CT.

and last but not least..yes the taxes are going up down there I am sure of that..but they are going up here as well..and the rate that they go up there compared to the rate they go up here..maybe one day they will cross but that wont be for a while, and if it ever does maybe that will help take care of the "trash" for school systems and healthcare they have.

Ranking schools on SAT scores and other standardized tests is retarded and we all know it. How do I know Rockville and Ellington have poor schools? Well for one I went to Rockville high and its horrendous even being in all level honors and AP classes. Kids smoking weed and drinking in the parking lots..finding empty rooms for BJ's etc etc..fights almost every day..and as for ellington well being so close most of my friends were from ellington...see first hand experience shows you a lot more than some numbers on paper and some standardized tests...I know people that got 1400's + on their SATS that are complete loseres now either alcoholics or druggies...some are flourishing at Yale and Harvard..but I still know people with 1000 or less that are smarter than a lot of them and just cant take standardized tests...I know a girl that got 1450 on her SAT didnt know how to read a clock with hands until she was 19 and didnt know how to pump her own gas until she was 22...NC might not have BETTER school systems but dont tell me Rockville and Ellington are not poor.

Hey, I am just telling it like it is. You want to ignore it, fine, suit yourself. I am not painting a one sided picture, I am painting what my observations have been. I don't know how anyone can disprove that. You do what you want to do, but it sounds like you only want to hear what you want to hear.

I love it. I have had experiences in both places, and you have had them only in one and you are going to preach to me?

Hope it works out for you but go in with your eyes and mind open.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by dandevder

I love NC. We make $15,000 more a year here than we were in CT. We pay less in taxes and insurance. My children are finally doing well in school. Yesterday it was 73 degrees outside and my daffodils have already bloomed. We now have real friends, not the fake ones who worry more about the kind of car you drive...you know the superficial ones! Overall it is a better lilfestyle down here. People are not always rushing around demanding things. Oh I could go on and on. Point is if you are open to a move you will not be unhappy.

Sound like you went from a "superficial" "rich" part of the state to a smaller city in NC. Not rushed? Pfft, go work in the financial district of Charlotte or fight for parking spots in the strip malls on the weekends. It's anything but Mayberry.

Superficial would be judging who someone is based on whether they are a Baptist or Pentecostal...I heard "What church to YOU belong to more than not".

I find the people up here more "real" and not fake. Go figure. I guess if you like someone to smile all the time like they really like you and everything in their life is perfect that's "Southern Hospitality".

If it works for you, that's great. It didn't work for me. As you said, to each his own.

[njohnson]

Originally Posted by JViello

I respectfully disagree. The school system is in SHAMBLES down there. Kids are being educated in trailer homes because of overcrowding and not enough funding. That's a fact. I met my wife in Charlotte and she was - you guessed it, a teacher making a whopping 24K a year. She promptly left the school system in Charlotte after a couple years as it was chaos.

I live in a 1800sf (Would be called 2400sf in the South) 3bdrm ranch home with a formal living and dining room and a walk out basement (windows doors etc on the rear of the house) on a private dead end road on the Bolton line of Manchester with 2 acres of land, deer and wild turkey in the back yard. I paid 180K for the home 4 years ago, it's since been appraised at 260K so I totally disagree with your statement. Oh and across the street a neighborhood of 500-1,000K homes just went up including Geno Auriema's home so it's a nice area to be sure. You just have to be smart and look around in CT.

That is fine, we can both respectfully disagree. This really isn't my unbiased opinion as I have no loyalty to either location and in fact I still live in CT.

I don't mind CT to the point where I hate it, my friends are here, my family is here and generally as far as a lifestyle choice it isn't bad.

The teachers salaries may be lower but with the higher cost of living here they equal out and there really is a difference in the cost of living. As much are you talk about the little things like milk and toast which do make a difference the biggest disparity is going to be the huge difference in the check you write for your mortgage each month and the one sent to the state of Connecticut just to live here. There are 10 teachers in my family, 4 living in CT and all have a tough time here and all the extra costs to heat your home in the winter don't help either.

Don't take this the wrong way but I find ranch homes boring and the styling uninspired. Perhaps I am jaded by the endless streams of raised ranch, ranch, and cape homes in CT who's number are so great they remind me of the rows of track homes in California. This sort of proves my point because can you get a newer, 2500sq ft. non ranch/raised ranch/cape home in CT in a good location for around $250,000. I'd really be surprised if you could show me something that has good curb appeal, new upgrades, 2 car garage, on a .5acre land for that price. I find a home meeting these needs in moderately priced Milford and it was going to cost $380,000 to grab it and it was only 1600sq ft.

Originally Posted by skytrekker

njohnson

you can buy a new 1850 square foot raised ranch with 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths, family room, fireplace, double garage on 1 acre in Ellington CT for 284K- I would assume that Ellington is a great town, with excellent schools. No? And in Vernon a new colonial, 3 bedrooms 2 baths one quarter acre, basement, fireplace- for 235K- Is Vernon bad or have crappy schools- I will wager you the SAT scores in Vernon beat everything in NC- including private schools- where most HAVE to send their kids because of the poor public schools.

That is what I am saying though skytrekker. The homes that are for sale here in CT for $250,000 are your regular joe shmoe raised ranch, cape, or ranch homes all of which styles I dislike. I was able to find homes in NC with custom designs, large craftsman homes, etc with interior floorplans that worked well for an individual such as I who need a large home office in the front and had floorplans that were modern in style. To do that to your typical $250,000 CT home would cost another $40,000+ in architect and contractor costs to remove walls, addon space, and create a more open floorplan. The thing I missed was that basements are common here in CT and in NC they are an addon feature that cost much more. Also you have to be really picky in NC about the builders because they put up homes so fast there and I have read about shoddy construction but that is something for an inspector.

The schools in Fort Mill where we were looking were quite excellent actually. You have Duke, Wake Forest, UNC, etc. Vernon, while a decent town, isn't exactly a shining star in CT, it's your average CT city. I should know, my girlfriend grew up there and her family live there. The homes on the "good side" past the tunnel (not sure what you in Vernon call it) were not bad, seemed like early 90s construction, but were definitely above $350,000.



Some other top notch pizza places in CT, in case you guys want to try some others in addition to pepes, are :
Sally's: New Haven
Modern: New Haven
Little Rendezvoux: Meriden
Frattellis: Wallingford
Lidos: Meriden

[JViello]

Originally Posted by kd83

i'm done..the original reason i posted this was to hear positives and its just turned into negative bickering...I wont be posting anymore..just know that change is what makes the world keep moving..staying stuck in your ways with your culture until you die is all well but I like to change..i like to try new things and move different places..if you dont like it I dont know what to say..I dont enjoy CT..I dont take pleasure in the "culture" we have to offer..I dont buy historical things and cultural things..I dont need antiques and to live in a house that was built in 1857 on a huge lot of land..I'm a renter..my gf is going to school at UNCC and I like to try new things..nuff said

Like I said before, I wish you well. Good luck. I just find it odd that you were defending CT and how much of a good place it was until you decided to move. Ahhh, youth - how sweet it is!

[theresa07]

God bless you so am i connecticut is not where i want to be. i'm glad someone knows that as well.

[dandevder]

Originally Posted by JViello

Sound like you went from a "superficial" "rich" part of the state to a smaller city in NC. Not rushed? Pfft, go work in the financial district of Charlotte or fight for parking spots in the strip malls on the weekends. It's anything but Mayberry.

Superficial would be judging who someone is based on whether they are a Baptist or Pentecostal...I heard "What church to YOU belong to more than not".

I find the people up here more "real" and not fake. Go figure. I guess if you like someone to smile all the time like they really like you and everything in their life is perfect that's "Southern Hospitality".

If it works for you, that's great. It didn't work for me. As you said, to each his own.

We live just outside of Charlotte. My hubby works in Charlotte, in the financial district. I shop in Charlotte and go into Charlotte for dinner and dancing. Parking sucks in any major city. Parking in Hartford is great...if you like your car broken into. Yes, it happened to me twice...2002 and in 2005. Those were in secured lots. Any major city has serious parking issues...get over it.

This is not 1960's NC. This is not Mayberry. People here have not judged me at all over my decision to go or not go to church. In 2 years I have never been asked what my religion is. If that was what you encountered, then think about the people you choose to surround yourself with.

People down here fake. When I bought my first house in Southington I did not know my neighbors at all. After 5 years there, I still could not tell you their names. Not from lack of trying on my part. When we were moving in down south, People came over all day and "lent a hand" grabbing boxes, bringing muffins and cookies, wishing us well. I know every neighbor I have here and am proud to call them my friends. In CT we were judged by the kind of car we drove, name brand on our clothes, and size of our house. If you are not used to someone smiling at you just to be friendly then it is time to take an inventory of your life. I love driving down the road and just having people wave to me to be nice and I do the same to them.

[skytrekker]

johnson I answered your question- no empirical facts submitted to back your claims- cheers
the houses in NC are overpriced for local economic conditions. Can locals pay those prices? NO most cities in NC are overpriced- in CT NO- Hartford, New Haven, Middlesex, Tolland, Windham New London counties are NOT- with families (over 60%) able to pay the median price for a single family home. It may seem cheap to you- but what about locals in NC... again lets be objective- do I want to be caught in a housing bubble- Nope- sorry to say some fools will be- and NC is a prime candidate.

NC relies on in migration from the northeast- what happens when that stops? These prices are cheap to you-what about locals? Is income growth that robust to support these prices?

A suggestion- courses in geography and economics do enlighten- and again CT ranks in the top 5 for quality of life issues- by FORBES magazine- NC ranks 26th- draw your own conclusions. cheers again.