[EricS39]

Do most Connecticut residents agree with me?

I am a transplant who grew up in South Florida, went to school in Gainesville, Florida, spent 4 years in the DC area, moved to New England since 2010, and on a sleet weather day like today, am not the slightest bit regretful I moved to the Northeast.

High-level summary:
Reasons I prefer CT over FL:

1) seasons
2) history
3) natural scenery
4) hilly topography
5) politics
6) cuisine
7) public transportation
8) less sprawl
9) town community structure
10) less humidity and less allergies
11) shorter driving distances
12) age demographic



Now the more detailed summary:
Here are the list of benefits:

Real distinct seasons and winter wonderland included
Real historic architecture
State parks/natural landscape (less plastic manmade landscaping)
Altitude and overlooks (ie Talcott Mountain), aerial views
Politically and socially more progressive people (translates to higher teacher pay, soda can refunds, state park environment habitat restoration focus vs Florida use of natural lands overbuilt on (Kendall, Weston, Wellington, Pembroke Pines, Kississimee), better ER facilities, more public education funding, better transportation, more financial assistance programs for low income, more access to capital, better labor terms for hourly employees, etc)

Better seafood/Italian cuisine

Better public transport options (Hartford-New Haven-NYC-Boston) peterpan Buslines, metro-north, regional buses for Hartford, New Haven, etc

Break from allergies/mold/mildew vs Florida swampland effect on surrounding living

Can see more in shorter driving distances
NYC, Boston, Cape Cod, Hamptons, Berkshires, Adirondacks, Newport, Catskills
That radius for Florida gives you just about South Florida and Disney and no mountain hiking destinations in sight.

Not as long a stretch of hot/muggy weather with no break (July and part of August....vs the entire May thru October being hot and sticky)

People more family-oriented, town structure creates tight-Knit communities (Florida is almost all sprawl and driving from your garage to your Publix to your stand-alone doctor's office to pick up your kids...to your house...and there's pretty much no real town common spot)

Roads are windier and prettier in CT (where as Florida the only overlook you will ever get is from a Highrise condominium or airplane takeoff-landing)
You can measure the seasons by the look of the trees

Summer days are longer (sunrises way earlier than Florida)
A little 20-minute drive will give you a whole new scenery (especially route 9 south, route 6 east...route 187 Simsbury

More interesting hiking/biking trails than Florida

More art/theatre tradition than most of Florida.

Florida it's all straight I95 and Florida's turnpike and every shopping center looks almost the same
Winn Dixie is ick
Publix is nice, but Big Y isn't a bad match for us

Florida law enforcement gives way more speeding tickets without exception and posted speed limits in Florida more arbitrary and not based on a safety concern but rather a source of municipal revenue. CT has more reasonable traffic law enforcement.

Florida age demographic less balanced and may not be ideal for the age group of 19-40.
Connecticut has a more balanced age mix.

[CLees]

Originally Posted by EricS39

Do most Connecticut residents agree with me?

I am a transplant who grew up in South Florida, went to school in Gainesville, Florida, spent 4 years in the DC area, moved to New England since 2010, and on a sleet weather day like today, am not the slightest bit regretful I moved to the Northeast.

High-level summary:
Reasons I prefer CT over FL:

1) seasons
2) history
3) natural scenery
4) hilly topography
5) politics
6) cuisine
7) public transportation
8) less sprawl
9) town community structure
10) less humidity and less allergies
11) shorter driving distances
12) age demographic



Now the more detailed summary:
Here are the list of benefits:

Real distinct seasons and winter wonderland included
Real historic architecture
State parks/natural landscape (less plastic manmade landscaping)
Altitude and overlooks (ie Talcott Mountain), aerial views
Politically and socially more progressive people (translates to higher teacher pay, soda can refunds, state park environment habitat restoration focus vs Florida use of natural lands overbuilt on (Kendall, Weston, Wellington, Pembroke Pines, Kississimee), better ER facilities, more public education funding, better transportation, more financial assistance programs for low income, more access to capital, better labor terms for hourly employees, etc)

Better seafood/Italian cuisine

Better public transport options (Hartford-New Haven-NYC-Boston) peterpan Buslines, metro-north, regional buses for Hartford, New Haven, etc

Break from allergies/mold/mildew vs Florida swampland effect on surrounding living

Can see more in shorter driving distances
NYC, Boston, Cape Cod, Hamptons, Berkshires, Adirondacks, Newport, Catskills
That radius for Florida gives you just about South Florida and Disney and no mountain hiking destinations in sight.

Not as long a stretch of hot/muggy weather with no break (July and part of August....vs the entire May thru October being hot and sticky)

People more family-oriented, town structure creates tight-Knit communities (Florida is almost all sprawl and driving from your garage to your Publix to your stand-alone doctor's office to pick up your kids...to your house...and there's pretty much no real town common spot)

Roads are windier and prettier in CT (where as Florida the only overlook you will ever get is from a Highrise condominium or airplane takeoff-landing)
You can measure the seasons by the look of the trees

Summer days are longer (sunrises way earlier than Florida)
A little 20-minute drive will give you a whole new scenery (especially route 9 south, route 6 east...route 187 Simsbury

More interesting hiking/biking trails than Florida

More art/theatre tradition than most of Florida.

Florida it's all straight I95 and Florida's turnpike and every shopping center looks almost the same
Winn Dixie is ick
Publix is nice, but Big Y isn't a bad match for us

Florida law enforcement gives way more speeding tickets without exception and posted speed limits in Florida more arbitrary and not based on a safety concern but rather a source of municipal revenue. CT has more reasonable traffic law enforcement.

Florida age demographic less balanced and may not be ideal for the age group of 19-40.
Connecticut has a more balanced age mix.

While some of that is subjective I personally agree 110%. Moving back here after 10 years in FL has made me appreciate all of this so much more. The biggies for me are: the unique towns and architecture, the varied topography, the lesser dependancy on chain stores, the sense of community, the lack of sprawl for the most part, the close proximity to basically anything and everything, the changes of season, the wonderful parks, the more analytical and liberal thought process, the classier and more respectful people, and the roads. I love driving on beautiful winding roads. To me the journey and scenery are far more important than any one destination. Here's a very subjective one that is very true for me.. I feel better here. The energy that surrounds me is more positive, it smells better, I truly feel energized about life and at peace all at once. Connecticut is truly my paradise.


To me Florida is a very ugly, flat, over-developed state, with too many bugs, too much heat, too slow of a pace of life, too much traffic and those freakin long lights!!

[nep321]

The things that I prefer about Florida is the slower pace of life and the winters are definitely nice. The highways and roads are also in MUCH better condition than in CT. And FL has a lot more new construction, which I prefer.

Things I like better about CT: the politics, the scenery/terrain, and maybe that's it. I don't like how CT is more family oriented, since I'm single. Also, CT is one of the most classist states in the nation. Too many wealthy people making the quality of life worse for the middle class. There's way too much restricted open space, which sucks compared to out west.

[CLees]

Originally Posted by nep321

The things that I prefer about Florida is the slower pace of life and the winters are definitely nice. The highways and roads are also in MUCH better condition than in CT. And FL has a lot more new construction, which I prefer.

Things I like better about CT: the politics, the scenery/terrain, and maybe that's it. I don't like how CT is more family oriented, since I'm single.

New development is only nice if its done in a way that doesnt damage the natural beauty or historic value of the area its built on. Florida's endless, mind numbing, sprawl of cookie cutter developments, outlet malls, chain restaurants, and big box stores is the ugliest waste of space ever.. And guess what? Those are the "nice" areas that transplants flock to.. The rest of the state is run-down speed trap towns and farms.

Basically if you ONLY enjoy: convenience, bars, beaches, activities that involve water, warm to hot year round weather, and Disney.. then Florida is your place.

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by EricS39

Do most Connecticut residents agree with me?

Most of Connecticut residents love Connecticut, feel fully identified with its history and identity, and are proud to be from this state. Of course most will agree with you even if your opinion was not impartial at all. I think you mostly hit the nail on the head, so in this case most CT residents will agree with you and it just so happens that you have a point!

As for me, lets have a look:

High-level summary:
Reasons I prefer CT over FL:

1) seasons

Sorry buddy, we are going to have to part ways on this one. I love CT's spring, summer, and early fall. Gobal warming is not working fast enough and this past winter was a brutal reminder of that.

2) history

I'm slightly indifferent towards this, but not because of a lack of interest in history because I'm a history buff and highly enjoy visiting historic places around the world. Both states have more glorious epochs than shameful ones, so its hard for me to pick which one I prefer. CT is one of the oldest northern European settlements in America while Saint Augustine, FL started out as a Spanish settlement almost a century before the first British colony was established on the eastern seaboard. Sure, Florida can keep its Confederate state history, especially with its racial segregation and such, but that's a hiccup as are the parts of CT that remained loyal to Britain during the independence movement. Little things, but nothing to really choose one state over another.

3) natural scenery

Florida's best beaches are a million times nicer and better than the best beach in CT, but there's more to natural scenery than beaches. CT offers more natural beauty and diversity, we have actual mountains (nothing to boast about compared to the mountains in the Rockies; but considering Florida's almost uniform flatness, our mountains are Rockies by comparison.) CT seriously kicks rear ends during autumn. I also love the natural scenery after a snow storm, but lets not get carried away because I hate winter and I hate snow.

4) hilly topography

See response to #3.

5) politics

The whole country is messed up when it comes to this. Next...

6) cuisine

CT

7) public transportation

I'm not sure Florida knows what this is at all, but I hardly use public transportation in CT (almost all of it is Metro-North to NYC and back, and most of the times I go to NYC I decide to drive there, so...) I have never taken public transport in FL in part because even if I wanted to, it hardly exist. Please keep in mind that I'm much more familiar with Central Florida (Orlando area) and the Atlantic coast immediately east of Orlando (especially Melbourne Beach-Cocoa Beach areas.)

8) less sprawl

CT

9) town community structure

CT

10) less humidity and less allergies

Meh... This is irrelevant to me. I love humid days (especially nights with my girlfriend, ahem) and I can handle dry days too. I don't suffer from allergies of any kind and yes, I'm eternally grateful to my ancestors for giving me one heck of a set of genes and immune system. My gratefulness increases exponentially starting about this time of the year when I see relatives go through a living hell because of their allergies and have to take a ton of pills to have everything under control.

11) shorter driving distances

Yes, but this is related to #8.

12) age demographic

Meh... I hang around people that are near my age or upwards of a good 10 years above/below my age. What age predominates in the surrounding demographics is irrelevant, I only need 5 or 6 people within the age range I already mention to have an interesting social life and these are easily found anywhere. One thing I definitely like about CT's demographic is the greater education level of the people here. This increases considerably the probabilities of having an interesting conversation with someone. Also, CT people tend to be much more fit than FL people and this makes the human geography much more pleasant to watch, regardless of race/color. Lets not forget that Nutmeggers are quite an attractive-looking people.

[nep321]

Yeah, making a thread like this and saying that you like 4 seasons, especially TODAY, on March 31st with snow fall today is just really hard to convince people that that's a good feature of CT....LOL.

[CLees]

Originally Posted by nep321

Yeah, making a thread like this and saying that you like 4 seasons, especially TODAY, on March 31st with snow fall today is just really hard to convince people that that's a good feature of CT....LOL.

I like winter. In Florida I looked forward to cooler weather and dreaded the 6 month gauntlet (may-oct.) of days with highs close to, at, or above 90 degrees with hellish humidity.

[Mr_250]

I would choose ct over Florida any day. The company I work for is based in Florida and I would not want to move there.

Guys from Florida come up here and they call Florida " god's waiting room." Haha

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by CLees

I like winter. In Florida I looked forward to cooler weather and dreaded the 6 month gauntlet (may-oct.) of days with highs close to, at, or above 90 degrees with hellish humidity.

Florida hot in the summer? Who could possibly have guessed that?

[NewJeffCT]

One of the things I like best about CT is the location - easy access to places like Boston, Cape Cod and New York City, and even Philadelphia. Lots of great culture/arts, history and a ton of good colleges and universities within a short drive.