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I'm moving to CT from MA this year because I am getting married and my fiance lives and works there. We are going to be in Northwest CT which is pretty much the exact opposite of the Greater Boston Area. For years I've been trying to decide, can I do it? Can I move to a such a rural area? Well, its not that bad. The traffic is practically non-existent except for that stretch where 91 meets 84 in Hartford, it is quieter, different. It is different. I love where I live now, but I think CT will be a great place to have kids and a family. I am sad to go 2 hours from my family, but the reality is if we wanted to stay up here in MA, we'd have to move an hour away for any sort of "affordable" house. Then again, 6.5 miles out of Boston gets you an "affordable" condo with 544 sq ft, one parking space and costs over $250K. For $300K in CT we are looking at new construction, 2000sq ft, 1 acre (small acreage by CT standards, I know, but I think its perfect for 2 people - and in MA that is the jackpot!) in a pretty town, not in a subdivision. Not too shabby.
I did read in one post that people in Northern CT don't seem to get out much - that has been my experience as well, especially in the small towns. Mentioning heading to Westfarms (West Hartford/Farmington mall) is like asking to hop a plane to London! It's only 25 min away! LOL. I think its funny and now I just go by myself. This may just be because the people I've asked are just homebodies. I'm used to driving up to NH for stuff, down to Providence, beach days down the Cape. I don't mind driving. I have friends at Fairfield and friends at Yale, both about 45 min away, and people think I'm nuts to head down there for dinner every now and then. It is not that far, people just perceive it has far. I've noticed that CT people seem to be very loyal to their counties; I guess we are like that in MA too, it just sticks out more when you see it instead of live it.
However, in complete contrast to this, people in CT (at least NW CT) seem to have no problem commuting 30-60 min to work. I have an issue with this because I've never worked more than 10 miles from my place of residence! There are so many more options job-wise up here. I am job searching, and it is different because in Boston you say "I want to be a [insert job title here]" look it up online, find a bunch of companies and go for it. In CT, I have to find companies that are within a reasonable driving distance (I don't want to go more than 40 min away - I'm not talking traffic, I'm talking straight driving) and then find positions at those companies that fit me. It is much harder.
One other major plus I see in CT is the accessibility to NYC. I shoot down RT 8 to Fairfield, hop the train and 70 min later am in Grand Central. I love it! It just the perfect day trip. At the same time, if I need to come home to Boston, I'm back in 2 hours. It really is not that bad. If you are from up here in Boston, you'll know that going 10 miles can take over an hour in traffic. CT is not that congested, which is nice.
Also, to those who think CT is just full of very rich people; go up to NW CT. I'll admit my ignorance and tell you I also thought CT was full of "rich people". Not so much. When mfg jobs went out (example: the Torrington Company) that left entire communities in shambles. CT has been offering tax discounts to bring more business into the state. As on outsider (I don't live there yet) it seems that they just don't have enough jobs to go around.
So those are my thoughts on CT. I don't live there yet and I will soon. My goal is to get a house on Cape Cod one day (I can't leave MA totally behind). I'm true to my Boston roots, but CT isn't so bad. It not as fast paced, not as overdeveloped, sometimes not as exciting, but it does have fabulous restaurants (in places you'd never think to look), great scenery - for those long commutes to work, and its close to Boston and NYC. OH! Flying out of Bradly is cake compared to Logan. That is a major plus.
It is growing on me. It is different. Sometimes change is good.
Anyway, to those counting up who is moving in and out, you can add 1 more person - RED SOX person - to the stats. Someone told me there is like a line across the state where the Red Sox nation ends and the Yankee stuff starts. I was also told there is a blob of Mets fans up in Litchfield County.
We had 5 Mets fans at the Hartford Courant, me included Your post about the 25 minute drive is sooo true. I lived in Colchester which is 27 miles from downtown Hartford. You would swear that people thought we lived in Egypt.
Greetings from a Connecticut expatriate. In the late '70 my wife and I had to move to a much better paying job in NYC because we could not afford a house trailer in Merrow, CT (near UCONN). Unfortunately my PTSD (undiagnosed/untreated) prevented me from being comfortable in NY. I took a job in Boston, then NH and now, back in Boston. We have lived in southern NH for the last 24 years and seen our Condo double in value. This is nice but - our property taxes and condo fees have more than doubled to over $5,000 per year. Again we are being cost stressed because my job as an environmental scientist has not kept up with the real inflation.
I, and my wife, would love moving back to Connecticut but there is no way we could afford it. We really liked Connecticut but there were no jobs available at that time for my wife and my wages were stagnant.
One of our correspondents has provided, seemingly gleefully, statistics on the current and expected growth in many places. I have experienced Londonderry, NH grow from 9,000 to over 23,000 in the last 22 years. Along with this growth came vastly increased taxes to pay for, what I consider, an extravagant high school, town hall and police department. Also traffic on Saturday morning has become really annoying. Air traffic into Manchester, NH airport would be disturbing if I didn't kind of like airplanes. On the other hand, I really love the national politics. I have met many, many presidential hopefuls in the last 20 years.
That be as it may, we are considering moving to a small city in New Mexico. The main reason is the cost of housing is way lower both in town and in the boonies. The boonies are also a lot closer in NM because they start where the city water ends. We hope to be able to snowbird for a couple of years then sell out and buy a place there. We are looking around Socorro, not Santa Fe!
I realize the culture shock will be substantial. Among other things we'll have to relearn our high school Spanish if we want talk with half of our neighbors. I think we will learn to enjoy it. I know I will enjoy the warmth for 90% of the winter and get used to the heat. Actually, for most of last summer, Socorro was cooler (!) than Londonderry. Go figure.
I have really appreciated this thread. Thank You, Greg W
Hey, I'm the one who mentioned people in Northern CT do not go out and about too much. It's true. I cannot tell you how many people I know that have not even been to NYC and they are adults living roughly two hours away. It seems they do things once when they were young like go to Florida on Spring Break and never attempt it again. I can tell you with confidence I have traveled throughout this small state greater than 90% of the people in Northern CT who the last time they went forty minutes in any direction was on a bus to a high school football game (not counting the once or twice a year runs to a beach in RI or Maine or Cape).
It's even true to a degree with Western Mass people. I've friends in the Springfield MA area that have never once been to Northampton MA which is only 20 minutes away and it has some of the best culture and restaurants in the area.
This has nothing to do with someone moving here or telling someone they should not move here. Life is what you make of it, but I gotta tell you when people keep bringing up the culture in CT compared to other areas (ie the South) and don't know too many people in Northern CT that really care to partake in plays/musicals/theater/art festivals. Oh, they're around but not much. Most people avoid crowds and speak of Hartford as if it was this sprawling metropolis when it's a small city that if you drive a few miles it's gone. I think culture-wise Northern CT and much of Western Mass is no different than upstate NY or probably even some of the Southern states being bashed. There's culture if you look for it but trust me not a lot of people are checking into it. I seem to be one of the few that will do a drive to a restuarant in Litchfield or Mystic or Madison in my area. The Olive Garden rules my area and people enter drooling as though it was the best Italian food in the world.
One thing I'd like to point out with jobs in CT is the competition is rough. Probably as rough as they come. There are people with Masters degrees trying for correction officer jobs. Who would have thought that years ago. People want job security and the private sector is not as strong as it once was in CT. That is not to say there are no jobs. It's just the competition is thick and highly qualified. In places that are booming in the West and South you might have a better shot at getting certain jobs.
But everything works in cycles and who knows how things will be in 3 years or 5 years.
I like CT for some reasons and resent it for some. I'm glancing at other states and areas as we speak. If you have the money I think CT is probably a good fit. If you're middle class you might want to check your options.
Golden 1 - LOL re: Olive Garden!!!! LOL!!! I could not stop laughing when I read this, it is so true!! At least, I've had that same experience. Do you ever go to Vito's in Hartford? They serve 'till after 11 PM there - apparently unheard of in the area.
Yeah there's not much going on in that area. I'm not uber concerned. We travel often for work & pleasure so I get my kicks in. Plus, we'll be coming back up here often.
It's funny, up in the Boston area, we consider Worcester "Western MA" and UMASS Amherst the end of the state. I am embarrassed that I've only been to Springfield twice (once on a field trip in grade school) and never been past 91. I plan to explore more of Western MA when I get to NW CT. It is something to look forward to.
Oh, there is this great Belgian chocolatier in Kent. We go out there sometimes in the summer. There is also this awesome Bavarian place on Lake Warmog (definitely misspelling that), and The Dutch Epicure in Bantom has the most amazing cheeses I can't find anywhere else (I checked every Whole Foods near me). Get this cheese: Prima Donna.
I've decided that most people in the area think I'm strange and I think they are strange. What are you gonna do? I like to order things off the internet, go to a sports club; I use a global bank and not a local one; and I live to drive to other towns and travel the world. Oh yeah, and I like to get my mail daily (in some of the small towns, you only get on days when you get "real" mail). Some people appreciate that, some think I'm strange...I don't really care.
Sometimes country life is completely lost on me. I've been trying to "fit in" for the past few years (part-time CT living) and sometimes I feel like its never really going to happen. My finance and I are happy though, so I guess that's all that matters. I fit in with him! We like to do the same things! I'm hoping to make friends at work when I get there.
I'm not bashing CT but just pointing out in Northern CT there is not a lot of hunting for culture and traveling. The best small mom and pop restaurant would tank where I live because it's Olive Garden country. I once told people I like Mexican food and was told Chi Chi's had great mexican food. There you go. That says it all. Very few reach out to find the best eateries or pizza places like I do in my area. It's just not a big deal. In NYC it was a big deal to explore nooks and cranies. BUT I couldn't afford to live in a house near NYC and northern CT is affordable although taxes and utilities is becoming worrisome.
Connecticut is in for a bigger correction than what NC will expierience. It is already happening. Jobs and population increase=real estate appreciation. My house is on the market and I could have gotten 15-20% if I had it ready last spring. No doubt Florida and Arizona are getting the worst of it right now.
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Your post about the 25 minute drive is sooo true. I lived in Colchester which is 27 miles from downtown Hartford. You would swear that people thought we lived in Egypt. 
Yeah...
