A Currier & Ives World

March 23, 2008 on 1:40 pm | In Local, Media |

horsejumping1.jpgIt’s a Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting here in a ski lodge in the Adirondacks waiting for my son to burn off some steam and I ran across a glitzy publication while rummaging around my tote bag. Arriving in my mailbox on Friday, it bills itself as “the premier publication for the people of Northwestern Connecticut.”

To be sure, there are some nice features by some experienced and accomplished writers. And I am very impressed by the amount of advertising the magazine’s ad reps were able to sell. This is a slick publication printed in four-color graphics on glossy coated paper. It’s full of trendy features on gardens, dinner parties and horses. In a word, it is everything Litchfield County is not — or everything I hope it won’t turn into.

The publisher, Morris Media Group, remains something of a mystery to me, although the company does publish a couple of other magazines regionally, including one in Ridgefield and another in Bedford, N.Y. The CEO, Geoffrey James Morris, is a former editor at Reader’s Digest and National Review.

If you knew little of the area, after reading the inaugural edition of the quarterly Litchfield Magazine, you’d think this one was the most inviting, stimulating and charming places on the planet — a delightful country escape far removed from the grim realities of city life. Indeed you might think Litchfield Magazine was put out by a local tourism or Realtors board.

To be fair, there are a couple of attempts at authentic local flavor such as one on the history of the Berkshire railroad line and another on Lime Rock Park. But the word “iron,” for example, is mentioned once as a “commodity.” So far as I can tell, words and phrases like industry, jobs, cost of living, schools and children scarcely appear in the magazine. You get the picture.

Don’t get me wrong: I like this area, too, or I wouldn’t be hanging my hat here. And I respect the people involved in launching this magazine. They saw a business opportunity and are exploiting it as they should. But I hope people from the outside don’t get the wrong idea about Litchfield County.

We’ve got big problems here. In most towns in the Northwest Corner, for example, less than 10% of the housing is classified by the state as affordable. There are few good-paying jobs. School populations are shrinking and are expected to continue do so by 10% or more over the next 10 years.

In a perverse sort of way, while Litchfield Magazine tries to accentuate the positive, it’s actually a powerful symbol of what’s wrong here. Wealthy people from NYC and elsewhere are buying homes from weary natives at inflated prices, driving up the cost of housing for everyone and forcing families with children to move to Winsted or even out of state.

There are fewer volunteers left to man the fire stations and the zoning boards because the population is increasingly dominated by weekenders or wealthy transplantees — just the sort of people, in fact, who will love Litchfield Magazine.

23 Comments »

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  1. I checked out the website, and I couldn’t agree with you more, Terry. They profile the Mayflower Inn in the “Dining Out” section, and Harney Teas in the “Shopping Guide”. Most people who were raised in Litchfield county consider these two places very exclusive. Well, maybe Harney’s not so much, but can many working-class people even afford to eat at the Mayflower, let alone spend even one night there? This magazine is *definitely* catering to the wealthy Manhattanite, rather than the current residents (at least the vast majority of current residents).

    Comment by Amy — March 23, 2008 #

  2. Economics is always a question of alternatives. It would be interesting to hear what the locals propose to solve the “problem” of rising real estate values.

    Comment by Jake — March 23, 2008 #

  3. In terms of the market, little can be done to slow the escalation of housing costs. Various groups are working to build affordable housing but nothing on the scale we need. Plus we have the inevitable tension between open space advocates and those who think the greater need is for affordable housing.

    I’ve often wondered, “What kind of community is a town without kids?” Maybe I should talk to people in the Hamptons to see what our future could be like.

    Comment by Terry — March 24, 2008 #

  4. There was a story in the Courant on Sunday about Barnstable County on Cape Cod, where the school population has declined by 14 percent, they can’t find any volunteer firemen, etc., and more people die than are born. Is this the Northwest Corner’s fate?

    Comment by Steve Barlow — March 24, 2008 #

  5. Looks like the majority of the advertisers are from outside of Litchfield County….Danbury, New Haven, East Windsor, as far south as Westfield, NJ (an outdoor fun place called Rainbow Direct?), Carmel, NY, Brewster, etc.

    http://www.litchfieldmagazine.com/Main%20Pages/Ad%20Source%20Page/advertise.html

    Comment by James — March 25, 2008 #

  6. Point well taken Terry. Send him a link to your blog. Perhaps you and others can introduce him to the “real” Litchfield County. As a 5th generation Sharon-ite, we have big problems in Sharon, and many other towns for sure. While not all the problems are the same exactly, they sure inter-twine. There is no “one fix” for all, yet there are some answers out there that really need to be embraced, and for sure sooner than later. My Dad used to say “the world will be a great place when they get it all finished”. It’s the growing pains that are hell….

    Comment by Rick Hotaling — March 26, 2008 #

  7. Steve,

    Yah, saw that piece. I have lots of family on the Cape. My sister is a school teacher in Hyannis and has always had a tough time finding an affordable place to live. Wonder why The Courant would send a reporter and photographer there, especially given their famously tight budgets the last few years.

    Rick,

    Thanks for your comment. You’re right, we have big problems that don’t need to be papered over. But hey, business is business, right?

    P.S. If you type “Litchfield Magazine” into Google, this post is the first thing that comes up, at least as I write this Wednesday at 5 p.m. So I’m sure the people at the magazine have seen this post. My criticisms notwithstanding, I wish them luck.

    Comment by Terry — March 26, 2008 #

  8. My first comment did not go thru so will try again.

    That’s an interesting magazine, but not the Litchfield County I know.

    I moved to Canaan 40 years ago. I’ve seen a lot of changes. Some good, some not so.

    One Saturday I was stopped by a well-dressed matron outside of the Salisbury Drug Store. She asked me where one shopped around here. I told her we went out of town to shop. I wanted her to keep moving on!

    Comment by Carolyn McDonough — March 28, 2008 #

  9. Like it or not, the beauty of this area and its close proximity to NYC makes is a perfect destination for affluent New Yorkers, just like the Hamptons have been for years.

    The good part is they spend lots of money here. The bad part is they often expect to be catered to in the manner they are accustomed to, and their presence here makes it very hard for those of us with lower incomes to be able to afford life here.

    Now with glossy mags highlighting only the expensive luxury available for them here it can only get worse.

    Also, every time something gets smoothed over and the landscape ‘improves,’ (ie: Buzzy’s castle and Sabo’s community erased) there is less indication available for these people to realize that behind the bucolic landscape and pretty facades, there exist real people with real lives and real community issues that need to be dealt with.

    In a packed checkout line at LaBonnes one Saturday not long ago (an experience locals generally avoid), a tourist sporting a freshly pressed lumberjack shirt and brand spankin new work boots remarked to me that he enjoyed seeing all the real New England villagers doing their daily shopping in a down home country grocery. I informed him that out of the 20 or more ‘New England villagers’ he was remarking about, only half the check out girls and myself were actually locals, and the rest were visiting just like him.

    I mentioned that even though I had grown up here and have lived here for something like 50 years and even raised children here, that I had to settle for being considered a local, because I would never become a native. He was surprised.

    I don’t know what, if anything, can be done about these all too common misconceptions about our fair area, but I suspect its too late. We can’t put Buzzy’s house back, and that means more than just the landscape will change.

    Maybe some of us could buy an ad in their fancy magazine with the goal of scaring them off. Air some dirty laundry. But I doubt it would work.

    So I guess its true… the only constant is change.

    Comment by Mark — March 28, 2008 #

  10. Sorry people my take on this magazine is very different. I saw it at work today after reading the comments on this blog, figured I would check it out myself. This company had contacted me as a manager of a Day Spa in Litchfield (of which we have many clients from the northwest corner) to advertise in this publication. Look closer, Kent greenhouse is in there, adam broderick etc. Remember it is not just northwest corner! I was thrilled to read about Mike and Brigitte Harney, Limerock and I know the family in Litchfield that was featured in the entertaining section. I am not a weekender, or new yorker but a very middle class person working 2 jobs to put my son thru college, I loved this publication. why not show the best of what we have to offer? The restaruants listed were pricey but then they had the bohemian (they have a bathtub on their roof!) and Patty’s in Litchfield. Very much the working man’s hangouts. Great food, good company. How many of you go to the White Hart on a friday night to see some people? The Ski jumps were featured too does that mean we are the wealthy elitists we don’t want to see coming here? Surely not. Look closer folks reread the Harney article and the one on Washington Supply (a place not unlike our Lindells) I see it that they showed some of the treasures we have to offer, if we are going to have growth and encourage people to come here to raise kids, join fire depts dont’ we want them to know what a nice place it is? What would encourage a company to come around, if we didn’t promote how nice it can be? My job is dependent on working class and very much on the weekend travelers. I say welcome! It feeds my family.

    Comment by Dawn — March 28, 2008 #

  11. Dawn,

    You make some excellent points. With the disappearance of manufacturing jobs over the last several decades, we have become dependent on weekenders to keep our economy moving.

    They pay mostly high taxes on nice properties and demand little in the way of services. But of course there is a price to be paid for that, too.

    I guess my problem is the magazine seems to paper over any problems. So, as you correctly observe, I think it’s really best to view Litchfield magazine as a public relations vehicle for the businesses and people who are coming to dominate the region.

    Viewed in that light, Litchfield magazine doesn’t look so bad.

    Comment by Terry — March 29, 2008 #

  12. It could be a whole lot worse, now, couldn’t it? We could be talking about a place that was watching its economic base evaporate, while at the same time, nobody wanted to own homes there.

    Comment by JJ — April 2, 2008 #

  13. A few years ago I was shopping in the Millerton Super Market. A weekender (you can tell them from the locals) was ahead of me in line. He had only a few items which he put in a LaBonne’s shopping bag. I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud. The clerk just rolled her eyes!

    Comment by Carolyn McDonough — April 5, 2008 #

  14. Well, one thing I’ve learned from reading the comments posted here is that the “weekenders” certainly are deserving of the contempt of the local folk. I mean, how could “putting a few items in a LaBonne’s bag at the Millerton Super Market” not engender animus? And the nerve of the “well-dressed matron”! Imagine asking where one might do some shopping!

    Comment by JJ — April 8, 2008 #

  15. You’re missing the point. I just related several things I have seen. I’m a great people watcher who is often amazed by the actions of others.

    A few years ago, I was driving east on Route 44 thru downtown Canaan. A car pulled out in front of me from the railroad depot parking lot and I followed it slowly. At the intersection with Route 7, the woman driver opened her door and tossed a strawberry ice cream cone on the ground under her car as the light turned green and she drove off. From the decals on the car, I assumed she was from a small town near Hartford.

    At the time I wrote about the littering visitor and it was printed in the Journal. It was only an example of life in the country!

    Comment by Carolyn McDonough — April 12, 2008 #

  16. I’ve lived and worked in the featured area for almost 40 years and I side with those who laud the magazine for featuring some of the very best things our area has to offer. A close reading of the entire issue shows coverage of a quite diverse range of topics, some fancy, some more ordinary, all (at least to me) very interesting. The magazine is gorgeous in its appearance and overall very well done. The photograph of the sheep could be framed and hung on a wall. I wasn’t aware of this publication until visiting my dentist this morning, and I went on line to subscribe as soon as I returned home. I wish them every success.

    As for all the rather mean-spirited comments about the “tourists” and “New Yorkers,” well, thank goodness they come, pay taxes, spend money, stimulate culture and good dining, and add much more than one may realize at first. Even though not one of them, I enjoy having them around very much. Of course, when I go to “the city” they can pick me out of the crowd instantly, no matter how hard I try to look like them. Thankfully, however, they have always been too polite (or too busy) ever to laugh at me.

    Comment by Scott — April 15, 2008 #

  17. I’m sorry that some of my comments have been taken as mean-spirited. I didn’t intend them to be. I was just mentioning some things that I’d seen.

    I’m not a native New Englander. I have lived here 40 years, but don’t feel like it’s home. I grew up in the Midwest and before I came to NWCT the longest time I’d lived in one place after high school was Denver. The four years I spent there may be best years of my life. I’ve spent some time in most parts of the US except the Pacific Northwest.

    As I wrote in one comment, I like watching people, but guess I should keep my thoughts to myself!

    Comment by Carolyn McDonough — April 16, 2008 #

  18. No, no, Carolyn. Please continue to share your thoughts. I suspect Scott was talking about JJ, but who knows? I learned a long time ago that as a writer (even a good writer) you are going to be misunderstood at least 25% of the time. It go with the territory, eh?

    Comment by Terry — April 16, 2008 #

  19. Litchfield County has problems? Compared to which other CT counties? Yes there are problems state wide. As a native of Hartford County and current resident of Fairfield County, I think Litchfield has preserved itself much better than any. Have you seen all the strip malls that have ruined the Hartford river valleys that my grandparents built a modest home in, 60 years ago? Fairfield County has become nearly unlivable with the overdevelopment, 95 corridor and outrageous living prices. I desire to live full time in Litchfield as it represents the only western or central part of the state that is as close to “real Connecticut” as exists today.

    Comment by Ned — April 28, 2008 #

  20. Ned,

    Thanks for your comment.

    Our problems aren’t strip malls or overdevelopment, but the emerging disappearance of the middle class and the resulting disappearance of children in our community. The families are mostly being replaced by part-time residents. Click here for some info on that.

    Our school-age populations are shrinking rapidly because of the lack of affordable housing. Sure the cost of living isn’t as high as where you live in Fairfield County, but there are few jobs here that pay well either, so it’s just as much of a struggle.

    So while we don’t have your kind of traffic or sprawl, there is considerable concern here that we are heading toward what the wealthy in the Hamptons face: where are you going find someone to clean your house or cut your grass if the workers can’t find a place to live?

    Comment by Terry — April 29, 2008 #

  21. Terry

    Just problems of a different sort, I guess. Someone in your area can move to less expensive parts of the state, with better jobs closer by, kids rampant, and employ service people. But you have to fight traffic on the way to the office, crime in your neighborhood, and absorb noise and pollution as go about a regular day. Why dont you run your vacuum, mow your own grass and enjoy the view!

    Ned

    Comment by Ned — April 29, 2008 #

  22. …forgot property taxes. They get moved up regularly in real doses in most CT counties. My sources in your area tell me yours are basically flat year over year. It must be nice to need to less police and no new schools. And, if you want, someone WILL cut your grass. They will just charge an arm and a leg. Thats OK. You can afford it now that the equity in your home has soared. Thanks.

    Comment by Ned — April 29, 2008 #

  23. I’m not sure where this belongs, but will post it here.

    A week or so ago a woman wrote to the Lakeville Journal about picking up empty beer cans along the road in the Salisbury area.

    I was going to write a nifty letter to the editor about that saying that since the drinker/driver was disobeying the law by having an open container of liquor in his car, he probably wouldn’t care if broke another law about littering.

    Then I heard on WTIC that CT doesn’t have a law against having an open container of liquor in your car while driving! The legislature is attempting to pass it again at this moment. Apparently it’s tried several times, but the law never gets passed. (I think it has gotten out of the Senate committee, but has to go to the House.)

    I think that having such a law might help, but the problem is getting it enforced. A fine of $90 for first offense and $500 for each after isn’t probably going to worry these folks. And they have to be caught which isn’t likely.

    I don’t believe we can make people be neat and tidy. Having a small garbage bag in their car is too hard for them to grasp.

    Another alternative is having the beer cans self destruct when empty and/or exposed to sunlight for a period of time. Technology should be able to come up with something!

    Comment by Carolyn McDonough — May 1, 2008 #

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