What is wrong with Hartford?

[Selena]

I read in another thread that Hartford has a plenty of actuarial jobs, so I went and looked at the cost of living in that lots-of-jobs city and surprisingly found out that the cost of living is BELOW average in US. Why? Is there anything wrong with the city? I am in a search for my first actuarial job and immediately thought that I would want to move there, but I have never been in the North-East area and there is maybe something that I am missing about that place?

[Apollywog]

Originally Posted by Selena

I read in another thread that Hartford has a plenty of actuarial jobs, so I went and looked at the cost of living in that lots-of-jobs city and surprisingly found out that the cost of living is BELOW average in US. Why? Is there anything wrong with the city? I am in a search for my first actuarial job and immediately thought that I would want to move there, but I have never been in the North-East area and there is maybe something that I am missing about that place? :???:

NYC does not have the most actuarial jobs but the cost of living is high so you can't really base the cost of living on actuarial jobs... That would be a silly assumption...

I've visited the city a few times and from what I have observed, it's a slump. You either see actuaries, or you see some law students from the UConn law school and then there are punks everywhere. I personally did not think it was the safest city and it's not the prettiest place either. I'm not sure there is really that much to do there compared to real cities like Boston, Chicago, NYC (well, it's NYC). I also think that the best food you can get there is probably Subway.

[Da Bears!]

The problem is that Hartford is not a city. It is nothing but an insurance district.

[Hagbard Celine]

Hartford consists of downtown, which has insurance companies and banks; and surrounding areas which are poor and full of crime.

There is a "revitalization" effort including high-end downtown housing, but I predict the housing will fail due to lack of interest. There needs to be something to do in a city before people will want to live there. A college (where the students actually live on campus) would be a start.

Hartford has named itself "New England's Rising Star," but I don't think Boston or Portland (ME) have anything to worry about.

People working at the actuarial jobs in Hartford generally don't live IN Hartford, they live in the surrounding suburbs and commute. I'd imagine that the cost of living in the surrounding suburbs is decidedly not below average, though not really exorbitant either.

[DW Simpson]

Hartford discussion threads:

http://actuary.ca/actuarial_discussi...light=hartford

http://actuary.ca/actuarial_discussi...light=hartford

http://actuary.ca/actuarial_discussi...light=hartford

http://actuary.ca/actuarial_discussi...light=hartford

http://actuary.ca/actuarial_discussi...light=hartford

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actu...ad.php?t=86073

[Happy Spiaggia]

Besides the occasional pleasant scenery outside the city and a mediocre casino an hour away, it's a total craphole.

Back in the day it had one thing going for it - The Whalers. But they left for a city in NC, not even the biggest one.

Not that the NHL is helping anyone right now.

[Actuarius]

People talk a lot of smack about Hartford, but it really isn't that bad. Fun doesn't come find you like in Boston or NYC; you kind of have to look for it. But there is stuff to do. The downtown area is not very nice, and is pretty dangerous at nights. But there are theaters and nice restaurants. Many of the surrounding towns are nice and have a lot going for them by themselves, which I imagine is what keeps a lot of the upper-middle class people from coming to Hartford very much, except for maybe the occassional play at the Bushnell. I'm interested to see how the revitalization effort turns out.

[Da Bears!]

What Actuarius is trying to say, is that if you want to even have a remote chance of finding anything fun to do in Hartford, you must pay dearly for it

[llcooljabe]

It will be a better place after the met life merger and jobs leave it!!!

When my wife and I were deciding where to live in the North East, she crossed off Hartford before even beginning. Unfortunatley everyone thinks it's a dive.

I was wandering through this city on foot once when I was exploring New England and I came to a cop who warned me I better now stay on the road I was currently traveling. I went several blocks away but I couldn't help but think why the cop said that, so I backtracked and saw one of the scariest settings of any city I've been in. I then ran for my life.

The St Paul-Travelers Insurance Company hires diplomats to lure people to Hartford because they know the city is in bad shape.