[JGBigGreen]

This is my impression as well. In fact, the New Haven Register had an article recently that confirms the impact Yale students make on the New Haven economy. I'm not sure if it is okay to post links so I'll just paste the following and note the full article is online from 5/16/15:

Those whose job it is to make downtown a destination, such as Anne Worcester, chief marketing officer for Market New Haven, say Yale is “critically important” to New Haven shopping and tourism.

According to a profile of Yale by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, visitors spend more than $61 million annually, while students spend $182.9 million.

Originally Posted by Stylo

What I observe is very contrary to that. I see students all the time in lunch places, out to dinner, bars, etc. Many look too young to be grad students. When the Spring semester ends, many near-campus lunch spots and coffee shops become considerably less busy in the summer.

[Comp625]

Originally Posted by AnonChick

I think some cities remind me of New Haven, but never the other way around. If anything, I'd say New Haven reminds me a little of Boston proper. A central green with the main government and market areas surrounding it (Boston Common and the State House and Park Street), the wealthy area nearest to the government buildings (Charles Street and the Beacon Hill vs. East Rock and the mansions on Whitney just past Audubon), commerce adjacent (Chapel vs. Park, all the streets behind Chapel vs. ChinaTown and the mall and Commonwealth Ave), residential/student housing (Beacon to Comm Ave and points all the way to Fenway, vs. Yale all the way to Westville).

I would love to see the City of New Haven offer an incentive in the form of a residential tax break for those who work in New Haven and choose to live in New Haven itself.

Also, I completely agree with AnonChick's statement. New Haven definitely has a charm to it much like Boston and Cambridge. Even my Bostonian friends admire New Haven and hold it in a positive light.

[JGBigGreen]

I just don't think New Haven is a viable option for many,many Yale employees with children due to its' poor public school systems. Combine that with its' high property tax burden relative to suburbs with great schools and it is a hard sell. Yale offers a program to incentivise employees to buy in New Haven (currently $30k over a period of time) and even with that most of my colleagues I've spoken with still don't think it is worth it.

[hucareshokiesrul]

Yeah, that's the big issue. New Haven is going to continue to bring young professionals back into town, which is great, but families are a much harder sell. New Haven Promise is a great deal, though. Still, I wouldn't be in a rush to put my kids in the NHPS system, unless maybe I lived in East Rock.

Hopefully the younger ones without kids will move here, and increase the tax base and help the economy in general. Hopefully that'll mean more money for schools. That won't necessarily fix things, but it'll probably help. I'm guessing the city loves young professionals without kids because they don't put a burden on the school system, but still indirectly pay taxes. The higher the ratio of earners to children the better, I'd imagine. The downside, though, is that they make less money than do older workers with kids.

[Comp625]

Originally Posted by hucareshokiesrul

Yeah, that's the big issue. New Haven is going to continue to bring young professionals back into town, which is great, but families are a much harder sell. New Haven Promise is a great deal, though. Still, I wouldn't be in a rush to put my kids in the NHPS system, unless maybe I lived in East Rock.

Hopefully the younger ones without kids will move here, and increase the tax base and help the economy in general. Hopefully that'll mean more money for schools. That won't necessarily fix things, but it'll probably help. I'm guessing the city loves young professionals without kids because they don't put a burden on the school system, but still indirectly pay taxes. The higher the ratio of earners to children the better, I'd imagine. The downside, though, is that they make less money than do older workers with kids.

That holds true in many cities though - not just New Haven. Younger folks flock into an urban environment for the active nightlife and job opportunities, but they migrate outward into the suburbs when they start a family.

With many 20-somethings and early 30-somethings delaying to start a family until their later years, I think New Haven has a viable opportunity at capturing this demographic.

IMO, what New Haven also needs is a boost in its variety of employers. Aside from the Yale community, the amount of businesses is still a bit lacking compared to Stamford and Hartford. The city's overall growth will remain bottlenecked until it figures out how to spur non-Yale economic growth.