[JayCT]

Back to the original topic. I think that the east side of Fairfield (particularly Tunxis Hill) is going to become more desirable since there is now a new train station there to better serve that side of town. Already there is a lot of interest there given the station and schools so I only see it getting better over the next couple of years.

I also agree that New Haven is on the rise. It has seen a lot of growth and from what I see a lot more is coming.

As for towns like West Hartford and Glastonbury, these are already desirable upscale suburbs so I do not think they are going to get a lot better. They are already there. Jay

[UconnHusky1]

I'm surprised to see Seymour on some lists here as a town on the rise. I go there often to visit friends in the Great Hill section, which is indeed beautiful, but besides that I still view it as an average valley town.

The Route 8 overpass pretty much dominates the entire downtown section. It presents a depressed, dark and gloomy feel each time I drive through the area. Why build a stupid AutoZone in downtown right off the highway? A nice little commercial development could have been built there instead.

If I was considering a home in Seymour, I would also consider Beacon Falls. A few minutes further up Route 8, but it's a nice little charming town and I heard good about the education at Woodland High School.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by UconnHusky1

I'm surprised to see Seymour on some lists here as a town on the rise. I go there often to visit friends in the Great Hill section, which is indeed beautiful, but besides that I still view it as an average valley town.

The Route 8 overpass pretty much dominates the entire downtown section. It presents a depressed, dark and gloomy feel each time I drive through the area. Why build a stupid AutoZone in downtown right off the highway? A nice little commercial development could have been built there instead.

If I was considering a home in Seymour, I would also consider Beacon Falls. A few minutes further up Route 8, but it's a nice little charming town and I heard good about the education at Woodland High School.

Because an AutoZone is better than an empty storefront, isn't it?

Have you ever parked, gotten out and walked around the downtown? It has a "Gilmore Girls" feel. Antique shops, barber shops, small breakfast shops, pizza parlors, country stores, etc. Go walk around on a Sunday afternoon. Don't simply judge it by driving by on Route 67 or 8. You might be impressed.

Did you know that where the Stop and Shop is used to be a massive old factory? And across the street stood a massive, crumbling lumberyard that was torn down to make way for a park. Downtown, they put in new sidewalks, streets, lighting, signage, and stopped renewing leases of questionable stores. Outside of the "gentrification" area, homes are well kept, even in the working class neighborhoods. In addition, the education in town is solid.

Seymour is definitely on the up and up.

[Stylo]

I do agree the Route 8 overpass detracts from the downtown feel for people casually passing through. It's indicative of bad 1960's civic planning. But the downtown has some really charming areas that are much nicer than they were.

[jesse_f]

"Westchester migration to Fairfield and Connecticut as a whole is de minimus. We're talking about 300-500 residents per year.
Marist Study Finds People Are Migrating Out of Westchester in Droves | Westchester News Online
Total migration out of Westchester over 3 years is ~3,000 so 1,000 per year and CT is seeing 30-40% (other sources)."

I'm not sure if this study hits upon another aspect, which is a lot of people, especially those moving out of NYC, are by-passing Westchester all together (because of taxes) and moving to Fairfield County instead. We did, and it seems like most of the new-ish residents we've met in Fairfield are also not even considering Westchester, as we once would have, for Fairfield. At 4% interest rates, every $100k borrowed is about $500 a month, or $6k a year. If you're paying $20k in taxes instead of $8k, that's the monthly out of pocket equivalent
of borrowing over another $200k (over b/c of mortgage interest tax deductions) on a mortgage. So a $500k budget for Westchester (not ever really feasible) buys a $700k house in FFC with more equity. To us, that was a no-brainer.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Looks like about 5,000 residents per year flee NY for CT. Most go to Fairfield and NH counties.

Outward Bound New Yorkers

However, the impact is not as significant as at first glance, since CT is losing similar numbers to the Carolinas and Florida. The NY impact is as stated before, muted.

[KEVIN_224]

Anything with gentrification in New Britain? No, I do NOT count the Busway project or the new Taco Bell opened in NewBrite Plaza to replace the old one nearby either!

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by KEVIN_224

Anything with gentrification in New Britain? No, I do NOT count the Busway project or the new Taco Bell opened in NewBrite Plaza to replace the old one nearby either!

My money would be on ghettofication once the busway is completed.

Sorry, i know that isn't what you want to hear.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

My money would be on ghettofication once the busway is completed.

Sorry, i know that isn't what you want to hear.

Don't be sorry - that's how I, and everyone else I know in my town, feels as well. I don't think we have to hold out on gentrification along New Park Avenue anytime soon - unless plastic bags dangling in trees and stolen WalMart shopping carts on the side of the road qualify.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Don't be sorry - that's how I, and everyone else I know in my town, feels as well. I don't think we have to hold out on gentrification along New Park Avenue anytime soon - unless plastic bags dangling in trees and stolen WalMart shopping carts on the side of the road qualify.

Not everyone in West Hartford feels that way about the busway. Only those who are not well informed and do not understand it.

West Hartford needs to accept some change. A lot of people in town say that it needs mass transit options but here you have one and they are degrading it. And the politicans who are against it should be ashamed of themselves. The project has been in the planning stages for years and was a DIRECT result of comments from the West Hartford community (they were against a streetcar option on Farmington Avenue in CRCOG's Hartford West Study). So if you want mass transit but don't want it on a major throughfare, why not put it along side another mass transit corridor to minimize impacts to your community? I realize that it is not easy to get a consensus of public opinion but the politicians that have been around for years should know why this happened and should not be second guessing past judgements. No wonder why nothing but highways get built in the Hartford region. Jay