sports haven is actually really sick. they have sports betting kiosks now and some of the cheapest drinks/snacks in town. the only issue is that the hours are really bad for baseball (they close at 6pm on most weekdays).

i am in the process of buying a home in new haven right now on basically the same salary. your best bets are going to be the neighborhoods that are further out from downtown -- amity, fair haven heights, and morris cove/east shore all have a number of single family homes in the $200k - $300k range and are relatively nice places to live. the neighborhoods that people on this board recommend for renters (east rock, wooster square, westville to some extent) are going to be prohibitively expensive for home ownership. new haven is a small city where virtually everything is within commuting distance via a short drive/bus/bicycle ride so i wouldn't worry too much about the distance.

you might also want to look into the yale homebuyer's program if you are buying in new haven proper -- the university tries to help its employees stay in the city proper by offering incentives to buy in certain neighborhoods. i'm not a yale employee so i don't know all of the details, though.

i subscribe to the NYT and hearst ct media (ct post and new haven register) online and get the new yorker delivered, which obviously isn't a newspaper but feels relevant because it's the only physical periodical i receive in the mail.

the best local source of news does not require a subscription. it's the new haven independent. i read basically everything they publish.

wow yeah, i just checked my gas bill and i used 38 CCF on my most expensive bill of the year. i have a one-bedroom on the top floor of a three family, think it's around 800 sq. ft with low-ish ceilings. i keep my thermostat at 65.

if you are trying to get out of new haven, the only cheaper options along that stretch of the shoreline are west haven (which is still pretty affordable) and bridgeport (which, like new haven, varies wildly depending on which neighborhood you are looking in)

as others have said, the naugatuck river valley has affordable rents, too. it's served by the waterbury branch line of metro north so it's possible to live a car-light existence up there, although it's much easier along the shore.

are you talking baldwin drive? riding the length of baldwin drive and coming back on the red trail is probably my favorite ride in the area.

it's a crazy, trump-y conservative guy who gets off on trolling his liberal neighbors, i think.

the guy on the sign is the westville alderman (new haven's version of a city counciman) adam marchand. can't say i have ever bothered to scan the QR code.

worth looking at your options with the train! i see the VA shuttles every time i go to the west haven train station. milford and points west are on the metro north with regular service to west haven -- branford you would take shoreline east and transfer at new haven, which is doable depending on your schedule.

you can also buy paper passes. there are weekly and monthly options, but i usually go with a 10-ride ticket because i am a regular, but infrequent bus user. with the 10-ride option, you just have to request a transfer if you plan on taking more than one bus.

i know they sell them at stop&shop, but i usually just buy 'em at the info stand downtown.

this is the right answer imo! mountain movers are the best currently active new haven rock band.

the best new haven band of all-time is miracle legion. ovlov is a good answer, but i don't really consider them to be a new haven band.

this law literally says that a crosswalk is considered a "place of safety" for pedestrians. pedestrians have the right-of-way while in the crosswalk, or at the curb before entering the crosswalk.

what do you mean by "false belief" here? the law in connecticut states that pedestrians have right-of-way in a crosswalk.

it doesn't mean that yale students don't behave irresponsibly, putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk, but it isn't a "false belief" to say that a pedestrian has the right-of-way in connecticut.

new england reuse in north haven is worth checking out! it's a pretty similar to the habitat restores.

also, it's a little more expensive and boutique/vintage-oriented, but monger's market in bridgeport is always worth the trip on a sunday.

frontage and ella grasso are both state roads, so the city of new haven has very little recourse to improve them, unfortunately.

newark airport (ewr) has its own amtrak stop on the northeast corridor, with frequent service from new haven. if you book your amtrak ticket when you book your plane ticket, you can get there directly for fairly cheap ($20-ish) from union station in new haven. from the ewr stop, you just take the airtrain tram to your terminal.

it's the easiest transit-to-airport connection in the area, although the windsor locks option to bradley is workable and so are the queens airports.

yeah, it's a safe parking lot, but it's extremely expensive. i would park at west haven or explore some other means of getting to the station (bus, bike, another train, uber, etc.)

the space hasn't existed for quite a few years. there is a venue in the same spot called "the cellar on treadwell" and another venue across the parking lot called "the space ballroom" which is unrelated to the original and doesn't really book local bands.

there are typically cabs waiting at the union station cab stand until the last metro north train gets in. all you have to do is walk out the door and get in.

just want to shout out berlinetta in downtown bridgeport -- it's my favorite brewery in the state and really convenient off of metro north.

they focus on european/czech beers and have a few darker, seasonally appropriate options, including a stout, a vienna, and a "dark czech lager" that is might be my new all-time favorite cold weather beer.

it's definitely possible! i bike through downtown and the hill pretty regularly and often cross the blvd into west haven using rte 1 -- these are among the busiest roads in the area, but i have never had an issue using them. you can also ride through westville and take marginal drive into west haven to avoid rte 1 -- that might be the safest and easiest bike route available. i would definitely avoid riding on the boulevard itself.

that being said, there are alternatives available to biking -- you can take the bus from downtown or even the ride metro north to west haven station and bike from there.

are you looking to rent your own space, or borrow someone else's once a week?

91 shelton ave is where most bands in new haven practice. things have been pretty bad there lately (the elevator never works, etc) but there have historically always been open spaces and bands looking to sublet.

yeah, this is a big source of frustration for me. i have taken to just topping them off when i stop at a highway rest area, because their pumps are basically always in decent shape.

understandable! i agree with the other responders here, though -- the guy who runs the place is super nice and i am happy to support him AND it's a crazy amount of food. with a side of fries (which is also massive) you can easily feed two people.

it's a new york city sandwich invented by yemeni bodega owners in upper manhattan. kind of a cross between a cheeseburger and a cheesesteak. it's blown up quite a bit in recent years and you can get hipster versions all over the country.

i don't know how many deli's/bodegas around here make a cheap, ny-style chopped cheese, but you can get a really good (though slightly more expensive) version from munchies on state street. highly recommended.