[bolehboleh]

I was thinking about these two cities today. How do they compare? They are both very similar but NB is a bit bigger and more developed. What says you? Which city is better? I'll post this in the MA forum as well to get a fair representation.

-Which has the most crime?
-Which has the best Universities and colleges?
-Which has the best housing and/or apartments
-Which has the best nightlife?
-Which has the best weather?
-Which is the nicer looking city?
-Which has more things to do (museums, attractions, etc)?

Or any more you can think of...

[RunD1987]

I mean New London if you incorporate a 15 mile radius around it has a lot to offer. Museums, aquarium, comedy clubs, casinos, local restaurants, shops, and so forth. Inside of New London is the redeveloping Waterfront and Fort Trumbull. You also have golf courses in the area. Healthcare is growing with Yale and Masonicare moving in. I say Private Colleges are better in New London, but offer little Public university options.

You have lots of option for history in the New London area as well. Additionally, some of the best beaches in the State in the New London area.

Both have fast ferries to islands.

However, due to colleges, more job opportunities, and proximity to Boston/Cape Cod I would pick Dartmouth.

[willow wind]

What's the purpose of your question? Are you looking to live or find employment in either city?

New London has about 28,000 people, New Bedford about 95,000. That alone is going to give you very different cities just based on population.

New London is not thriving . The housing market is stagnant in the city. It has one private college ( Connecticut College) one private two year college ( Mitchell College) and the Coast Guard Academy. Half of the city is very sketchy with typical urban problems ( crime, drugs, poor management ).

There are a few small art galleries and a small restaurant/bar scene. Rental housing is typical New England double or triple deckers or older high rises in the not great sections of the city. There are also some apartment type condos in which rentals can also be found.

There's not much to do in New London itself. If you're young, you'd likely be bored to tears. There is a good beach in the city. However, there are a number of things to do in the general area. But that means getting in a car and driving to the Mystic area, the casinos, state parks, etc.

You might be better off considering Providence.

[kidyankee764]

These two cities are nothing alike.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by bolehboleh

I was thinking about these two cities today. How do they compare? They are both very similar but NB is a bit bigger and more developed. What says you? Which city is better? I'll post this in the MA forum as well to get a fair representation.

-Which has the most crime?
-Which has the best Universities and colleges?
-Which has the best housing and/or apartments
-Which has the best nightlife?
-Which has the best weather?
-Which is the nicer looking city?
-Which has more things to do (museums, attractions, etc)?

Or any more you can think of...

New Bedford is bigger city

[bbarker3839]

This is an easy call.

New Bedford is part of the Boston metro (albeit closer to Providence, but still has easy rail access), therefore giving one access to world-class jobs..including THE premier tech jobs on the east coast.

New London has access to what....minimum wage gigs at the casinos?! Let's not even get into the ever expanding sinkhole that is the state's current financial picture.

Both of these cities are pretty gritty, and well toward the bottom of the list of most...but the bottom line is that CT's economic future looks about as bleak as that of RI's today. MA has been all about job creation and economic growth; CT continues its anti-business stance despite being on the brink of economic disaster. Anyone even remotely considering relocating to this state these days needs their head examined.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by bbarker3839

This is an easy call.

New Bedford is part of the Boston metro (albeit closer to Providence, but still has easy rail access), therefore giving one access to world-class jobs..including THE premier tech jobs on the east coast.

New London has access to what....minimum wage gigs at the casinos?! Let's not even get into the ever expanding sinkhole that is the state's current financial picture.

Both of these cities are pretty gritty, and well toward the bottom of the list of most...but the bottom line is that CT's economic future looks about as bleak as that of RI's today. MA has been all about job creation and economic growth; CT continues its anti-business stance despite being on the brink of economic disaster. Anyone even remotely considering relocating to this state these days needs their head examined.

New Bedford is not part of metro Boston. It is a virtually independent city located 60 miles from Boston. There are no commuter trains from Boston to New Bedford so I am not sure why you think this. New Bedford is an old port city that has seen better days. New London is too but New London is directly on the northeast corridor, is adjacent to Groton which has a submarine base, is near more tourist attractions like Mystic and two major casinos so I would give it a slight edge over New Bedford. I will say that New Bedford is closer to Cape Cod which is great and it is closer to a large city so it kind of depends what you prefer. Jay

[RunD1987]

New Bedford also has a Whaling Museum and an Amtrak Station. As I say expand Eastern Satellite campus in New London to a Business and Health Science school. Encourage UCONN to include a 2 year Avery and 2 year Storrs program RN program. New London with Hartford and Yale surrounding it has good healthcare.

[bbarker3839]

Here we go again with the CT bias..

FYI, the South Coast Rail is in the works, that will directly connect NB to Bos. I realize there is no direct connection now, but it's a short drive to towns with direct rail access.

Again..while commuting from NB would be a pain these days (but no more painful than commuting to NY from SW CT)...the access to word-class employment centers is something SE CT cant even begin to dream of.

But yeah, access to those SUPER AFFLUENT sub-base jobs (LOL) is just HUGE. Oh, and that aquarium is Mystic is SO worth the price of admission

Getting back to reality..it wont be long before one living in NB can hop on the rail straight into Boston to work at GE. Ouch.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by bbarker3839

Here we go again with the CT bias..

FYI, the South Coast Rail is in the works, that will directly connect NB to Bos. I realize there is no direct connection now, but it's a short drive to towns with direct rail access.

Again..while commuting from NB would be a pain these days (but no more painful than commuting to NY from SW CT)...the access to word-class employment centers is something SE CT cant even begin to dream of.

But yeah, access to those SUPER AFFLUENT sub-base jobs (LOL) is just HUGE. Oh, and that aquarium is Mystic is SO worth the price of admission

Getting back to reality..it wont be long before one living in NB can hop on the rail straight into Boston to work at GE. Ouch.

And here goes the Connecticut bashing yet again. I doubt anyone of the 200 GE employees being moved to Boston would commute 60 miles from New Bedford so yeah you should get back to reality. The South Coast Rail service will not begin for years if not longer. The drive from New Bedford to the nearest MBTA station is not short either. And it is not just a sub base in Groton, there is the massive Electric Boat which does have well paying jobs and is adding to its staff. And even though Pfizer has reduced staff in Groton it still has a sizable number of people who also make good money. You may not think the Mystic Aquarium is not worth the admission price but the thousands of people that go there each year do. So yeah, ouch! Jay