[EUPL]

One of the biggest issues that CT has is the poor investment in its larger cities. This is causing so many Millennials to run to Boston and NYC. I don't get why CT concentrates on its suburbs so much but leaves Hartford to rot. I cant blame that 90% of my friends want to move to more exciting places.

This guy is totally right, the northeast in general is loosing a tremendous amount of people.

Connecticut in crisis

[Robert137]

But Connecticut does "invest" in its cities. Untold hundreds of millions, probably billions in total, for school aid diverted from affluent towns, welfare benefits of all sorts, Medicaid, "affordable" housing galore and a ton of other programs, which are all touted as "investments". The well does start to run dry eventually. And where is the return on these?

[cttransplant85]

Maybe northeastern domestic migration is heading towards large cities but overall US migration not so much, people are moving south and west to more spacious areas.

[GoHuskies]

Originally Posted by Robert137

But Connecticut does "invest" in its cities. Untold hundreds of millions, probably billions in total, for school aid diverted from affluent towns, welfare benefits of all sorts, Medicaid, "affordable" housing galore and a ton of other programs, which are all touted as "investments". The well does start to run dry eventually. And where is the return on these?

Want cities to improve?

A) Take the harsh route and pull back on social welfare. No more housing, healthcare, or food. Let the poor move away or die off.

Or

B) Force the poor to spread out all over the state and don't allow any large concentrations.

Cities like Hartford & Bridgeport have too much poverty. Over 30% of Hartford lives below the poverty line with 10%+ unemployment. It's the concentration of poverty in geographically small cities that kills investment. Nobody feels safe or wants to pay the high city taxes so they commute from the suburbs. The next generation of skilled labor wants more than the suburban lifestyle lived by the parents. This creates a cycle of younger workers leaving the state.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by EUPL

One of the biggest issues that CT has is the poor investment in its larger cities. This is causing so many Millennials to run to Boston and NYC. I don't get why CT concentrates on its suburbs so much but leaves Hartford to rot. I cant blame that 90% of my friends want to move to more exciting places.

This guy is totally right, the northeast in general is loosing a tremendous amount of people.

Connecticut in crisis

Connecticut treat it cities like disease

[cttransplant85]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Connecticut treat it cities like disease

In what sense? The amount of money redistributed from the wealthy suburbs to the inner cities in this state is INSANE. I guess the argument is that more of the money should be spent on infrastructure and less on social programs?

[acornsower]

Connecticut has treated its cities as containment zones for all the social ills of society so that the suburbs could get off scot-free. Back in the late '70s--early '80s our urban centers saw the beginnings of a back-to-the-city revival--South Green in Hartford, Washington Park and the South End in Bridgeport, Fair Haven in New Haven, and Hillside in Waterbury were all hotbeds of young people moving back and restoring historic structures (this was in concert with similar efforts that turned around once-decrepit neighborhoods like Park Slope in Brooklyn and the South End in Boston). But the policies of the State doomed these efforts with a vision that assumed that cities had no viable future other than to provide low-income housing. While Boston and Brooklyn became meccas for investment Hartford, Bridgeport, and Waterbury became national models of urban decline. And Cttransplant85 is correct--the amount of money poured into these cities IS insane. In Bridgeport, hundreds of millions spent demolishing the city's most historic neighborhood for a Bass Pro Shop with a 40-acre surface parking lot, a Chipotle's, and a phone store. Another $140,000,000 for a high school, and now a proposal for a $300,000,000 train station in a no-man's land on the city's East Side. Then there is the public housing that costs in excess of $300,000 per unit to construct. Back in the early years of the 20th century our beautiful old New England cities were the envy of the nation. As today's rising generation chooses urban living in place of the raised ranch on an acre of land in a distant suburb that was their parents' dream, Connecticut has shot itself in the foot.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by cttransplant85

In what sense? The amount of money redistributed from the wealthy suburbs to the inner cities in this state is INSANE. I guess the argument is that more of the money should be spent on infrastructure and less on social programs?

This. The money is available to the cities. They just don't spend it wisely. Google "corruption"

[clutchrider]

Cost prohibitive and you get nothing for your money. Why would I want to move to a city that is dirty (read trash, unkempt public spaces/streets/etc.), has insanely high mil rates, and provides my tax dollars to the programs and funds that continue to increase every year without and checks and balance while I receiving nothing in return? The cities keep rinse and repeating their faults without trying to actually fix problems, throwing money at them does not help and people don't want to contribute.

Also the cost to buy, renovate, live in the city is exorbitant when for the same if not less money you can have space, privacy, and live just minutes away.

[BPt111]

Everyone want to live in Brooklyn and Harlem now but not Hartford