Why don't many view CT as part of New England? (Boston: car registration, credit)

[GeoffD]

My girlfriend lives in West Hartford. It’s a blend of Boston and New York slanted New York. They drive like Boston drivers but use the horn like New Yorkers. In the bars, the TV will be on the Yankees game in 70% of the bars. Jets fans are invisible. Giants fans were pretty silent this year. 60% hate the Patriots either on general principle or because Bob Kraft used Hartford as a bargaining chip before building Gillette. You can buy the NYC edition of the Sunday New York Times and the Boston Globe is invisible. I think you have to get east of Storrs before it swings Boston.

Northwest of Hartford certainly feels New England. It’s just that NYC is so dominant that “city” is New York.

Connecticut also has the failed city thing that is prevalent in the whole Northeast corridor. Hartford outside of downtown rivals Springfield or Camden as Trump-level s-hole. It’s not all quaint villages and affluent suburbs.

[mdovell]

I concur with ^^

My girlfriend is in Storrs. I don't find Hartford to be bad but the design is boggling. An S pattern of a road across train tracks? Really? I want to like Hartford but it's weird.

To be honest some of the reasons why there's NYC coverage is back before cable there were entire generations that frankly could NOT get the games. But you could get NY games so you watched what you could receive. Pre NESN how could someone in Pittsfield let alone Hartford watch a Redsox game? For a long time when you had a license they had a market with it so if there was the possibility of overlapping they would block out a signal. Back in the day they didn't want you to get two competing forms of commentary from the same game. Technically on satellite radio this is 100% fine. Sometimes you can get it online but that tends to be without local commercials (NFL Sunday ticket etc)

Now with radio it's a bit different and that explains why WEEI has substations all over the place. With TV that isn't really possible.

CT is also odd for some other reasons. The relationship between local governments and state is horrible. Right now CT is going though the educational reforms that mass did back in 1993. They don't have an independent inspector general so there isn't an eye on pubic construction (that new baseball stadium). There are many regulations that involve local and state government in Mass that involve revenue sharing but are totally alien to CT. Chapter 70,90, Green Communities act, community preservation act, community compact etc. There is also no prop 2 1/2 either and ballot measures are largely blocked.

Don't get me wrong there's some very beautiful areas in the state. There's complete counties that practically look like Hingham or Cohasset. Most local government jobs are civil service in CT whereas in Mass it's usually just police and fire. They are also tested. Some things I see they do well like they supposedly got rid of much of their asbestos in the 1980's and if a property owner pulls a permit some will post a sign about it and what to contact for any questions (say a liquor license, excavation etc).

Not to get political but there's fair reasons why the Mass governor has one of the highest ratings and CT is one of the lowest.

[GeoffD]

^^

The main difference between Massachusetts and Connecticut is that Connecticut has no ballot initiative process and Connecticut doesn't have a state constitution that requires a flat income tax. Massachusetts has had Prop 2 1/2 for decades. Other than the new millionaire tax, everybody in Massachusetts feels the same pain on tax hikes. Massachusetts has had to deal with fiscal constraints since the late-1970's. Connecticut just pandered to the unions and kicked all the fiscal problems under the carpet. I remember "Taxachusetts" when Mass was the high tax state in the country. It's now middle of the pack and downright reasonable if you don't own a high value metro-Boston home with the big property taxes. I did the math at age 50 and decided Massachusetts (NOT inside 495) was going to work for me as my retirement location. Property taxes are reasonable. No tax on Social Security. Low risk of state income taxes going up. There's no way I'd ever consider Connecticut.

[SeaDoo342]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

^^

The main difference between Massachusetts and Connecticut is that Connecticut has no ballot initiative process and Connecticut doesn't have a state constitution that requires a flat income tax. Massachusetts has had Prop 2 1/2 for decades. Other than the new millionaire tax, everybody in Massachusetts feels the same pain on tax hikes. Massachusetts has had to deal with fiscal constraints since the late-1970's. Connecticut just pandered to the unions and kicked all the fiscal problems under the carpet. I remember "Taxachusetts" when Mass was the high tax state in the country. It's now middle of the pack and downright reasonable if you don't own a high value metro-Boston home with the big property taxes. I did the math at age 50 and decided Massachusetts (NOT inside 495) was going to work for me as my retirement location. Property taxes are reasonable. No tax on Social Security. Low risk of state income taxes going up. There's no way I'd ever consider Connecticut.

Yep.... CT property taxes have gone the way of NY and NJ... they are PROHIBITIVELY high even in lower end towns like Hartford where a 350k house will have property taxes of $11,000 a year!

...and the funny thing is in CT, people justify it by bragging about how much better the schools are than southern states.. just hang around the CT forum sometime, its crazy!

Anyway, that's another topic.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by SeaDoo342

Yep.... CT property taxes have gone the way of NY and NJ... they are PROHIBITIVELY high even in lower end towns like Hartford where a 350k house will have property taxes of $11,000 a year!

...and the funny thing is in CT, people justify it by bragging about how much better the schools are than southern states.. just hang around the CT forum sometime, its crazy!

Anyway, that's another topic.

While CT is higher than MA, it’s not quite yet on par with SE NY/C. And, the uber affluent towns in southern/western CT have lesser tax rates solely due to the exhorbitant real estate values.

But overall, yes, taxes in CT are insane - definitely the most tax burdened state in New England.

[sal1181]

True New Englanders do not root for any NY Sports team

[Beachcomber4]

From, "The Stepford Wives".

Claire Wellington: I asked myself, "Where would people never notice a town full of robots?"

[gasps]

Claire Wellington: Connecticut.

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Connecticut, Mass and Rhode Island are three peas in a pod. Some subtle differences among the peas but not enough to get worked up over. New York is more different— the Dutch roots, lack of Puritans and some other things. But not as different as Virginia or Texas to name two. New England is a pretty stong identity and I’d say the people who move over to Connecticut from New York become New Englanders rather than make that part of NE into NY. Boston today is full of people who came from elsewhere, but it’s still Boston isn’t it? Those newcomers take on the Boston way of life.

As much as I appreciate and would want to agree with you about CT, this phenomenon simply does not exist in towns of Fairfield County infested with New Yorkers. I'm talking about Greenwich to Bridgeport along 95. NYers due to their significant and continuing influx have reshaped the communities with their aggressive and tacky ways.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

But overall, yes, taxes in CT are insane - definitely the most tax burdened state in New England.

If you make real money, Vermont is much worse.

I have several Vermont retiree friends who lived there for a decade loving it until they hit 70 1/2 and their IRA/401(k) required minimum distributions kicked in. Their means testing on the state school property tax vanished. They landed in a bracket where they paid state income tax on their Social Security benefit plus the 401(k) distribution. Several of them did the math and bought Florida condos to establish the tax address. They make sure they're in Vermont for less than 180 nights.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

If you make real money, Vermont is much worse.

I have several Vermont retiree friends who lived there for a decade loving it until they hit 70 1/2 and their IRA/401(k) required minimum distributions kicked in. Their means testing on the state school property tax vanished. They landed in a bracket where they paid state income tax on their Social Security benefit plus the 401(k) distribution. Several of them did the math and bought Florida condos to establish the tax address. They make sure they're in Vermont for less than 180 nights.

“Much worse” is an exaggeration.

While it may be true that VT top bracket is slightly higher than CT, the lack of car tax in VT more than makes up for that (for your average person at that bracket). For an individual making 250k, the difference is less than $2,000 a year. I’d take that over [far higher] taxes on everything else.

Every study shows CT to be far more tax unfriendly than VT. According to the Tax Foundation, Connecticut ranks #2 for most tax burdened state. Vermont ranks #20.

There’s a reason that, while driving around southern CT, you see so many VT plates on luxury SUVs - it’s cheaper to establish residency at their mountain home in VT than it is to establish residency in CT. Full stop.

Now Florida? Way better than both.