So, I'm moving to Connecticut.

[VTMechEngr]

I got an engineering job up there and I have lived my entire life in southeast Virginia. I did go to college at Virginia Tech, so I'm used to bone chilling cold.

What else is different up north?

[RandomKoolzip]

1. People aren't forcing Fundamentalism down your throat 24/7.

I moved from Nashville to Chicago in 2004 and couldn't be happier.

[Goldmund]

2. Well, look at it this way

You'll be a few hours' drive from NYC and Boston. It can't be that bad. :)

[Mizmoon]

3. Fresh bagels, baby

The more you get, the cheaper they are. Watch out or you will find yourself with three dozen for two people.

[trof]

4. Connecticutt drivers are suicidal.

Bumper-to-bumper rush hour at 15-20 miles over the speed limit.
Been rear-ended around Hartford twice. I avoid the state now.
Got some nice scenery though.

[VTMechEngr]

8. I'm bringing up a 20 year-old volvo.

Let them play suicide. I'm in the tank.

[trof]

Good. Just replace the bumpers with railroad ties and you'll be fine.

[VTMechEngr]

38. Seen them get rear ended and sustain no damage

Tough cars. Just slow, and cranky.

[KamaAina]

5. Where in Connecticut?

The southern coastline along Long Island Sound (Stamford through Bridgeport and New Haven to New London) really isn't bone-chillingly cold. It gets MUCH colder -- and snowier -- as you go north towrad Hartford (the same storm may bring 6 inches of snow to northern Conn. and only rain or sleet along the coast).

Also, people there consider UConn women's basketball a major sport, right alongside the men. Both have multiple national titles. Too, be sure to feel your way carefully along the Red Sox/Yankees divide (again, depends where you are, with Yankee fans predominating from about New Haven westward, Sox elsewhere). Many of the same people, especially in New Haven, consider pizza to be haute cuisine; joints down on Wooster St. have lines out the door, Clinton ate there, etc. etc.

A few hours' drive to NYC and Boston? Hell, there are trains up there -- and not just Amtrak; Metro-North commuter rail will get you from New Haven and points west right to Grand Central; nights and weekends too. (Housing prices are MUCH higher in the areas that are commuting distance to NYC; they're really not too insanely bad elsewhere.)

Both New Haven and Hartford have good regional theatre. It's also the kind of place where affluent samll towns will have their own arts groups.

[northzax]

6. bone chilling, that's funny

you're about to learn a whole new meaning, I'm afraid.

congrats on the job, where in the ol nutmeg state?

[bicentennial_baby]

9. Indeed...

VA=bone chilling cold?

Hahahahahahahahaha....

-a chilly lifelong masshole.

[VTMechEngr]

11. Appalachia Is.

Forget Roanoke, I mean throw a stone into West Virginia Giles County.

[VTMechEngr]

10. Groton

Tech is cold because its in the mountains near West Virginia. Nights could get to about 5. And damn if Appalachia doesn't have wind, especially in the winter.

But I can dig the cold. Its the 98 degrees and sickenly humid SouthEast swampy Virginia that I am about over.

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Try -15

New Year's, 199-something... -15, snowing, 25 mph wind...Brrrr, it's 90 right now and I get cold just thinking about it...

5 is downright warm in winter up here in Western Mass. sometimes

[northzax]

13. freaking massholes

you don't even know what cold is (says the Colby College grad who's dad lives in the northern berkshires)

that was 97, the year of the ice storm? or 99, I remember that being a cold night in Copley Square...I remember January '94 in Waterville, didn't break -5, from the bad direction. now that's cold.

[bicentennial_baby]

19. 96 or 97

First week of January, cold as ice...Brrrrr. I used to live in the Northern Berks, but now in Northern Franklin Co.

[northzax]

14. hmm, electric boat, anyone?

when someone invites you to go to the submarine races, they're kidding.

[Midlodemocrat]

7. I moved from CT to VA 14 years ago.

It is very, very different.

You absolutely have to route for UCONN boys and girls basketball, it is the law.

Drivers are not as nuts as in MA, but close.

Weather varies depending on where you are going to live. If you are going to work in Groton, some of those coastal towns are beautiful. Mystic in particular.

New Haven is rebounding after decades of disrepair. It is kind of nice to see.

Foxwoods will take all your money, so don't go if you can't stop gambling.

You should probably pull for the Mets. The Yankees have enough fans. If the Mets don't make it into the playoffs, pull for the Red Sox.

[CTLawGuy]

27. people in CT are slightly better drivers than MA drivers

they don't drive in the breakdown lane, and they've discovered the turn signal.

[the_spectator]

15. It's mad expensive.

You need to make your first million to buy a house.

On the other hand, I'd tell most people that there are some really pretty parts of Connecticut. However, considering where you are in Virginia, that has to beat the best of Connecticut hands down in the picturesque outdoors department.

Sorry!

[Burma Jones]

16. No Wal-Mart sized Churches

And, if you're in the Western Part, you get the unique experience of Stu Leonard's.

[RPM]

45. stu's fucking rocks

the only thing I miss about not living in Danbury :puke: anymore.

[Burma Jones]

46. I lived in Northern Westchester and hit the Danbury Stu's often

A unique combination of grocery store and Theme Park.....

[RPM]

47. where in N. Westchester; I used to live in Brewster & W. Plains too... n/t

[Burma Jones]

51. My Mailbox was in Pound Ridge and the House was in Bedford

We had a long driveway and the town boundary cut through it. The Kids went to Katonah/Lewisboro schools. So, three jurisdictions for one address, that was screwy. We lived next to the Pound Ridge reservation.

[RPM]

52. Lovely area...

When I had the time, i used to love to drive up NY 22, instead of using 684.

Man, do I miss the slices at Portofinos

[Felix Mala]

17. Live as close to coast as possible... less snow and cold that way.

Within 30 miles.

[amazona]

18. Lyme Disease?

One of my relatives moved up there and has lifelong health problems as a result. If you even suspect you have Lyme Disease, insist on antibiotic treatment even if the test results are inconclusive. Waiting too long to get the antibiotic can have permanent consequences. However, I do believe the doctors are infinitely more aware of this problem than they were back in the day. I'm just saying if you have unexplained pain or fatigue, don't let it get brushed off as depression. Treat any possible Lyme Disease first. It progresses.

[SarahB]

20. I've lived in CT for 18 years.

Since my sophomore year in HS. Are there bad drivers? True. I've had to learn to drive very well to deal with that factor, but I can, so no accidents (knock wood) thus far. Lyme disease? Yep, it's a real thing, but mainly closer to the coast. If you get a bullseye rash, get thyself to a doctor quickly for treatment. I have never gotten Lyme disease though (neither has anyone in my family). Expensive? Well, that depends on where you live. Central CT suburbs aren't so bad, neither is eastern CT. Where I am, I'm only an hour and a half from either NY or Boston. Kind of cool.

Overall, it a blue, there's cool people, many affordable places than people realize, and all kinds of good stuff (be it cultural and urban or rural). I don't have any particular ties to CT on some emotional level (for instance, I could care less about UConn basketball), but it's where I live now, where I lived for awhile, and it's not so bad.

Welcome. :)

[Bossy Monkey]

21. If somebody offers you a grinder, they don't mean a guy with a monkey

Is a sammich.

[NewJeffCT]

31. Good one - and, we don't say "pop", we say "soda"

Grinder is like a hoagie, hero or sub.

[VTMechEngr]

40. Virginians don't say Pop

This here is da south. We says it as Coke. Even ifs its Pepsi yah want. ;-)

[VTMechEngr]

39. ok, a guy with a monkey?

I've heard of a grinder before. Italian sub correct? Like a hoagie?

[Bossy Monkey]

41. They're called oven grinders, so I always assumed they were heated

to some degree. But yeah, far as I can tell, same thing as a hoagie. (I lived in PA, not CT, so I don't have any precise insight into the nature of a grinder. Just that that's what they call a long sandwich in CT, or at least parts of it.)

The guy with a monkey reference is to organ grinders, which I guess none of us have seen except in really old movies.

[caty]

22. Check out the individual state forums

for Connecticut.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

23. Great Pizza!

You should try out Sally's and Pepe's on Worcester Street in New Haven. Great pie.

[Bombero1956]

24. depending on where you end up

you're only an hour from the Basketball Hall of Fame. Learn to love hockey. The Wolfpack play in Hartford and the Falcons in Springfield so there's the cross the border rivalry, also the Bridgeport Sound Tigers play in CT. Being in Mass, I find it funny that we think drivers from other states are terrible. I've had CT. drivers practically run me off the road on my way home from work. NH and VT drivers drive 20 to 30 mph over the limit all the time including snowstorms. I guess there are terrible drivers everywhere. You may find your occasional rotary too.

[NewJeffCT]

25. housing costs are likely higher here

Depending on the part of Connecticut where you are moving to. If it's the Hartford area, it's not as bad.

My wife is summoning me... I'll write more later.

[chaska]

26. Don't forget your wallet.

[CTLawGuy]

28. theres pretty much nothing to do in CT

if you ever encounter a road called "Albany Ave." in Hartford, turn around. In fact, pretty much turn around from hartford.

[CTLawGuy]

29. CT republicans are interesting

our Repug governor signed a civil unions bill with no arm twisting.

I call them "disney channel republicans", meaning not hard core.

In fact if Jodi Rell ran against lieberman, Id wonder which one was more liberal.

[WhollyHeretic]

35. I like a number of Republicans in Connecticut more than Lieberman

at least they're honest with who they are.

[madinmaryland]

48. There is also the former Repub mayor from Waterbury

who ran against Joe Lieberman in 2000 for the Senate.

Phil Giordano.

:evilgrin:

More Repub values!!

[NewJeffCT]

30. Southeastern CT

Other than Groton, New London & Norwich, southeastern Connecticut is more rural than most of the rest of the state.

On the plus side, it's a quick drive up 95 to Boston, or down 95 to NYC. You're also very close to Mohegan Sun & Foxwoods, and don't have a long trip to get to Newport or Cape Cod...And, it's cheaper than most of the rest of the state.

The Democrats in this part of the state tend to be more conservative to middle of the road Democrats, and the Republicans tend to be the rural farmer types. Your Congressman is conservative (but not radically so) Rob Simmons. So, one more vote against him will be good.

The school systems in CT are generaly pretty good, however SE CT generally is not as good as the other towns in the state. But, you're probably not too worried about that at your age, unless you plan to settle down for the long term.

You'll probably find a higher percentage of Catholics in Connecticut than in VA... I think I remember hearing once that CT and RI have the highest percentage of Catholics in the nation.

[Redstone]

32. Hey, we're not far from Groton. Send me a PM and I'll

give your our phone number. Call us when you get here, or before if you want to.

Lotsa good stuff here on the Eastern Shoreline.

Redstone

PS: There's even a decent BBQ place in Groton. You're in luck.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

33. I and my fiancée (as well as RandomKoolzip) were born and raised in CT

as were many other fly DUers. You're in good company!!!

[LynzM]

34. Welcome to the party, dude :)

I've been here my whole life, with the exception of a few years abroad and in Indiana... Connecticut is very diverse. All kinds of neat theater, art, etc. (free shows and exhibits at lots of colleges), lots of cool areas to hike, canoe, plenty of city entertainment, too, if that's what you want. Nice beaches. We could have a 'welcome to CT DU meetup' when you get up here; there are lots of CT DUers! :)

[NewJeffCT]

42. we always say we're having meetups...

but, unless I'm being secretly frozen out or something, we don't seem to have them here very often.

[LynzM]

49. I know, dude....

We really need to work on that, huh? I've been to one CT meetup so far, and a couple Boston ones. Hrm.

[WhollyHeretic]

36. Welcome to Connecticut!

I've lived here most of my life and I think it's a pretty nice place to live. Connecticut has some interesting stuff if you know where to look and is in driving distance of all sorts of great places.

[yellowdogintexas]

37. My sister lives near Hartford, and I love visiting her.

We were up last summer for a wedding and had a great time. I did not find the traffic to be that bad, but then I have driven in Nashville, Dallas, Memphis and Fort Worth; I had no problems at all.

Good Italian Food!!!!!!!!!11

Great seafood, of course.

Lots to do.

Boston is an easy trip; just drive up to Worcester and hop on the commuter train straight in to South Station. I believe New York City is just about as easy.

It is most likely more expensive than Western Virginia, housing will be your biggest expense; car insurance will be very expensive too.

but you can have lots of fun toodling around New England. Here in Texas we have counties that are almost as big as all 6 New England states combined. You can drive from Boston to the New York state line in about 3 hours or so, and from Hartford up into Vermont or NH in no time.

Enjoy it!!!!

[CTLawGuy]

43. if you want to go to boston

you don't need to take a train from Worcester. (Note to OP: Worcester is pronounced "wuss-ter")

Drive east on I-90 and get onto I-95 S. Very soon you'll see signs for Riverside Station. It's a quick drive to the parking lot. You'll pay 5 bucks and can hop on the end of the green line.

Probably less expensive than a commuter rail.

[CTLawGuy]

44. if you want to go to boston

you don't need to take a train from Worcester. (Note to OP: Worcester is pronounced "wuss-ter")

Drive east on I-90 and get onto I-95 S. Very soon you'll see signs for Riverside Station. It's a quick drive to the parking lot. You'll pay 5 bucks and can hop on the end of the green line.

Probably less expensive than a commuter rail.

[Redstone]

50. Actually, Worcester is pronounced more like "Woo-stah"

If you REALLY want to sound like a native.

Redstone

[CTLawGuy]

58. true

but there is definitely the "wuss" sound in it, rather than a "wooss" sound.

[Redstone]

59. You're right. It is "wuss." Now we have to tell that guy to

make sure he orders a "tonic" when he wants a soda to drink, or a "frappe" if he wants a milkshake when he's in "wuss-ta."

Redstone

[NewJeffCT]

53. Also, we pronounce "Aunt"

We pronounce "Aunt" properly as "ahnt" not like those little insects that crawl around at picnics.

[Midlodemocrat]

54. Oh that is too funny.

Ant so and so drives me crazy down here.

[NewJeffCT]

55. I only hear it in New England...

I think most places say "ant", unfortunately.

[VTMechEngr]

56. I say it as "on"t

[NewJeffCT]

57. that is acceptable - welcome to Connecticut

When is the big move, by the way?

and, saying "ahnt" or "ont" is one of the secret requirements for state entrance.