What's The Matter With Connecticut?

[NutmegYankee]

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

[RadicalGeek]

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

<EOM>

[NutmegYankee]

2. That was where the next paragraph went.

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]

3. Maybe I Should Have Clicked the Link

[grasswire]

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

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]

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

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]

6. That's what you think.

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]

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

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

[NutmegYankee]

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

[Hoppy]

9. Ya use'ta.

[NutmegYankee]

10. Thems was the days...

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

[Chan790]

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

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]

11. Insane people are in charge of roadway signage.

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?"