[summertimecoolbreeze]

According to whom?

I read the list and it's complete garbage. The only states that night be true are Wyoming, Delaware, Ohio, and Hawaii. But even then it might not be true for them either.

[Sigequinox]

Okay Jay....Apples to "apples"....

What was first on your list--greenwich? According to city data, median home price in greenwich is just now even with 2009 high. However, it's 400k BELOW the 2010 high. poor greenwich.
Next, Madison: again according to C-D, looks like Madison median home price is 80-90k BELOW 2009 high.
Next, next: Yet again, from city data, West Hartford is just now even with 2009 high.

Franklin, TN you ask? 70k ABOVE the 2009 high. In fact, according to our apples to apples list (which it's not for many reasons), Franklin is the only one in the green.

Franklins 2009 median high was 305k so that's like, what, a 23% increase? Yeah, I'm DEFINTITELY building that good ol' CT wealth.

ETA: okay I just looked up my town and it's actually not even a joke anymore. Median home sales have went down 50k since i purchased. Being young and stupid is one thing, but I seriously effed up big time buying a home in here. Time to go drink myself to sleep...

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The one reason I find this list to be seriously flawed is that New Jersey is not on the worst list. It has higher taxes and cost of living than Connecticut while wages are not much different. It has a higher unemployment rate than us and since Connecticut is often listed as one of the healthiest state I doubt there is much difference in workplace safety and health. So how the heck did it not make the list??? Jay

2015

NJ is taxed LESS than Ct.

NJ is high at $6,552/resident, but Ct is higher at $7,115/resident. Wages are not much different, but we're taxed less (no car property tax in NJ!!).

That would be over 8% less (593/7115).

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

2015

NJ is taxed LESS than Ct.

NJ is high at $6,552/resident, but Ct is higher at $7,115/resident. Wages are not much different, but we're taxed less (no car property tax in NJ!!).

That would be over 8% less (593/7115).

I find that information dubious at best. Property tax is considerably higher in NYC commuting towns in NJ relative to CT. NJ is not even close to CT overall with income tax at least 2% higher at the same brackets plus tolls etc. Southern NJ may be help smooth a mean average but Essex and Bergen county rival Westchester for the nation's highest property taxes.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Not sure how you can be taxed less, when income AND property tax are higher in NJ.

2015’s States with the Highest and Lowest Property Taxes | WalletHub®

CT is 46th highest and NJ is 51st (includes D.C.).

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There are so many points wrong with this I don't know where to begin. There is a lot more to Connecticut than Fairfield County and not all of the state is tied to New York. Fairfield County represents less than a third of the states population and a lot less in area. Beyond it the state is much different. Connecticut's housing laws are a lot fairer to the tenant than the landlord. It sounds like you got caught and now blame the system, not yourself.

Totally agree on a cultural or social basis, but FFC essentially subsidizes the rest of the state with its tax revenue. It powers the state. And the proximity to NY certainly plays a roll in the success of FFC - the concentration of high paying jobs in Stamford/Norwalk is due in large part to being close to NYC. Throw in the folks who commute to jobs in NY, and I think its pretty fair to tie the fortunes of CT with NY.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Totally agree on a cultural or social basis, but FFC essentially subsidizes the rest of the state with its tax revenue. It powers the state. And the proximity to NY certainly plays a roll in the success of FFC - the concentration of high paying jobs in Stamford/Norwalk is due in large part to being close to NYC. Throw in the folks who commute to jobs in NY, and I think its pretty fair to tie the fortunes of CT with NY.

You know that old saying "all roads lead to Rome". In our case "all roads in Fairfield County lead to NYC".

That is why I keep saying on here that CT should be OK unless Wall Street decides to pick up and move down south. If that ever happens CT is in deep trouble. That is why I am going to stay in CT for retirement. I am betting on Wall Street being in NYC for the next 30-40 years and CT picking the pockets of the 1% in FCC.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

I make a good living here. If memory serves didn't you take a 1/3rd pay cut when you moved to Ohio?

Another important consideration is the industry you work in. Nep got slammed because he's an accountant. There's plenty of local accountants a company can hire. There are far fewer engineers, scientists, doctors and other less traveled career paths, which will require companies to pay higher salaries to attract talent.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There are so many points wrong with this I don't know where to begin. There is a lot more to Connecticut than Fairfield County and not all of the state is tied to New York. Fairfield County represents less than a third of the states population and a lot less in area. Beyond it the state is much different. Connecticut's housing laws are a lot fairer to the tenant than the landlord. It sounds like you got caught and now blame the system, not yourself.

A good portion of the state has natural gas for heating. You just need to live in those areas. Oh and by the way, the Governor has called for increasing the use of natural gas in the state and utilities are working very hard to expand. Septic tanks are only the norm in lower density areas just like every other part of the country.

Schools are what the student make of it. Most high schools offer a wide range of classes including votech programs. Dropping out because you did not get into a votech school is just an excuse. Connecticut is one of the most affluent states in the country so I would not characterize it as "Some affluence".

Connecticut is a very small state located between two of the country's largest and most desirable cities. It is a highly educated state with some of the best schools in the country. Saying it is 50 years behind the times is just plain ridiculous. Yes there is a gap in income in our cities, JUST like pretty much every other city in this country. And I am not aware of any "poverty stricken" portions of northwestern Connecticut. It is mostly nice small quiet towns that are surprisingly affluent. I think you need to venture out a bit in our state before ranting on about it. Jay

I lived in a city of 20,000 people that didn't have running water or public sewage. You might call that low density, but in most states that city certainly would have had those essentials. They even built a new high school there and didn't provide sewage treatment for it. The septic system went down and created a crisis for the whole town. We had to have our well water tested yearly for septic contamination. That would have been unheard of most places... it certainly would have been in a town of 20,000 people in West Virginia, where I now reside.

It's nice that a good portion of the state has gas heating. That does not change the fact that a good portion does not have it.

I moved to Fairfield County in the late 1990s. Not long after that, my teenager son joined me there and I went to register him for classes at the almost new high school with the poor septic system. Most of my family are college graduates, some with advanced degrees, but my younger son never had an interest in academics and wanted to follow a vocational life. I talked with an idiot posing as a guidance counselor there about getting him into a vocational program. The high school he had attended in West Virginia had a construction technology program that actually built a home from the ground up the previous year when he attended there. The counselor told me that they had a janitorial services program there that would teach him to change light bulbs and scrub floors, but nothing significant in terms of construction technology. Even that program was largely reserved for special needs students. To get into a carpentry or welding program at the state funded school located miles away required a major application process and a lengthy waiting list. We were floored by that news, and my son's education was seriously damaged by the policy.

I didn't get caught at anything. I was told of Connecticut's infamous landlord courts by my neighbor, a landlord, and also by a co-worker whose sister had been caught up in the feudal age system. In Connecticut, a person needs to be particularly careful when moving into rented quarters. You need at least 2 unrelated witnesses and you should carefully photograph everything in every room, and document every piece of loaned furniture or equipment. Not all landlords are scrupulous. If you get a bad one, with the system in Connecticut it is easy to get taken to the cleaners. You are correct that it takes some time... generally a month or so, to evict a tenant if they are behind in rental payments. You can also challenge a landlord if conditions are substandard. Those are the limits of being favorable to the tenant in Connecticut. If you don't follow a careful protocol when moving in and out, an unscrupulous landlord can take you to the cleaners there and it can have a misdemeanor record attached to it.

You're saying it a "highest educated" state. I find that amusing. It has one of the biggest gaps between rich and poor of any state in the country. I remember going to Cos Cob one day for a class, and just on the other side of the tracks were some of the worst slums I had ever seen. You do have a lot of rich there, but you have a lot of poor too, especially in the ghetto and Appalachian areas where the mills have closed up and everyone survives trying to sell each other pizzas. There are some rich folks colleges there to be sure, but that has little effect on the middle class and, in reality, the education there is not better than it is in public colleges. Those people pay big money so the sociology major the daughter brings home to meet the family also comes from a rich family whose family will help set the couple up later.

I met some lovely people in Connecticut, and still have family living there but the state is stuck in a time warp for some reason I could never figure out.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by nep321

CT feels both behind the times and with the times, for different reasons. It feels behind the times because of all the old housing, older aged population, old infrastructure and lack of new development. On the other hand, it feels with (or ahead) of times in that it's very progressive politically and has moved beyond a largely blue collar manufacturing economy to a more serviced based, white collar economy.

While I agree with this, I will point out that "progressive" might actually be regressive. What you call progressive leads to one of the highest tax burdens in the Nation, and from what I see there the results of all those entitlements don't actually raise people up to a higher standard. They often create a culture of dependency that is a form of slavery. People get addicted to the dole, and for many it is impossible to remove oneself from it. You would find more development there if the tax burden weren't so large, and the infrastructure would be better if not for some of those "progressive" policies. Our tax burden was significantly lightened when we moved from Connecticut, and the standard of living here is considerably better overall than it was in the small Fairfield County town we lived in there. Our small city of 32,000 permanent residents has had public sewage and water since the 1800s, and since we don't have wacko maniacs running things our electric bills are half what they were there. Also, natural gas is a given in these parts, so we aren't polluting the environment with heating oil, which causes more damage than any coal fired power plant.