damus

That's the same opinion I have. Even if no one expected the levees to fail (didn't the Discovery channel or something have a special that featured New Orleans as one of those cities where "the worst" was most likely?), the response was pathetic. I recall hearing reports about charities being turned away from areas of Louisiana and Mississippi that were the hardest hit, while FEMA did nothing. The feds (Bush included) kept saying the situtation was under control as everyone was watching it get worse and worse on the news. I believe that past administrations and congresses (all of them democrat and republicans) have refused to fund the strengthening or rebuilding of these levees. It was a ticking time bomb and no one on either side of the aisle, Democrat or Republican did anything to prevent it. As I just said, the response on all levels was pathetic, the charities responded soooo much quicker than the beaurocrats.

WHAT THE FOXWOODS EXPANSION ENTAILS from http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.d.../510060302/1002 I'm not sure how tall it will be... I think in the high 20s, which is a lot considering it's in the middle of a cluster of "cow towns". If you really wanna know you can just count the floors on the pic....

Nothing... though I was engaged in the conversation I realize this belongs in its own thread (if not deleted). Especially after Katrina, I wish more and more Bush wasn't President. He has made enemies on every side of the political spectrum. I supported him as "better than what the other side would do" up until Katrina. Total inexcusable failure to lead.

Yeah I'll never forgive them for that. I wish a moderator (is Cotuit the only one that goes here?) would move this discussion to a different thread we really went off topic here...

I believe it was the first Johnny Rockets in CT, and I thought it was the only til I looked it up just now. Turns out there's another on in South Windsor (why not on the Berlin Turnpike?). Though I'm not a fan of shopping for fun, I am a fan of eating and drinking and they have a few good options. The little mall they got there has something for everyone. A big advantage of the MGM branding will be they will have access to their high rollers, another department that (I hear from people I know who work at the places, none of this is public info) Foxwoods had an advantage over the Mohegans with. They had their high rollers room in the Great Cedar Tower, I'm sure it's still there... http://norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../604260309/1002 And in other news: http://norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...NEWS01/60426007 Now onto Biloxi... They are pretty big on these satellite casinos. They're building on a 600 acre parcel in the Virgin Islands, they're in the running for the slot machines in Philadelphia, and now this.

The sad thing is they call Bush far-right.... but so many of his policies are far-left. He's only to the right when it comes to "family values". I'm not saying he's a Democratic President with a knack for values, he's done a lot of stupid things on his own, but then he supported lefty policies like expanding Medicare and supporting the extension of the assault weapons ban. I think he still hasn't vetoed a single bill, either. Has there ever been a President not to veto a bill? My breaking point with him was Katrina. Every level of Government from the feds and Bush not having a clue ("good job, Brownie", "no one could have anticipated the levees failing"), to the Governor of Louisiana crying and doing nothing else, to Ray Nagin being a useless moron, failed. They should all suffer some sort of consequences. Everyone in power or with some sort of education knew that New Orleans was one of those cities where "the worst" could happen and it seems like no one prepared for it when they saw it coming for days. I wasn't surprised (honestly) when 9/11 happened... as soon as the 2nd tower was hit I told my room mate it was bin Laden... he'd been trying to get us for years. Katrina was much more obvious.... we knew the levees weren't built for a catergory 5 storm and no one did anything! The school buses sat idly by and wound up under water. The national guard wasn't brought in right away. Bush didn't even know what the hell was going on. Whose idea was it to turn charities away when they tried to come down right away? Just thinking of the series of events leading up to and following the storm are infuriating me. We've really gone off topic on this one. Shouldn't this discussion get its own thread?

It's a shame... I think Foxwoods really went downhill when the guy who brought the "tribe" together, Skip Hayward, was displaced as leader of the Pequots. From the stories I hear and the way I see that place operating, I think they feel like Foxwoods can't fail. They give a lot of money, and a lot of special treatment too, to "tribal" members. The guy who used to run the operations there left long ago (I forget who ... it's in the book "without reservation" by jeff benedict) and they seemed to go downhill quite a bit after that too. That book tells a lot of the shady deals that happened in order for a fake Indian tribe to become the first to run a casino. One of the big guys there, I think Michael Brown, was singled out as a racist who was arrested with crack in Providence and in Los Angeles for beating up a cop because he was white. I really find interesting that Skip Hayward wanted to build a giant domed theme park (like Utopia) that featured a model of the great wall of China. He viewed the casino as a means to an end, which was to make his "Indian Reservation" the next Disney-sized tourist attraction. The formerly poor people, many of whom were black and were apparantly not welcomed by the then all white tribe, that Skip let into the tribe and made all this money for, voted him out of office as Tribal Chairman. They felt they needed to focus on Casino Operations and to give more money back to the ever deserving members... Now the place is becoming more and more of a dump. I need to get another copy of that book and re-read the parts that I read and finally finish it...

Heh.... I live in Preston grew up in Norwich. There's a view of the Mohegan tower from my old bedroom window when leaves are gone from the trees. Mohegan Sun is 100% better. I know someone who's one level below VP in his department at Foxwoods. He said Foxwoods thought the Mohegans were idiots for bringing in all those chains during their Sunburst Expansion, because they thought you made more money off your own stores. Now look at Foxwoods, with Hard Rock, Panera Bread, Amy Ruths (or whatever it is), Nathan's.... all second rate (in my opinion) chains. Now Mohegan is kicking Foxwoods' butt in slot revenue. Bingo, which I'm told by that guy is Foxwoods' #2 moneymaker behind slots is a (along with Poker) a huge market that the Mohegan is just giving away to Foxwoods... The layout at Foxwoods is a mess; it's like they never developed a master plan to go by. It's just pieced together. They seem to have the same table machines at the bar in their racebook that they had when it was built (I dont know ... I'm only 22). The selection of comped drinks is poor, and what you do get they put in plastic cups. You can't even walk on the concourse with them though you can smoke anywhere you want besides the "smoke free" casinos. If it wasn't for the fact that Foxwoods has just about every game, and Mohegans don't even really have poker, there would be no redeming qualities at Foxwoods. In my opinion they should just start ripping apart entire sections and redo it piece by piece. This expansion gets one HUGE gripe from me: the moving walkway to get between the Great Cedar tower and the expansion. I hate having to wait on escalators because everyone stands on them and takes up the whole thing so you can't walk around them. I'd rather take stairs, or in this case a regular skybridge, than spend more time standing around than I would had I walked. I remember as a kid people had "escalator ettiquette" and stood on one side and walked on another. That's all gone.

That ain't happening... congress will continue to be the home of extremists who won't let the other side get an inch. If the Dems do win both houses, we'll have a huge impeachment mess on our hands on top of everything else.

Did these leaves just come up? Maybe I need to pay attention more but here in CT I'm not seing any foliage. Spring is my favorite time of the year ... the same 50-60 degree highs you complain about in the summer and fall being too cold seem so warm right now.

I agree with you about the Republicans in power... but the religious right are the people that go to the polls. I'm on the libertarian side of the party and hate the people in power right now. Certain states, mainly in the sunbelt, have better business climates and are growing while most of the better educated states are either stagnant or in decline...

It's pretty good marketing, but nothing else has changed from their monster proposal judging from this. With all these projects going on, shouldn't there be an Eastern CT subforum?

There's something we can agree on. It seems that the "bluer" the state the worse the business climate is nowadays. Speaking of that ... isn't it kinda silly they switched the colors around so as to not have our "big government" democrats associated with Commies? Having said that... the Republicans in power right now are just as bad.

I dont think that they'll be any more insulated with new urbanism. I think the idea is to put essentials like grocery stores and schools within walking distance, so you don't have to drive 10 miles to the store. You'll actually might even build a sense of community by occasionally conversing with people you see on the street while at the same time cutting down on pollution and getting some light exercise in. At least if you gain that sense of familiarity with people it'll be better than a lot of what goes on today. People know their immediate neighbors if they know any of them, and they take their cars out to do everything they do. People are for the most part separated by demographics in the current system, so I don't see much of a change if people are separated the way you say they'd be. If anything, different classes will have a better chance of intermingling in an urban environment. Look at Manhattan, then look at Greenwich, CT. Greenwich is just about all white and rich, but Manhattan is full of people from all classes.

Sue me

The Hartford/New Haven/Springfield Metros (it's like 60 miles from top to bottom, really should be one metro) are poised to benefit from a proposed commuter rail line between the three cities. Here's a New York Times article (registration required) about it. It's was actually proposed in a recent transportation bill supported by Governor Rell of CT, though there is another transportation bill floating around that allocates more money to other parts of the State. I'm optomistic that I'll be seeing this some time down the road. I'm attaching a map of the proposed route that I pulled from the New York Times.

A/C is still considered a luxury in New England. The summers do get pretty hot and humid, though, and some of the buildings that hold heat so well (and even those that don't) get awfully hot during the summer. Most apartments will not include A/C though there are a few out there that do and from what I've seen they for the most part don't charge an arm and a leg. One thing to look for is a place that includes electric, so you won't have to worry about high bills when you leave the (window-mounted) AC on max while you're at work all day.

I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in this thread, but Fillini's Pizza is a must try on Wikendon. One of the best pizzas in Providence, my favorite next to Caserta's cheese and peperoni.

Good choice. The only thing I can find wrong with the East Side (besides maybe price) is the fact that much of it's on a hill, and walking or driving during the winter might get tricky. It's a beautiful (and safe) neighborhood. I love Thayer. Also, parts of Federal Hill may be seedy, but so long as you're a guy and (I'm sorry, but assholes exist) not flamboyantly gay I don't think you'd have much of a problem walking around at any hour. One of my college classmates got beat up in broad daylight by a gang of angry black schoolchildren right off Thayer, so weird crap can and does happen anywhere. I think both areas are definately safe enough to live in, though if you could afford it the East Side does have very low crime and it's more aesthetically pleasing.

a) can't speak for armory, but Fed. Hill is a great place for young professionals and college students, but not for kids. There isn't much to do outdoors and most houses don't have yards, those that do don't have much. There's a park on Atwells, but it's poorly kept, small, and full of litter. The streets are pretty dirty. The community pool is just that, a community pool. While I've never been in it, I can tell you it's not the most sanitary environment. There is a good amount of crime, mostly petty, but there was a drug-related murder a few doors down the street from me not long after i moved in. Speaking of drugs, my neighbor across the street was a drug dealer and didn't do much to make it a secret to the rest of us. All in all, it's great place to live considering the proximity to Atwells and Downtown, and a lot of the old multi-family units have been renovated over the past few years. I wouldn't recommend raising a child there, though. There are many more knowledgable people on here than me, but those are my two cents on federal hill.

Were you being sarcastic, or is there really a "rat proof trash can project" floating around in providence? I've heard of cities cleaning up neighborhoods with a program like this that also involved destroying nesting sites and using poison, and those metal trash cans don't cost too much money. I lived at vinton and tell and it doesn't take a genius to notice the rat problem there was (or perhaps still is) a big problem there. A few weeks after I moved in my roommate's boyfriend came over, and while he was helping to bring the trash cans to the curb a rat ran from inside the can and halfway up his arm. They were visible every night (I know because I walked home from work at midnight), especially garbage night. The whole neighborhood is pretty much renters, and there is garbage strewn all up and down the street. The garbage cans that are available to tenants have no lids, and most of them also have convenient holes chewed up by rats at the bottom. Not surprisingly, most renters didn't care enough to buy new garbage cans, clean up their sidewalks... in effect the neighborhood had a "slum" feel. I didn't mind it as the rents were cheaper than nicer areas of the city, and that our apartment was on the top floor and kept clean enough not to draw them in.

ehhh ..... love providence, but when i lived in federal hill the rats were terrible at night... if you do buy i suggest you move into an upper level

not neccessarily ... look at Hartford, it's loaded with suits and they mostly live in the affluent suburbs just outside the city. I agree that more jobs need to be in the city and I hate sprawl, but the sprawl problem is a bit more complex than where the jobs are located. In my opinion, we need Euro-Canadien style gas taxes nationwide with the money going straight towards public transport, but even if we do that the economy would suffer at least for a little while.