[CJFusco]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Autumn in CT yet... if you want to see stunning weather, September thru early November is wonderful in New England.

The various opinions in this thread are suggestive of how different an experience it can be depending on where you live. The New Haven area has a lot to do, but is definitely an urban area, with everything that goes along with it. The Hartford area is actually much different -- Hartford itself turns into a ghost town after 6pm except for a 2-block radius of nice restaurants and bars. Most who work in Hartford go to West Hartford, which is a very cool town, for social life.

If you like nice, quiet suburbs, CT is great; for that matter, even quieter farmland can be found in the western part of the state (my GF lives in the New Milford area, and it's bucolic).

I can't really speak about the political aspects of the state because I can't stand partisan politics, but I've never felt the need or desire to have any kind of weapon -- I can't think of a single instance in which I've felt unsafe. I can tell you that many of the above sentiments sound foreign to me, though -- my father has been a gun enthusiast for my whole life (he's a retired cop), and he still buys, owns, and uses all of his weapons recreationally with no problem. Maybe there are more restrictions here than in other states, but the aforementioned sentiments have not been my experience at all. Actually, my time in CT has been very pleasant over all; I could do without the humidity in the Summer and with a shorter winter, but my time here has been conducive towards a happy and satisfied life.