[acenders]

Hello everyone! I'm new to these forums, and I'm a writer. Sadly, nothing is published yet, though I have a few full-length novels and have been hunting for an agent.

I'm currently writing a novel I want to be set in New London, CT. It seems like such a pretty city, and right on the water. But I've never been there, so...I have some questions. Anything you can tell me would be helpful!

What is there for an adult woman to do? Good bars, restaurants, outdoor activities?

How is the housing market doing right now? How about compared to right before/after the recession?

What's the average income?

What are popular jobs?

Would there be a use for a C.P.A?

Does anyone have pictures? Of houses, parks, etc?

How far to NYC and other main cities?

Is it as beautiful as the pictures?

Does anyone know the history of the place?

I know some of this stuff I can look up, but I thought the best place to start my research is with the people that live there. Again, anything would be helpful! Thank you so much!

[Lowerdeck]

It used to be a big whaling city back in the 19th century. Became quite important in that industry. The NL High School sports teams are called the Whalers as a result.

There is quite a military presence - the Coast Guard academy in NL and a Navy sub base and submarine building company across the river in Groton. Pfizer has a few buildings between the two. And just to the north in other towns are a couple of massive casinos.

Lately it's been infamous for the Kelo vs. New London case in the Supreme Court, regarding Eminent Domain. There's a book about it, I forget the exact title but it's got Pink House somewhere in it.

There's some nicer parts of the city, especially to the north and right along the shoreline. Downtown looks pretty nice too.

It's like 2½ hours to NYC, 2 hours to Boston. An hour or so to Providence, New Haven, and Hartford. 15-20 min from Norwich, which is the other big city of southeastern Connecticut.

[acenders]

Thanks for the reply!

[Soundbounder]

Here are some of my posts related to New London:

SOUNDBOUNDER: USCGC Eagle

SOUNDBOUNDER: September 21, 1938

SOUNDBOUNDER: New London Sailfest

SOUNDBOUNDER: New London Ledge Lighthouse

They might give you some ideas.

[acenders]

Originally Posted by Soundbounder

Here are some of my posts related to New London:

SOUNDBOUNDER: USCGC Eagle

SOUNDBOUNDER: September 21, 1938

SOUNDBOUNDER: New London Sailfest

SOUNDBOUNDER: New London Ledge Lighthouse

They might give you some ideas.

Thanks so much!

[Ex-CT resident]

New London is a great town. Nice downtown area.. course, right next to the water never hurts anything. Good music scene, I think there are some good nightspots.. been a while since I've been there.

I don't know about the income but there are some major employers there so think cost of living would be alright. More like 45 minutes, I think from Hartford, isn't it?

[GrotonMan]

New London is an incredibly historic city. ranging from the impressive whaling activity of the 18th and 19th century, to the burning of New London by the Brisith (ever heard of anybody being called a Benedict Arnold? that was from the Battle of Groton Heights and burning of New London), the Coast Guard Academy and the Barque Eagle, to the blooming art scene today. There is far too much to let loose on a forum post, so I would say check out this wikipedia article, and some of the links on it.
New London, Connecticut - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The military presence in the area is pretty noticable with the Sub Base, an army air base right across the river in Groton and the Coast Guard Academy in town. General Dynamics, the leading producer of Submarines for the US Navy is also right across the river in Groton and it employs just over 10,000 people. Pfizer has a little more than a few buildings with their Global Research and Development headquarters being shared over the river. Close to 6000 people work for Pfizer here. I know literally hundreds of chemists from Pfizer and engineers from Electric boat. Other than that, the next most influencial employer in Groton-New London would be the two casinos, Foxwoods, and Mohegan Sun. There are a lot of small businesses in the area and some pretty wealthy people as well, and New London is a business hub in the region so there would be use of a CPA

For average incomes, the middle class doesn't live in New London as much as the surrounding towns. There are low-income, drug and crime ridden neighborhoods, and then they quickly transit into the upper class neighborhoods of lower New London or the middle class neighborhoods of the surrounding towns. Most people either can't afford to live in the really nice parts of New London, or they can afford to live somewhere else. But there are still some very nice mid-income neighborhoods in New London.

It is about 2-2.5 hours to both New York and Boston (trust me I do it just about every other weekend) and hour to Providence and Hartford, and 30-45 minutes to New Haven. Of course these times would be skewed by traffic.

As for night life, there are a good number of bars restaurants and some clubs, particularly on Bank Street. There are parks, and public areas in many places throughout the city, and while I don't personally have any pictures, there are definitely some on the web. and yes it is as pretty as the pictures, if you go where the pictures were taken. Walking onto State Street almost feels like you have been transported back in time, it is great.

I really hope you have an opportunity to come check out the area sometime, in reality New London, Waterford, and Groton are pretty interconnected so it is a unique system. Good luck with your writing!

[acenders]

Thank you so much! That was a lot of info. I do hope to come up there sometime before I finish this book so that I can experience myself. It's a bit of a drive, but I've driven further.

What about Ocean Ave? I was doing some searches for real estate and came across the perfect cape cod for my main character.

Here's the link:

property details connecticut real estate from william raveis real estate, one of the leading real estate agencies in connecticut, featuring homes for sale in ct: fairfield, ridgefield, hartford, greenwich, stamford, litchfield

Is that in a good area?

[GrotonMan]

Oh yes, pretty much anything south of L&M (the hospital on Montauk and Ocean at Faire Harbour Place) is absolutely wonderful. My sister was actually looking at buying that exact house funny enough.

[JayCT]

Note that Ocean Avenue is a pretty main street though it is residential in character. Nearby is Mitchell College. Also note the New London is home to Connecticut college (in addition to the Coast Guard Academy) which is very well respected. Jay