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I would like your input--esp. if you have lived in Vermont, Maine, Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey. I spent most of my life in Orange County in California. Also spent 5 years in San Diego; and 3mos in Provo, Utah during 2000.
I just have this feeling that California is not where I want to spend the rest of my life. I enjoy having the weather though--at least in the sense of the good weather that lasts for much of the year.
I realize that Vermont, Maine, Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Jersey are states with lots of different personalities from city to city within its own state borders, but I would like to know which of those states you prefer to live in and Why? Also please list the cities you lived in each state.
Any input as to the vibes of each of those states would be most welcome. Thanks
Lived in Connecticut pretty much all of life and couldn't be happier. Though Cost of Living is a lot higher than most of the state's you've mentioned. New Jersey is probably a little more expensive but you get a lot for your money. High wages, great location, top class schools, good workforce protection, union rights, low poverty, and attractive suburbs where families can grow. People are moving out of Connecticut because it's extrenely expensive to retire in yet a lot of people are moving in. I can understand that people would like New Hampshire and Wyoming because it's 95% rural but when you look at Connecticut it has a mix of urban, suburban, and rural. Not too many states can say that. New Jersey is very similar with that as well.
I lived in CT for 28 of 30 years of my life and was always in search of a better place to live, but can't really find it. Other than Fairfield County, it's really not that expensive to live here as people say. It's the best value in the northeast corridor. The scenery and zoning is very nice. No masses of cookie cutter housing and grid pattern street design, which is boring. Despite what people say, there are jobs here. Not a ton, but there are enough, and they pay very well. But I will admit, it's not ideal for young, single people. But not horrible either. For families, it's extremely desirable. The highways are in great condition, despite many of the local roads being in mediocre condition. If you want to see BAD roads, go to NYC/Westchester County or northeast Ohio.
CT is very aesthetically appealing. The scenery, the landscape, the hills, and the charming towns and houses are in abundance. Don't listen to the idiots who think it's a drive-through state and base their impression entirely what they see on I-95 (which is still very scenic in itself) or I-84 or whatever. But in CT, the commercial and residential development is integrated beautifully with nature. It makes many other states look bland and planned.
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine generally have more impressive natural scenery, but for practical purposes, it's extremely hard to find a good job in those states. And the scenery of CT holds its own against northern New England anyway.
The southwestern portion of CT (Fairfield, and to a lesser extent, New haven counties) feel more populated, fast paced and less New England-like....not to mention Fairfield County being extremely expensive. Coming from Orange County, CA however, most of CT (other than Fairfield County) is a BARGAIN! Home prices are about half the cost and rents are significantly less, too. Traffic isn't that bad outside of Fairfield County, either.
CT has numerous state parks and outdoor activities available, from hiking to going to the beach.
So, although the cost of living is high, it's certainly (and easily) doable to live a comfortable enough lifestyle in most of the state (outside of Fairfield County). But you won't be living in a big city environment like L.A. But you could always visit NYC or Boston within 2 hours or less.
CT people can be very pessimistic toward their home state, but honestly, they are delusional. Most of them have only really left the state to vacation to Florida, and they use Florida as a benchmark comparison, which is ridiculous.
All of those other states you listed are very nice, too. I've been to all of them except for WY. But CT is the only one that I've lived in, so I can say the most for it.
I lived in CT for 28 of 30 years of my life and was always in search of a better place to live, but can't really find it. Other than Fairfield County, it's really not that expensive to live here as people say. It's the best value in the northeast corridor. The scenery and zoning is very nice. No masses of cookie cutter housing and grid pattern street design, which is boring. Despite what people say, there are jobs here. Not a ton, but there are enough, and they pay very well. But I will admit, it's not ideal for young, single people. But not horrible either. For families, it's extremely desirable. The highways are in great condition, despite many of the local roads being in mediocre condition. If you want to see BAD roads, go to NYC/Westchester County or northeast Ohio.
CT is very aesthetically appealing. The scenery, the landscape, the hills, and the charming towns and houses are in abundance. Don't listen to the idiots who think it's a drive-through state and base their impression entirely what they see on I-95 (which is still very scenic in itself) or I-84 or whatever. But in CT, the commercial and residential development is integrated beautifully with nature. It makes many other states look bland and planned.
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine generally have more impressive natural scenery, but for practical purposes, it's extremely hard to find a good job in those states. And the scenery of CT holds its own against northern New England anyway.
The southwestern portion of CT (Fairfield, and to a lesser extent, New haven counties) feel more populated, fast paced and less New England-like....not to mention Fairfield County being extremely expensive. Coming from Orange County, CA however, most of CT (other than Fairfield County) is a BARGAIN! Home prices are about half the cost and rents are significantly less, too. Traffic isn't that bad outside of Fairfield County, either.
CT has numerous state parks and outdoor activities available, from hiking to going to the beach.
So, although the cost of living is high, it's certainly (and easily) doable to live a comfortable enough lifestyle in most of the state (outside of Fairfield County). But you won't be living in a big city environment like L.A. But you could always visit NYC or Boston within 2 hours or less.
CT people can be very pessimistic toward their home state, but honestly, they are delusional. Most of them have only really left the state to vacation to Florida, and they use Florida as a benchmark comparison, which is ridiculous.
All of those other states you listed are very nice, too. I've been to all of them except for WY. But CT is the only one that I've lived in, so I can say the most for it.
Look like us two Nutmeggers are taking over this thread.
I lived in Vermont for a while, and ended up in Kentucky. I found my Vermont, in Louisville KY. Vermont was cold and dark. Stoic, non-friendly people, no jobs, crazy high cost of living. All that I could deal with, but what got me in the end was the darkness 8 months out of the year. Some people can do it, some can't. I couldn't. It is postcard beautiful, but you pay a high cost for that. I thought Vermont was going to be all artists and hippies and stuff like that, but it was nothing like that at all. I did get all of that stuff I wanted in Kentucky, though. Because of the hillbillie stigma attached to KY, no one would suspect anywhere there of being cool, but Louisville is the most cultured and cool place I have ever lived. Please dont tell anyone though, as soon as people find out, they will come en masse and then the developers will follow with loz--"improvements".
I am going back to Maine when I retire, my hometown is economically depressed and there are no jobs to be had, when I was a kid there was over 2000 people living there, now it's under 1300.
I grew up in Connecticut. Lived there from age 3 to 18 full time, came back for the summers when I was in college, and spent some around a year living there in my early 20s as well.
I think Connecticut was an awful place to grow up, quite honestly. Virtually every town is some variant upon car-dependent suburbia. The cities for the most part are impoverished, urban-renewed wrecks with barely more than a whiff of gentrification. Housing costs are very high, and you don't get that much for it. Virtually all of my friends I grew up with moved to NYC or Boston as soon as they were out of school, and largely remain there. Except for New Haven (Connecticut's only cool city, IMHO) there's really not much of anything Connecticut has going for it.
That's not to say Connecticut is the worst possible place to live - I mean, I'm glad my father didn't take that job in Arkansas when I was a kid. But comparing it to the surrounding states - all of which have the same sort of rural and suburban "amenities" along with much better cities nearby - I just don't see how it can compare.
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Yeah ME and NH
