Should CT be considered part of New England? (Boston, Windsor: live in, architecture)

[LeavingMA]

Look how different even MA is from one area to another. You have the Cape and Islands, then Metro Boston, Central MA, and Western MA. Each in my opinion is quite different.

[DuffT]

Historically, the town names (Bristol, Windsor, Goshen, Avon, etc.) seem to point toward an English-Puritan background for CT, placing it in New England.
One harsh mistake I notice is that people seem to be seeing "Connecticut" as consisting of Fairfield County and the Gold Coast and ignore the rest. My impression, as a lifelong Litchfield County resident, has been that people from that area are, for the most part, not only not New Englanders, but not really even Connecticutucians so much as transplanted New Yorkers. While I would agree that in most ways Fairfield County is often very New York, CT, overall, is New England. Even Mark Twain very specifically called CT residents "Yankees" which, other than baseball, is not a term often applied (outside of the south) to people who are not New Englanders.
New England also has a very strong love of our own historical source. While New York prides itself as the melting pot of the world, Boston is much more the heart of colonial America (culturally if not politically). CT has always been very proud when it comes to our links to old America, much more like New Englanders than New Yorkers. The whole feel of CT cities is one of history as opposed to New York, which tends to lean more toward the cutting edge of culture. People go to NYC to visit present America, they go to Boston visit past America. Looking at places like Waterbury, Bristol, Mystic, Riverton, even Hartford one gets a definite sense that the towns are defined by and striving for the past, in the NE style, rather than ever trying to push the envelope in the NYC style.
That all being said, people need to stop calling it Avon Mt. and start using its' real name, Talcott Mt.

[CityGirl52]

My brother in law is from the northwest corner of Connecticut and YES he's in to New York sports teams, big time. We never could understand that one, but it's a fact that's NOT going away any time soon, we're all used to it now after all these years, it's NOT going away in that department! It doesn't matter to any of us anymore any way (whatever!) I think that Connecticut should definitely be part of the New England states though. I know that when it used to be "New England Telephone" in it's hay day they were part of the region and then they split off on their own remember? I think they might be with Verizon now again though, I'm not sure.

It's certainly rural enough through that state of Connecticut! I never stepped foot in the state as much as I have in the last several years with having Foxwoods & Mohegan only a couple of hours away from us, it's awesome going there a couple of times a year! The Northwest corner of this state is completely different though. Much different as it's been pointed out here. I spent several holidays there myself and after spending time there, I can see why celebrities live through that whole region of the state! The funniest B&B owner, was this woman we met in Litchfield County one year that told us that Meryl Streep puts her shopping cart back in the grocery store just like the rest of us! She was trying to make sure we knew that they're no better than the rest of them that live there and they respect their privacy and all that. It was just priceless with the way she described it to us this way!

Litchfield County is SO pretty through that whole region! It's much more secluded and rural than any where else that I've been to in the New England states. Even much more rural and scenic than it is up through the White Mountains of NH or parts of Vermont in a lot of ways. Plus, for so many people it must be nice having the best of both worlds with Manhattan only an hour or two away.

I wouldn't want to live there though, thank you BUT NO thank you! There's no shopping there! I'd go right OUT of my mind with driving miles to get to the nearest store like a TJ MAXX or Home Goods, yikes! OR else I'd be on that train heading to Manhattan a couple of times a month for sure!
Nice antique and gift shops though, but really, you can only take so many of those type of stores day in and day out! It's all what you're used to, I just know I'd be going crazy living there as beautiful & rural as it is!

Also what I really wanted to say is, as much as New Yorkers want it to be part of their region? I guess part of the state IS statistically with the Metropolitan Area! According to the data I found online on Wikipedia, it's pretty interesting to read about it, here's some of it below. So to conclude? Parts of Connecticut is New England and parts of it are definitely New York's!

During the 20th century, urban expansion in regions surrounding New York City has become an important economic influence on neighboring Connecticut, parts of which belong to the New York Metropolitan Area. The US Census Bureau groups Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties in western Connecticut together with New York City, and other parts of New York and New Jersey as a combined statistical area.

New England has a history of shared heritage and culture primarily shaped by waves of immigration from Europe. A cultural divide, however, also exists between urban New Englanders living along the densely-populated coastline and rural New Englanders in western Massachusetts, Northwestern Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, where population density is low.

Connecticut has two cultural and demographic trends: the southwestern part of the state is largely suburban, alongside the cities Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, Stamford, and Danbury, and as part of the New York metropolitan area, is influenced by New York City. The remainder of the state, is culturally similar to neighboring Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Residents of this area are often referred to as "Swamp Yankees." An example of Connecticut's cultural dichotomy can be found in residents' allegiance to sports teams. Western Connecticut residents tend to support New York teams, unlike the rest of the state who tend to be loyal to Boston teams. Television broadcasts in Hartford and New Haven typically give equal coverage to sports teams from both Boston and New York.

[newyorkfan22]

The question's kind of flawed because Connecticut was not always in New England. I remember learning back in high school that we were first explored by the Dutch and founded by the Dutch and became part of the Dutch New Netherlands Colony before we were ever included in New England... then the English came in and built a village right next to the Dutch's in Hartford and hastily bullied the Dutch and stole the land away as they later did in New York and New Jersey. We share a common roots with New York and New Jersey because the Dutch were the first European Settlers (though they were few in number) in Connecticut, save for perhaps the Vikings... that's a different story.

[trionetriathlon]

New England is made up of 5 states; Maine, NH, VT, CONN, MA. NY was never a part of NE.

[missionhill]

Trione... Don't forget little Rhody!

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Trione... Don't forget little Rhody!

Yup, but RI should just be annexed by CT or MA.

[trionetriathlon]

Sorry, forgot about cute little RI... thanks for the reminder

[YankeesGiantsRangersNYK]

Well, I live in Westport, CT and I've never met anybody who has said something like "I'm a proud New Englandah! Wicked hahd! Chowdah! Red Sawks basebahl!"

We're all Yankees fans or Mets fans because they are our local teams. We dont get the Red Sox or any Boston team on TV. Most Red Sox fans here are like the rest of the country: Bandwagoners.

Also it takes us 3 1/2 hours to get to Boston and its closer to go to Philadelphia. The rest of New England cant say that.

I was even shocked to hear we competed in New England track championships. "Werent we anexed to New York state like 30 years ago??" I said

We're not New England.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by YankeesGiantsRangersNYK

Well, I live in Westport, CT and I've never met anybody who has said something like "I'm a proud New Englandah! Wicked hahd! Chowdah! Red Sawks basebahl!"

We're all Yankees fans or Mets fans because they are our local teams. We dont get the Red Sox or any Boston team on TV. Most Red Sox fans here are like the rest of the country: Bandwagoners.

Also it takes us 3 1/2 hours to get to Boston and its closer to go to Philadelphia. The rest of New England cant say that.

I was even shocked to hear we competed in New England track championships. "Werent we anexed to New York state like 30 years ago??" I said

We're not New England.

Get away from Fairfield County and rest of your state is. It's like South Jersey. The people there gravitate to Philadelphia, but that does not mean New Jersey as a state is unconnected to New York City.