[skytrekker]

I am glad you feel so happy to defend NC- but its standard of living is still below Connecticut- its climate is far too hot for me- I do not believe I could stand 3 months of 90 degree weather with high humidity- or a political atmosphere which is reactionary to say the least.

[lifeguard_bss]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

I am glad you feel so happy to defend NC- but its standard of living is still below Connecticut- its climate is far too hot for me- I do not believe I could stand 3 months of 90 degree weather with high humidity- or a political atmosphere which is reactionary to say the least.

We have air conditiong here. It really is pretty neat. Even in our cars!

And my "standard of living" has increased considerably since coming here. I guess it just depends upon what your standards are. We can agree to disagree.

Also, to the original poster, I apologize for helping take this off track.

[seymourct]

Originally Posted by lifeguard_bss

Also, to the original poster, I apologize for helping take this off track.

That's okay...any ideas?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by lifeguard_bss

Have you lived in NC? There are cookie cutter subdivisions in CT too. NC has plenty of "non-subdivision" land available if that is what you are looking for. Yes there are opportunities here for housing jobs (of course) but the people moving here are not moving here just to build houses for the next people who move here. Your opinion is your own, but let me give you the facts in my case:

35 year old home 1950 sq feet in CT sold for the exact same price I bought my brand new 3000 sq ft home in NC for.

Cost of living is far less because I no longer need to feed the oild company all winter, and my taxes don't need to fuel the plaows that run all winter.

Climate here is beautiful.

My job here pays FAR more than in CT, beacuse of the opportunities here I was able to move up into a position that would probably not have existed there.

My wife's job pays more here.

We are 2.5 hours from BEATIFUL beaches and water warm enough to swim in.

We are 3 hours from the mountains.

Raleigh has more going on in it in a year than Hartford did in the 45 years I was in the area.

Dispute what you like and disagree all you want. The internet has blown up the model, and the economy is global. There really is no reason to stay in a place like CT. And if I may say so, if you have to MARKET the fact that the state is a great place for white collar business, it propbaly is not.

The reason there has been a migration to NC is because of the costs to live there are "perceived" to be less and that Americans have bought into the idea that new and bigger is better. Man of the items you posted in your clearly play into that philosphy.

"35 year old home 1950 sq feet in CT sold for the exact same price I bought my brand new 3000 sq ft home in NC for." Is bigger and newer really better if it is in a sprawling cookie cutter subdivision. JMHO but I do not think so

"Cost of living is far less because I no longer need to feed the oild company all winter, and my taxes don't need to fuel the plaows that run all winter." But you do need to pay the electric company for all those extra days of AC you have to run

"Climate here is beautiful." If you like the heat and personally I don't.

"My job here pays FAR more than in CT, beacuse of the opportunities here I was able to move up into a position that would probably not have existed there." There are many people that move to Connecticut for the exact same reason

"My wife's job pays more here." See above

"We are 2.5 hours from BEATIFUL beaches and water warm enough to swim in." We are an hour from beautiful beaches and an hour and a half from really beautiful beaches.

"We are 3 hours from the mountains." The Berkshires are under an hour away, Vermont an hour and a half.

"Raleigh has more going on in it in a year than Hartford did in the 45 years I was in the area." That is because like most natives you do not regularly frequent local attractions and just take them all for granted.

As for Connecticut having cookie cutter subdivisions like NC, I would like to know where. We do not have very many that are bigger than 50 homes and rarely are the lots as small. To me nothing looks worse than a 3,000 square foot home jammed on a 1/4 acre or less. Particularly when there is a "sea" of them spread across a couple of hundred acres.

Also Connecticut does not have very many subdivisions that have homeowner's associations governing it. NC has thousands. That is because in Connecticut there is strong zoning and local regulations as well as a strong pride in homeownership that keep our neighborhoods looking nice. And that HOA you belong to costs you a lot every year.

Finally there are the schools. Connecticut schools ALWAYS rank at or very near the top overall. Many people in NC have to send their kids to private schools if they want top quality education. How much does that cost? Overall, i would much rather live in Connecticut than NC but that is JMHO. Jay

[lifeguard_bss]

Have any of you actually lived in both places? Or is it just your perception?

[seymourct]

Originally Posted by lifeguard_bss

Have any of you actually lived in both places? Or is it just your perception?

My question had nothing to do with any particular place. I've lived in CT & FL, and travelled up & down the Eastern seaboard. Bottom line is everywhere people choose to make their home is their choice and I respect everyone's choices.

The quest was what IDEAS does anyone have to make CT look more attractive; how do we improve our economy?

[andthentherewere3]

In a perfect world, I'd live in North Carolina in winter, spring, and fall, and Connecticut in the summers. I actually know several people who have left Connecticut for North and South Carolina, they love it there. It all depends on what a person is looking for.

I'm not sure what the solution is for Connecticut's economy, but for starters, taxes are just too high.

[seymourct]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

I'm not sure what the solution is for Connecticut's economy, but for starters, taxes are just too high.

Great...an IDEA... thank you....Reduce gas taxes? sales taxes? both? Income taxes? business taxes? Localities reduce their property taxes? We can make up for the revenue cuts by adding volume to the population.
.... but how????
How do we attract people to CT...lets not just talk about how nice the weather and people are... what would be a good DRAW.

lets regress for a moment...NC does have techology triangle as a DRAW...

we know what CT current strengths are, no need for lengthy arguments about the existing attractive features... but what else should we do?

[BigHouse9]

Just saw this thread and as someone who lives in the Raleigh area right now and lived for 40 years in CT, I would take CT any day over the blandness of Raleigh. Cookie cutter subdivisions with teeny tiny lots. Rat race feel, traffic galore (especially going in and out of RTP), lack of commuting options, lower pay scales, monthly water bills, the keeping up with the Jones mentality, strip malls, a "get in your car to do anything" mentality, HOAs etc etc. There is a perception that it costs less to live in NC and that is just not ture. CT has so much more to do, so much more culturally and historically, more things for my kids to do, better education, close to the mountains and ocean. And I will take the weather in CT ANY DAY over this oppressive heat in NC.

We need to concentrate on these good things in CT and we can bring more people in business in. It is such a great beautiful state.

[wanderintonc]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

Just saw this thread and as someone who lives in the Raleigh area right now and lived for 40 years in CT, I would take CT any day over the blandness of Raleigh. Cookie cutter subdivisions with teeny tiny lots. Rat race feel, traffic galore (especially going in and out of RTP), lack of commuting options, lower pay scales, monthly water bills, the keeping up with the Jones mentality, strip malls, a "get in your car to do anything" mentality, HOAs etc etc. There is a perception that it costs less to live in NC and that is just not ture. CT has so much more to do, so much more culturally and historically, more things for my kids to do, better education, close to the mountains and ocean. And I will take the weather in CT ANY DAY over this oppressive heat in NC.

We need to concentrate on these good things in CT and we can bring more people in business in. It is such a great beautiful state.

So, you prefer to get your water bill every six months-you'd move for that? I don't understand.

Well, as someone who is planning to leave CT to move to Raleigh, I can say what is driving us out-cost of living, property taxes, not able to find the home for our family that we want, cold winters that cost a lot to heat for. We also worry for future opportunites for our children. They'll have to start out and seek a home too.

What would have kept us here would have been decent housing. You can complain about new, planned developments in Raleigh all you want, but the fact is-people want nice housing for their families and will leave CT to get it. You hear that over and over. And the property tax issue is part of it. That's just how it is.

CT is indeed beautiful and near lots of neat things (NYC, beach, ect) but that doesn't outweigh the economic issues.