[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

Having lived in charlotte it offers alot and all within city limits. Sports, shopping, theme park, ect. My whole point was in ct you have to drive those places. And some cities.. not all cities but alot of cities the same size and even smaller offer more within the city than ct cities with cheaper taxes of course. For example if you are in new haven. You have good resturants downtown and theres night life. East rock and west rock but outside of those things not really much.

I lived lived in charleston sc also. Smaller than hartford. Stamford and new haven but some of the best resturants in the country are there. You have a real beach. If you like to hunt its that option also so many outdoor activities and indoor for older and younger couples. Only thing missing is sports team and mountains but 2.5 hours away from both.

Sometimes one doesnt want to drive to nyc to get a real night out or to have fun outside of the norm. Thats whys alot of ct was once on the list for people moving out. Bot just only because of that but other issues also. It depends what you like. And for what i like to do wasnt there and i dont like to pay alot in taxes also because i looked into a house in houstan before and taxes on it were 3,4 thousand less that city and houstan is a major city that offers more. ..

I assume by theme park you are talking about Carowinds which is really an amusement park. It is located 13 miles from downtown Charlotte. Lake Compounce Amusement Park is located 17 miles from downtown Hartford. Not a big difference. Also Six Flags is 25 miles from downtown. Again not that far. You must remember Charlotte is big in area covering near 300 square miles. Hartford is only 17 square miles so of course it is not going to have as much within its city limits. No one with any reason would.

Also I am not sure what your point is about New Haven. There are excellent restaurants all over the city particularly in East Rock and Westville. Go outside the city and you find plenty of great places as well. You obviously did not get around the city or its suburbs much. And last time I looked there was a real beach in New Haven. It is in Lighthouse Point Park.

You point to Charleston being close to outdoor activities. So are our cities. You want hunting in the mountains, you can get to Vermont or New Hampshire in 2 hours. You want big time professional sports, again 2 hours to Boston or New York. You want canoeing, we got the Farmington River. You want trails, the Farmington Canal or Airline Trails are great. Mountain climbing, check out the Berkshires in northwest Connecticut. Skiing or snowboarding (something NC does not really have), if the slopes of Connecticut aren't good enough for you, then head north to western Massachusetts, Vermont or New Hampshire.

For theater, Hartford and New Haven have a lot of options. If you want world-class theater, where you going to go, Atlanta? Nothing comes close to New York City for that. Sorry but you really can't beat the options for entertainment that we have in the northeast. Jay

[Stylo]

I'm with Jay on that. New Haven and Stamford, and other cities like West Hartford, Westport, Fairfield, Norwalk have an abundance of fine dining and food options you'd be hard pressed to match anywhere in SC. Fact. We benefit from NYC food standards here.

We also have a ridiculous amounts of things to drive to in a short distance that puts the Carolinas to shame, which are much more spread out.

In the summer, I run out of weekends to do all the great day/weekend trips you can do from here. It's staggering. You can visit real mountains (White Mountains), beautiful beaches (Rhode Island, Hamptons, NJ Shore, Cape Cod), interesting rocky coastline (CT, Maine), a taste of Europe (Montreal/Quebec), beautiful islands (Block Island, MV, Nova Scotia, Nantucket), historic cities (Newport, Boston, Mystic, Portland, numerous charming small New England towns), and only the world economic and cultural powerhouse (NYC). Outdoors wise, skiing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, mountain biking all over. World class sports, entertainment, and culture.

Trying matching that in the Carolinas. Ha! There's a reason it's cheaper.

[JGBigGreen]

I agree that we have a fantastic dining scene in many parts of Connecticut but Charleston, SC is an amazing food city as well. Outside of that, the food scene is more sparse in SC for sure (though I do enjoy finding the occasional roadside BBQ gem when business takes me through the state.)

Originally Posted by Stylo

I'm with Jay on that. New Haven and Stamford, and other cities like West Hartford, Westport, Fairfield, Norwalk have an abundance of fine dining and food options you'd be hard pressed to match anywhere in SC. Fact. We benefit from NYC food standards here.

We also have a ridiculous amounts of things to drive to in a short distance that puts the Carolinas to shame, which are much more spread out.

In the summer, I run out of weekends to do all the great day/weekend trips you can do from here. It's staggering. You can visit real mountains (White Mountains), beautiful beaches (Rhode Island, Hamptons, NJ Shore, Cape Cod), interesting rocky coastline (CT, Maine), a taste of Europe (Montreal/Quebec), beautiful islands (Block Island, MV, Nova Scotia, Nantucket), historic cities (Newport, Boston, Mystic, Portland, numerous charming small New England towns), and only the world economic and cultural powerhouse (NYC). Outdoors wise, skiing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, mountain biking all over. World class sports, entertainment, and culture.

Trying matching that in the Carolinas. Ha! There's a reason it's cheaper.

[RunD1987]

Not sure CT has much in regards to attractions, but thankfully boundless options to hike and Camp. Then when you need a change cam head out of the state less then an hour away.

[ayoskillz]

That was my whole point. 90% of things other than dinning you have to drive a hour + for. And sometimes one just dont want to drive that far for certain things but rather fmdo stuff close to home

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

That was my whole point. 90% of things other than dinning you have to drive a hour + for. And sometimes one just dont want to drive that far for certain things but rather fmdo stuff close to home

NYC and Boston world class cities*

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

That was my whole point. 90% of things other than dinning you have to drive a hour + for. And sometimes one just dont want to drive that far for certain things but rather fmdo stuff close to home

Yes but as I pointed out in other states you have to drive to them too. No differences. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

90% of things other than dinning you have to drive a hour + for.

Examples?

[ayoskillz]

Going by new haven. Cause thats where I stayed. Casinos, mountains, amusement/theme park. Drove to Fairfield just to bowl because the one in milford was a eye sore. Stop going to easthaven n west haven beach due to the needles that was laying on the beach in plain sight. Although milford and sea side are ok but other than that you have to drive.

Food is good all over the state. Esp pizza. Some of the best pizza i ever had came from ct but What do you and your families do on a Saturday /sunday are you in general in your city compared to leaving the city.

[ayoskillz]

But again like i say it really what you like to do. Determines if you think cities are slacking