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but why copme here it too is expensive
i went recently to San fran for a conference and compared prices- Gas is the same food is the same and much the clothing is the same
people seemed real friendlyu to me there but that's my personal oppinion
I find that 42 yrs in Ct that people are afraid to make best friends and we do have a high cost of living here
everyone is tight on money and shoips at target and walmart mostly
we look to save a dollar here and there because no is getting raises.
Michele Discovery Toys Top Distributor, Autism,
PS thats for the commpliment considering most people think we are all snobs and that our state is rich.please that is a myth
I disagree with much of your post.
San Francisco is much more expensive than most of CT. Look at the home prices...outside of Fairfield County and some shoreline towns, CT is relatively affordable. Sure it's more expensive than the average town in America, but you get what you pay for - proximity to NYC and Boston, the beaches, mountains, vineyards, history, excellent food and four distinct seasons. We have top notch education in this state and a highly skilled labor force.
Also I find people in other states are more loyal to Walmart and Target than the average Connectican. Have you been down south? Out in the midwest and the southeast?
San Francisco is much more expensive than most of CT. Look at the home prices...outside of Fairfield County and some shoreline towns, CT is relatively affordable. Sure it's more expensive than the average town in America, but you get what you pay for - proximity to NYC and Boston, the beaches, mountains, vineyards, history, excellent food and four distinct seasons. We have top notch education in this state and a highly skilled labor force.
Also I find people in other states are more loyal to Walmart and Target than the average Connectican. Have you been down south? Out in the midwest and the southeast?
Jeremy is correct. Pretty much most of California is very expensive to live in due to housing costs. $500k buys a shack near any metropolitain area where there is employment. Food and other essentials may be the same but ask any Californiain about housing and they will go off on how unaffordable it is. At least here in Connecticut the prices are somewhat reasonable for what you get. Plus traffic and smog aren't bad here. Out there it can be horrible. Outside of Fairfield County the rest of the state is reasonable.
As for shopping in Walmart and Target, where else do think we are going to shop? This is no different than anywhere else in the country. Actually Walmart and Target are relqatively new to Connecticut. They have been down south and in the midwest for years and only recently have moved in the State. Jay
I was criticized over at the Massachusetts forum on this issue- by former Californians living near Boston who called the area, dirty, scummy, expensive, with loud rude people.
When you try and present objective information- black and white facts- they still do not listen.
As for housing costs Boston home prices are near what one would pay in not L.A, Orange County, San Diego or the San Francisco bay area but what you pay in smoggy Riverside, San Bernardino, and Sacramento.
Boston median home price first quarter 2007 387K
Orange County 697AK
Los Angeles 595k
San Diego 597K
San Jose Santa Clara 788K
San Francisco 750K
Riverside 397K
Sacramento 365K
Cheaper in California? Not by a long shot. Connecticut-about 80% of the state is far cheaper.
I am a native Californian and love the East Coast. I find it ironic though that when I went on the NJ and Conn boards to find out about relocating all I found was people from both states wanting to leave. It seems that a lot of people from the Northeast are making a mad dash to NC and Atlanta to escape the high cost of living and high property taxes, not to mention the harsh weather. I was surprised to see so many people that did not appreciate the beauty of the both of these states and had horrific things to say about them. I totally agree that many people from the OC,where I live, are superficial, but after viewing posts here it seems that many places in NJ and Conn. are the same. Everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'. Why do you think we have such credit card debt in the United States, we spend beyond our means to keep up. Anyway, I digress. I just had to say that I find it funny that so many of you are bashing Calif. Where were you when I wanted someone to say how great a move it would be from the OC to the Northeast?
You do realize that you're speaking of perspective from your own personal experience in a small section of a state that covers most of the western side of the United States, right?
I moved here from the Northeast and I totally disagree. I live in SoCal and I find the people very friendly and genuine. Nothing at all like the East Coast. I love it here and the main reason is the people.
However, I lived in the lower portion of the Northeast and like you, I'm speaking of my experience based on where I lived. I did visit upstate NY, CT, Maine and I thought the people were super there as well. Baltimore's logo was "Charm city" and I was convinced that was a joke.
I guess my point is, please be careful before you stereotype an entire state. It's a huge state which spans the about same distance as the distance between NY and Georgia and you have to admit the differences between those states on the East coast is huge.
I am a native Californian and love the East Coast. I find it ironic though that when I went on the NJ and Conn boards to find out about relocating all I found was people from both states wanting to leave. It seems that a lot of people from the Northeast are making a mad dash to NC and Atlanta to escape the high cost of living and high property taxes, not to mention the harsh weather. I was surprised to see so many people that did not appreciate the beauty of the both of these states and had horrific things to say about them. I totally agree that many people from the OC,where I live, are superficial, but after viewing posts here it seems that many places in NJ and Conn. are the same. Everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'. Why do you think we have such credit card debt in the United States, we spend beyond our means to keep up. Anyway, I digress. I just had to say that I find it funny that so many of you are bashing Calif. Where were you when I wanted someone to say how great a move it would be from the OC to the Northeast?
I think many people who have lived in the northeast all their lives develop the 'Paradise syndrome' where they buy all the propaganda put out by the slick department of economic development in those states as being cheaper and having a mild climate. Then when they move many realize they have made a mistake.
Home Prices are slightly less in Raleigh-Durham-Cary NC, compared to central CT-but not an amount where you are going to be flush with money at the end of the month. There are also many cultural trade offs that people soon realize they have given up- which they soon miss. Also there are other hidden taxes- they add up-like a tax on groceries and high HOA fees.
As far as weather-this summer has been brutal in the south and NC- with record breaking continual days of 100 plus degree weather with oppressive humidity. Yes its becoming warmer in Connecticut as well, with milder winters- but the south and lower middle of the country are beginning to really suffer from global warming/climate change faster then us comfort wise. We are warming also- but we where colder to begin with-so now its becoming more benign at a comfort level here, and will be even more after 2009.
Yes California, along the coast has a nearly flawless climate- but the costs one must pay to live there-0uch. Climate wise California is becoming hotter as well- but the primary area of concern with the Golden state is drought, and water availability problems in the future. As far as the 'shallow/plastic culture' so pinned on California- sadly there is a good deal of truth to this- but there are to be sure many who are decent people. And as I alluded to in a post above- this rather 'shallow materialism and class discrimination' is just not in California- but all of the far west.
Connecticut suffers from this 'class stratification' as well, but mostly in Fairfield county- over here in the eastern part of the state it is mostly absent.
Last edited by skytrekker; 08-21-2007 at 05:37 AM..
I am a Californian (please dont hate me!).. We recently visited CT and I did not like it at all. We stayed in Shelton, but visited a couple other areas, too. (Old Saybrook, Hartford, Stamford) Although the state was very pretty (outside of the city areas), people's attitudes were not very nice. We had a problem with our rental car and were stuck in a parking lot for about a half hour. My son and I were standing by the car, with the hood up, and said hello to people as they walked by. We counted. We said hello to 23 people and only 7 responded at all, and of those, only 3 said Hello in a friendly way. Most gave us a disgusted look and walked on. We are very 'normal' looking people, so it wasn't like we were threatening in any way. It kind of summed up how we felt about the area altogether. At home, if you say Hello to someone, they generally will say Hello back! Or at least smile, or nod..
CT was the only east coast area where we felt this 'unfriendliness' however. We traveled from NC up to Boston & visited MANY areas. Maybe we hit CT on a bad weekend or something, but it was the most unfriendly area I have ever been.
You said hello to 23 people? They were probably wondering why. Generally, if you need help with a disabled car, the police or the rental agency would be the best people to contact (rather than a series of strangers).
There is a tradition of reservedness and self-reliance in New England including Connecticut, and many of us like it that way.
I say this in good fun but - what is this great myth out there that the Atlantic states (Tri-State/mid-Atlantic region) of the USA has harsh winter weather on average?
Where does it come from? TV? The goofy hyped-up Weather Channel? The fat fellow who gives the weather in NYC (AL something I think)? A friend use to call it paradise syndrome - it always better somewhere else. After studying climate and working for a dozen different companies analyzing climate data for environmental planning - I learned the facts…
Storm after storm pounds the mountain ranges of the West Coast, year after year. Places in the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, and in the Sierra Nevada of California - get 300 to 600-inches of snow a year. Places in the upper mid-West, Great Lakes and Northern New England average 100 to 250 -inches of snow every winter. Even the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia average 50 to 60-inches of snow each winter.
However, the Atlantic states below Massachusetts, average only 15 to 35-inches of snow a year - and that’s in a good year. Anyone who looks at climate data can plainly see, that snowfall in the Atlantic states – places like New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Long Island, NY, Rhode Island…ect – is minimal. We experience more wet than white. The East Coast is obviously south of the snow belts. If “harsh winters “ mean heavy snow – New Haven or NYC for example, have milder winters than 50 % of the USA. New Haven averages 25.5 inches of snow a year, NYC 22.0 inches.
I have lived in this “harsh winter” area for almost 35 years - on average, it only snows a half dozen times, only a few inches of snow accumulates, and it melts by the time I can get around to shoveling. I don’t think anyone would confuse New Haven or NYC with Fargo (lol).
What about cold?
People in the west (California in particular) seem to have this fascination with the 90-days of winter weather along the East Coast. What about the other 9 months of the year? Almost half the year - (May to October) –Connecticut/Long Island/New Jersey are warmer than the Mediterranean French Riviera or coastal Japan! Some climate textbooks even consider places in the mid-Atlantic (Delaware/Philadelphia) in a subtropical climate latitude (37 N). New Haven has a yearly mean temperature of 52 F – San Francisco yearly mean temperature of 54 F. Summers in Connecticut are hot and humid, (cool in northern California) while winters are colder in Connecticut (more milder, damp in northern California). It balances out. I had a friend who moved to San Francisco from southern New Jersey – and said that he came back to enjoy real summer weather. He stated it was too cold in summer along the California coast!
I was shocked to learn that the counties of eastern Long Island and southeast Connecticut have been hit with more hurricanes than blizzards.
My point of all this is that don’t fall victim to myths or the hype of things like the weather channel. The “harsh winter” weather in the Tri-State area each winter - would make people in the West, Mid west, Great Lakes, or northern New England laugh. Try getting 200 or 400 inches of snow, with wind chills to –70 F every winter. Just to give you another perspective – in this “harsh climate “I garden from late March to late November, grow bamboo, hardy Japanese bananas, and even a fan palm, surf in the ocean from May to November (no wet suit in summer – lets see you do that off Santa Monica), and don’t own a snow shovel (I use a broom).
For comparison, here is NWS data for places in the Atlantic states and other cities in the United States –
AVERAGE SEASONAL SNOWFALL -
Raleigh, NC - 7.1
Richmond, VA - 12.4
Amarillo, TX - 15.1
Washington, DC - 15.2
Boise, ID - 19.5
NYC (CP) - 22.4
Reno, NV - 23.5
Bridgepot, CT - 24.6
Des Moines, Iowa - 43.4
Chicago, IL - 41.0
Detroit, MI - 44.0
Spokane, WA - 48.0
Minneapolis, M - 56.0
Denver, CO - 61.0
Cleveland, OH - 63.1
Burlington, VT - 83.1
Duluth, MN - 88.1
Marquette, M - 184.5
Old Forge, NY - 226.9
Truckee, CA - 203.0
King Hill, MT - 305.0
You said hello to 23 people? They were probably wondering why. Generally, if you need help with a disabled car, the police or the rental agency would be the best people to contact (rather than a series of strangers).
There is a tradition of reservedness and self-reliance in New England including Connecticut, and many of us like it that way.
We were waiting for the rental car company to come, we were not asking any of the passersby for help. We were simply saying hello! We weren't flagging them down or anything, these were people who were walking by in the parking lot, within 10 feet of us. Typically when someone walks by me, I will say hello, or smile or something. I don't think that is the case for people in CT, they seemed to just ignore people as they walk by them. Once again, this was only our personal experience, maybe its not always the case.
Does anyone else notice that this kind of thread appears all over the place at city-data.com? Transplants from one state notice that the people in their adopted state just aren't as "friendly" or "authentic" as the ones from their home state.
I'm not going to lecture anyone about playing armchair sociologist, because I know it's fun to analyze, but nobody should take any of this very seriously.
Here's my take on it: people everywhere are basically good, though some of them are more competitive/aggressive than others (and this difference will be more noticeable between two communities/socioeconomic groups in the same region than between two different regions or states) and they don't all behave in exactly the same way.
In some small town, if you pass someone on the street they'll smile and say hello. Why? Because you rarely pass someone on the street, and everyone knows everyone else, so if you didn't smile and say hello, it would be taken as a snub. Pedestrians in large cities can't possibly be expected to smile and say hello to everyone they pass on the streets, and nine times out of ten when someone does this to you, it's a prelude to panhandling. That doesn't mean that people aren't nice...it's just a different environment, with different norms.
Also, a lot of this is just in our head (confirmation bias), because when we're feeling alien to a region, we use a critical and analytical part of our brain that we didn't use as often while we were living in our old hometown with all of the "friendly" people that we grew up with. Anyone who has ever felt depressed knows how easy it is to look at the same thing someone else is looking at and interpret it differently. Just browsing this site, and seeing that there are people from every region complaining about the unfriendliness of people in every other region should be enough evidence to convince you that it's all in our heads.
Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is that relocating is just difficult, most of the time. It takes time to settle into a community and pick up on all of those cultural differences, or even meet a few potential friends. Most people aren't friends with more than 1% of the population in their community, but it doesn't mean that 99% of the people in their town/state/region are unfriendly. But yeah, the cultural differences have to be acknowledged too...if you go into it thinking that "everyone everywhere should be able to respond positively to a big hug and a kiss, because that is obviously a friendly gesture" then you're not going to fit in anywhere.
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