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Connecticut |OT| Like it or not, you’re a nutmegger

Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
992
Connecticut
  • Nutmegger" is sometimes used. It is derived from the nickname, the Nutmeg State, based on the practice of the Connecticut peddlers who traveled about selling nutmegs

Welcome fellow CT residents and all those who for some reason are in CT, decided to make this OT to better represent the crowning jewel of New England (lol).

Anyway, I thought we would start by a short bio on our history in CT. I've been living in Hartford (yeah... I know) since 2009, went to high school in the south end and I currently work in Bristol. I've been to a lot of parts of CT on my bicycle, been to 4 of the 5 counties in the state, only missing Fairfield county, hopefully next year I'll get down there.

Let's share about the local spots and maybe we can organize a meet up if there is good turn out for this thread.
 
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RedNalgene

RedNalgene

Member
Oct 25, 2017
963
Cool thread! I don't currently live in CT but my wife and I are thinking of moving to the Norwalk area. We'd like to be kinda close to NYC (where we live now) but the Westchester towns are so insanely expensive so we're looking in CT. Norwalk is far, but we can still take a train in if we wanted to.
 
Masterz1337

Masterz1337

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,764
Guzim said:
Been living here practically my entire life. Fuck Malloy.
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Fellow Stamfordian? His kids have been trouble here as long as I can remember.

RedNalgene said:
Cool thread! I don't currently live in CT but my wife and I are thinking of moving to the Norwalk area. We'd like to be kinda close to NYC (where we live now) but the Westchester towns are so insanely expensive so we're looking in CT. Norwalk is far, but we can still take a train in if we wanted to.
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Norwalk is okay, they just commissioned a giant mall there which is supposed to fix the decline. Stamford if you can find a place, is much better.
 
Culex

Culex

Member
Oct 29, 2017
6,836
Nice thing about CT is, barring chain places, it's REALLY hard to find bad pizza anywhere in the state. Whether you're in Danbury, West Hartford, New Haven, or Middletown, there's tons of amazing places.
 
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Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
992
Connecticut
Culex said:
Nice thing about CT is, barring chain places, it's REALLY hard to find bad pizza anywhere in the state. Whether you're in Danbury, West Hartford, New Haven, or Middletown, there's tons of amazing places.
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I agree. Pepe's, first and last, two of my favorite places to get pizza.

I recommend goldburgers in newington. Awesome small burger joint, best in the area.
 
RedNalgene

RedNalgene

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Oct 25, 2017
963
Masterz1337 said:
Norwalk is okay, they just commissioned a giant mall there which is supposed to fix the decline. Stamford if you can find a place, is much better.
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Yeah we're trying to balance affordability and decent schools with a fun place to live. Neither Norwalk nor Stamford have great schools, but elementary level isn't bad in Norwalk. Stamford has a way more interesting food and drink scene, and is way easier to get into NYC. Seems like you can get more for your money in Norwalk though.


Culex said:
Nice thing about CT is, barring chain places, it's REALLY hard to find bad pizza anywhere in the state. Whether you're in Danbury, West Hartford, New Haven, or Middletown, there's tons of amazing places.
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My wife and I really like Bar pizza in New Haven. Mashed potato and bacon....so good.
 
Taki

Taki

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So I've lived here for the past 3 years, and I gotta say, it makes me lol a bit every time I see nutmeggers rag on their own state. Why do they do so? It seems nice here to me.

I'd be interested in a meetup too.
 
Masterz1337

Masterz1337

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Oct 25, 2017
4,764
RedNalgene said:
Yeah we're trying to balance affordability and decent schools with a fun place to live. Neither Norwalk nor Stamford have great schools, but elementary level isn't bad in Norwalk. Stamford has a way more interesting food and drink scene, and is way easier to get into NYC. Seems like you can get more for your money in Norwalk though.




My wife and I really like Bar pizza in New Haven. Mashed potato and bacon....so good.
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Yeah Norwalk is def more affordable. But the best pizza in CT is colony, they have locations in stamford (the original which has been here since the 1930s or 20s) norwalk, fairfield, and milford. And there is a knock off place called Riko's which delivers very similar pizza.
 
Robin

Robin

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Oct 25, 2017
3,502
Hey, what's up y'all! I'm from Connecticut, I've lived all over the state. Best pizza in the world!
 
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Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
992
Connecticut
Taki said:
So I've lived here for the past 3 years, and I gotta say, it makes me lol a bit every time I see nutmeggers rag on their own state. Why do they do so? It seems nice here to me.

I'd be interested in a meetup too.
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Maybe it's our shitty governor who has ran this state to the ground, or the fact that there are more people leaving the CT than coming every year, or all the bullshit taxes we have to pay for even tho we still don't have a state budget for 3+ months already. I don't know, take your pick.

Edit: oh shit, we have a mod here!!
 
Heart of Poumn

Heart of Poumn

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Oct 25, 2017
1,355
Born and raised in CT (Bristol). Moved to FL about 3 years ago for a job. I miss the pizza, but not much else.
 
Robin

Robin

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Gray Matter said:
Maybe it's our shitty governor who has ran this state to the ground, or the fact that there are more people leaving the CT than coming every year, or all the bullshit taxes we have to pay for even tho we still don't have a state budget for 3+ months already. I don't know, take your pick.

Edit: oh shit, we have a mod here!!
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;)))

Bilix said:
Born and raised in CT (Bristol). Moved to FL about 3 years ago for a job. I miss the pizza, but not much else.
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I was just in Bristol yesterday buying craigslist furniture, haha.
 
Heart of Poumn

Heart of Poumn

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Oct 25, 2017
1,355
Sorry peeps. I voted for Malloy before leaving. Kind of a lose lose situation with him and Foley on the balot.

A lot of state workers backed Malloy thinking their jobs were safe with him in charge. Sadly, I've heard this is not the case.
 
Talraen

Talraen

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Oct 27, 2017
268
Connecticut
I've been in Stamford for five years or so, moving from across the Sound. Finding out about Colony Grill has been life-altering.
 
RivalCycle

RivalCycle

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Oct 25, 2017
28
CT resident all my life. Bridgeport, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull. Split my high school years between Shelton and Trumbull.

Been in Australia for the last year for school, plus my gf friend is from Melbourne.

Coming back for a few weeks soon just in time for Valley New Year haha.

I swear to god, besides friends/family, if there's one thing I have missed it's the Pizza back home. I95 Corridor/New Haven pizza is so good and it's just not the same around here.
 
Guzim

Guzim

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Oct 25, 2017
4,495
Lived in Shelton but recently moved across the bridge to Derby. Derby's taxes aren't too bad, but compared to Shelton, everything is so much higher. Shelton's property costs are high though.
 
xir

xir

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Oct 27, 2017
12,531
Los Angeles, CA
Grew up in the 203 before there was the 860. and my uptight town had a hissy fit and got to keep the 213 area code.
SNET was the first non-ma bell phone company, and I believe CT was the last state to go to a quarter for a public phone.
Great pizza, though were i grew up the pizza place cut them accross so there there would be 4 pieces with no crust and 4 tiny corner pieces, and it made me think slices were weird elsewhere.
the pizza hut in old saybrooke actually had good pizza
the import video game store Ultimate Gamers Club was cool until they became a CD pirating ring..
Tag sales are a CT word.
Sneakers forever.
I miss seasons, been in smelLA the last 14 years
 
Taki

Taki

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is CT considered an expensive place to live and become a homeowner?
 
Robin

Robin

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Taki said:
is CT considered an expensive place to live and become a homeowner?
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Yeah, cost of living is quite high, one of the highest right behind California, Oregon and New York. Some places are cheaper than others, I was able to drop my rent a couple hundred dollars by moving east of the river.
 
Culex

Culex

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Oct 29, 2017
6,836
Taki said:
is CT considered an expensive place to live and become a homeowner?
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It's entirely dependent on where you live in the state. If you're on the Gold Coast, upper litchfield county, western hartford county (Avon, West Hartford, etc) or anywhere near the Mystic area, you need to be making high six figures to buy real estate. Other areas are quite affordable. I'm in Bristol, and in a great neighborhood in the hills, so your mileage may vary, but i'm not rubbing pennies together to get by.

One thing is for certain though - property tax. Doesn't matter what town you live in, you will be paying an eye-watering amount. Mine is nearly 5k a year and i'm in a regular raised ranch.
 
sadistic_greyfox

sadistic_greyfox

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Oct 29, 2017
116
Arsenal Gear
Sadly I've been Living in Waterbury since 2000. Houses are pretty much Dirt Cheap if you can deal with the insane millrate of like 60. Thankfully it's the most beautiful city in the state...hehehe,sigh . Stay away, STAY AWAY!
 
Screaming_Gremlin

Screaming_Gremlin

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Oct 28, 2017
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I have been in CT for the last 10 years since I graduated from college. For the last year I have been in Wallingford. The mill rate is relatively cheap compared to most of CT and Wallingford Electric is a godsend compared to UI or CL&P. That being said the cost of living up here is ridiculous compared to the Midwest where I am from.

I will say the craft beer scene has become pretty awesome here. A lot of great breweries have opened up in the last year (Counterweight, Fat Orange Cat, Fox Farms, New Park) on top of the existing staples.
 

AlwaysSalty

The Fallen
Nov 12, 2017
1,442
I hate Connecticut, all these damn taxes and permits and bullshit. I work 55hrs a week, hardly sleep (my hrs are split in a way that I sleep around 3hrs 2 times a day and this recently caused me to get sleep apnea so now I don't even get that) and don't make enough to live on my own. I just don't understand why everything is so expensive here. Mind you I live in Bridgeport (the shittiest part of CT) but I'm so fed up I don't even want to give other cities a try. I don't blame younger people for leaving this black hole of a state. I started looking for new jobs and turned off location. I'm at the point where literally anywhere else is looking better then living here.
 
sadistic_greyfox

sadistic_greyfox

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Oct 29, 2017
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Dude te
AlwaysSalty said:
I hate Connecticut, all these damn taxes and permits and bullshit. I work 55hrs a week, hardly sleep (my hrs are split in a way that I sleep around 3hrs 2 times a day and this recently caused me to get sleep apnea so now I don't even get that) and don't make enough to live on my own. I just don't understand why everything is so expensive here. Mind you I live in Bridgeport (the shittiest part of CT) but I'm so fed up I don't even want to give other cities a try. I don't blame younger people for leaving this black hole of a state. I started looking for new jobs and turned off location. I'm at the point where literally anywhere else is looking better then living here.
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Dude, Tell me about it. I'd love to up and leave this place, and never look back
 
NYCrooner

NYCrooner

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Jan 3, 2018
82
Born and raised in NYC and recently moved to Westchester. My wife and I visit CT pretty regularly. We love the I95/coastal towns, especially Mystic, one of our favorite towns in New England. We often take day trips out to Norwalk (SONO), Old Saybrook, Stamford and the casinos. It's a great state (at least on the coast).
 
Heart of Poumn

Heart of Poumn

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Oct 25, 2017
1,355
NYCrooner said:
Born and raised in NYC and recently moved to Westchester. My wife and I visit CT pretty regularly. We love the I95/coastal towns, especially Mystic, one of our favorite towns in New England. We often take day trips out to Norwalk (SONO), Old Saybrook, Stamford and the casinos. It's a great state (at least on the coast).
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Hit I-84 if you want real CT.
 
Kasai

Kasai

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Jan 24, 2018
4,278
I don't live in CT, but I am from there. Spent 15 years growing up in Colchester.

I'm kinds glad I don't have to be an adult in CT, but goddammn do I miss Illianos. They're pizza, while they did change the sauce since I last had it, was still amazing. We went down for a pizza last weekend and then drove back up to NH.

It was worth it, especially seeing all the familiar sights.
 
Masterz1337

Masterz1337

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Oct 25, 2017
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It needs to be Summer already. I did learn I'll be working at almost every alive@5 in stamford, which is a bit of a downer but should be fun as I'll be able to get in for free.
 

srhltmr

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Oct 27, 2017
1,294
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Born at Bristol Hospital in 1979. My youngest son was born there in 2005.

Lived in Waterbury, Plymouth, Thomaston, and Torrington at various times.

Left in 2009. I miss Plymouth and Thomaston a whole lot sometimes.
 
Smiley90

Smiley90

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Oct 25, 2017
8,720
oh hey, this thread exists!

My gf and me are deciding between moving to CT or MA (I know, what a choice), but it's school-based so here we are. She has firm offers for both Boston and New Haven and I want to follow. Which means I need to change jobs. Now the cities are obviously vastly different, but I know next to nothing about the economy.

Is there much/anything in terms of pharma/research (either big or startups) near New Haven? Just looking at the map I think most of the state is probably "commutable"...

Boston is obviously a hub, but I would hate for her decision to be based simply on me only being able to find a job in one of the two places.
 
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