[Armyvet1]

Like you said it does depend on the area. From NoVA/DC up it does get northeast home pricey. From NoVA/DC down it gets less pricey.

Basically from Warrenton south to the NC border it's very affordable living. From Warrenton north toward NOVA/DC and beyond, it gets higher.

[Armyvet1]

So if any of you are Virginia bound, start from Warrenton and look south

[MrGompers]

"What's wrong with Connecticut"?

What's wrong with Connecticut, people talk about leaving? - Courant.com

Op-Ed piece from Friday's Courant. Some interesting observations here, but i wish the author had sources for the statistics.

A couple choice quotes;

"As such, Connecticut is the country's most unequal state: The average 1 percenter earns 41 times what the average 99 percenter does. That same multiplier is 24 in New Jersey, and just 12 in Hawaii."

"You get past Westport?" said McMenamin of the division between Connecticut's super-rich southwest corner and the rest of the state. "It's a desert."

A tad dramatic? Glastonbury & Avon aren't exactly deserts.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Again, tax burdens vary. But for general apples-to-apples comparisons the so called "cheaper areas" really aren't.

Of course you're wrong, and we have proved it here. "Cheaper" -- that's just one factor in several that makes CT the worst State in the country for business, especially small business. We have provided links, stats, studies, our own State's numbers, yet you don't listen.

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

The middle class and upper classes here shoulder more of the burden, instead of trying to extract more from the hardest hit.

Middle class? You can't define it reliably. There is no consensus on what middle class is. But, I will play along; you missed the part where MrGompers re-cited the article:

"As such, Connecticut is the country's most unequal state: The average 1 percenter earns 41 times what the average 99 percenter does. That same multiplier is 24 in New Jersey, and just 12 in Hawaii."

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Economic Mobility of the States

Look at it. Seriously.

I did. Your source claims to have facts as recent as 2007!! That's almost 8-9 years old data, and those are the most recent? Even more article talks about economic mobility for those born between 1943-1958. Pretty irrelevant to talk now about 50-60-year olds, no disrespect to them. Don't you have something really recent, and which talks about those people in their 20s and 30s?

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Ugh, the goose that lays the golden egg is society in general.

Your argument makes no sense. All countries have societies. Yet, very few have been very successful in their economic development. It is the economic systems in these societies that determines which geese makes golden eggs, and which makes rotten ones.

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

And guess what? They've been saying the same. gd. thing about CT for decades. In fact their toes are dancing at what seems to a slight, however slight, validation of this. It's telling. The fact that a clock is right twice is not useful.

Sweet dreams my friend.

[Henry10]

Maybe some of us have been following events unfolding in Scotland / UK. And I think, it's pretty relevant to CT.

For the first time in recent history polls show the pro-independence voices are in majority in Scotland, two weeks before the referendum whether Scotland breaks from United Kingdom.

Scottish independence: a guide to the big decision | Politics | The Observer

Some would say why? After all Scotland is a taker. It receives more from UK than it pays in.

Scotland is very left-wing, and although UK is run by the liberals now, London liberals facing fiscal disasters will try to make some cuts. Yet, Scots don't like them.

The moral of the story is -- Scotland may commit economic and political adventurism, rather than cut the social programs. Regardless of realities.

If and when CT faces such unavoidable cuts -- will the electorate have the stomach for them? Are we going to behave like the Scots, or the Swedes, who are privatizing their Universal Healthcare, and even their Welfare?

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Couldn't agree more with the former.

The fact that we're not actively working to move state workers to a 401K is atrocious.

As far as industry-- This is a state of "smart" people. We should be working on building our high tech, bio tech, etc, industries. This area is suited for that kind of industry. Manufacturing-- not so much any more....

AFAIK, I'm the only member on the CT forum that works in the biotech industry so no one wants that industry to flourish here more than me.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say CT has the potential to be the Silicon Valley of biotech on the east coast. But as a state we need to WORK for it. SV in California did not sprout up spontaneously. it was an extremely focused effort on the part of many entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and engineers/scientists in collaboration with Stanford University, state/local government, and developers. What started out as a few semiconductor start ups in the late 50's is now the technology capital of the world. The history behind it all is fascinating.

CT is not only the midpoint between Columbia/NYU/Cold Spring Harbor and Harvard/MIT but is also home to Yale. Around and between all of these Tier 1 research institutions are a number of other high caliber research universities like UConn, Stony Brook, BU among many other colleges. I have no doubt that we can produce even more qualified biotech workers than our west coast counterpart, but we seem incapable of producing the business to employ the workers we create. Many of them are not working in the field, are unemployed or are moving elsewhere to find employment.

Besides being the midpoint between these universities, we also have a strong financial sector to support start-ups and growing high tech business'. I doubt there is a shortage of patent attorneys in the larger CT region either. My point is, much of the foundation is in place, we just need our own proverbial Frederick Terman to catalyze the development.

Another advantage CT has (in a relative sense) is--dare I say-- cost of living. Yes, I complain about it constantly, but that's because, as it stands, I can have what CT offers elsewhere for much less. But comparatively, CT has MUCH more to offer in terms of real estate than it's would-be competition in Boston, NYC, LI, San Jose area etc. I'm not saying we need "your place sucks" campaigns, but illustrating what you can have here vs the Boston or NYC metro would be pretty compelling. AFAIK, we do not advertize as such. It's possible some small start-up CEO that makes 300k a year would drool over the idea of owning 2 acres and a 4br house in a nice neighborhood like Avon for 600k instead of his cramped 2br condo in Palo Alto. Maybe he/she would move his business to CT instead of TX or CO if we offered incentives. If our legislatures would stop holding up the entire state congress for the better part of a year over gun laws that will do nothing to increase safety they might have time to make this happen. If they cared even half as much about creating incentive for biotech companies to start-up or relocate here as they do about overtaxing the "rich" to pay for their incompetence we might be halfway there already.

Jackson labs is a big win for us, but it's a long way from being the leader in biotech industry--again, there's no reason this state shouldn't be given the factors mentioned earlier. I really do hope Jackson is just the beginning, but if CT is serious it needs to make a lot more changes.

[Mr_250]

Should have brought this up sooner (but it was first week of fantasy football so.. ), but the CBIA came out the annual business survey.

Survey: Connecticut's Economy 'Greatest Challenge for Business'

"The survey found that more than one in five businesses is considering moving or shifting production to another state within the next five years, and 29% are considering expanding outside of Connecticut." (Survey: Connecticut's Economy 'Greatest Challenge for Business'). That's 20%+ are considering moving to another State.

Biggest "issue" that business owners see is the Connecticut Economy with (surprise to many) cost of doing business and tax burden coming in last and second to last.

Another interesting point to note is that 35% of businesses say they are growing while 54% are holding steady. This is good news especially with a still slow economy.

[Mr_250]

Good news for Hartford. Front Street seems to be doing well. I have yet to make it down there. Has anyone ventured to Front Street. I'm interested if it is busy.

New restaurant to open. Qdobe Mexican Grill.

Hartford's Front Street to add Qdoba Mexican Grill | HartfordBusiness.com

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

Good news for Hartford. Front Street seems to be doing well. I have yet to make it down there. Has anyone ventured to Front Street. I'm interested if it is busy.

New restaurant to open. Qdobe Mexican Grill.

Hartford's Front Street to add Qdoba Mexican Grill | HartfordBusiness.com

I just read this article. Yes, Front Street is finally picking up. Now that Infinity Hall is open and have a lot of entertainment, there is a lot to do there. Finally this investment in Hartford is showing signs of a return. Jay

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I just read this article. Yes, Front Street is finally picking up. Now that Infinity Hall is open and have a lot of entertainment, there is a lot to do there. Finally this investment in Hartford is showing signs of a return. Jay

Sadly, I've been there two Saturday nights to meet my brother and friends. It has been beyond deserted both times. I hope these were anomalies.

Two weeks ago it was dead at 9PM. We were the only people in Ted's Montana Grill at 9 PM.