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Well, a few things you need to know, coming from a friend who recently moved to the area from Georgia:
CT, MA, NY, along the coast, are very pretentious. The days of the old salty New England fisherman are gone (except in a few areas). It's all about high intensity careers, keeping up with the Joneses, competitive public schools, luxury SUVs and kale. It's a lot different than the South. Once you get away from the coast, this lessens a bit.
Connecticut is extremely expensive (outside of immediate SF Bay area, I think most expensive in country). High real estate, especially in the southern sections near NYC, and very, very high taxes. New York is the same. Salaries are high, though, to compensate.
Traffic sucks, but you do have the option of mass transit, even in the suburbs (metro north railroad in CT serves more than 50% of the state).
That all being said, public schools perform well, suburbs are beautiful (Think Stepford/Starrs Hollow). Human Development Index in CT/NY/MA are highest in country. Quality of life is unmatched, if you can afford it.
One big difference between fall in the South and in the Northeast: college football. Outside of Penn State and OSU, nobody here cares much about local college football, whereas its huge almost everywhere in the South.
Syracuse if they are good is also pretty big. I'd say that Pitt is similar and perhaps the same for Boston College. Army's Michie Stadium does have one of the nicest Fall settings in College Football: http://cdn.fbschedules.com/blog/wp-c...adium-army.jpg
Well, a few things you need to know, coming from a friend who recently moved to the area from Georgia:
CT, MA, NY, along the coast, are very pretentious. The days of the old salty New England fisherman are gone (except in a few areas). It's all about high intensity careers, keeping up with the Joneses, competitive public schools, luxury SUVs and kale. It's a lot different than the South. Once you get away from the coast, this lessens a bit.
Connecticut is extremely expensive (outside of immediate SF Bay area, I think most expensive in country). High real estate, especially in the southern sections near NYC, and very, very high taxes. New York is the same. Salaries are high, though, to compensate.
Traffic sucks, but you do have the option of mass transit, even in the suburbs (metro north railroad in CT serves more than 50% of the state).
That all being said, public schools perform well, suburbs are beautiful (Think Stepford/Starrs Hollow). Human Development Index in CT/NY/MA are highest in country. Quality of life is unmatched, if you can afford it.
Just wanted to add this post by saying the highlighted varies GREATLY by town.
Some of the snobbiest and snottiest areas in New York I have ever seen have been on the North Shore of Nassau County, New York. Other parts of New York like Manhattan and Westchester County more have their share and may actually be worse. These are some of the people that give New Yorkers a bad name. It is hard to explain until you actually meet these people with their superiority complex and see how they look down on other people. It is like they have a Master degree in rudeness.
On the other hand, other parts of New York like the South Shore of Suffolk, Queens, Staten Island, parts of Brooklyn, etc. along with most of Upstate, is the total opposite and have some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Cross Country, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, and Football are big sports in NE. Have some major league hockey and minor league teams. Some great Ivy league football rivalries. Also some major NFL team rivalry. Basketball is big with Uconn, the Phoenix Sun (Not sure if still called that), 3 NBA teams in the area. Baseball is huge 4 minor league teams in CT. 3 MLB teams in surrounding areas of New England plus more minor league teams. Lacrosse is huge have a national lacrosse team in New England.
Soccer is big as well.
Running. Running is New England some of the most legendary runners hail from New England, specifically CT. In addition to, debated the oldest modern age marathon in Boston.
Thank you all for the replies! Some great info coming my way!
VTYank- I have read several of these authors, but I will have to see if my wife has. We are both readers, so either way, you have given us some good ideas!
NCN- Yea I know what you mean about being disappointed in places. When we traveled out to CO, we were impressed with the scenery of course, but the food was just.... blah. It was also expensive. The covered bridges could be something she could use, so I will be bringing that up to her. We don't really have covered bridges in the south, or at least not very many. See, personally, we don't mind the cold, but I am not sure how she will have her character react to it, so it is something to think about for sure.
RunD- Yea, I would think that the mountainous areas and the lake areas would be the best places to set it. Both have beautiful scenery and I can imagine the fall foliage would look even more spectacular around the mountains or water.
Ck- As always, thank you man! Some good stuff for me to digest!
citylove- Oh, I am from south Alabama, so I definitely know college football! There is nothing like SEC football, but I am sure places like OSU and Michigan may come close.
ki0eh- Yea, that is something that would probably be different. It isn't uncommon to hear something like this down here....
"What would you like to drink?"
"I'll take a Coke please."
"Ok, what kind? We got Coke, Dr. Pepper, Root Beer....."
SeaDoo- Yea, I am aware of the high cost and the traffic. I hear my coworkers in NJ complain about it just about every time I have to talk to them!
Another thing that came to mind is the aspect of lake effect snow. For instance the cities/areas on the Great Lakes are known for their snowfall. However, average snowfall totals vary based upon distance from the lakes. In the Buffalo area, the Southtowns south of the city and close to Lake Erie get more snowfall on average than areas north of the city(i.e.- Niagara Falls) In the Syracuse area, the places to the north, particularly those east/SE of Lake Ontario(Oswego County) get more snowfall on average places further south of the lake.
It is a very popular festival in the area, which can have traffic backed up along Route 20 to I-81 at the hamlet of LaFayette. You also have multiple apple orchards/stands in that area of Route 20, where you can pick your own apples, get apple fritters, apple cider, apple pie, etc. They may sell pumpkins as well. One orchard also has apple vodka and a distillery. Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard
I always thought that a great Fall time idea in the area for couples, families or for your "girl crew" would be to start at either Skaneateles or Cazenovia, with a lunch. Then, head down Route 20 to the orchards in LaFayette/Onondaga and end it with a dinner in either Skaneateles or Cazenovia. Both are relatively upscale villages on lakes, with a stereotypical New England look and feel. It would also be a drive through hills and valleys, with nice foliage too.
There is also the Onondaga Nation just north of LaFayette. They have their own school, but after 6th grade, they go to LaFayette Jr/Sr High. Hence the reason why that school is about 30% Native American.
You may find some recently transplanted Southerners in some Northeastern areas. Where I am, some may come to work at the University, by way of the military, a job opportunity or have family here.
As mentioned, cost of living in the Inland Northeast can actually be below the national level versus the most of the coastal/Bos-Wash portion of the Northeast.
It takes place in Lewis County, a largely rural and very affordable county in the North Country portion of Upstate NY. This is the village the festival takes place in: https://maps.google.com/?q=43.786010...74&hl=en&gl=us
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 09-08-2016 at 09:46 AM..
Gotta disagree on some of your generalizations. The "get what you pay for" thing isn't true most of the time in terms of heavy taxation and extraordinarily high cost of living. It's called Buying Power (COL vs. income). That also plays into the subjective term "wealthy". A person in the South or Upstate NY with $10m will be able to have MUCH more disposable income than that same person living in Boston or NYC. Too, Quality of Life is, again, a very subjective. I know my overall QOL is generally much higher than it would be if I lived anywhere along the I-95 corridor from DC to Boston. My wife's from Boston and can attest to that firsthand.
I agree 100%, and I've lived in the Northeast Corridor for the entirety of my life.
There is certainly a disproportionately high number of well-off people in the Northeast, and similarly a disproportionate number of very nice areas where a high QOL is very apparent. Nevertheless, despite this relative abundance, these populations/areas still do not come anywhere near to representing the majority of the region. For every New Canaan, CT or Montclair, NJ, there's a Springfield, MA or a Rochester, NY, or a million other towns/cities that are very standard (or substandard) economically.
The "median," middle-class, standard-of-living throughout the Northeast is very comparable to other regions (if not, perhaps even more strained). In fact, one can look no further than the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which adjusts for true poverty in accounting for a localized income-to-COL ratio, to find that poverty is actually lower in many Southern/Midwestern states compared to most of the Northeast: NH Poverty Rate Increases with Supplemental Measure
As with everything else in live, QOL and standard-of-living comes down to each individual and their own situation. To claim that it's intimately tied to a geographic region is both nonsensical and simplistic.
Sorry to contribute to any digression, but it gets rather annoying, even to someone who adores the Northeast, to hear that the QOL/standard-of-living is so uniformly amazing compared to the rest of the US, when that's a gross exaggeration. And I would hate for someone to have that impression, particularly if they're doing research on the region, as it's repeated ad nauseam on this board.
Last edited by Duderino; 09-08-2016 at 10:27 AM..
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