C
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Is anyone else having trouble with the photos on the first page?
A University in a Small City
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I don't know about this. As has already been mentioned, it's a lot better than it used to be. It has undergone a revitalization similar to Providence's; but in many ways has done more in less time.
I spent some time down there this summer. The downtown area is great (and growing quickly). There are hundreds of restaurants (many of them quite good), bars, cafes, etc crowded around the New Haven Common (a nice take on the typical New England town green) and the surprisingly densely packed downtown core. In fact, New Haven has done a better job than Providence in revitalizing the center of the city. Providence's downtown still has some large vacant pockets (mostly East of the 195 connector although the removal of that will help) while New Haven has really restored the entirety of the city center.
State Street has some excellent spots north of downtown that remind me of Portsmouth New Hampshire, Portland ME, or Newburyport with the abundance of brick with a smaller, neighborhood feel (as opposed to the big city feel of downtown). There are other residential areas that are seeing great improvement as well.
There are still too many trouble pockets, but New Haven is rapidly emerging as a nice place to live/play. The relative affordability of it combined with the colleges in the area and the new wave of places to eat, drink, and enjoy oneself make New Haven a great destination. It doesn't hurt that you can take a commuter rail train to Grand Central Station on the cheap either.
C
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^
I would go as far as saying New Haven is the second best urban space in New England - Boston being the first. I visited both Cambridge and Oxford this past year and Yale holds up. I was astonished.
Give it another hundred years.
I would go as far as saying New Haven is the second best urban space in New England - Boston being the first. I visited both Cambridge and Oxford this past year and Yale holds up. I was astonished.
Give it another hundred years.
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I'll take Providence over New Haven but I am biased towards old mill towns and generally loath CT.
Edit: I'm taking the city as a whole. The Yale area is gorgeous.
C
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I've encountered more dislike of CT in New England than any other part of the country.
Hating Hartford is like hating Springfield. Hating Waterbury is like hating Lowell. Hating New London is like hating New Bedford.
New Haven had factories too.
Hating Hartford is like hating Springfield. Hating Waterbury is like hating Lowell. Hating New London is like hating New Bedford.
New Haven had factories too.
Ron Newman
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My impression is that Boston-area folks consider Connecticut to be 'not really New England'. Back when the Globe was more of a regional paper than it is now, it paid lots of attention to RI, NH, and VT but very little to CT.
czsz
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Connecticut is looked upon with suspicion because at least half is loyal to New York.
To which I say: to the victor go the spoils! New York expanded its commuter rail into CT aggressively; Boston had trouble expanding its to Hingham. There will be MTA coaches in Hartford soon, at which point there may not even be Red Sox fans in Litchfield County.
To which I say: to the victor go the spoils! New York expanded its commuter rail into CT aggressively; Boston had trouble expanding its to Hingham. There will be MTA coaches in Hartford soon, at which point there may not even be Red Sox fans in Litchfield County.
BarbaricManchurian
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True, the downtown is great. However, just venture a few blocks the wrong way and you'll find yourself in some quite economically depressed and scary-looking areas. Though of course it is better than it used to be.
Yup. I find that if I even mention that I enjoyed my time in New Haven to friends in Eastern MA, the response is a collective "ugh." Connecticut is New England but it isn't. Unlike the rest of New England, Boston is not the hub of CT (much to the Chagrin of Maine and NH and most of VT, Boston is still THE city... all others in the region are secondary at best). At least not the hub of much of Southwestern CT (where the bulk of the population is). It may be most publicized in sports, but the reality is that Southwestern CT has easier access (in terms of geography and transit) to New York City and can identify with that area much more easily than Boston.
The cities in Connecticut you mention are a LOT more New England-esque than their siblings (such as Bridgeport and Stamford) South and West. Even New Haven is built around a large "town green." Unfortunately, too many New Englanders lump CT into one giant "East New York" when the reality is that it's mostly Southwestern CT. They envy the wealth of CT and dislike the loyalty and ties to New York that that section of the state has and the state of CT as whole takes the brunt of the hate.
I'll be honest... there are parts of me that resent CT a bit and I can't even explain why. I'm coming around a bit, but it's taking a while and there's no good reason for it at all.
*edit* is there any reason New London only has about 5.5 square miles of land area? Its surprising just how small it is in that regard.
C
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Red Sox fans are a plurality in CT - and the majority everywhere outside of Fairfield County. I grew up in Wethersfield - South of Hartford - very colonial, very New England. I'll post some pictures some time.
New London, like nearly every CT city, is hobbled by geography. Hartford is 17.3 sq miles, New Haven is 18.9, Bridgeport is 16.0 - wealthy suburbs and hollowed out urban cores, CT's legacy of disannexation. After white flight the inner cities have been left with few resources and a history of suburban mistrust.
I sincerely hope so, but I doubt ConnDOT's ability to do anything for mass transit. Rumor is we're going to lose out on our piece of the stimulus because of the inability to get an environmental study done.
New London, like nearly every CT city, is hobbled by geography. Hartford is 17.3 sq miles, New Haven is 18.9, Bridgeport is 16.0 - wealthy suburbs and hollowed out urban cores, CT's legacy of disannexation. After white flight the inner cities have been left with few resources and a history of suburban mistrust.
I sincerely hope so, but I doubt ConnDOT's ability to do anything for mass transit. Rumor is we're going to lose out on our piece of the stimulus because of the inability to get an environmental study done.
It is well documented that Harvard has been embarrassingly irresponsible with it's endowment.
kennedy
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...yet still manages to have a higher endowment than any other school.
I was also under the impression that Harvard, in general, was quite responsible with the endowment. Only recently did they suffer the great loss, right alongside everyone else.
I was also under the impression that Harvard, in general, was quite responsible with the endowment. Only recently did they suffer the great loss, right alongside everyone else.
statler
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Not quite -- the article posted is worth the read.
blade_bltz
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My father grew up near Hartford as a San Francisco Giants fan, because his father grew up a NY [baseball] Giants fan (either in NYC or Fairfield County). This is great, since it spared me the indignity of being raised a Yankees fan in Boston. heh.
As someone who has spent a decent amount of time in Hartford (both the city and the burbs), I have no problem grouping it in with the rest of New England. In fact, it wasn't until I started reading blogs and message boards frequented by Massholes and people who regularly re-watch Good Will Hunting that I realized that CT is generally looked upon with disdain around New England. Must not be enough Irish folk...
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I have no problem with CT as a state, I have family there and there are beautiful parts (Merritt Parkway is the prettiest highway in the US IMO). Mostly it's just that it is 2 hours of ugly highways that you need to drive to get from one end to the other that makes me hate it so.
stellarfun
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I believe Yale has deferred major new construction projects until its endowment recovers; it took about a 25 percent hit.
Harvard's two priorities: renovation of the river houses at a cost of $1+ billion, and renovation/expansion of the Fogg will proceed apparently.
Princeton recently built a new residential college.
Very Princeton looking.
Harvard's two priorities: renovation of the river houses at a cost of $1+ billion, and renovation/expansion of the Fogg will proceed apparently.
Princeton recently built a new residential college.
Very Princeton looking.
First time I was there was last October for a wedding (of, go figure, two Princeton grads). I fell in love. The surroundings are strange and exurban, but the center of Princeton is wonderfully active and beautiful.