Where to live in CT

Alright so I lived in CT for a few years ( I now live in Northern NH), so first thing you will need to do is go to Prime Climb and get a membership as there is not much climbing in CT. What climbing there is there neither me nor probably anyone else will tell you where it is, and if we would it would be sand bagged. That is just how they roll. With that being said, get a car with good mileage, and drive to the Gunks, Plymouth NH, the Daks or the Whites. This is what makes New England great, a few hours of driving will get you to some true awesomeness. As for safe and cheap living in CT it does not exist. If it where me I would look into Norwich for work, and housing. Good luck, and point your adventure compass north.

P.S. Votto knows this area very well. He showed me plenty of areas. He knows the best of all things, food, climbing, and might even know a little about wine.

keohan68 wrote: What climbing there is there neither me nor probably anyone else will tell you where it is.

Go here:
mountainproject.com/v/ragge…

and here:
mountainproject.com/v/east-…

Check out the recent thread on CT sport climbing to get an idea where to look for bolts, if that's what you want.

PM me and I'll show you some bouldering next time I visit CT.

keohan68 wrote:so first thing you will need to do is go to Prime Climb and get a membership as there is not much climbing in CT. What climbing there is there neither me nor probably anyone else will tell you where it is, and if we would it would be sand bagged. That is just how they roll.As for safe and cheap living in CT it does not exist. If it where me I would look into Norwich for work, and housing. Good luck, and point your adventure compass north.

So Prime climb IS much bigger and better than stone age, but don't believe the part about much climbing in CT. That being said I did boulder alot more due to lack of partners, but that can be easily fixed by joining up with ragged mountain etc. Thank god for the internet nowadays. Property rights is always an issue in the congested NE, so that's why people "won't tell you", but there is alot of open climbing to be had.

And yeah...cheap isn't a word in CT. At one point in time it was the 3rd highest on housing with CA being first. Safe...well take that with a grain of salt. Don't leave anything in your car as you can guarentee to get your car broken into at least once. I'd say you could even go as far as just leaving your car doors open with nothing inside to avoid the whole broken glass scene, but that might just end up with a car taken for a joyride DEPENDING on where you live.

Each area is different and each town can have completely different sections to them. The more you go towards NY,the more urban it becomes; towards Boston will take you more rural. Don't be discouraged though, there are alot of upsides to the tobacco state!

the climbing in CT is surprisingly good and there are a ton of states much worse off in that dept. . I'm going out on a limb here but I'd say CT could be in the top 20 climbing states, especially if you boulder(is that climbing?). Top 10 if you are into top roping or leading Xrated death routes!

my wifes research position brought us here(New Haven) 5 years ago as well and it hasnt been nearly as bad as I originally thought it would be. living on or near the coast is nice if you are into sailing or even paddling, surfing in RI as well. summer climbing here sucks.

This thread makes me feel a little better about someday living in CT. I've worked really closely with Pratt & Whitney for my graduate work. I see a strong possibility of working for PW for several years after I graduate. From what I can tell, if you want to work in gas turbine engines, there are only a handful of locations, most of them with limited climbing at those locations.

So, thanks for all the responses, and Dan, thanks for asking the question.

Kenny Clark wrote:This thread makes me feel a little better about someday living in CT. So, thanks for all the responses

Me too and I'll second that thanks.

Safe - It is a relative term. Car used to get broken into a lot where I used to live and a couple of friend's homes got broken into but I never knew anyone who got mugged or experienced violence and it felt like a safe place to walk around. I would consider Manhattan safe for example whereas some people think it's dangerous. I wouldn't want to live somewhere like Newark, or if any of you know the UK some of the old industrial northern towns that have really high unemployment nowadays like Workington for example or parts of Bradford.

I live in Norwalk which is closer to the city and traffic is generally worse but that said, for my commute home on Fridays in the summer, it used to take me 2-2.5 hrs to drive what is normally a 20 min drive.

Yeh I meant an hour accounting for the traffic, def wouldn't want 2 hours!

Scott McMahon wrote: Safe...well take that with a grain of salt. Don't leave anything in your car as you can guarentee to get your car broken into at least once. I'd say you could even go as far as just leaving your car doors open with nothing inside to avoid the whole broken glass scene, but that might just end up with a car taken for a joyride DEPENDING on where you live.

I once left a bar at night with friends with the intention of getting in my friend's truck, which was parked in a lit, paid-parking lot, and driving home. He always used to leave his doors unlocked as Scott describes.

We discovered his car resting on cinder blocks with no tires instead.

haha yeah Eric...my buddy's hooked up jeep had most of the parts stolen on the Hartford side of West Hartford.

This book will get you stoked on CT climbing.

amazon.com/Yankee-Rock-Ice-…;qid=1362531423&sr=8-1&keywords=yankee+rock+and+ice

I've got some friends who have lived in New Haven and Branford, they seem to get out as much or more than I do here in the Gunks.

Every time I climb in CT I go there all excited and go home disappointed, swearing I'll never go back - and I always do. It's been at least 5 years since I've climbed in CT...and I'm ready to return.

Like Massachusetts, there's enough good stuff for random days off/a couple of hours after work, but not enough to make ya want to stay home on a weekend.

Eric G. wrote: I once left a bar at night with friends with the intention of getting in my friend's truck, which was parked in a lit, paid-parking lot, and driving home. He always used to leave his doors unlocked as Scott describes. We discovered his car resting on cinder blocks with no tires instead.

Haha where was this?

Dan Halperin wrote: Haha where was this?

In downtown Hartford on a Friday or Saturday night. It is inconceivable that no one witnessed the act. It is far more likely that simply no one cared.

Eric G. wrote: In downtown Hartford on a Friday or Saturday night. It is inconceivable that no one witnessed the act. It is far more likely that simply no one cared.

Yeah it's NE. Nobody gets involved, BUT the theives are good at what they do. Most likely nobody saw it.

I used to work the bars in Hartford...what a nightmare that place was, although fun. First time I ever got maced by the cops. haha

CT is very safe, besides areas of Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. Southington and Cheshire are towns you could leave your car doors open in your driveway all night, with expensive stuff in the cars....there's about a .001% chance of them ever getting taken. My dad's done it for the majority of 60 years here, and myself for the better part of 30. Climbing abounds and there's lifetimes worth within a 4 hour drive...that said, I'm moving haha! If you need beta I've got loads for ya

Nick Votto wrote:CT is very safe, besides areas of Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. Southington and Cheshire are towns you could leave your car doors open in your driveway all night, with expensive stuff in the cars....there's about a .001% chance of them ever getting taken. My dad's done it for the majority of 60 years here, and myself for the better part of 30. Climbing abounds and there's lifetimes worth within a 4 hour drive...that said, I'm moving haha! If you need beta I've got loads for ya

idk the All American Valley is kinda a shit hole too though... like idk say, Waterbury?

Here ya go this should help... it gets local per town as well.

neighborhoodscout.com/ct/

CaptainMo wrote: idk the All American Valley is kinda a shit hole too though... like idk say, Waterbury?

yeah I was gonna through out waterbury. And Willimantic too.

We've had every major city's politician tossed out of office for corruption. haha!

Here's another great site for research. It's a trip!!!

city-data.com/

Scott McMahon wrote: yeah I was gonna through out waterbury. And Willimantic too. We've had every major city's politician tossed out of office for corruption. haha! Here's another great site for research. It's a trip!!! city-data.com/

hahaha yup gotta love it!

I would avoid WIllimantic, it has a really bad Heroin problem. No joke.

I lived in CT for 29 years, all of near Hartford, on both sides of the river.

From a climbing perspective, your best bet is to live somewhere near the trap rock crags, which are in the middle of the state.

Avon, Farmington, West Hartford, Plainville, Southington, all on the list.

Problem is that they are all a HIKE to UConn for the morning commute. Which leaves basically two options.

1) Live in Granby or East Granby, which is a 20-30 minute drive to Rattlesnake, Pinnacle, 45 mins to main cliff. and use 291 or 44 to get to UConn in the morning. Granby also has a small cliff called Diamond ledges that is pretty unique to the area. There was a great brewpub in North Granby 5 years ago (route 20?), dunno if it's still there. It's the boonies any way you look at it.

2) Live in Coventry, Bolton, Vernon. Climb near UConn. Still a hike to get down to main cliff (about 1 hour) but worth the trip usually. Vernon is an okay town but avoid Rockville. Drug problems there too.

Don't underestimate the morning commute to UConn for your wife. It is a nightmare from Farmington to Manchester every day. I've done it. It can turn a 45 minute drive to Storrs into 1.5-2 hours. Manchester/West Hartford mall traffic in the holiday season is also incredibly annoying.

This all assumes you mean UConn in Storrs, and not the UConn health center.

PM me if you like, I can help you out if you want more info. I climbed in CT for quite a few years before I figured out that I didn't belong and moved to CO. I also worked for Pratt and Whitney if anyone wants the low-down on that ;-).

cheers.
-chris

Thanks, I'm sure I will have more questions at some point. I always thought of Connecticut as being a wealthy place. I hope there are software devlopment job available. Commuting to NYC or Boston would be a headache.

Looks like they're mostly on the coast in the Norwalk/Stamford area.