The Young Demographic

The young Democrats were the victors of the bipartisan charity softball game against the young Republicans Thursday night in Wethersfield. The Democrats won 15 – 14 in the 11th inning. Proceeds from the event went to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

nnecticut’s young Democrats and Connecticut’s young Republicans will compete in an old-fashioned, bipartisan charity softball game and cookout at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18 in Mill Woods Park in Wethersfield.

CT DEMOCRATS ALL STARS, State Rep. Matt Ritter, Captain

vs.

CT REPUBLICANS ALL STARS, State Rep. Sean Williams, Captain

With special guest umpires

• Christine Stuart, CT News Junkie
• Ken Dixon, Connecticut Post
• Daniela Altimari, Hartford Courant
• Sue Haigh, Associated Press
• Neil Ayers and Rob Wysock, Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis

Play-by-play from WFSB Channel 3 sportscaster Joe Zone and the post-game ceremony and trophy presentation by FoxCT’s Laurie Perez

• National Anthem by Deb Heinrich, Nonprofit liaison to Governor Dannel Malloy
• “God Bless America” by Brie Johnston, aide to Appropriations Committee House Chair Toni Walker
• “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” by Maureen Urso, aide to the House Republican Caucus

Suggested contribution: $20

Proceeds to benefit the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Questions? Email Sean Scanlon or Riju Das.

Rain date: Wednesday, August 24, 201

The Real Estate section in today’s New York Times has a story about how developers are revitalizing downtown Hartford and Bridgeport because “new rentals have proved popular with young singles.”

In both cities, the market is hot for studios and one-bedrooms – partly, developers say, because this generation of 20-somethings does not like to share…The preference is stronger in Connecticut than in larger urban markets, said Mike Martin, a senior vice president of Winn Residential, a Boston-based property firm that management firm that oversees several rental buildings in downtown Hartford.

One Bridgeport landlord, Phil Kuchma, (full disclosure: I live in one of his properties) said he believes it is because graduates usually live with their parents for a little while after graduation, so when they’re finally ready to move out, they want a place of their own.

Read the full story here.

Does this article describe you? If you are looking to rent in one of Connecticut’s urban areas, are you open to sharing?

A typical worker needs to earn $47,840 annually to afford median rent for a 2 bedroom apartment, while the median earnings for 25-to-34-year-old workers is roughly $30,000.

About 300 young professionals responded to an unscientific survey the Partnership for Strong Communities conducted to try to understand why Connecticut has been losing 25-34 year-old residents at the fastest rate in the country for the past 20 years. A summary of the findings:

• 89.5% (256) of respondents believe Connecticut should make changes to better attract 20-35 year olds.
• Almost half of respondents (47.5%) felt that Connecticut does not provide housing options that are affordable and meet their needs.
• Only 35.3% (107) answered Yes when asked if they plan to live in Connecticut on a long-term basis.
• Among the 64.7% of respondents who are not planning to live in CT for the long-term, nearly two-thirds (64.9%, 120) said housing could be a major factor in them staying – almost the same number who responded Maybe to the previous question.

Here are a sample of some of the answers to the open-ended questions:

• “Housing is significantly more expensive than many other states and the salaries in CT just aren’t high enough.”

• “Half of one’s monthly salary/income is spent on rent and/or utilities.”

• “The culture and public transportation are lacking. It is expensive to do many things in CT and they almost always require travel which is expensive.”

• “This is my home, I don’t want to live anywhere else, but I just don’t see how I can have a good quality of life as a single person if all of my money is going to housing.”

• “Coming from areas that are extremely appealing to this age range (Asheville, NC and Charleston, SC), I believe a prospering artisan community, affordable/safe housing choices, and well maintained community parks (all of which are in walking distance from housing) are draws to this age range. Connecticut is missing this “package”. If you want this age group to live in CT, than have housing in a safe area in walking distance to music, food, entertainment, arts, parks, etc. There are lots of interesting/cool areas in CT, but there’s not centralized area that appeals to youth.”

• “Really support Urban Living. This will have to include a lot of factors, but needs to make cities more attractive and pedestrian friendly, with accessibility to mass transit. People who are younger appreciate the vibe of urban life better, and if they can be attracted to a nice urban area with parks, and affordable high quality living, CT will be nicer overall.”

The Partnership is looking into forming a statewide coalition/advisory group on behalf of young professionals.

Remember a little while ago when I was griping about healthcare and said I wanted the option to go to a market-based doctor that did not accept health insurance? Well, over my morning coffee, I was reading the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek and came across an article about Qliance Medical Group in Washington. “Patients pay a monthly fee between $50 and $130, depending on age, and can see their doctors as often as they want,” the article says. “The model eliminates the cost of collecting money from insurers, which Qliance says can eat up $16 of a $60 payment for an office visit, or more than a quarter of a practice’s revenue. Qliance doctors’ income isn’t tied to the number of procedures they do, so they see fewer patients and spend more time with them.”
The founder said he envisions the clinic as a start of a national network. Feel free to come to Connecticut, next!

So this girl is slightly under my target demographic for this blog, but her story was interesting enough to share. Below, a press release from PETA:

Norwalk — What does 16-year-old Norwalk resident Gianna Collier-Pitts have in common with actor Olivia Wilde? Wilde was a winner of PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Alive contest, and Collier-Pitts is one of the female finalists in the spin-off Cutest Vegetarian Alive contest sponsored by peta2, PETA’s youth division. Collier-Pitts beat out more than 1,200 contestants from across the U.S. Supporters can check out finalists by visiting peta2.com and can click here to find out how to vote via text message to help peta2 select the winners. Two winners (one male and one female) will be announced on June 6, and each will win a professional photo shoot and star in a peta2 ad.

“More and more Americans are going vegetarian every day, and young people are leading the charge,” says peta2 Division Manager Marta Holmberg. “It’s no wonder: On average, vegetarians are slimmer, trimmer, and generally healthier than meat-eaters, so they’re bound to be a lot cuter too!”

When Collier-Pitts made a bet with a friend in 2007 to see who could “last the longest” without eating meat, she never expected to make the switch full-time—but after she found out more about what happens to animals who are killed for food, she knew that she never would go back to eating meat. Now, the Choate Rosemary Hall sophomore is an active animal advocate who has convinced her friends and family to participate in “Meatless Mondays,” has done school reports on the violent fur industry in China, and has distributed information to her classmates about how a vegetarian diet is better for animals, human health, and the environment. Her favorite dishes are black-bean burgers and cucumber rolls, and she loves showing her friends that it’s easy to eat vegan wherever they go.

To view photos and bios of all the finalists and to cast your vote to help peta2 decide the winners, please click here. To vote for Collier-Pitts, text “Gianna” to 73822.