Posted on 09/26/2022 1:36:40 PM PDT by SoftballMominVA
It appears there is a chance I will be moving to CT in the next year or so. I've never lived in the NE, nor in such a blue state. What's it like? Any advice? My children are grown, but I will be there with grandchildren. Any info on private schools? No need to discuss public schools as that is out of the question.
Thanks
Bands won't play no more (too much fighting on the dance floor)
Pretty good advice, Dr. Sivana, but... I would very definitely avoid moving to East Hartford or Manchester - crime has really increased over the past 10 years or so in those towns.
Same for West Hartford - it's too close to Hartford for my taste. And -- super woke these days. Better to move to Avon or Simsbury. Best pizza in the US is definitely in New Haven, though! (And a Yale University tour is interesting, if you can do it)
You should probably spend a weekend in Hartford before deciding to move there. Only took me 5 minutes to make that decision!
Hubby and I are downsizing and packing as I type this. Moving out of Connecticut, and back to America soon: Bluffton, South Carolina. Can't wait!
The one thing that seems to be saving the real estate market in this area is the near-constant influx of people escaping New York (City and state) and New Jersey.
I know someone that just moved there last year. They owned a flower shop in Castle Rock, Colorado. They fell in love with the place and were excited to move.
South Windsor and Glastonbury, also nice.
Yikes, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one, FRiend. Up here in northern CT (on the MA line), we get surprisingly longer winters than even in East Hartford/Glastonbury where I grew up. Up here we get five seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter, *Mud Season* and Spring.
Can't stand the seemingly endless months of snow and ice, worries about driving in it, and the never-ending *grayness* of winter. CT is pretty far east in the Eastern Time Zone... it gets dark so damn early in fall and winter.
The grayness and absence of greenery gets to me after several months. No plants nor leaves on the trees here from late October through early May. I would like winter if it lasted only about 6-8 weeks.
I’ll second everything SamAdams76 just said. I am in Redding, CT right next door (west). I think I’ll be geting my (R) state senator back in November.
If we overwhelm the Bridegport (D) fraud, we may finally get the (R) into the Governor’s office we all voted for last time (Bob Stepfanowski). We are ~ 50-60 miles west of Hartford on the NY border. Very beautiful country to live in, but I must confess when my wife and I retire we are headed to New Hampshire where the kids and grand babies live.
I lived in Richmond, VA back in school (VCU grad) and Fairfax when once employed by US Guv many years agp. Still love VA, especially now with Youngkin and double legislative chambers (R). You’ll miss that in CT.
Retirement actually made the winter much easier for me—if there is snow and ice I don’t have to go anywhere—and I can sleep in on cold and awful days.
When I commuted it was awful for six months.
“The grayness and absence of greenery gets to me after several months. No plants nor leaves on the trees here from late October through early May. I would like winter if it lasted only about 6-8 weeks.”
You are going to LOVE Bluffton. Very green with seasons. Spent a few years in SC, and mom is from Savanna.
Bears are our constant "companions" here in the East Granby/Granby area, LOL. We see them nearly every day. They attack our garbage bins on a near-weekly basis, and appear out of nowhere on our rural roads - not unlike squirrels. We can't put out any bird feeders until the bears hibernate in the winter.
A small bear ran smack into my car on a very busy Bradley (Airport) Connector a few years ago. I just grazed the critter... it ran off into the tall grass just fine, but did something like $1,500 damage to the front of my car. I was nearly unable to drive it home.
Just a warning to anyone driving on that Bradley Airport Connector (between I-91 to the airport and Route 20 West): Beware of bears! There are several "bear families" that live on both sides of that highway.
Yep! Love Bluffton already. We have a house there... just STILL trying to clear out of our house in CT and get it on the market.
Yeah, I know we missed the peak of the market, but we still have to sell it. House is on 6 acres - hope that is a draw for some people looking for land.
There are newer large condo developments near the Avon/Simsbury line that may be in the price range of the OP.
These have become big towns (20,000 population each) with all kinds of people.
Umm... that's pretty much all you're gonna get in CT these days, except for some rare pockets of MAGA people like us here and there. Overall, 95% of the Republicans I know in CT are pretty much pro-abort near-democRATs who like supposedly fiscally responsible politicians.
Yes, Avon and Simsbury are very expensive. I've heard Farmington actually has low taxes. East Granby has lower taxes than nearby Granby, Simsbury and Avon - and you can get a house with on a fairly big lot, if not several acres.
Still, overall.... Despite where you live in CT, taxes, utilities, etc. are far more expensive than in other states. We currently own a house in CT (that we will sell soon) and in SC. The cost of taxes and utilities in SC are a tiny fraction of what we pay in CT. It's really quite astounding, actually.
If I wanted warm weather all the time, I'd have moved to Florida by now.
I've been in "summertime mode" since late April here in Newtown. It was only this past weekend that I pulled out my LL Bean sweaters for the first time since then. Five months of summer is not too shabby and we did get a lot of hot, humid weather the past few weeks - which I also like, in moderation.
Now we have about 2 more months of glorious fall ahead of us before we see any snow and ice. I would agree that winter hangs out around here a little too long but I use those months to sit by the fire and catch up with my reading. I also like the early afternoon winter hikes in the woods when the sun angle is low and everything is looking so surreal in the quiet forest. All you hear is the crunching of your boots as you walk over the snowpack.
Spring for me is my least favorite, probably because that is when the mosquitoes are at their worst.
Same here. Commuting in it was horrible - for six long months, as you said. Still... we have to get to doctor, dentist, etc. appointments. I still hate winters here. I've had more than my fill of 'em.
My husband (who is originally from CA) and I look at each other day after gray, dark day in the winters, and say: "WHY are we living here??"
I wish to tell you something, in all seriousness.
I grew up in ct. I lived there until 2012, when I moved to Pennsylvania. I still operate a business in Connecticut and have every friend and relative there.
When I left, I lost it all. I had to rebuild my business, my friendships and even my family doesn’t really talk to me anymore.
And it was worth every. Single. Sacrifice.
New England’s people are different because of their, our, understanding of “nice” compared to “kind”. New Englanders are kind, but not nice. In the south I met plenty of nice people who are not at all kind.
In Connecticut the people will treat you the same if you are on top as they will if you are on the bottom. A landlord, for instance, will still work with you if you have lost a job or need a hand up. Anywhere else you would be kicked to the curb.
Connecticut has had a vast class difference for a while. In the rest of the country that vast divide between have and have not is just starting. That means “bad neighborhoods” won’t have you mugged as quickly as it would in other areas. You see you’ll get mugged in, say Richmond Virginia’s ok looking neighborhoods easier than in Bridgeport. People there are used to not having money.
The state has nice parts but those parts aren’t easily accessible by average income. There is nothing to do but go to bars because people in ct just work, sit in diabolical concentrations of traffic and sleep. Museums? Not really. Sports activities like trails and bike paths? Nope. (Bike paths in Connecticut are designed solely for rapists anyway)
The entire state, from Danbury to Stonington is flat and most of it has a Detroit vibe. Commercial buildings, crumbling roads.
Not many homeless people though, so check that box.
The drivers there aren’t bad either. But that’s the whole “nice/ kind” thing. They’ll call you names, ask you how retarded you are, and then go about their business. That’s very new England. Think of this analogy..
“Excuse me, can you direct me to the highway? “
“Sure! Turn around and go back to the walmart. Buy a gps, plug it in and you’re all set “ then they’ll look at you, expecting to carry on this conversation.
“Uh, thank you? “
“You got it buddy. Anything else I can help with? “
Colin Quinn has a bit about new Yorkers. Go on YouTube and check it out. It’s 100 percent accurate
You will love this—funny- Move from California to Texas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlDWzN6TW5Y
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