paddyboombotz t1_j8tofx2 wrote on February 16, 2023 at 9:41 PM

I live in new haven, my older brother lives in Durham. He came to visit recently. His two big takeaways were 1. Everything is waaaaay more expensive in CT (not so much rent/bills/mortgages cuz those are actually pretty similar between the two cities, he’s talking more like food and recreation) and 2. He likes the people in new haven way more than Durham. He thinks people in Durham are boring and stuck up. He also thought people in new haven are much more accessible, like you can meet a big time politico drinking at a bar downtown and strike up a convo and become friends up here. He said that kinda stuff doesn’t happen down there. The whole duke/yale thing is very similar, but I think the big difference is you’ll meet lots of 30-something’s who are graduate students and work for Yale who are cool and down to earth, whereas my brother says most people involved in duke are stuck up and boring. Long story short, I think if you’ve lived in Durham, new haven will seem pretty familiar and easily adaptable to, and there’s a good chance you will prolly like it better.

bahtdog OP t1_j8u5jfe wrote on February 16, 2023 at 11:33 PM

Thanks for the info! That definitely sounds more my speed culturally. Would you say that NH is more urban/walkable in feel than Durham? Also, if you need to make trips outside the downtown core to shop or run errands, is the traffic situation comparable between them?

mozzzking t1_j8v847s wrote on February 17, 2023 at 4:32 AM

New Haven is extremely walkable. Like the definition of walkable city lol

paddyboombotz t1_j8uoyhi wrote on February 17, 2023 at 1:55 AM

Yes way more. Durham is spread out. Durham to me seemed much more gentrified than new haven too, although that’s hitting new haven pretty hard recently. CT is a really small state so everything is pretty close. If I have to drive 45 min soMewhere i piss and moan about it. Traffic is pretty horrible in both cities.

RedditZhangHao t1_j8vmteu wrote on February 17, 2023 at 7:10 AM

This ^ OP, plus New Haven and ‘burbs have more housing variety than Durham/Triangle, and it’s very accessible to the City, Boston, outdoor activities in/near New Haven, the rest of CT, New England, and also upstate NY. If you’re a Dukie, not much love exists for Duke in CT.