That “different feeling” also translated into politics. I did some research comparing 2012 to 2008 in CT. Overall, Hillary’s % of the CT vote was 4% less than what Obama got in 2012.

However, there were some outliers, where Hillary’s % of the vote was greater than what Obama got in 2012. These outliers were nearly all from the wealthy NY suburb part of CT. New Caanan and Darien, which are the two wealthiest towns in CT, were also the towns where Hillary outpolled Obama by the greatest percentage. As they did well by President Goldman Sachs, they decided to vote for his heiress.

The six towns where Hillary outpolled Obama by 10% or more -all from Fairfield County- had an average per capita income of $92,000. The 39 towns where Obama outpolled Hillary by 10% or more, including my home town, had an average per capita income of $30,000.

Polling figures from Htfd Courant and CT Secretary of State. PC income from Wikipedia (2010)

Oh, I know there are parts of Connecticut that are classically New England. I didn’t mean to imply that there weren’t. It was really just a lighthearted remark of mine to convey the idea that (a) I think many parts are just suburbs of NY; and (b) I just get a different feeling about much of Connecticut.

That “different feeling” is hard to pinpoint, but I think it’s a combination of the New Yorkish feel of some of the big cities in the southern tier, as well as the moneyed fanciness of some of the towns further north but not too far north, and just a general sense of more snootiness there (in some of those towns I’ve visited, that is).

My hometown had a typical NE combination of old Yankees, the more recent NE immigrant mix of Irish/Italian/Eastern Europe, and people from “away” whose jobs had taken them to NE. [But not from Noo Yawk City.] I went to school with a number of people whose famous CT ancestors grace our history books, including famous ancestors from that same home town. As Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” The Yankees were unpretentious sorts who hardly ever talked about their famous ancestors and who never made non-Yankees feel inferior for not having those famous ancestors. It’s hard to be pretentious when you shovel cow manure on your family’s dairy farm, even when you are a graduate of a prestigious private college. 🙂

At the same time, I somewhat agree with your drawing a sharp line between MA and CT. At an early age I was aware that my rural hometown was different from what I had seen in MA. As I put it when I was in elementary school, there are a MASS of people in MASS. While in my early adulthood I got to know Boston, loving its “old shoe” feel with all those old buildings, I also developed some ambivalent feelings about the place. In two words: politics and Massholes. Not to mention being the worst drivers in the US.

As both my siblings have in-laws in MA, and my sister lived for decades in MA, some familiarity with MA has been forced upon me. My brother’s wife is from a small town in central MA- lot of similarity with my CT hometown.
And yes, Fairfield County is a NY suburb.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=16&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj2tpe98PzRAhWj8oMKHb70DaYQtwIIYzAP&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCxiHMIM4NWI&usg=AFQjCNHCHC5s2y9AT3awvi1BzO5mKsFimA

OK, rant over.