Hartford’s a melting ice cube. The state of CT budget is too broke to fund Hartford like a proper city because the state is heavily indebted to legacy pension debt.

I fully expect New Haven and Bridgeport to grow faster than Hartford and to be more impactful to the state economy.

I hope the same, it’s an issue that would sway my vote locally and nationally. It’s a realistic project, the best corridor in the country for such infrastructure, and we could def find the funding if we wanted as a nation

Lmao Manhattan would be considered a city if you picked it up and put it anywhere else in the world - it’s be a damn big one too. Obviously it’s a borough of NYC but cmon man, the highway systems in the other parts of NYC still do a better job of not carving up a city than the highways in CT!

Agree with almost everything but we should clarify that:

• Hartford does receive significant state funding to help make up for its small footprint and the fact that government buildings take up a sizable chunk of taxable land

• CT has an equal or higher tax burden as Massachusetts with none of the economic strength (except for maybe in Stamford). Taxachusetts is a misnomer nowadays, at least when comparing MA to CT

Bro you ever been to Manhattan? Notice how the highways go around the city instead of up the guy? It’s 101 to have highways go around cities or underground, and to preserve the waterfront at all costs.

The state fucked up urban planning big time and can’t afford to fix the problem because of pensions. Smh

Westerly is extremely expensive now

Disagree that it’s likely kids / teens. It definitely could be, but for example the widespread swatting incident that occurred the day of the Bristol pd funeral procession was not likely kids / teens

Great summary

I didn’t say for that to sound like the equipment and weapons we send is obsolete. Rather, the stuff we send would eventually have to get replaced if we never used it. The stuff we send getting used up there results in demand for it, and it’s all produced here in the US. It’s basically a stimulus package for US manufacturing

Really we are sending them weapons that are bound to be replaced regardless of whether we use them or not. It’s also a stimulus package for US manufacturers of weapons systems and their employees (most of which if not all are made here in the USA). So it’s a little more nuanced, but I get your concern at the same time

CT has always been a large collection of quiet towns. Our cities used to be meaningful economic centers.

There’s no activism against single family homes cause they ain’t bringing many homes, and there ain’t many being built give. How developed our burbs are (unless you want to clear the woods I guess)

There’s a myriad of reasons for people saying they want the suburbs to stay the suburbs, the chief ones being they don’t want more neighbors, want a small school system, don’t want additional traffic. It’s no more complicated than that lol.

I already said my piece - I support mixed use development in the burbs especially around train stations.

Idk what trope you are talking about lol wtf. CT cities are barely sources of economic activity - there are loafs of businesses located outside of CT cities in the burbs. Nobody wants an urban life in CT because most of our cities are underinvested in.

I’m actually in support of investing in our cities, infrastructure and public transportation so that we have improved economic growth and more housing options. You’re barking up the wrong tree.

Also minorities don’t have the ability to afford whatever you are talking about - lower income folks do. Race isn’t a factor to income qualified housing.

Living in the suburbs, and wanting to live in the burbs, doesn’t mean you’re racist

Bigger school system doesn’t equal better school system

And forward thinking is kind of the point - if we change the paradigm and roll back zoning across the state, it’s pretty hard for towns to plan.

In fact I think we are arguing for the same thing - transparency by developers and the town regarding infrastructure impacts from new developments, alongside tax assessments of the impacts. If high density multi families results in an uptick in school aged population, requiring infra upgrades, requiring higher prop taxes, it seems reasonable for the residents to be informed of that. It’s also equally good to be informed if that won’t happen, because it means tax rates will potentially go down!

Yup - but on the other hand, if a school system is effectively maxed out as is, and multiple large developments result in a need for a new highschool, new building etc, then there will be a town wide tax increase.

This happened in my town, we needed a new high school and our prop taxes are higher than they were before. I personally don’t care but I can understand the concern when new developments are considered / popping up all over.

I also want to highlight that it’s not just school systems…roadway overhauls, water infrastructure etc matter and are never ever addressed by developers.

With every proposed large scale multi family / apartment / affordable housing etc development, have the developers discuss the anticipated headcount impact to the school system, anticipated roadway & traffic impact, and anticipated water / infrastructure impact.

Have the town run the same assessment. Then using both assessments calculate the property tax impact to existing residents, and inform said residents accordingly.

Biggest fear of new development is increasing property taxes by way of greater required services / infrastructure, followed by declining property values (which results in higher property taxes when measured by mil rate).

Lastly, I personally think the conversation should be shifted to focus on building up our cities more with a greater & denser variety of housing stock, coupled with significant infrastructure investments (faster trains, trolley systems, better roadway system eg bury the highway if needed) which would improve the livability & desirability of our metro areas and attract new residents and employers. I find that the conversation around housing is almost exclusively geared towards suburbs and rural areas. And to be clear, I also support building more density around train stations in Fairfield County (and Hartford County).

Regarding why cities should be focused on, just as a real world example: why aren’t there market rate apartments along with shopping, coffee spots and restaurants around the New Haven train station? It’s an important station for the north east corridor. Why hasn’t the street been redesigned so there aren’t shuttle busses blocking the crosswalk and exit, causing a potential hazard and congestion? Unacceptable for the city and state to not rapidly develop this area.

This is definitely a big part of the conversations turning sour. Should be focused on more housing stock overall rather than telling people who moved to a town in the last 24 months they are racist because they live in said town

Population in CT did not grow significantly last year or the year prior or the year prior. It’s been flat.

CT needs everything you just described + housing built in our cities and continued investment in them. Cities are where density is designed for, and they are economic powerhouses for a state. Problem is ct cities by and large suck and lack housing.

Population has not exploded post covid. You perceive it to have exploded because traffic eased up during covid since everyone stayed home, and now it is back. Traffic has always been horrible in CT, especially Fairfield County.

The answer to the problem is solution #1 that you mentioned. We need generational infrastructure built, probably both a highway expansion and a vastly improved train system.

Yeah I guess in my head I know those schools aren’t in FFC but I sort of group them into that southern portion of the state

What are some of the next rung down schools?

Not following - we don’t have county school systems in CT, they are town by town. I listed some of the best school districts by town - the list is not intended to be all encompassing.

What are some lesser known excellent towns for school systems?

If you settle in one of the Fairfield county towns I mentioned then no point to private school, as the public schools in those towns are among the best in the nation and better than many private schools. The only thing “better” IMO are elite New England boarding schools (eg Choate, Loomis Chaffee, Pomfret, Andover, Exeter etc). Those schools cost as much as college and your child most likely will not get the best experience unless they live there as a boarding student.

If you settle in Avon, Farmington, Glastonbury, Simsbury, West Hartford etc I would still argue that private school is not worth it because these are excellent school systems. An involved parent + these school systems + eyes wide open on how the college process works results in great education and optimal college outcome. I would definitely take these schools over generic private schools or religious private schools (from an education and community perspective).

Id also say that there are other towns with “average” school systems that are good relative to the rest of the country, and with involved parents kids will get a great education still and can indeed land at top colleges.

I saw someone below mentioned attending an Ivy League feeder private school - I also did. The education was great, but it cost so much that I couldn’t afford to attend an Ivy League and had to seek a scholarship elsewhere (just something to consider…)

Entirely depends on the town. Darien, Westport, New Canaan etc in Fairfield county, no need to private school. Same for farmington, Glastonbury, and some other towns in central ct.

Cities - need to go magnate or private