Connecticut

NutmegYankee

(16,308 posts) Sat Sep 6, 2014, 12:46 PM Sep 2014

What's The Matter With Connecticut?

A funny-sad back-and-forth appeared in the pages of The Hartford Courant last month.

It started when one Christopher Edge wrote into the letters section to say he had had it and was moving out in a brief tirade entitled "Farewell, Connecticut." More positive residents then chimed in with their support for the Nutmeg State. "Running away is not the solution," chided one Patricia Karwoski.

But what problems could Edge possibly be trying to duck by bailing? Who would run away from Connecticut in the first place? It seems a state not afflicted, a lovely, hilly green hamlet nestled between Boston and New York. It has a low crime rate. It has stellar schools. It has the highest per-capita income of the 50 states. It's got America's best pizza, for God's sake.

Edge complained primarily about the state's political incompetency and its "freeloaders." But there's a much deeper malaise afflicting Connecticut and its angry letter-writers. While there is great wealth, there is stagnant growth. Along with high incomes has come increasing poverty. Amid those million-dollar mansions, the middle class has eroded.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-op-lowrey-whats-wrong-with-connecticut-0907-20140905,0,5315792.story

12 replies

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Highlight:

What's The Matter With Connecticut? (Original Post) NutmegYankee Sep 2014 OP

The Last Two Sentences of This Post Sound Like Almost Every State in The U.S--IMO RadicalGeek Sep 2014 #1

That was where the next paragraph went. NutmegYankee Sep 2014 #2

Maybe I Should Have Clicked the Link RadicalGeek Sep 2014 #3

my mother's family left Connecticut after nearly 300 years there. grasswire Sep 2014 #4

'got a little bit of bad news for ya. Hoppy Sep 2014 #5

That's what you think. NutmegYankee Sep 2014 #6

Good luck on the turnpike? Have you ever tried to drive 95 from 1 to 50 on a weekend? Hoppy Sep 2014 #7

We don't charge people for the privilege to sit in traffic. Nt NutmegYankee Sep 2014 #8

Ya use'ta. Hoppy Sep 2014 #9

Thems was the days... NutmegYankee Sep 2014 #10

I'm sorry but you lost all credibility when you suggested that there is decent pizza in NJ. Chan790 Oct 2014 #12

Insane people are in charge of roadway signage. krispos42 Sep 2014 #11

RadicalGeek

(344 posts)

1. The Last Two Sentences of This Post Sound Like Almost Every State in The U.S--IMO

Reply to NutmegYankee (Original post)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 01:48 PM

Sep 2014

<EOM>

NutmegYankee

(16,308 posts)

2. That was where the next paragraph went.

Reply to RadicalGeek (Reply #1)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 02:36 PM

Sep 2014

In short, Connecticut has somehow managed to become both the richest and worst economy in America. And what's worse, America has started to look more and more like Connecticut.

RadicalGeek

(344 posts)

3. Maybe I Should Have Clicked the Link

Reply to NutmegYankee (Reply #2)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 03:47 PM

Sep 2014

grasswire

(50,130 posts)

4. my mother's family left Connecticut after nearly 300 years there.

Reply to NutmegYankee (Original post)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 04:05 PM

Sep 2014

In 1924. My grandparents packed up their six kids into an open touring car fitted with tent flaps, and trundled off west. A hundred miles a day, camping in school yards, driving rutted, unpaved roads. Leaving behind a large family heritage of having settled CT and being landowners in some of the best places through several centuries.

Ninety years later, even though I have never lived there, I'm pulled by those roots. I feel a sort of mystic connection to Middletown, and Meriden, and Unionville, and Saybrook, and Hartford, and New Haven, and many smaller points.

Seems like a fine, fine place to me. I hope to return some day.

Hoppy

(3,595 posts)

5. 'got a little bit of bad news for ya.

Reply to NutmegYankee (Original post)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 08:58 PM

Sep 2014

Ya ain't got the best pizza.

Come to Joe's in Vaux Hall, N.J. Or La Trattoria in Maplewood. or Joe's in Summit.

The stuff in New Haven is mediocre, at best.

NutmegYankee

(16,308 posts)

6. That's what you think.

Reply to Hoppy (Reply #5)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 09:16 PM

Sep 2014

When you can scrape enough together to afford to drive the entire turnpike north, come on up for some real pizza. Good luck with the turnpike though...

Hoppy

(3,595 posts)

7. Good luck on the turnpike? Have you ever tried to drive 95 from 1 to 50 on a weekend?

Reply to NutmegYankee (Reply #6)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 09:24 PM

Sep 2014

Far as I can see, the only thing yiz got good is "The Place" in Guilford.

NutmegYankee

(16,308 posts)

8. We don't charge people for the privilege to sit in traffic. Nt

Reply to Hoppy (Reply #7)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 09:28 PM

Sep 2014

Hoppy

(3,595 posts)

9. Ya use'ta.

Reply to NutmegYankee (Reply #8)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 11:20 PM

Sep 2014

NutmegYankee

(16,308 posts)

10. Thems was the days...

Reply to Hoppy (Reply #9)

Sat Sep 6, 2014, 11:43 PM

Sep 2014

Big rigs smashing into toll booths, Big rigs driving right off collapsed bridges...

Chan790

(20,176 posts)

12. I'm sorry but you lost all credibility when you suggested that there is decent pizza in NJ.

Reply to Hoppy (Reply #5)

Sat Oct 4, 2014, 01:15 PM

Oct 2014

There is no even-mediocre pizza west of the Hudson. At all. If you want good pizza, you have two choices. CT...and...as much as it pains me...NYC.

krispos42

(49,445 posts)

11. Insane people are in charge of roadway signage.

Reply to NutmegYankee (Original post)

Sun Sep 7, 2014, 06:26 PM

Sep 2014

That's part of the problem.

"Hey, let's put the stoplights right above the stopped cars, so they can't see them!"

"Wait, you want street signs that are easy to read? What's wrong with you? And on EVERY street corner?"

"You want us to tell you in a timely manner which lane to get in at an intersection? But that would help the flow of traffic! Besides, blocking the only sign behind a tree is much more aesthetic."

"Signs showing how to get to a major point of interest? And then more signs showing how to get back to a highway? Are you on crack?"

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