[jeremeyk482]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Looking at it from this angle, it makes sense that these strip malls are located where 75 percent of the state's population is located. Being from New York state, I noticed the same thing in Poughkeepsie (Route 9), Jefferson Valley (Route 202), and Carmel (Route 6), etc.

As a result, I never sensed that much of a difference among Connecticut (Hartford, New Haven, and Fairfield Counties), downstate New York, or northern New Jersey.

With that being said, I was always at a loss when I'd hear, "Connecticut is typically New England."

To this day, I don't see how based on the parts of Connecticut to which I've been exposed. Having been to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire, I still think that Connecticut resembles New York or New Jersey more.

I couldn't agree more with this assessment. To say that CT doesn't have strip malls, cookie cutter homes, gated communities, etc is hogwash.

Sure many towns are quaint in Connecticut and do resemble New England, but where most people on this forum would be purchasing a home is not in extreme NE or NW Connecticut. It's more likely than not in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford Counties. These places, as Rich Lee has pointed out, are no different than the suburban atmosphere that has taken over much of the nation.

The only difference is maybe the topography, per capita income, and price (excluding Hartford). Otherwise, it's all the same.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by jeremeyk482

I can think of many gated communities in Greenwich, Stamford, Ridgefield, Danbury, Middlebury, Woodbridge, Oxford, Trumbull, Darien, New Fairfield, Westport, etc.

You don't think CT has stripmalls? Who are you trying to kid?? LOL! Have you been down the Berlin Turnpike, Boston Post Road, Newtown & Federal Roads in Danbury, most of Waterbury, Derby, Ansonia, Fairfield and New Milford? Even when driving along state roads such as Rt 63 or Rt 7, strip malls are the norm. Coming from someone who lives in Manchester, I would think you'd see this daily.

If you drive around some thriving communities (such as Southbury or Brookfield) many of the new homes are all the same, with just 2 or 3 housing styles. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but every home is cookie cutter. It's not only in NC. I also see it in Canton, Burlington, Derby, Monroe, New Milford and Thomaston.



I just read much of the posts and I don't think anybody said this.

Also when discussing sports, this thread is a CT or NC thread. You can't say CT is more involved with sports because of the Patriots (based in MA) or the Red Sox (also in MA). CT has no professional sports teams so to even begin to say that sports are a part of CT itself is just untrue. UCONN basketball is about as big as it gets.

Okay, I'm on my way out to dinner and can't reply in length right now, but let me ask you this.

Have you ever lived outside of CT? If so, where and when...because you are CLUELESS to think CT resembles ANYTHING NEAR NC or SC, or GA or VA etc regarding suburbia.

A list of those gated communities would be nice too since you can think of them off the top of your head...considering I could pass at least 10-15 on my way from Metro West to Buena Vista during my commute in HEL...Er, FL. (That's a pretty short drive BTW - but you already know that...right? )

Answer that and I'll be back...thanks.

P.S. Golden, I'm just a middle class working guy and don't own property near a lighthouse...I think you need to explore this state beyond SE CT and get over the fact that the middle class CAN survive and enjoy a good life in this state.

[Golden1]

Originally Posted by JViello

Okay, I'm on my way out to dinner and can't reply in length right now, but let me ask you this.


P.S. Golden, I'm just a middle class working guy and don't own property near a lighthouse...I think you need to explore this state beyond SE CT and get over the fact that the middle class CAN survive and enjoy a good life in this state.

Whoa whoa... I have explored this state from top to bottom. We went over that last month when you attacked my assessment that there isn't a lot of culture seeking people on every corner and the Olive Garden is packed on Weekends.

And in exploring this state I can safely say I know where it's strengths and weaknesses are. My role on this board has become the middle man who understands both why people are leaving this state and why people, such as you, chose to live here. I objectively see both sides due to my travels throughout the area. Some people's role have become troll-like with nothing but bad, negative things to say about CT. Your role is to scoff at anyone saying something bad about CT and to defend this state as though you were the governor and bring up statistics to intimidate.

Here's the facts... CT is full of strip malls and fast food, chain restaurants. Much of CT does not have a definate look while that does not mean entirely it looks like anything down South, I stand by it looking like any number of regions in NY, Indiana and Penn' just to name a few. HOWEVER, and this is before you chime in... Yes, there are spots that look exactly like New England or some out of stater think CT sould look like. Those spots are primarily in the New London County area, New Haven County area and to a degree Litchfield. Hartford County in particular does not have a special New England feel to it. And yes, you will disagree with me because I dared say a word that differs from your opinion. People from Ohio who want to move to CT to have that CT feel... Stonington, Mystic, Madison, Essex, Lyme are just a few places. Enfield, Tolland, Manchester, Windsor and alike will look nothing different from upstate NY (yes, I've been there). And I'm not going to name every town in CT - those are examples of what people want and do not want when it comes to a true CT town and life. And as someone pointed out it is more expensive to live in these such areas and the average person will have a difficult time buying a good home there. Is it more expensive than living in Manhattan or living in California? No, but everything is a matter of perception.

Now please stop waving the CT flag. We know you went to NC and you tried and found it not to be your liking. You came back to CT. Unstandable. But ease off the propaganda throttle. If I want to know a great eatery in CT I cannot think of a more knowledgable poster than you. It's true. Same goes if I were wondering about an event or the directions to a place, but you have to understand, like you at one point, some people are fed up and are thinking the move to NC is a good fit. Let 'em go. Either they'll come back and say you're right and kiss CT ground or they'll love it. We're all different. Some of us posters think some areas of CT are not quite like some people suggest and other places are "spot on" New England with wonderful chowder.

[jeremeyk482]

Originally Posted by JViello

Okay, I'm on my way out to dinner and can't reply in length right now, but let me ask you this.
Have you ever lived outside of CT? If so, where and when...because you are CLUELESS to think CT resembles ANYTHING NEAR NC or SC, or GA or VA etc regarding suburbia.

A list of those gated communities would be nice too since you can think of them off the top of your head...considering I could pass at least 10-15 on my way from Metro West to Buena Vista during my commute in HEL...Er, FL. (That's a pretty short drive BTW - but you already know that...right? )

Answer that and I'll be back...thanks.

P.S. Golden, I'm just a middle class working guy and don't own property near a lighthouse...I think you need to explore this state beyond SE CT and get over the fact that the middle class CAN survive and enjoy a good life in this state.

I lived in Richmond until I was 18 years old, and I often head back to visit family and old friends. Richmond has more history than probably any city in Connecticut and the homes in the city aren't cookie cutter like most of the CT towns, but it's happening more and more in the suburbs. CT has more chain restaurants compared to the Richmond area than Florida has mobile homes and CT is more like NoVa, MD, and PA with the repetitive culdesacs consisting of three-choice homes.

Before moving to Fairfield County, I temporarily lived in the suburbs of Denver. Many of those suburbs have less chain stores than Connecticut.

Why do you think CT is so perfect? Take Hartford for example. The city is among the poorest in the nation, has high crime, crumbling schools and very cheap, shoddy housing. Sounds like a GREAT city to move to!!!! Same with Bridgeport, Waterbury and New Haven. Most of the small towns want very little association with the larger cities. That's a problem.
Moderator cut: personal - off topic You live in Manchester, not Newport or Vermont or the coast of Maine. You live in a town with little identity other than the mall, an abundance of chain stores, and small, quaint neighborhoods of mainly modest ranch homes that look all too much alike. So, really, what's your deal? Manchester has about as much New England charm as Arizona has blizzards (now I can't wait for you to correct me and go on and on about Manchester's past)..

Oh, and just to name a few gated communities off the top of my head:

Greenwich:
Conyers Farm
Greenwich Place
Greenwich Oaks
Belle Haven
Round Hill Estates

Westport:
Oak Creek

Oxford:
Church View Estates

Branford:
Juniper Road Estates

Danbury:
Candlewood Isle

Fairfield:
Southport Village
The Cotswolds

Torrington
Lakeridge

I can name many more but I think you get the point. And don't give me any you know what about most of those being in Fairfield and New Haven Counties because, as I've seen you put it before: "that's not average CT." Well, that's where more than half of the state's population resides so, yes, that's average CT to the average resident.

It's funny that you actually think CT doesn't have cookie cutter homes. You obviously don't get out much, or at least away from your beloved Hartford area.

And to reply to your PS to golden, the middle class CAN survive if they live east of the CT river. Stats show that in other areas, the middle class and fresh out of college grads are leaving the state in droves because of the increasingly expensive market in southern and western CT. Do you ignore these statistics? Obviously there's a reason that CT lost a representative after the 2000 census was released. We're still growing, but MUCH less so than other areas of the nation. There's a reason for that. In seven years, things only became more expensive which means more middle class leaving and cashing in down south or up in northern NE. A study was released just a few weeks ago. When looking at geographical areas as a whole, CT is among the most expensive in the nation, behind California and southeast NY/northern NJ. Also, experts often discuss the famous wealth-gap here, which is among the largest of any state in the US.
Moderator cut: personal - off topic

I do love Connecticut. I also love VA and CO and SC and NC. While the people are vastly different, each area has its own way of life that I accept and enjoy discovering. Your posts, on the other hand, show that you're very closed-minded when it comes to others voicing their opinions.

[markablue]

Calm down, everyone, please. Everybody is entitled to have an opinion - there are no right or wrong ones.

Go back to debating the opinions without resorting to ad hominem arguments or this thread will be closed and infracitions issued. Thank you.

[cyntmac]

OP spoke of lots of illegals and high crime but many parts of NC still have very little of that. If you live in a low cost area and have any number of illegals now- that will surely increase in the coming years. OP chose an area with crime? Substansial crime? Living near the beach sometimes comes with tradeoffs. The NC coast still has many quiet areas. Some with low crime. This issue has to do with the OP's motivations. I have heard that eastern NC is different than the rest of the state as far as the median income of the residents.(generally lower I think)

I am not a fan of the south and I like New England. OP may just like CT better. Maybe he could find a way to live inexpensively up there-compared to what he was used to in the past. I personally would have trouble adjusting in the south. I don't live there because it is not my cup of tea. No matter how low crime the area and how inexpensive I would not be happy. If that is you- you should seriously look into moving back. It will be even more expensive now so you really have to want it. Good luck.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by glenzx2

Finally, I live in the SE corner, where the casinos are. The two largest casinos in this hemisphere and I live between them, ten minutes to either one. Not that I ever go to them. Frankly, I am not comfortable living in an area that bases it's economy on such a worthless and hedonistic industry.

Why does Connecticut need casinos anyway? Doesn't Connecticut have the highest per capita income in the USA? Apparently the people who settled and built the economy of Connecticut did things right in order to make the per capita income the highest in the USA without casinos. Connecticut is not like Nevada, which had nothing else besides mining when the state legalized gambling, or states like Louisiana and Mississippi which ranked near the bottom in per capita income and had high rates of poverty even before Hurricane Katrina came through.

People in Connecticut should be able to get jobs that pay higher than the average of jobs in most other states pay.

Ken Akerman

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by jeremeyk482

Oh, and just to name a few gated communities off the top of my head:

Greenwich:
Conyers Farm
Greenwich Place
Greenwich Oaks
Belle Haven
Round Hill Estates

Westport:
Oak Creek

Oxford:
Church View Estates

Branford:
Juniper Road Estates

Danbury:
Candlewood Isle

Fairfield:
Southport Village
The Cotswolds

Torrington
Lakeridge

.

Southport Village is not a gated community. It is a cmall affluent village that is part of the Town of Fairfield. A numbe rof them are also condminium development or reantal projects. Not what was being talked about.

The ones here that I do know, are not what Ithe poster was talking about. I believe that the poster was talking about large developments of homes (say more than 100) that you must pass through a securtiy checkpoint to get into and are run be a homeowners association. Down south there are thousands of these. The reason for them is that many of these comunities are located in areas where there is little or no police protection or zonig to protect people buying a nicer home.

As for that "feel" that is being talked about, no every town does not have it covering every square inch of it, but most towns do have the typical white steepled church on the town green surrounding by a number of older homes. That is the character that I at least is talking about. Jay

[skytrekker]

Hopefully this thread soon ends.

A few observations; The New England states do in fact have a unique 'house form and culture' from a Geographers point of view. Yes as Jay alluded to above there is in most towns the quintessential 'green' and Congregational Church- these iconic visions are not duplicated elsewhere or anywhere. From New Haven to Litchfield -the same plan can easily be seen.

I think it might be fair that Connecticut has its fair share of so called 'tract home communities' and a few that are 'cookie cutter'- however they are not like those in many booming areas of the south and west. There are simply fewer of them- and local zoning laws are much more strict- for both aesthetics- and the environment (where CT excels at).

North Carolina for example has some of the worse air pollution in the nation- especially around Charlotte. Why is this? Perhaps the traffic patterns and local growth have caused too much reliance on the Auto- I have not lived there- but for those who have like JVeillo can answer this.

Be that as it may- New England architecture is indeed very different then even the mid Atlantic states. I have a friend in Philly- and frankly even there the way they build-from commercial to residential is much different then here.

In the Washington DC area- the residential type of housing is stylistically 'becoming southern' with much more brick used then in New England. Although frame and 'traditional' homes are still built. But the 'southern style Georgian' type of cookie cutter home is very visible. Much of this can be attributed to the nearby southern 'culture' and the predominance of 'clay soil'....brick as one goes south.

North Carolina and many areas of the coastal plain south of New Jersey have a clay soil- New England is more gravel and sand- the glaciers deposited much of it- and that Glacial wall stopped just south of New York City.

Also even though CT has some very unattractive strip malls etc- they are not as widespread as in the south nor as ticky tacky. Local zoning here although not perfect- is still better then in the south- where economic growth precedes the local environment.

In ending; to say there is no difference between Connecticut and North Carolina in house form and culture is very untrue. The differences can be attributed by climate; culture;population density; religion; and perhaps most importantly New England's spatial population has not changed much in 400 years.

Those population patterns have grown- but the centers where they sprang from have remained the same. For that reason, perhaps, New England maintains its historical settlement patterns more then anywhere in the nation and its unique New England 'house form and culture'......

And to really end? The Casino's- I love how people living so far away seem to want to find new ways to be critical- the Casinos are basically Indian reservations- the initial concept was to give Native Americans a stake in the states economy- plus the state not being totally benevolent; would get 'their take'. In any case- both sides have made out very well in this 'marriage' .South eastern Connecticut's two casino's have blended marvelously into the local countryside- and provided both state and out of state visitors with an attractive venue that goes beyond gambling.

From Wikipedia

New England's geography is the result of retreating ice sheets that shaped the landscape thousands of years ago, leaving behind long rolling hills, mountains, and a jagged coastline. The seacoast of the region, extending from southwestern Connecticut to northeastern Maine, is dotted with lakes, hills, swamps, and sandy beaches, especially in Cape Cod. Farther from the coast are higher elevations, including mountain ranges and rocky hills, which extend through Connecticut, Massachusetts,

Several factors contribute to the uniquenesses of the New England economy. The region is geographically isolated from the rest of the United States, and is relatively small. It has a climate and a supply of natural resources such as granite, lobster, and codfish, that are different from many other parts of the country. Its population is concentrated on the coast and in its southern states, and its residents have a strong regional identity.

The first European colonists of New England were focused on maritime affairs such as whaling and fishing, rather than more continental inclinations such as surplus farming. One of the older American regions, New England has developed a distinct cuisine, dialect, architecture, and government. New England cuisine is known for its emphasis on seafood and dairy; clam chowder, lobster, and other products of the sea are among some of the region's most popular foods, such as New Haven's famous white clam pizza.


New England has largely preserved its regional character, especially in its historic places. Its name is a reminder of the past, as many of the original English-Americans have migrated further west. Today, the region is more ethnically diverse, having seen waves of immigration from Ireland, Québec, Italy, Portugal, Asia, Latin America, Africa, other parts of the United States, and elsewhere. The enduring European influence can be seen in the region, from Massachusetts' use of traffic rotaries to the bilingual French and English towns of northern Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, as innocuous as the sprinkled use of British spelling, and as obvious as the region's heavy prevalence of English town and county names, and its unique, often non-rhotic dialect reminiscent of southeastern England.

Money, in a 2006 survey entitled "Best Places to Live," ranked several New England towns and cities in the top one hundred. In Connecticut, Fairfield was ranked ninth, while Stamford was ranked forty-sixth. In Maine, Portland ranked eighty-ninth. In Massachusetts, Newton was ranked twenty-second. In New Hampshire, Nashua, a past number one, was ranked eighty-seventh. In Rhode Island, Cranston was ranked seventy-eighth, while Warwick was ranked eighty-third.[48]

[JViello]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Southport Village is not a gated community. It is a cmall affluent village that is part of the Town of Fairfield. A numbe rof them are also condminium development or reantal projects. Not what was being talked about.

The ones here that I do know, are not what Ithe poster was talking about. I believe that the poster was talking about large developments of homes (say more than 100) that you must pass through a securtiy checkpoint to get into and are run be a homeowners association. Down south there are thousands of these. The reason for them is that many of these comunities are located in areas where there is little or no police protection or zonig to protect people buying a nicer home.

As for that "feel" that is being talked about, no every town does not have it covering every square inch of it, but most towns do have the typical white steepled church on the town green surrounding by a number of older homes. That is the character that I at least is talking about. Jay

Well that saved me a lot of typing. LOL

Agreed. Some of those "gated" communties are not. Gated personal property is not what I was talking about.

I was talking about a walled in development with several hundred cookie cutter homes on .25 acre selling for about 200-250K with a gate to get in. I can't think of a single one of those here. No thanks.

Jeremey, at the request of Markablue (Who I agree with anyway) I'm not going to get into an arguement of insults. You don't like it here? Don't move here, it's that simple.

I think you have a very shallow view of all the places you mentioned...perhaps being a bit of a roving gypsy has not allowed you to settle and fully take in your surroundings and everything just blends. (I.E. NC and CT are the same...LOL )

Have a nice day.