New England

Marcelina, a high school classmate, recently got married to a man in Connecticut but still works and lives in Montreal for a while. During this time, she goes to Connecticut nearly every week-end. We met recently to talk about life and, during the conversation, she said she wouldn't mind giving me lifts to New England.

So, in early July, I took up on the offer and went on a week-end trip to Connecticut.

Marcelina dropped me close to Hartford and then went on her merry way. Hartford is not that interesting. It's about the size of Ottawa, but (typical of American cities) is much less dynamic. The USA is inhabited by over 300 million people. That explains the potential and power of its market. Yet, with so much resources and possibilities, I find they could do a lot better. The quality of life in that country could be much higher with some tweaks on its policies. One thing that really turns me off about most American cities is that they are not vibrant and that it's in the suburbs that life happens in the US (unlike most of the rest of the world). The picture below illustrates well what I mean:



In Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa or Quebec City, the streets downtown would be filled with people on such a beautiful summer Saturday afternoon. Hartford reminded me of the deathly absence of activity I felt when I lived in Seattle. After a few hours, I had seen all the city had to offer.

I then moved on to New Haven, home of Yale University. Given it was the middle of summer, not too many students were present. Yale has some nice gothic architecture on its campus.

After New Haven, I went to visit Marcelina at her place. She's now living like a true American: two houses plus a timeshare, five cars, garages filled with things she doesn't use... She's enjoying this type of somewhat opulent suburban life.

I went to sleep in Providence, where I would spend the first half of the following day exploring about. It's a nice little American city. Again, I would be bored to death if I was forced to live there, though.



Then, I finally went to Newport. It's basically a place to stay on week-ends or during summer for the rich. It attracts hords of people from the surrounding states. It's got nice architecture and pleasant oceanside venues.







I'll likely explore New England some more in the coming weeks.