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Go Back To Ct.----tried This South Thing And Can't Wait To Get Back Up North. This Is Not Home---home Is Where You Are Comfortable And Puts A Smile On Your Face. Somehow You Always Work Things Out If It's Right For You. Move For The Right Reasons

[sweetiesmj]

My husband and I have four children and all our family lives in CT. and NY. We lived in Monroe for most of our lives and grappled with the decision of whether or not to move our family to some other area of the country in order to "work to live" instead of "living to work". We actually had a house in North Carolina (Sanford - in between Raleigh and Southern Pines). We were going to move there and decided against is for the exact reasons you listed in your cons for NC. We also looked in South Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, NY, NJ and a few other states. After many many many hours of research and many trips to the listed areas, we came to the conclusion that the only place that we would feel "at home" in was CT.

You are right to list high taxes and long winters as cons in CT. Money Magazine lists CT. as the highest taxed state (#2 NY). But, believe it or not, there are still towns that can be considered "affordable" by CT. standards. The winters you can't do much about unless you plan a few vacations to warmer destinations in those long winter months.

I am going to tout Naugatuck since this is where we currently live. As I have already mentioned, we did live in Monroe.
Pros about that were: Fairfield County, good schools
Cons about Monroe: HIGH cost of living, high cost of housing, your taxes don’t seem to get you much, and definitely working for your mortgage.

We found almost everything that we were looking for right in Naugatuck. I was actually surprised by this myself. Growing up in Stratford and spending most of my adult life in Monroe, when people would tell me about Naugatuck, my response was “Naugatuck?! Why Naugatuck?!” I am the first to say that my preconceived idea of what Naugy was…was completely wrong. We have never been happier. The house we have (6 BR, 3 BA Colonial) cost us $265 a little over a year ago and has appreciated in value $48,000 with only about $2,000 worth of work done to it (according to the appraiser). We live in a wonderful safe family neighborhood, the kind that you can let your child ride his/her bike down the street to a friend’s house and not worry. The schools are great; we have had only positive experiences. Both my school age children receive high honors every marking period and are challenged. I am a firm believer that an education, no matter where you are, is only as good as what you put into it. There are also a number of private school options in the area. We are centrally located between Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford. Naugy has great sports programs (soccer, baseball, football, cheerleading). I am very impressed at all the offerings they have for families with children – festivals, fairs, concerts, holiday events, etc.

Naugatuck has a wonderful future full of potential. A huge revitalization project (Renaissance Place) has just been approved by the townspeople and will very shortly break ground. More info on that at :::: Naugatuck Renaissance Place ::::

We came to the conclusion that if we left New England, we would be losing the quintessential New England that we love so; we would miss our friends and family, we would lose the familiarity you get living in an area all your life. We would miss the educational aspect, the theater, the higher standard of living, the people that make this area all that it is, the small-town feeling with the big-city offerings. I’m not saying that you can’t find that elsewhere but for us, we were not able to find the comfortable “balance” elsewhere for our family. Let’s face it, money makes the world go round. When you live in an area that has a higher cost of living, you tend to get those finishing touches of life that distinguish the amenities of one area from another. There are PLENTY of areas with more than Naugy and PLENTY of areas nicer than Naugy but at what cost? How much are you willing to go in hock? I guess that’s what it all boils down to. How much are you willing to owe to live? We choose to live in Connecticut, the Nutmeg State, the state where our hearts are. We’ll visit the warmth and sun on vacation!

Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

Hope this helped. Good luck!

[Jett456]

I stumbled across this post and have to say that I have been thinking of NC as a place to buy a second home. I don't think I would want to be there full time. I grew up in NYC and Yonkers and moved to Norwalk 21 years ago. It has gotten so expensive here. When we moved it was more affordable than moving up in Westchester County. The traffic now is also horrible. It takes 30 minutes to get across town sometimes. It is hard to leave now that the kids are grown and settled. I guess I have to wait for them to move out!

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

Beaches may not be as nice as NC but it takes us a lot longer to get there from Raleigh and I still find Cape Cod to be far superior to the NC beaches

I haven't been to either Cape Hatteras in NC or Cape Cod in MA but if I had a choice to visit one of those two beaches, I would prefer the NC beaches. The NC beaches appear to be more rustic and less developed, in contrast to Cape Cod which appears to be extensively developed and very crowded during the summer. Also, NC is a lot further south so there is a longer period of warm weather each year.

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

As far as mountains go, again, closer in CT and the mountains in New England win HANDS DOWN.

North Carolina has the highest point east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell (broken link) (6,684 feet). Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the NC-TN border covers a large area of mountainous terrain in the southern Appalachians and is America's most visited national park.

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

Sports in New England go much deeper as well as it is only NCAA basketball here.

North Carolina has three major pro sports teams - the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (broken link) and NBA's Charlotte Bobcats in Charlotte. New England has one team in each of the four major sports, all in the Boston metropolitan area. NC lacks a Major League Baseball team but it would appear to me that the Charlotte area should be on the top of MLB's list of new markets for a future expansion team or relocated team - perhaps the Florida Marlins, for example.

[BigHouse9]

In Raleigh, it is all about NCAA basketball. The Hurricanes and Panthers don't get an awful lof of support here and the Bobcats are virtually non-existent.

Sports in CT have the Yankees and Red Sox, Giants, Jets, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Rangers plus UCONN. With the exception of the NHL, all of the above mentioned pro sports are closer than Charlotte. There are also the Travelers Championhship, Deutsche Bank and plenty of other golf tournaments in NY to attend. Raleigh has the SAS championship (Seniors) annually.

But there is also a much bigger buzz from the fans concerning sports up North. Just a lot more passion overall.

I am going to say that sports in CT run MUCH MUCH deeper than here in NC.

[Golden1]

Bighouse, you're right, but I think the poster was trying to say "in state" pro teams. Every team you mentioned was a Boston or NY team. Again the great thing about CT is it's proximity to Boston and NYC, but after the Whalers left Hartford we're out of local pro teams aside from maybe Arena Football and some minor league stuff. CT is a weird place because it's torn down the middle with some residents worshipping the Red Sox and some worshipping the Yankees. Baseball season is a source of headaches for me as a nonbaseball fan with Red Sox and Yankee fans screaming at each other

[BigHouse9]

My original point was that sports go way deeper in CT (and New England) because of the proximity to all of the major sports teams in the area. It makes for some good entertainment across the board and passions tend to get involved.

There is actually very little baseball coverage here in NC. I wonder if people even care about it any longer.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

In Raleigh, it is all about NCAA basketball. The Hurricanes and Panthers don't get an awful lof of support here and the Bobcats are virtually non-existent.

Sports in CT have the Yankees and Red Sox, Giants, Jets, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Rangers plus UCONN. With the exception of the NHL, all of the above mentioned pro sports are closer than Charlotte. There are also the Travelers Championhship, Deutsche Bank and plenty of other golf tournaments in NY to attend. Raleigh has the SAS championship (Seniors) annually.

But there is also a much bigger buzz from the fans concerning sports up North. Just a lot more passion overall.

I am going to say that sports in CT run MUCH MUCH deeper than here in NC.

Of the pro teams you mentioned, two of the are in New York and two of them are in New Jersey, which doesn't even border New England. There may be a significant number of fans of those teams in New England but they shouldn't be counted as New England teams. I live in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and in among baseball fans in my area there are a significant number of fans of teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves, Angels, Giants, A's, etc. However, there is only one major league team in Arizona - the Diamondbacks.

I would admit that Connecticut and neighboring states may have a somewhat stronger passion for pro sports than in North Carolina, primarly due to the longer history and greater concentration of teams in the Northeast. However, passion for collegiate sports in the Northeast has traditionally lagged well the passion for collegiate sports in other parts of the USA, particularly in the South and Midwest. For example, New England currently has only two Division 1-A college football teams - Boston College and UCONN, and UCONN didn't become a 1-A program until the late 1990's. BC plays at Alumni Stadium with a capacity of 44,500 and UCONN plays at Rentschler Field with a capacity of 40,000, so even if both Division 1-A teams in New England played at home on the same day and sold out, their combined attendance would be less than what many teams in conferences such as the Big 10, SEC, and Big 12 draw during a single game. For example, the University of Alabama had an attendance of 92,138 last month for its spring game.

Therefore, I would strongly disagree with the statement that there is a "much bigger buzz from the fans concerning sports up North. Just a lot more passion overall." The North, South, and other parts of the USA have strong passions for sports, although the distribution of where their passions lie vary in each region.

[JayCT]

CT is a small state that is located between two larger states each with major cities that have major sports teams. In less than two hours drive I can be in either city to watch major sports if I wanted. 2 hours can be a trip from one side of a major city to another in some parts of this country. What difference does it really make if Ct has a major sports franchise when we have ACCESS to them? Enough already, Jay

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

I haven't been to either Cape Hatteras in NC or Cape Cod in MA but if I had a choice to visit one of those two beaches, I would prefer the NC beaches. The NC beaches appear to be more rustic and less developed, in contrast to Cape Cod which appears to be extensively developed and very crowded during the summer. Also, NC is a lot further south so there is a longer period of warm weather each year.

A paper arguement...go to both please before making a determination.

North Carolina has the highest point east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell (broken link) (6,684 feet). Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the NC-TN border covers a large area of mountainous terrain in the southern Appalachians and is America's most visited national park.

Again, a paper arguement. That's like saying I make a bigger paycheck, therefore I must be a better father...huh?

I've been to both, lived in both areas and can tell you the mountains of NC are NOT the same, contain a lot less history, are not as established in regards to residents and/or culture. It's a different invironment. The NC/SC mountains are beautiful...but *I* personally enjoy the history and established culture around the ski areas, lakes and snowmobiling areas of New England.

Fall is another story.