OT: Poll - Interesting that 1/2 of CT residents want to move away

[UConnMike04]

Dude lets meet up and watch a game one of these days

I'm in.

 

[LRock34]

Honestly I know Connecticut will never be as exciting as New York, the weather with never be as nice as California or Florida, but trufully I absolutley love living here, in Norwalk specifically.

I'm relatively young, only graduated a couple of years ago and other then Storrs, I've lived in Norwalk my whole live. I love my City as well as the friends and family I have down here. To me it was the perfect place to grow up. Very diverse, great schools, a big enough city (86,000) with a lot of fun stuff to run around and do as well as trouble to get into. In the summer we have a great beach with a lot to to do. Norwalk has the nicest islands in the state with great fishing, boating, and clamming. And for nightlife SONO is a blast, great bars and resturants. Plus we got the original Stew's and just ask anyone from here that place is the . Just not on Sundays around noon.

To me this will always be my home and I hope to say that the rest of my life. Plus if you get bored were a short ride from Stamford, downtown there is great, plus Alive at 5 Concert series in the summer is awesome. There gonna anounce the lineup soon can't wait. If you have never been and love 90's one hit wonder bands I suggest you make the trip down. It is a freaking blast!

Now I am constantly hearing about how boring Norwalk is or CT in general. And to those people saying that, fine complain all you want it won't make it any better. I literally talk the crap out of how great Norwalk is any chance I get and you know what tell enough people that and they start to believe it. I want to make people believe it! Be the good you want to see in your hometown and homestate!

Someone very wise from probably one of the greatest movies once said. "I don't want to become a product of my environment, I want my environment to become a product of me." I take that is a very literal and happy way. I want my hometown and homestate to become a better place because of me.

Thats what I say to all those 49 percenters trying to leave!

Get busy livin (in CT), or get busy movin (The "F" Out)

God bless Norwalk, Connecticut, and The United States of America

I grew up in Norwalk so I can appreciate this post. That said I moved away from CT 15 years ago. I've lived in NYC (8 years), Boston (3 years) and now Cincinnati (4 years). Next year I will be moving to what I hope will be my final stop in Atlanta GA. I've traveled all over the world in the last 15 years (Europe, Asia, South America, etc). The vast majority of my friends are still in Fairfield County. You sound like I would have sounded 15 years ago. The truth is my fellow Norwalker you've just never left. Norwalk is great but believe me when you compare the cost of living, recreation, crime and property values (in relation to income) to other parts of the country....... I will not say anything negative about the place that I grew up because I wouldn't change a thing about where I'm from... but I will say that I'm NEVER going back. Mostly because of the cost of living. I would need to spend half a million dollars to get a decent house in Fairfield County. I can get a mansion in Atlanta and most other cities for the same price and have a ton more to do.

I love my City and I love all of my friends who are still there but believe me when I say there are better places to have fun as a youth and raise a family as an adult. Most people from Fairfield County just don't leave so they'll never really know. I would venture to guess those 50% of people who want to leave live outside of FC because to tell you the truth most of CT. outside of FC...SUCKS!

 

[TRuconnfan]

My daughter is in Easely and working at a really nice hair studio in the center of Greenville. Fiance at Clemson. We/she love it down there- Love Greenville!!! It is a perfect size, and the people who planned the final development of that city are to be congratulated. We understand it was just a horrid downtown prior to the facelift over the years. Love it--- we are selling our home and I will be splitting my time here and in Blufton off Hilton Head with my wife as soon as possible!!! The people are plain nicer in general, and the gasoline 60 cents less on avg, utility fuel costs will be approx 20-25% of what I pay up here, and property taxes are almost funny. Public schools in Ct have not been performing well according to recent results that I just heard as well.

I live in Travelers Rest, great little town just north of Greenville...takes only 25 minutes to get downtown there. I have a store in Hendersonville NC, it's nice enough there but Greenville area is much nicer and costs less. I am so thrilled we visited this area and decided to move here, I absolutely love it and never want to leave!!

 

[upstater]

I have to really wonder if many of you have been outside of Hartford or Waterbury or Bridgeport in Connecticut. The whole shoreline from Branford to Madison and East Lyme and beyond is fantastic, until maybe New London. It's the same with the Rhode Islanders complaining. You're 45 minutes from Cape Cod, you've got a great little beach down there in Little Compton, Horse Neck is only 25 minutes away, Providence has excellent food, Boston is 45 minutes away, and NYC is 2:20. Yet everyone wants to leave that.

As for the schools in Conn., I only know anecdotally that the difference between schools in Connecticut vs. Georgia and Florida is immense. I know an A+ student that moved from Jacksonville to Fairfield Cty. Night and day difference.

 

[upstater]

And as a further endorsement of the south, my son who is now 31 at his college graduation from UGA in 2005 actually thanked me in front of all his friends and our family for moving us all to Atlanta in 1995. That's enough for me.

I don't see how you distinguish so much between Georgia and UConn. On what basis? It's not like Georgia is a top school.

As I wrote, my info is anecdotal. A relative's daughter moved from Stanton High School in Jacksonville to Staples and Westport, and the difference between the two schools was overwhelming. Granted, we're talking Staples here, but you'll find the same sort of rigor at most non-urban Connecticut schools.

 

[Jerry1714]

Sure beats Cheshire, Newtown and Marlborough. If you're not involved with drugs, then you're safer in Hartford than these other towns. In over 50 years in Hartford, I've known many fatal victims of the automobile, mostly while in Suburbia. No one I know has been murdered in Hartford.

People are being murdered in those places where "people say hi to strangers", like Colorado.

All sorts of nonsense, backwards thinking and overall craziness in the post. The trifecta. Congrats

 

[david]

I deal with people from all over the US and Canada through my work and I've never noticed people from one part of the country being nicer than people from other parts of the country -- except maybe Maine. I have never met a jerk from Maine

 

[Rondogg]

I love CT. I love the rolling hills and the history. I love the stone walls and the lakes. I love having my friends and Family close. I have lived in HI, SC and NH and I have travelled all over the Country and the World. No place I'd rather be. Live in FL where everything is flat? Nope. Live in the South where I have to deal with a Southern drawl and humidity? Nah. There are problems everywhere. I'll take CT's problems...until I retire and I want to actually spend the money I've made.

 

[Javi525]

This whole post is the reason why Uconn is not generally viewed in the same regard as a UNC or Kentucky. Uconn is similar in enrollment to most of the basketball schools with a national following but because our alumni base stays regional, we don't build up fan bases in other parts of the country. Unfortunately and because of this, very few people south of DC or west of Syracuse think much about the Uconn brand outside of women's basketball. There are large alumni groups for the ACC, Big 10 and SEC schools in most of the major cities all across the country and that is what TV networks are currently after. I live in Houston and there are like maybe 8 alumni. This is the 4th largest city in the US!! What's even more funny, is that most of the people I met down here from the Northeast are from Jersey and are bandwagon Rutgers fans.

 

[jackl]

This whole post is the reason why Uconn is not generally viewed in the same regard as a UNC or Kentucky. Uconn is similar in enrollment to most of the basketball schools with a national following but because our alumni base stays regional, we don't build up fan bases in other parts of the country. Unfortunately and because of this, very few people south of DC or west of Syracuse think much about the Uconn brand outside of women's basketball. There are large alumni groups for the ACC, Big 10 and SEC schools in most of the major cities all across the country and that is what TV networks are currently after. I live in Houston and there are like maybe 8 alumni. This is the 4th largest city in the US!! What's even more funny, is that most of the people I met down here from the Northeast are from Jersey and are bandwagon Rutgers fans.

But on the other hand those alumni still in state would be turning on their TVs to watch the Huskies. Aren't the networks looking for a concentration of Cable boxes or are they afraid that they would gather with friends to watch.

 

[tzznandrew]

This whole post is the reason why Uconn is not generally viewed in the same regard as a UNC or Kentucky. Uconn is similar in enrollment to most of the basketball schools with a national following but because our alumni base stays regional, we don't build up fan bases in other parts of the country. Unfortunately and because of this, very few people south of DC or west of Syracuse think much about the Uconn brand outside of women's basketball. There are large alumni groups for the ACC, Big 10 and SEC schools in most of the major cities all across the country and that is what TV networks are currently after. I live in Houston and there are like maybe 8 alumni. This is the 4th largest city in the US!! What's even more funny, is that most of the people I met down here from the Northeast are from Jersey and are bandwagon Rutgers fans.

Eh. I think it's more that our successes are more recent and our school is smaller than many others. Many fans of all school didn't atted those schools.

To the first point, other than the city of Louisville, UK owns Kentucky...and they've done so since the 1940s. They have generations of fans who have aged, moved away, and kept their children fans. That mitigates the fact that the schools have similar enrollments.

To the second, schools like Texas and Michigan (and many others) are larger, and have traditionally drawn a more national student base. Since most people end up moving back to around where they came from, those schools developed local populations more thoroughly. And, in most of those cases, their schools were successful in football or basketball long before UConn was a national player.

 

[Hoophound]

A few of my thoughts on this:

1. Suburban, small town CT--where there is some money, is very nice. The busy areas/cities are a drag with exception of some pockets, like West Hartford, Greenwich etc.

2. Greenville SC is ok. They made a nice downtown but for such a small city there are a lot of disturbing lunatics roaming the streets. My wife was nearly accosted on the Main Street trolley/bus thing for her diamond until the scumbags realized she wasn't alone with my daughter. My brother in law and I told the guys that if they said one more word about my wife we were going to pummel them. They then backed off and got off the bus at the next stop. Many areas outside downtown Greenville were poverty stricken.

3. Northeasterners are very ignorant of other areas and generalize them too much. (I used to as well). For instance, people say things like "I know a kid who was an A student in Florida that moved to Simsbury or New Canaan and he was a B- student. Florida is of full of idiots and the schools suck". Big deal. I know kids here in Naples that are A students in one high school and they move to a nicer zip code 4 miles down the road and become B- students. My kids would kick butt in any school district in the country. Standardized test prove it.

4. Despite what people think, living in NYC does not qualify you as being the most qualified judge of all other places on the map. I've lived there and when I tell people I've lived there, they don't think I'm any smarter. In fact, they probably think less of me. Generally, when you say "I lived in Boston or New York so let me tell you" there is a collective eye roll and sigh in the room that everyone but the person blabbering on about his worldliness notices.

5. Some of the greatest nights of my life involved a late night ride in a convertible down the Merritt Parkway with a hot, rich blond that always smelled incredible by my side. I haven't ever quite replaced that feeling anywhere else in the world. Something about fresh air, trees and cash that always turned me on.

 

[Gringo]

.
And the state universities where I have lived (UGA and UF) are higher rated schools than UConn.

US News and World Report Rankings:
University of Florida #49
University of Connecticut #57
University of Georgia #60

Florida is higher ranked but Georgia is not. Either way all 3 are quality schools.

To answer the original question I grew up in CT and went to UConn. Lived in NYC, San Diego and now living Latin America for the last 3 1/2 years. I liked growing up in CT but there is no chance I move back.

 

[upstater]

3. Northeasterners are very ignorant of other areas and generalize them too much. (I used to as well). For instance, people say things like "I know a kid who was an A student in Florida that moved to Simsbury or New Canaan and he was a B- student. Florida is of full of idiots and the schools suck". Big deal. I know kids here in Naples that are A students in one high school and they move to a nicer zip code 4 miles down the road and become B- students. My kids would kick butt in any school district in the country. Standardized test prove it.

The high school she left in Jax was the second ranked school in the entire state and one of the top schools as ranked by USNWR (which, granted, emphasizes AP, which Staples can care less about) but we are talking one of the top 2 or 3 public schools in the state of Florida.

No one ever said there are only dumb kids in Florida and no kid there could score over a 1300 on the SAT. That's a strawman.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A few of my thoughts on this:

1. Suburban, small town CT--where there is some money, is very nice. The busy areas/cities are a drag with exception of some pockets, like West Hartford, Greenwich etc.

2. Greenville SC is ok. They made a nice downtown but for such a small city there are a lot of disturbing lunatics roaming the streets. My wife was nearly accosted on the Main Street trolley/bus thing for her diamond until the scumbags realized she wasn't alone with my daughter. My brother in law and I told the guys that if they said one more word about my wife we were going to pummel them. They then backed off and got off the bus at the next stop. Many areas outside downtown Greenville were poverty stricken.

3. Northeasterners are very ignorant of other areas and generalize them too much. (I used to as well). For instance, people say things like "I know a kid who was an A student in Florida that moved to Simsbury or New Canaan and he was a B- student. Florida is of full of idiots and the schools suck". Big deal. I know kids here in Naples that are A students in one high school and they move to a nicer zip code 4 miles down the road and become B- students. My kids would kick butt in any school district in the country. Standardized test prove it.

4. Despite what people think, living in NYC does not qualify you as being the most qualified judge of all other places on the map. I've lived there and when I tell people I've lived there, they don't think I'm any smarter. In fact, they probably think less of me. Generally, when you say "I lived in Boston or New York so let me tell you" there is a collective eye roll and sigh in the room that everyone but the person blabbering on about his worldliness notices.

5. Some of the greatest nights of my life involved a late night ride in a convertible down the Merritt Parkway with a hot, rich blond that always smelled incredible by my side. I haven't ever quite replaced that feeling anywhere else in the world. Something about fresh air, trees and cash that always turned me on.

This. I left CT, moved around and settled outside of Boston. I like New England a lot, but we are an insular lot, and New Yorkers even more so. My Geography professor at UConn was from New Hampshire and told us in the entire professional association of geographers to which he belonged, he was the only one from NE or NY. People from New England any New York have a skewed view of the world and are generally less interested in and knowledgeable about the rest of the country than others.

CT is ok. I enjoyed my youth in Manchester, though I would not live there today. I enjoyed Coventry lake. I liked going to the Cape or Lake Winnipesaukee. But CT people act as if being X hours from NYC or Boston is something beyond compare. In Silicon Valley I was an hour from San Francisco, 20 minutes from San Jose, 30 minutes from the beach in Santa Cruz, a hour from Monterey/Carmel, an hour from Napa/Sonoma, 3 hours from Tahoe and the Sierras, and believe it or not, only 5+ hours from LA by car. The Santa Cruz mountains were a 10 minute bike ride. Plus the weather was pretty spectacular. CT isn't in the ballpark of offering that, but like parts of CT, it was too crowded, and way, way too expensive.

Most of your life consists of getting up, going to work, coming home to your family and hanging out with your friends and neighbors. That is what matters, and where other places shine and do so affordably. The ability to go to NY to see a play twice a year? Who cares? Anybody can fly there if they really want, or go to off Broadway productions. There are great restaurants and bars everywhere. NYC is not at all special in that regard, and few people can afford the top places anyway. I am fortunate that my job allows me to live in the Boston suburbs in a very comfortable way, and I have a fantastic neighborhood. It not, I'd probably be looking to move.

 

[Geno-ista]

It all depends on the stage of life mostly. Recent empty nesters- I love fly fishing, partner in an Atlantic salmon camp in New Brunswick, and nice tract of land in Catskills with a park home on the E. branch of the Del River. We have enjoyed New Eng, Boston, the City, M Vineyard, Cape , RI, etc.... We are downsizing, heading to So Carolina, and I will come back and forth to Ct for my work splitting the month between here and fishing camps at prime time, and reduce my living expenses at least $20,000 annually- and as Maxwell Smart used to say- "And loving it"!!!!

 

[MJS UCONN'73]

Went to grad school at Cal (M.A.) after leaving Storrs .......and then finished in the OC at UC Irvine (MBA, Ph.D.) - and while there lived in a guest house on a Spanish-style estate overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach. Still in Laguna 38 years later (writing this from my home located right above PCH with killer views of 1,000 Steps Beach - Google it!) . Can't surf Noank! Get back to New England at least 4 times per year - to visit family (who relocated to Cape Cod 25 years ago). Bought a second house on the Cape (Osterville) back in 2008 with the idea of living a bi-coastal life, but after spending a few Winter weeks on the Cape - decided that the dream was not living up to the reality and rented it out before selling a few years ago. Better to have family to visit. Love New England and the Cape, but for those of us who hate Winter (and this past season could be the poster child for Winter-haters), better to visit for Santa and then bail for 70 degree January and decent left hand breaks down on Salt Creek (South Laguna). Used to get my hands on what were crude surfing mags back in the late 60s/early 70s.............remember well sitting in my room in Whitney (a nice single in the center/front which even had an extra 3 feet of space due to the facade. Visited 20 years later and couldn't believe it was a double! Poor SOBs) on a sleeting February Saturday staring at an article about Huntington Beach and thinking that it was a dream to think that I could make it out there. Never made a better decision in my life than the one to head off to Berkeley.....and then down to my piece of Heaven in Laguna. Love every day here! Husky fanatic for life! ...........and - oh by the way - watched the UCONN/KY final at - appropriately enough - Mutt Lynch's - just off the Pier in Newport Beach. Won a $100 bet with a KY alum at the bar and spent the winnings immediately buying my friends (and a few KY fans) a round!

 

[upstater]

People are comparing Conn. to Santa Cruz. Yeah, good points. Napa, Laguna Beach and Santa Cruz are better than Connecticut.

But Napa, Laguna Beach and Santa Cruz are not all of America.

 

[joober jones]

As I've gotten older (46), I hate the winters. I hate the cold. I hate the wet bitter springs.

I hate Hartford. In travelling to most of the major US cities over my career, Hartford is undoubtedly in the bottom quarter of places to go. Cities like Milwaukee or Cleveland or Indianapolis that might not jump to the front of your list are light years better than Hartford. The Sound is a septic system and the CT shore is disgusting. The people are, generally speaking, rude and unfriendly (and that goes for a great deal of the tri-state area).

I mean, what's to like?

Milwaukee is a pretty good place to visit if you're a beer fan.

 

[NHUConnfan]

As I've gotten older (46), I hate the winters. I hate the cold. I hate the wet bitter springs.

I hate Hartford. In travelling to most of the major US cities over my career, Hartford is undoubtedly in the bottom quarter of places to go. Cities like Milwaukee or Cleveland or Indianapolis that might not jump to the front of your list are light years better than Hartford. The Sound is a septic system and the CT shore is disgusting. The people are, generally speaking, rude and unfriendly (and that goes for a great deal of the tri-state area).

I mean, what's to like?

Indianapolis is not "better" than Hartford. If it is, it's a consolation of which two awful cities is worse than the other. There are no winners.

I would kill to return back to Connecticut. Indiana is one duck* up of a state. Pure hell here.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Well the availability of Bell's beers in Grand Rapids is reason alone!

Only think I like about the Midwest more than the Northeast. Far superior selection of craft brews. Bell's is up there, but there are just too many to name!

 

[NorwalkHusky]

I grew up in Norwalk so I can appreciate this post. That said I moved away from CT 15 years ago. I've lived in NYC (8 years), Boston (3 years) and now Cincinnati (4 years). Next year I will be moving to what I hope will be my final stop in Atlanta GA. I've traveled all over the world in the last 15 years (Europe, Asia, South America, etc). The vast majority of my friends are still in Fairfield County. You sound like I would have sounded 15 years ago. The truth is my fellow Norwalker you've just never left. Norwalk is great but believe me when you compare the cost of living, recreation, crime and property values (in relation to income) to other parts of the country.. I will not say anything negative about the place that I grew up because I wouldn't change a thing about where I'm from... but I will say that I'm NEVER going back. Mostly because of the cost of living. I would need to spend half a million dollars to get a decent house in Fairfield County. I can get a mansion in Atlanta and most other cities for the same price and have a ton more to do.

I love my City and I love all of my friends who are still there but believe me when I say there are better places to have fun as a youth and raise a family as an adult. Most people from Fairfield County just don't leave so they'll never really know. I would venture to guess those 50% of people who want to leave live outside of FC because to tell you the truth most of CT. outside of FC...SUCKS!

Well agree to disagree. I guess I'm just a CT boy for life. Next time your up lets grab a beer man. Good luck in ATL

 

[CTBasketball]

After college I'll follow the jobs. If that keeps me in CT or somewhere else, so be it.

 

[upstater]

Only think I like about the Midwest more than the Northeast. Far superior selection of craft brews. Bell's is up there, but there are just too many to name!

Maybe better than New England, but NY State has some fantastic beers. Ommegang I'd rate as the best. But there are many others: Blue Point, Brooklyn, pop to mind.

 

[elduderino]

Born and raised on the CT shoreline and loved it! Been a lifelong UCONN fan even though I went to Syracuse (2003 was my junior year). That said, I moved out to Seattle not too long ago and it is awesome. Its young and the people are strangely nice to one another; there are real jobs in a growing economy; almost no snow (but Whistler is close), and zero humidity; and last but not least, NO INCOME TAX! That said, I do miss 7pm game times and New Haven pizza from time to time. CT is great, but there is a better lifestyle out West, just not in LA.

 

[upstater]

Born and raised on the CT shoreline and loved it! Been a lifelong UCONN fan even though I went to Syracuse (2003 was my junior year). That said, I moved out to Seattle not too long ago and it is awesome. Its young and the people are strangely nice to one another; there are real jobs in a growing economy; almost no snow (but Whistler is close), and zero humidity; and last but not least, NO INCOME TAX! That said, I do miss 7pm game times and New Haven pizza from time to time. CT is great, but there is a better lifestyle out West, just not in LA.

How's the rain?

 

[Palatine]

I don't see how you distinguish so much between Georgia and UConn. On what basis? It's not like Georgia is a top school.

As I wrote, my info is anecdotal. A relative's daughter moved from Stanton High School in Jacksonville to Staples and Westport, and the difference between the two schools was overwhelming. Granted, we're talking Staples here, but you'll find the same sort of rigor at most non-urban Connecticut schools.

I lived in Atlanta. It's a cultural void. There isn't a piece of art in the High Museum that is as good the building. It's a nice place if you like to do things outside like run and watch baseball games.

I think Connecticut with LI Sound, ski mountains a couple of hours away, world class museums in New Haven and Hartford, and all the pro sports you want within a three hours or less either way is a much richer environment for someone with an active mind.

 

[elduderino]

How's the rain?

Mostly over exaggerated. Yeah it sucks here in January and February, but so does CT! It's pretty up though that they don't use salt on the rare occasion it does snow. The local A-persuasion keeps driving interesting enough with decent traction.