Moving to Connecticut

[Abe Sargent]

Finally got that job offer, and its in Fairfield, CT. Just came through today, working with movers now, and so forth. Anyone know the area? Just spent two days there on interview before, and I've never been there any other time.

[Alan T]

It is near Bridgeport which is pretty much the armpit of Connecticut.

Pretty easy travel into NYC though by rail so that opens up plenty of options for you. I don't know about Fairfield specifically but some of the areas a bit southwest of there are really nice wealthy areas.

Sorry that is all I have!

[cuervo72]

Just watch where you park your car.

[Comey]

Fairfield is nice. Low-key, on the edge of what would be considered the CT NYC suburbs. Few nice colleges around, so if you like college hoops, either Fairfield or Sacred Heart would be great. I went to grad school at Fairfield, so I'm a bit biased.

Food is eh, at best. Then again, that was for fat me...fit me may have a different opinion. You're much closer to the city (can get the express in Stamford, only 45 minutes), which is great...traffic blows, but that should be expected.

You are next to Bridgeport, and a half-hour away from Waterbury, which I'd considered to be the bane of CT existence (along with Hartford, but there are, at least, some excellent areas around Hartford). The rest of the 95 corridor, leading up to where I live (Mystic) is pretty excellent. Even New Haven has some great things.

If you want, PM me with specific details (stuff you like to do, mainly), and I can help as best I can. I still have a bunch of friends in the area, so whatever I don't know, I can ping them.

[Kodos]

All I can say is that Norwalk, CT is the worst place I have ever lived. And wait a couple beats after a light turns green, as people run red lights literally 2 or 3 seconds after the light turns. Simply awful drivers.

[jeff061]

haha. I lived out of the Courtyard in Norwalk for a few months until I was able to relocate to downtown Stamford. Norwalk had the Tavern on 7. Stamford had a lot more places to get drunk at within walking distance.

I preferred Stamford.

[Kodos]

I'm hard-pressed to say anything nice about Norwalk. The aquarium was nice.

[Klinglerware]

Hey, I live in Norwalk

I actually like living here, as it is less pretentious than some of the surrounding towns (Darien, New Canaan).

[Klinglerware]

As for drivers in Fairfield County, yes it's true. They combine the aggressiveness of New York drivers, with the ineptitude of Boston drivers, with a sense of entitlement commensurate with the high powered jobs that many of them have.

Expect to get honked at within 1 second of the light turning green. Also, if you are trying to make a left turn at an intersection, expect some of your fellow drivers also waiting to turn to get impatient and cut through to your left (yes, driving against oncoming traffic to save a couple of seconds is par for the course here)

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Hey, I live in Norwalk

I actually like living here, as it is less pretentious than some of the surrounding towns (Darien, New Canaan).

That is true. But too many Type A NYC personalities there.

[Klinglerware]

Oh, and Abe, congratulations on your new job!

I moved to Fairfield County for a job almost 10 years ago. Certainly feel free to ask me any questions, PM or in the thread...

[Lathum]

I would rather live in Kabul than Connecticut.

[jeff061]

Says the man from Ohio.

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks for some thoughts and such.

[Lathum]

Ohio >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Connecticut

I have lived in both. Have you?

[jeff061]

Lived, no, spent an inordinate amount of time in Cleveland and Columbus areas? Yes.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Ohio >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Connecticut

I have lived in both. Have you?

I have. Eastern CT >>>>> Dayton, Ohio >>>>>>> Western CT

[Klinglerware]

Most of my clients are based in Metro Cincinnati, so I travel there a great deal for work. Though some of the differences are subtle, I would say that SW Connecticut and Metro Cincinnati are distinct in ways that if one area appeals to you culturally, the other one may not.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I have. Eastern CT >>>>> Dayton, Ohio >>>>>>> Western CT

Seriously? It's a state that's about 3 times the size of the county I'm in right now. There are certainly better or worse parts of Houston but are the "regional" differences all that much?

SI

[molson]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Seriously? It's a state that's about 3 times the size of the county I'm in right now. There are certainly better or worse parts of Houston but are the "regional" differences all that much?

SI

Everything in the northeast is pretty packed in together. So ya, you can have David Letterman's estate really be not that far from a homeless guy pooping on your car in Waterbury. CT has beaches, the woods, really dirty urban errors, really trendy urban areas with great restaurants, residential suburbs, and ultra-rich estates - all pretty close to each other.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Seriously? It's a state that's about 3 times the size of the county I'm in right now. There are certainly better or worse parts of Houston but are the "regional" differences all that much?

SI

Actually, yes. To make a very simplistic comparison, in many ways SW Connecticut is essentially an extension of metro NYC, whereas the rest of the state tends to have that "New England feel": lots of independent small towns (many still centered around the traditional town/village green), interspersed with small cities...

The joke is that there is an imaginary diagonal line across the state dividing Patriots/Red Sox fans in the North and East from the New York fans in the Southwest.

[Ronnie Dobbs3]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I have. Eastern CT >>>>> Dayton, Ohio >>>>>>> Western CT

Is there actually anything in CT past New Haven?

And Mystic doesn't count, you only go there on field trips in 7th grade.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

Is there actually anything in CT past New Haven?

And Mystic doesn't count, you only go there on field trips in 7th grade.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Thanks for some thoughts and such.

Sure, some random thoughts:

- Fairfield County is more Metro New York City than New England
- It is diverse in a very extreme and patchwork way: fabulously wealthy enclaves, interspersed with impoverished urban areas, with not so much in the middle. There is the aforementioned sprawl in the south, while the northern parts of the county are much more bucolic
- The rail links are very good, NYC and New Haven are easy trips by train. Amtrak makes the Northeast Corridor (Boston to DC) very accessible
- Westbound traffic (going into Stamford/NYC) can be a nightmare in the morning, Eastbound is the same in the early evening
- Drivers tend to be more aggressive in general
- Restaurant choices are actually quite good, but oddly enough, there aren't really a lot of mid-tier chain type places. Also, if you love Chick-fil-a, prepare to live without
- Like much of the Northeast, it's politically left-of-center overall
- Like much of the Northeast, people tend not to identify very strongly with big time college athletics
- Fairfield is an interesting town in that it has a mix of college kids and well-to-do commuter types, but there isn't necessarily the interaction and interdependence between the various groups that you might see in other college towns
- The Northeast US has a reputation for being a little less friendly than other parts of the country. I think there is probably some truth in that you probably have to make more of an effort to connect with others (especially if you are used to living in a part of the country with a reputation for being more open)
- While I've said that the conversation about Fairfield County can be dominated by the super-rich or the super-poor, if you are a single, middle-class individual, you can find a place here

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Ohio >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Connecticut

I have lived in both. Have you?

CT doesn't have OSU fans all around, so CT > Ohio.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Matthean

CT doesn't have OSU fans all around, so CT > Ohio.

Funny though, in my travels through metro Cincy, I've been more likely to encounter UC and Kentucky fans than OSU fans...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Funny though, in my travels through metro Cincy, I've been more likely to encounter UC and Kentucky fans than OSU fans...

That's because Cincy isn't Ohio, it's the de-facto capital of Northern Kentucky.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Also, if you love Chick-fil-a, prepare to live without

Either this or all of the snow/cold in the winter are the two worst things about living in New England. I can't decide which is worse after living here 14 years now.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

That's because Cincy isn't Ohio, it's the de-facto capital of Northern Kentucky.

Which is very true, and is also almost like saying that Fairfield County is not really part of Connecticut.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

As for drivers in Fairfield County, yes it's true. They combine the aggressiveness of New York drivers, with the ineptitude of Boston drivers, with a sense of entitlement commensurate with the high powered jobs that many of them have.

Expect to get honked at within 1 second of the light turning green. Also, if you are trying to make a left turn at an intersection, expect some of your fellow drivers also waiting to turn to get impatient and cut through to your left (yes, driving against oncoming traffic to save a couple of seconds is par for the course here)

I kinda resent this comment... I think Boston/NYC just showcased different kinds of aggression. In NYC, people would regularly accelerate to 60+ on side streets/residential neighborhoods while in Boston the preferred mode of aggression is to signal while you're turning/jamming yourself into a new highway lane (not entirely without reason since if you think you have space to merge and put your blinker on, the other car will speed up). I see how it's a terrifying system for newcomers, but as long as everyone understands the rules it's works out.

Originally Posted by molson

Everything in the northeast is pretty packed in together. So ya, you can have David Letterman's estate really be not that far from a homeless guy pooping on your car in Waterbury. CT has beaches, the woods, really dirty urban errors, really trendy urban areas with great restaurants, residential suburbs, and ultra-rich estates - all pretty close to each other.

Without even getting into the huge segregation in/around Boston and to a lesser extent Worcester/Springfield, in Mass there is a gigantic gap in culture and lifestyle between the shore towns, Boston proper, the suburbs inside 95, the suburbs inside 495, "CMass" (which still only takes ~45 minutes to traverse) and WMass.

Originally Posted by Alan T

Either this or all of the snow/cold in the winter are the two worst things about living in New England. I can't decide which is worse after living here 14 years now.

They have one now in the Burlington Mall, right off 95, if that helps at all.

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

- Fairfield is an interesting town in that it has a mix of college kids and well-to-do commuter types, but there isn't necessarily the interaction and interdependence between the various groups that you might see in other college towns

I'm curious what you mean here. My main experience is Amherst (UMass/Amherst) and Boston (more the Bentley/BU/Tufts/Harvard/MIT areas) - I think the UMass and Tufts kids had the most "interdependence" with the surrounding communities, but that was because they were the ones that needed jobs. I never got the sense the Fairfield kids needed jobs, or that that area really wanted the kind of commercialism that has businesses who need shitty/flaky workers, if that makes sense.

- The Northeast US has a reputation for being a little less friendly than other parts of the country. I think there is probably some truth in that you probably have to make more of an effort to connect with others (especially if you are used to living in a part of the country with a reputation for being more open)

Definitely agree on this part, although I think the reputation overstates things. No one's going to go out of their way to welcome you to the neighborhood, but people are no different once you talk to them. It's just that the default down south when you don't know someone is to be friendly and outgoing, while up here it's to keep to yourself. Friendly /=/ nice, and vice versa.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

They have one now in the Burlington Mall, right off 95, if that helps at all.

Yeah, I have made trips by there on purpose when I've been in the area at times, but for me with traffic, that is a good 1-2 hour drive there and back on most days. I love me some Chic Fil A, but not a 3 hour round trip worth There was some talk about one opening up in Westborough, which I can get to within 30 minutes, but not sure what ever happened with that.

[Abe Sargent]

I appreciate all of the good info folks, thanks!

[terpkristin]

Hey, I've been to Mystic twice, neither on a 7th grade field trip!

Can't say I know much about Fairfield, though my grandparents lived in New Britain (yes, we're Polish). I actually don't hate CT as much as some people seemed to. New Britain had small town feel with (mostly) friendly neighbors and stuff. I liked the weather up there, more than I did in Maryland.

/tk

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Expect to get honked at within 1 second of the light turning green.

I would expect that anywhere in the world. There are plenty of places in the UK where the other traffic expects you to already be moving by the time the green light appears (we have an amber light between red and green)

[Comey]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Seriously? It's a state that's about 3 times the size of the county I'm in right now. There are certainly better or worse parts of Houston but are the "regional" differences all that much?

SI

Having lived in Central and Eastern CT (Hartford, currently live in Mystic) and doing grad school at Fairfield...CT is as diverse a state as you can have, from one end to the other. The difference between the six sections (SWCT, NWCT, Capital Region, NECT, SECT, New Haven) of the state are immense...and rather amazing to consider.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

Is there actually anything in CT past New Haven?

And Mystic doesn't count, you only go there on field trips in 7th grade.

I live in Mystic. And it's the slow time of year now, which is both nice and lame.

That said, taking the beach town tour heading north out of New Haven is as nice as can be (though much more so in May and October). I enjoy SECT for many different reasons than SWCT. They're light years apart.

[samifan24]

Congrats on the new job. Sorry you have to move to Connecticut.

[EagleFan]

Connecticut, that's like the parking lot between New York and Boston.

Congrats on the job.

[Abe Sargent]

Bye bye PC, it's time to turn you off,, movers are here in a few minutes!

[Abe Sargent]

Seems like a normal place so far. The University has been very hospitable.

[DaddyTorgo]

Glad to hear that

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Seems like a normal place so far.

People from Boston/NYC love to make fun of Connecticut because of the perception that CT has very little unique culture/little in the way of entertainment attractions/no sports teams, but outside of the obvious trouble spots like Bridgeport and East Hartford it seems like a pleasant place to live. And really, that'd be like people judging Massachusetts based on Lynn, Lawrence, Fall River, downtown Springfield, etc.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

People from Boston/NYC love to make fun of Connecticut because of the perception that CT has very little unique culture/little in the way of entertainment attractions/no sports teams, but outside of the obvious trouble spots like Bridgeport and East Hartford it seems like a pleasant place to live. And really, that'd be like people judging Massachusetts based on Lynn, Lawrence, Fall River, downtown Springfield, etc.

//shudder

Jeezus - you couldn't have picked a quartet of suckiness anymore than that. Wow.

And yes, I know that was the point.

[Comey]

East Hartford? That's tame compared to Waterbury or New London and Fair Haven. The rest...fine.

Hartford still blows. But East Hartford isn't unsafe.

West Hartford is quite fantastic. And if you like wings, dirt style at J Timothy's in Farmington/Plainville is the way to go.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

//shudder

Jeezus - you couldn't have picked a quartet of suckiness anymore than that. Wow.

And yes, I know that was the point.

I'm actually probably giving downtown Springfield a bad rap there - there are some parts of that city that are getting better and rebounding. How about New Bedford, Holyoke, Pittsfield and idk, Methuen? Randolph? Brockton? (I'm keeping away from the Roxbury's/East Somerville's/West Dorchester's/Chelsea's that are either officially neighborhoods of Boston or effectively so.)

Originally Posted by Comey

East Hartford? That's tame compared to Waterbury or New London and Fair Haven. The rest...fine.

Hartford still blows. But East Hartford isn't unsafe.

West Hartford is quite fantastic. And if you like wings, dirt style at J Timothy's in Farmington/Plainville is the way to go.

Damn, I was gonna use New London(or Bristol based off the Hernandez family) I know West Hartford is the nice part from time I've spent running camps at Loomis Chaffee - I guess I just don't know any Hartford distinctions beyond that, so I call the rest "East" Hartford. It's basically one big Here Be Dragons if I'm driving though. New Haven seems like another one that would fall on the list if it weren't for Yale - definitely seemed like one of those areas that you can live/work in for 20 years without a problem if you're a local but can go from real nice to dangerous within a block if you're visiting and decide to walk around.

[DaddyTorgo]

New Bedford is certainly a contender.

Pittsfield isn't bad. Depressed, but not bad. I didn't fear for my life sitting in downtown Pittsfield.

Brockton is probably a contender too, yeah. Or at least parts of it.

[jeff061]

I lived in Fall River and I resent that statement.


Not really. I lived in the "nice part" of Fall River, which was next to a landfill.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Damn, I was gonna use New London(or Bristol based off the Hernandez family) I know West Hartford is the nice part from time I've spent running camps at Loomis Chaffee - I guess I just don't know any Hartford distinctions beyond that, so I call the rest "East" Hartford. It's basically one big Here Be Dragons if I'm driving though. New Haven seems like another one that would fall on the list if it weren't for Yale - definitely seemed like one of those areas that you can live/work in for 20 years without a problem if you're a local but can go from real nice to dangerous within a block if you're visiting and decide to walk around.

There's Hartford, West Hartford, and East Hartford. I lived on the WeHa/Hartford line, and taught on the south end of Hartford (which isn't exactly safe, either).

I consider Fair Haven to be part of New Haven. I taught in Fair Haven, and lived in the Westville section of New Haven (a block away from SCSU's campus. It was Westville-bad area-Yale-eh area-Fair Haven. Fair Haven is one of the worst areas in the state for crime, and New Haven was #4 in violent crime in the nation when I lived there. But that definitely isn't the majority of the city.

[samifan24]

Connecticut is a ridiculously expensive place to live with few things to do and even fewer true attractions or reasons to stay. Nearly everyone I know has moved out of the state in the last three years and I hope to join them in the next couple of years. Sorry but that's how I feel.

[Buccaneer]

Lots of fascinating geographical/cultural discussions here. Even though I have spent some time in CT, I learned a lot of new things about the local regions and cities that I didn't know.

New England/Update NY is my home region and always had an interesting hold on me - to the point of considering (not planning) retiring to Maine - cold/winters would not bother me. But to further comment on SI's statement - yes, you travel two hours in the Northeast and you would have gone through several distinct geographical/cultural regions and sense of places. Out here in the West, which I love, you travel two hours and you are in the same 'place' as you left.