[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Scottamemnon

TN also has lots of open space, which is one of the big reasons why the south is growing so much. Those mega factories and distribution centers cannot be built as easily up north.

True. low land costs, low taxes, low utilities = lots of opportunities in Tn and rest of Southeast. Hence, they have terrific state GDP growth.

However, that in no way excuses Ct's business climate issues it could control regarding mfg, specifically by controlling gov't cost to avoid tax increases, and by staying competitive regarding all other forms of business taxes.

We rank in the bottom 20% in Business Climate. That is 100% unacceptable.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Please do not discuss the Amazon HQ shortlist here. There is already a separate thread going that discusses this topic. JayCT, Moderator

But that has been closed.

Is there another Ct one I failed to notice?

[East of the River]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Why CT spending so much ?
What we are spending on ?

Mostly debt. We spent to much money and financed it all. Since then we keep refinancing it. Basically imagine you had a credit card and you keep refinancing it or moving the balance to other cards to avoid the interest. CT has basically done that for 40 years. In fact the last budget to some extent did it again. They basically need to keep all the taxes we have and cut spending and maybe in 10-12 years we could talk about tax cuts.

[East of the River]

Originally Posted by Scottamemnon

That no toll road thing is a biggie. The south has some GREAT roads... but they are almost all toll roads. Tolls that never seem to go away, even when the bonds are paid off. That is because they let private companies build roads and then get the right to put tolls on it forever.. they are not controlled by the government instead.

Look at Dallas for an example of a toll system gone mad. To live in those great suburbs, you often need to take these toll roads, which adds quite a bit to your monthly budget. Of course they have no income tax which offsets it, but the amount it offsets seems to be shrinking each year as more fees, tolls, and property tax increases hit.

This is saying a lot, because I have been a bit of a Texas cheerleader in the past, but its starting to show some major flaws in the affordability side.

Yeah TX seems to be a bit like NH adding fees etc in place of taxes and some counties have gone a bit crazy on property tax according to some friends that live there. When I was in Dallas for work a few months ago, I was a bit shocked with how many toll charges showed up on my rental bill including one road I couldn't believe was a toll road (it seemed almost like a cross between a BLVD and a HWY) but yep it did indeed.

[JGBigGreen]

Outside of Texas, Florida and Virginia near DC what southern states are “all toll roads?”

Originally Posted by Scottamemnon

That no toll road thing is a biggie. The south has some GREAT roads... but they are almost all toll roads. Tolls that never seem to go away, even when the bonds are paid off. That is because they let private companies build roads and then get the right to put tolls on it forever.. they are not controlled by the government instead.

Look at Dallas for an example of a toll system gone mad. To live in those great suburbs, you often need to take these toll roads, which adds quite a bit to your monthly budget. Of course they have no income tax which offsets it, but the amount it offsets seems to be shrinking each year as more fees, tolls, and property tax increases hit.

This is saying a lot, because I have been a bit of a Texas cheerleader in the past, but its starting to show some major flaws in the affordability side.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

But that has been closed.

Is there another Ct one I failed to notice?

The Amazon thread went off topic for the Connecticut forum. Posters were talking at length about other cities and states. I believe there are other forums discussing this topic. I would suggest checking the Business or City verses City forums. I will now allow discussion of Connecticut’s submission for Amazons headquarters but I cannot allow discussion of other states. JayCT, Moderator

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by LMPA

The fact is, the cost to live there isn't worth it to some.

But to people who want to live in a safer more highly educated state the cost is worth it.

Difference in philosophy middle Tennessee. I picked TN for comparison because YOUR from TN but you can exchange any one of the low tax southern states for TN.

Part of the high CT taxes are local property taxes because a GOOD education costs money. But look at what you get for your money below. So people who value education for their children live here and MOVE here from other states. I had a neighbor who moved here from the south. I asked her if she came here because of a job. She said "no, the schools are better, I will find a job".

These states have the most people with college degrees.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...states?slide=8

CT is #3 (#4 on list below)
TN is #43
https://www.forbes.com/sites/karsten.../#1ba46b9971be


So TN is you are happy living in a state* that is poorly educated but booming with low wage jobs more power too you. TN is booming because people are moving in because they all want to pay little to nothing for local property/education taxes. Good luck with that in the future as the jobs become more and more STEM jobs that are college dependent.


*Like all of the other low tax Republican states that make up the bottom 10 for education/college attainment.

[beerbeer]

Connecticut may provide a good education. But all those well educated young people leave the state almost the moment they graduate and go to places they can make money with lots of jobs. Places like Tennessee.

Connecticut can not keep young well educated people in the state. They leave as soon as they can.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by beerbeer

Connecticut may provide a good education. But all those well educated young people leave the state almost the moment they graduate and go to places they can make money with lots of jobs. Places like Tennessee.

Connecticut can not keep young well educated people in the state. They leave as soon as they can.

CT need more jobs

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by beerbeer

Connecticut may provide a good education. But all those well educated young people leave the state almost the moment they graduate and go to places they can make money with lots of jobs. Places like Tennessee.

Connecticut can not keep young well educated people in the state. They leave as soon as they can.

These stats say the contrary. How do you account for are very high incomes. I already posted right in this thread Connecticut is in the top 5 for educational attainment while TN is in the bottom 10.

Median HH Income 2010 and 2016
https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-02.pdf
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...tates-by-state

......2010.............................2016
#1 MD $70,976...........#1 NH $76,260
#2 NJ $69,829...........#2 CT $75,923 (HH income grew over $10,000 in 6 years)
#3 AK $66,311...........#3 AK $75,723
#4 CT $65,883...........#4 MD $73,760
#5 HI $65,191...........#5 MA $72,266



Millionaires Per Capita (in 2016)
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/16/thes...er-capita.html

1. Maryland – 7.55 percent
2. Connecticut – 7.4 percent