[Henry10]

Originally Posted by Yuptag

They can always keep raising taxes . . . oh wait they are doing that. Only New York state is worse tax wise.

Adjusted for Cost of Living Index CT has a higher tax burden than NY. CT is ranked 51st in the country.

2015

[wolf39us]

Originally Posted by STEVEN 1

Gay marriage is a good example, don't tell me I have to accept it just because you're gay, personally if s gay couple gets married I could care less but if I didn't agree with it I would be labeled a homophobic redneck, but as long as I agree with the gay couple then I'm a great guy.

We set a neighborhood in Baltimore on fire cause a known drug dealer with a rap sheet died in police custody.But it's not his fault for being a career criminal, its our fault for catching him and trying to keep neighborhood safe.

You're the conformist here.

You conform to what an American is "supposed" to be. You know, that whole example of God, Family, and country.

You conform to the status quo. The lifescript of praying to God, having a wife and kids and just "hating" all the things your God hates! You're about as cookie cutter as they come!

[STEVEN 1]

Originally Posted by wolf39us

You're the conformist here.

You conform to what an American is "supposed" to be. You know, that whole example of God, Family, and country.

You conform to the status quo. The lifescript of praying to God, having a wife and kids and just "hating" all the things your God hates! Your about as cookie cutter as they come!

I stand behind what I believe in

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Adjusted for Cost of Living Index CT has a higher tax burden than NY. CT is ranked 51st in the country.

2015

New York State is saved because upstate areas have much lower taxes than the greater New York City area (which includes Long Island, Westchester and Rockland). Connecticut is a much smaller state and more densely developed overall so we do not have the large rural areas to offset the areas with higher taxes. Still data that has been posted here has shown New Jersey having a higher tax burden as well as maybe a couple of others. It just depends how the data is presented. And again , yes, our taxes are high here. Jay

[JayCT]

Please return to the topic of the OP. Jay

[richrf]

As a new resident of CT., (understanding all of the pros and con's), I was wondering where everyone is moving to. I understand people may have to move because of various life circumstances (e.g., new job, can no longer afford, etc.), but given that a person or family has a choice to stay or leave, where are they moving to?

Most places on Best Places to live are generally Cheap places to live with their own pros and con's, e.g. social and cultural milieu. Finding a new place to live is difficult even if one dislikes the place they are currently living.

[HumpDay]

Originally Posted by STEVEN 1

Back in my day a man served his country, married a girl, and worked in a field he loved providing a living and having pride in being an American.

Our nation used to have balls, we were men, we started families, we built great things, we spoke our peace, we were not forced into accepting everything just because it might offend someone.

Maybe I'm a throw back from a different time but guys come on, everything now is so cookie cutter and fake, we've become conformist and dull.

God, family, and America, it used to have meaning, we weren't afraid to be who we are.

I'm too apologetic to the next generation. Actually for this generation as well. I feel like life was so much easier back when I was growing up. You were able to buy a car at age 16 without your parents helping you, college was a lot cheaper, and houses were cheaper. I was able to move out at 19 but since it's gotten so expensive many kids are moving out in their late 20's. The problem is money inflation. The value of the dollar is increasing yet wages haven't increased much within the past 30 years. We now live in a world where technology and the media are taking over everyones life. People believe everything they see and they look at the media to tell them everything. The media didn't get involved with people's lives as much as they do now. They werent as crazy as now. The media is misleading and if you tell people something over and over again they believe it without researching and finding information on your own. On the other hand, look at how much technology is taking over our lives. Social media can be evil yet there are 8 year olds that have iPhones. Parents only give them cell phones because they'll feel weird if they don't. They want to make their kids fit in. When kids use cell phones they don't look up, don't build up empathy, don't pay attention, and text while driving. I used to work at a doctors office and everyone in the lobby was ALWAYS looking down on their cell phones. We actually got rid of magazines because nobody uses them. Nobody talks and when you do most people think your crazy. Not only kids do this but also adults. Imagine how the world would be without social media and high end technology. Would you think the world would be a better of they didn't exist? It sounds crazy but just think about it...

[Metsfan53]

Originally Posted by richrf

As a new resident of CT., (understanding all of the pros and con's), I was wondering where everyone is moving to. I understand people may have to move because of various life circumstances (e.g., new job, can no longer afford, etc.), but given that a person or family has a choice to stay or leave, where are they moving to?

Most places on Best Places to live are generally Cheap places to live with their own pros and con's, e.g. social and cultural milieu. Finding a new place to live is difficult even if one dislikes the place they are currently living.

I often wonder this myself. I think people look at COL calcs or something likes money magainze's best place to live and think- great let's go there since housing and property taxes are cheaper. But I think a lot of people fail to factor in hidden expenses like private school, high homeowners insurance, hidden taxes, HOA, etc or weaker job markets. I know several people who were looking to move to GA or NC. They realized that to live in a "good" schools district (good for that state) housing was not that much less than in the NE and on less salary. This didn't take into account less access to good hospitals, cultural amenities, restuarants, political/religious differences etc.
I looked into leaving NE myself at one point when I saw what I could get for the same price someplace else. But in my line of work there's only 2-3 places I could really live and the housing cost while lower isn't in the range of 150K for a mcmansion on 2 acres and i would still probably have to take a haircut on salary as well. Factoring in private schooling and the fact that most of the secondary locations for my industry are specific to one or two companies at best (while NE has an abundance) it wasn't worth it. I also noticed many of the private schools were not that great anyway. None of this takes into account leaving our families behind.
While it would be great to keep 15% or more of my paycheck with lower housing costs in the end it wasn't worth it for us. IF someone is able to walk away to somplace like NC or GA or TX and keep thier salary without minding some of the other issues than more power to them.

[richrf]

Originally Posted by Metsfan53

I often wonder this myself. I think people look at COL cals or something likes money magainze's best place to live and think- great let's go there since housing and property taxes are cheaper. But I think a lot of people fail to factor in hidden expenses like private school, high homeowners insurance, hidden taxes, HOA, etc. Like you also mentioned I know several people who were looking to move to GA or NC. They realized that to live in a "good" schools district (good for that state) housing was not that much less than in the NE and on less salary. This didn't take into account less access to good hospitals, cultural amenities, restuarants, political/religious differences etc.
I looked into leaving NE myself at one point when I saw what I could get for the same price someplace else. But in my line of work there's only 2-3 places I could really live and the housing cost while lower isn't in the range of 150K for a mcmansion on 2 acres and i would still probably have to take a haircut on salary as well. Factoring in private schooling and the fact that most of the secondary locations for my industry are specific to one or two companies at best (while NE has an abundance) it wasn't worth it. I also noticed many of the private schools were not that great anyway. none of this takes into account leaving our families behind as well.
While it would be great to keep 15% or more of my paycheck with lower housing costs in the end it wasn't worth it for us. IF someone is able to walk away to somplace like NC or GA or TX and keep thier salary without minding some of the other issues than more power to them.

I agree. When all is factored in, the cost savings is often nominal though for some people a 10% savings may be critical. Choices are often difficult to make and always come with some compromise. We are paying more to live in Stamford than Chicago right now because we are renting rather than owning a condo. But, then again we sold our condos in Chicago because of all of the issues associated with condo ownership. If we bought a condo in Stamford, our COL would be approximately the same and would stabilize but then we would be back to the headaches of condo ownership. It's always a matter of tradeoffs.

[MrGompers]

People are looking for high/above average salaries, low taxes, high/above average Govt services & amenities, high/above average schools, low insurance costs, low housing costs, nice weather year round.

This place doesn't exist, so these COL discussions are pointless. If this place did exist, everyone would move there, and just drive up the costs again.

The best you can do is work with the situation you're in. At least for CT we don't have to worry about schools. Which is not the case in most other states unless you want to pay for private schools.