[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

The main problem in Connecticut is fiercely independent towns and very little regional cooperation among cities/towns.

It's true that there is a lack of cooperation between the cities and towns. IMHO, it's almost always the cities who ultimately fail to cooperate. The one glaring example of this would be the games that Bridgeport has been playing with Stratford regarding the Sikorsky Airport, which is located in Stratford, but owned by the city of Bridgeport. For Decades, Stratford has been asking Bridgeport how much they want for the Airport, but Bridgeport just keeps stringing us along, never actually sitting down to talk real numbers. Seriously, s**t or get off the pot on this, Bridgeport!!!

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

I think the massive funding you see... is just the State's way of keeping the economic apartheid going.

I agree. Had the state pulled back on funding, cities like Bridgeport would've been more affordable for developers to come in and turn it around during those years when cities like Stamford were absolutely booming.

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

Some of the most dangerous urban areas in the United States are in southwest Bridgeport and the south end of Hartford. The Newhallville section of New Haven just a few years ago, had a higher rate of drug related murder than Compton, CA (per capita).

IDK, there are a lot of ways that you can look at data and manipulate the stats. I'd still feel safer in one of CT's dangerous cities, than i would in Memphis,etc. I think most of us know what areas to stay away from in our nearest city.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

IDK, there are a lot of ways that you can look at data and manipulate the stats. I'd still feel safer in one of CT's dangerous cities, than i would in Memphis,etc. I think most of us know what areas to stay away from in our nearest city.

It's the whole per capita thing.

If you're on a battlefield 1 mile wide and there are 10 soldiers firing 10 bullets a minute I think you are less likely to get hit then if there were 100 soldiers firing 5 bullets a minute.

The per captita thing can really muck up reality sometimes. By per capita standards NYC is WAY WAY WAY more safe and has a ton less murder, larceny, burglery etc then places like Charlotte NC.

BTW Charlotte had 83 murders NYC 596. Which city would you take a chance in?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

Some of the most dangerous urban areas in the United States are in southwest Bridgeport and the south end of Hartford.

Southwest Bridgeport would be the Black Rock which is one of the city's safest and most desirable neighborhoods.

As for the battle between Bridgeport and Stratford over the Sikorsky Airport, the concern is that Stratford will just close it. Stratford's track record has not been great with major deals either since it has not done anything with the old Avco tank plant property in the last 10 years. I would guess the state would take over Sikorsky Airport before Stratford. JMHO, Jay

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by JayCT

As for the battle between Bridgeport and Stratford over the Sikorsky Airport, the concern is that Stratford will just close it.

Of course that's the general idea. But still, it's irrelevant to the fact that Bridgeport has been coming to us for years now dangling the prospect of selling it to us, only to never state how much they want.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Stratford's track record has not been great with major deals either since it has not done anything with the old Avco tank plant property in the last 10 years.

If we were to talk about the Shakespeare Theatre, then yes, i would concede that we have mishandled the revitalization of it. Textron(Avco) however, has been totally out of the town's control. For 10 years the town was chasing after the Army and the Defense Department to get the ball rolling. Here's a little snippet for more background on the Avco debacle.

"Unfortunately, in 1998 the plant shut its doors, creating a devastating loss of jobs and tax revenue that impacted the Town and the region for over a decade and this impact can still be felt today.
In the decade that followed the closing of the SAEP's doors, the redevelopment efforts languished...................
Stratford Bard - The State of the Town

[aroundthecorner059]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

Some how I know this will cause an uproar…but:

There is this totally absurd image of Connecticut and people who live in Connecticut thanks to moronic Hollywood shows like “the Gilmore Girls” and because a handful of movie stars live in western Connecticut because they want proxmity to NYC.

Connecticut, especially in and around the bigger cities (Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford) and the towns/cities outside NYC… are as contrasting (rich and poor) as anywhere in the USA. It is true that many of Connecticut’s suburbs outside of NYC are some of the wealthiest zip codes in the USA…at the same time the 4th (Bridgeport), 6th (Hartford), and 13th (New Haven) poorest major cities (over 100,000) in the USA are in Connecticut. Will you come across a snooty person in some wealth neighborhood in Greenwich, sure…..just as you would in Palm Beach or Orange County, CA or any another affluent areas that ring big metro areas. Snootiness has no geographic home base… except maybe money.

Does the fictional life and town of “Stars Hollow” exist in some small quite town up in northeast or northwest Connecticut? Maybe. However, after you spend a short time here and drive around, whether in a rough gang infested area of Hartford… an old decaying industrial district in some mill town in the Naugatuck Valley…or sit watching a knot of old seaman who sit drinking in a crumbling clam shack in southeast Connecticut …you realize there are plenty of places in Connecticut that look nothing like “Stars Hollow. Do people get up each morning in some small little country town and go to work in an old Hotel? Maybe a few do. However the demographic reality is that a vastly greater number of Connecticut residents live in suburban/urban environments… get up each morning and get on congested I-95, I-91, or I-84, or get on a commuter train… and go to work in an in downtown offices or in a factory.

The point…I would take what you see on TV… with a grain of salt. Maybe even a lump of salt.

Those ''old decaying industrial districts'' in the Naugatuck Valley have since been turned into luxury housing, which provides a walkable area for yuppies who are Stamford/Norwalk commuters. I live in Oxford and many here share your closemindedness regarding less affluent areas: that they are old, decaying and will never change.

I read on a separate thread that people in Connecticut's poorer cities are looked down upon. They certainly are, as are the middle class towns like Naugatuck and Prospect. It seems the reason for the urban animosity is because the suburbanites and ruralites in most of CT make a project out of distancing themselves from people who live in otherwise great middle class Americana. There is a reason the Naugatuck Valley towns won the All American award in 2000 and it not because they are ''decaying.''

I cannot help but ask this question ... what the hell is the matter with people's sense of entitlement in Connecticut? Just because you live in a wealthy town (which is most of CT towns when compared nationally) gives nobody the right to make blanket and inaccurate statements as you have. I love living in this beautiful area but despise that attitude so many have.

[wavehunter007]

Originally Posted by aroundthecorner059

Those ''old decaying industrial districts'' in the Naugatuck Valley have since been turned into luxury housing, which provides a walkable area for yuppies who are Stamford/Norwalk commuters. I live in Oxford and many here share your closemindedness regarding less affluent areas: that they are old, decaying and will never change.

I read on a separate thread that people in Connecticut's poorer cities are looked down upon. They certainly are, as are the middle class towns like Naugatuck and Prospect. It seems the reason for the urban animosity is because the suburbanites and ruralites in most of CT make a project out of distancing themselves from people who live in otherwise great middle class Americana. There is a reason the Naugatuck Valley towns won the All American award in 2000 and it not because they are ''decaying.''

I cannot help but ask this question ... what the hell is the matter with people's sense of entitlement in Connecticut? Just because you live in a wealthy town (which is most of CT towns when compared nationally) gives nobody the right to make blanket and inaccurate statements as you have. I love living in this beautiful area but despise that attitude so many have.

First of all…your feeble attempt to use a few new luxury housing unites, in which fake yuppies stroll around in…as proof that there are no “decaying industrial areas in the Naugatuck Valley ..shows your serious lack of knowledge on this subject. My firm catalogs such data! The fact is, there are several severely decaying induiartal districts in the Valley, in New Haven, in Hartford, in Bridgeport, in New London, Hamden, West Haven, Norwich, East Hartford, Waterbury, Torrington, Meriden, Danbury, Norwalk , and countless other areas across Connecticut. A few preppies and a block or two of expensive housing…will not change the fact that vast number of industrial concerns and business has fled Connecticut for other states and other countries. Sorry if I say it, like it is.

Next…your attempt to lecture me about how “people in Connecticut's poorer cities are looked down upon” or “ urban animosity is because the suburbanites and ruralites in most of CT make a project out of distancing themselves from people who live in otherwise great middle class Americana…or what the hell is the matter with people's sense of entitlement in Connecticut just because you live in a wealthy town” …is absurd. MY WHOLE POINT (if you bothered to read it) was that the sectionalism in Connecticut and the rest of American is unsustainable. Perhaps reading comprehension was the real culprit here.

Finally, your comment “Just because you live in a wealthy town (which is most of CT towns when compared nationally)” … shows your lack of knowledge of demographics and reality on this subject (again). When you factor out some of the most afflunte towns in each region (County or MSA’s or SMA’s)…PLENTY of towns in Connecticut are not affluent at all. Sorry if you swallowed that myth and moved here. The whole State of Connecticut doesn’t look like Fairfield County. Drive around a little more.

Sorry if the “facts” don’t square with your perceived version of Connecticut and the World.

[aroundthecorner059]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

First of all…your feeble attempt to use a few new luxury housing unites, in which fake yuppies stroll around in…as proof that there are no “decaying industrial areas in the Naugatuck Valley ..shows your serious lack of knowledge on this subject. My firm catalogs such data! The fact is, there are several severely decaying induiartal districts in the Valley, in New Haven, in Hartford, in Bridgeport, in New London, Hamden, West Haven, Norwich, East Hartford, Waterbury, Torrington, Meriden, Danbury, Norwalk , and countless other areas across Connecticut. A few preppies and a block or two of expensive housing…will not change the fact that vast number of industrial concerns and business has fled Connecticut for other states and other countries. Sorry if I say it, like it is.

Next…your attempt to lecture me about how “people in Connecticut's poorer cities are looked down upon” or “ urban animosity is because the suburbanites and ruralites in most of CT make a project out of distancing themselves from people who live in otherwise great middle class Americana…or what the hell is the matter with people's sense of entitlement in Connecticut just because you live in a wealthy town” …is absurd. MY WHOLE POINT (if you bothered to read it) was that the sectionalism in Connecticut and the rest of American is unsustainable. Perhaps reading comprehension was the real culprit here.

Finally, your comment “Just because you live in a wealthy town (which is most of CT towns when compared nationally)” … shows your lack of knowledge of demographics and reality on this subject (again). When you factor out some of the most afflunte towns in each region (County or MSA’s or SMA’s)…PLENTY of towns in Connecticut are not affluent at all. Sorry if you swallowed that myth and moved here. The whole State of Connecticut doesn’t look like Fairfield County. Drive around a little more.

Sorry if the “facts” don’t square with your perceived version of Connecticut and the World.

First Ill inform you that Oxford is not in Fairfield County.

Next, my ''feeble'' attempt just outlines that data and statistics do NOT equal reality. When is the last time you've been to the towns between Waterbury and Bridgeport? Ill outline town by town for you since your obliviousness is evident as you seem to consider data over experience and reality. We'll begin with Beacon Falls, where the town's main factory facility was converted into beautiful luxury apartments called Beacon Mill. Look it up. The days are over when people commuted TO Beacon Falls to work; instead it is now an upper middle class bedroom town of New Haven. Now for Seymour ... that town had two main factories back in the day, one of which was razed to build a now thriving shopping center, the other which was extensively renovated to become the town's new police station. Both Seymour and Beacon Falls are now quickly growing suburbs for people coming up from Fairfield County. Now for Shelton .. that small city had two main factories on the river which are both luxury housing downtown. Ansonia and Derby (basically the heart of the Valley) still have thriving factories - Farrell in Ansonia and another in Derby that I can't think of at this moment. Latex Foam was a thriving business destroyed by fire but prior to this, it was the sole producer of their latex products in North America. That plot of land now houses a shopping center with Target, Bob's, among others. Derby's downtown IS having issues, I'll give you that, but there are plans to raze it and begin anew. This process is being stalled due to issues between the city and the developer, but it's still in the works.Oh yes, and the Riverside Housing Project (Ansonia's only housing project) is to be razed by 2011.

To add, I probably travel the state more than most. I enjoy seeing what my new state has to offer. Landwise, a huge percentage of the state would fall under the affluent category. The rest of the ''crumbling'' cities you mentioned are SOLIDLY middle class. Travel the country and expand your horizons ... you may be surprised at what you see in working class America.

Bottom line says that because a municipality has blue collar, middle class areas does NOT mean they are decaying.

Follow Center Street to Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton, or drive the scenic 188 corridor in Oxford (a Valley town with NO industrial areas) and tell me they're decaying. Take your nose out of that statistics book for a moment and think about what you're suggesting ... which is the area in CT that has been experiencing incredible population growth in recent years is decaying. 100 percent false.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

The fact is, there are several severely decaying induiartal districts in the Valley, in New Haven, in Hartford, in Bridgeport, in New London, Hamden, West Haven, Norwich, East Hartford, Waterbury, Torrington, Meriden, Danbury, Norwalk , and countless other areas across Connecticut.

In fairness, that isn't what you said in the beginning. You labeled the entire Naugatuck Valley (a seven town region if you include Oxford) as "crumbling" or "decaying" and that just isn't true. I think aroundthecorner's post accurately and correctly describes what has gone on in the Valley since 2000. I'd even argue that the southern part of Shelton is one of the state's largest corporate centers. I often meet people who return to the area after just 5-15 years and literally don't even recognize the towns anymore.

Also, aroundthecorner, you forgot about the recently torn down factory along Route 8 in Naugatuck that was an eyesore for many years.

The Valley isn't what it used to be. It's growing - rapidly.

[JayCT]

Beacon Falls is not a suburb of New Haven. Most people there work in Shelton, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls itself, Bridgeport, Seymour and Trumbull. According to the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) only 123 of the 3,311 workers in Beacon Falls work in New Haven.

Also the factory portion of the wire factory in Seymour was torn down for a Stop & Shop and the main office building for that factory is what was converted into the police station, not the facotry.

You are correct that the Naugatuck Valley is becoming a suburb of Fairfield County and is losing its industrial character. Shelton has seen a huge growth in the past 25 years in office complexes and jobs that replaced many of the factory ones lost. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Beacon Falls is not a suburb of New Haven. Most people there work in Shelton, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls itself, Bridgeport, Seymour and Trumbull. According to the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) only 123 of the 3,311 workers in Beacon Falls work in New Haven.

Also the factory portion of the wire factory in Seymour was torn down for a Stop & Shop and the main office building for that factory is what was converted into the police station, not the facotry.

You are correct that the Naugatuck Valley is becoming a suburb of Fairfield County and is losing its industrial character. Shelton has seen a huge growth in the past 25 years in office complexes and jobs that replaced many of the factory ones lost. Jay

The whole Valley is generally considered a suburb of New Haven but it depends on who you ask. The central location of the Valley really makes it part of 3 metro areas - New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury.

Regarding the wire factory in Seymour, I think the point the poster was trying to make is that the factories no longer exist in the Valley. Office or not, it was still part of the factory. Didn't they film a movie there just before it was torn down?

The job's in Shelton can't be compared to the old factory jobs - Shelton largely has white collar corporate jobs that have assisted in the Valley's growth and rising income.