Do Native CT Residents Despise the New York Invasion? It Appears Some Do

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Americans have been on the move in larger numbers.

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The reasons people flee their home states vary but many of them are quality of life issues related to, or impacted by the pandemic. This migration has many consequences, particularly for the native residents. A recent study by United Van Lanes shows that New York ranked third in the nation for outbound migration and one of the places New Yorkers are fleeing to, is Connecticut.

What do the native Nutmeggers think about this influx of new faces? It appears that not everyone here is thrilled. A new CT resident started a discussion about this recently and the responses were eye opening. Native Connecticut residents shared their displeasure and some of the reasons why this invasion is bothering them.

This is what the user justmaxmeup wrote on the Connecticut Reddit page:

My observation after moving to CT.

I notice a lot of Connecticuters don’t like the fact that people from NY are moving to CT. Most of the time, after someone finds out I just moved to Woodbury or CT, I’ll get the response, “ let me guess, you from NY. Which part of the city? We are a calm state; we want to keep it this way.

These were just some of the responses:

MnR220: "Yeah, I just want to stop getting outbid by the New Yorkers coming in. Got priced out of my own hometown."

Mentalsknns: "This happened to me. I wanted to buy a home in Fairfield county and was outbid on many houses. It was so disheartening and then we learned a lot of them were cash offers outbidding us. My BIL ended up selling his home to someone that bid way over asking (30k over) and an all cash offer in Fairfield county. The buyer was from the city and had just sold her apartment for a giant profit."

Stretchy_Cat: "Yup, exactly. In my local town the New Yorkers that moved in during the pandemic act like because they were able to buy a house over asking price in cash, they by extension now own the entire town and are entitled to make everyone's life miserable (ex. Starting a fight with the general store that's been there serving the community for over a hundred years, because they don't want to see the store's signs; parking their NY-registered cars in no-parking zones; abusing the staff at local restaurants and making servers cry). G. T. F. O!"

BronzedAppleFritter: "Is it classism when the people moving to CT from NY tend to be upper class or at least have means, and the people giving them shit are either generally in the same class or lower? I can see the hicks vs. wealthy out-of-towners as like reverse classism. I'm not sure what it is when someone moves to Woodbury and then an area resident of roughly the same wealth or income level starts giving them s--."

Viligans: "Grew up in Woodbury and live nearby it. There’s definitely cultural frictions and stereotyping at play in it. Like…there are folks who came in from NY and are kinda…patronizing, towards the residents who have been here their whole lives. Or folks who grumble about town traditions, or who came into town and immediately want to change X or Y. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but folks are generally resistant to change and a few experiences like that can make folks bristly about any folks from “the city” since they get a few of those experiences. Woodbury’s also really, really invested in like…preserving its perceived self image and culture. I’m in my late 20s now and I can remember two full decades of every adult in Woodbury I know treating the idea of any franchise business coming into town as if it were the end of days."

curbthemeplays: "I’m OK with the NY plates sitting in driveways of weekend waterfront properties here in Milford, because I know they’re paying $15,000+ in property tax on million+ homes."

Pball1001: "My neighbors moved in from New York. The house has a pond, and is on a street of all small farms. They complained that there are too many mosquitoes from the pond, and that the neighbors roosters are loud. The pond is protected water and there is no noise ordinance for livestock. Don't buy a house in the woods and near farmers and then complain about it. Nothing against new yorkers themselves. But annoying people moving in and being annoying... Is annoying."

h---destroyer: "We already deal with the perception of the entire state being a NY suburb. It probably causes some resentment in certain neighborhoods. Everything's getting more and more expensive and while it's not necessarily anyone's fault, blaming "foreigners" is an unfortunate, but common association."

packofpoodles: "This seems so weird to me when so much of the western part of the state has always been full of people commuting to the city. Heck, when we say “the city,” we mean New York!"

GeneralConcentrate88: "It's true. I live in eastern ct on the shore, since the pandemic started we've had a large influx of ny residents. Can't take a leisurely country drive without a ny plate riding my bumper. Welcome to ct, now slow the f down."

Aaron351: "My complaint about New Yorkers coming out in droves is the general disregard for what once was a quiet peaceful safe rural road, that they treat like the autobahn. Of course, there are plenty of Connecticut drivers that act like ass---, but after the mass exodus from New York there is a strong correlation between rude and unsafe driving, and yellow plates."

C-cola: "When I was a kid (~15 years ago), my family moved here from NY. At the time, everyone we knew in CT was also from NY, so I grew up thinking that this sort of thing was the norm. So seeing people dislike this nowadays is giving me whiplash lol. It's folks from a variety of towns btw, so it's not all just (insert town here)"

cocker_spaniel: "Add the fact that a lot of New Yorkers keep their cars registered in NY. Which isn't fair that they don't get to pay taxes."

1984isnowpleb: "It’s not that you’re moving here it’s that you’re moving here and expecting special treatment. Blend in change your plates and no one cares I can guarantee it. When you ask for your own day to shop or are rude to locals it gives you all a bad name unfortunately. Obviously you all aren’t bad people as I’ve made friends from nyc who moved here during covid. But holy shit spend a couple years here and the weekenders will annoy you too."

sardo34: "I moved to CT for the good schools, I will gladly pay the higher property taxes so my kids can get a good education. But, I am disheartened by the lack of good Mexican food in the area, lol. If that makes me a city brat, guilty as charged!"

newengland_explorer: "People from Connecticut hate everyone and everything."

I grew up in Brewster, NY which is right on the Western, CT State line. I moved to Fairfield County (Danbury) a few years before the pandemic. I also live in New Milford, CT. It's complicated but I've had a lot of back and forth between the two states. When I was young, I don't remember there being any sort angst between the two states , especially where we live but this has obviously changed.

SirSteg: "We aren’t too thrilled about our hometowns being bought up and sold back to us at unaffordable rates, nor are we thrilled at the NYers who can afford to drive us out."

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the first wave of New Yorkers moved in, I predicted this frustration would come. We talked about this on my radio show (The I-95 Morning Show/Podcast) in the beginning. It's not like I'm bragging, coming to that conclusion was a natural thought progression for me.

These were my simple thoughts in order:

• How does this inbound population impact me?
• They are going to grab up rentals, buy homes and land.
• If they are from NYC, it's likely they have some dough laying around.
• This competition for homes will price me out of the market.
• Grrr.
• I don't like that.
• I was here first.

I find this fascinating because this story has it all: classism, socioeconomic factors, marginalized communities, anger and frustration. It's kind of the story of who we are as a country right now. Hopefully, I can take advantage of this topic, and get enough clicks to get a raise, that way I can afford to continue living in Fairfield County. If not, I'll be fascinated right out of my seat and become an invasive species somewhere else.

Want to hear more about Connecticut? More about Danbury, Brookfield, Bethel, Ridgefield, New Milford, Newtown, New Fairfield? Check out the I-95 Morning Show with Ethan, Lou & Dave. We talk about the issues impacting our communities everyday, in the most ridiculous and honest ways. Listen to the show on 95.1 FM, weekday mornings between 6-10 am. You can stream the show on our app or listen to the show music/commercial free with our podcast on Apple and Spotify.

P.S. u/sardo34 is not making it easy for anyone to defend you "city brats." That was a douche-tastic comment. Also, if you're not finding good Mexican food here, you're not trying at all. Come to Fairfield County and you'll have plenty of options. Start with El Ranchero on White Street in Danbury or Taco-Bachi on Federal Road in Brookfield. There's a lot more where that came from.