Most view Westport as a secluded town, brimming with prosperity and wealth. Families move to Westport with the purpose of enrolling their children in the nationally ranked public school system and to live in a coastal location within commuting distance from Manhattan.

With such a high influx of people, one would think that surrounding towns would be experiencing similar growth in both population and success. The reality is, however, that Hartford, Connecticut, the state’s capital, is on the verge of bankruptcy as people progressively move out of the state.

As Hartford looked to the rest of Connecticut to provide financial aid, a pattern of economic instability manifested, with a current 3.5 billion dollar debt. While cities and towns throughout Connecticut rely on high property taxes to finance their operations, this tactic has proven to only work well in affluent towns such as Westport, Greenwich and Darien; cities like Hartford cannot produce enough money to sustain basic governmental functions, thus contributing to Connecticut’s deep debt.

As Hartford looked to the rest of Connecticut to provide financial aid, a pattern of economic instability manifested, with a current 3.5 billion dollar debt. While cities and towns throughout Connecticut rely on high property taxes to finance their operations, this tactic has proven to only work well in affluent towns such as Westport, Greenwich and Darien; cities like Hartford cannot produce enough money to sustain basic governmental functions, thus contributing to Connecticut’s deep debt.

Connecticut’s governor, Dannel Malloy, said his state’s government has continuously been forced to pay the bills of other administrations, leading to Connecticut’s spiraling expenditures. “I don’t believe people understand that a lack of paying the bills as they should have been paid (in decades past) has led to the current difficulties the state of Connecticut is living with,” Malloy told Capitol reporters in November of 2016.

“I don’t believe people understand that a lack of paying the bills as they should have been paid (in decades past) has led to the current difficulties the state of Connecticut is living with,” Malloy told Capitol reporters in November of 2016.

“We could not agree more with the urgency of the situation particularly for the City of Hartford," a spokeswoman for Malloy said. "We continue to hope to have a full budget adopted by October to mitigate the harm and avoid having towns or cities go through reorganization."

In early September of this year, Connecticut officials signed a letter validating Connecticut’s potential disastrous economic state. A line of the letter read,

“We [Hartford] face the greatest financial crisis in our city’s history.”

Steve Obsitnik, who is exploring a run for the governor of Connecticut, pinned the mass emigration of Connecticut residents on the lack of opportunity seen within the state. According to Obsitnik, people go where they see opportunity, an idea that he said can be broken down into three components: avidity to do a job, steady income and a lively social environment.

Largely as a result of this economic turmoil, according to Obsitnik, one hundred people per day move out of Connecticut. In a consumer-driven society, these numbers add up when fewer people are contributing to Connecticut's economy.

Living in a state with 42 universities that educate 250,000 people per year, one would think that this steady flow of college graduates would be contributing to Connecticut’s workforce; however, Obsitnik said that over 50 percent of these people emigrate out of Connecticut after graduating college. According to Obsitnik, this is because “there are no jobs here-- they can’t find the opportunity. Their loved ones aren’t here and they’re not going to make enough money to live here.”

Amanda Braverman ’20, whose family moved to Connecticut from New Jersey this year for a “fresh start and a better life” said she had previously thought that Connecticut was an extremely prosperous state and if someone told her that it was on the of verge of bankruptcy, she would not believe it.

To Connecticut’s current government, solutions to this problem seem to be limited. For over 30 years, the same people have been in Connecticut’s government, all of whom come forth with similar ideas on creating a thriving economy, and many argue these people are the very ones who have dug Connecticut into its multibillion dollar debt.

“If we want to change our results, we have to change our mentality. We have to put in place people who know why Florida, China and California thrive,” Obsitnik said. “[Government officials] have to understand what the competition is doing and we have to do the same as, if not better than, they do. Connecticut has to have new leaders to create new policies that turn the state around.”

“[Government officials] have to understand what the competition is doing and we have to do the same as, if not better than, they do. Connecticut has to have new leaders to create new policies that turn the state around.”

Obsitnik has created Imagine Connecticut, a group which hopes to inspire residents of Connecticut to work towards being among the top 10 job creating states. As of now, Connecticut ranks 49th. The group, which consists of 15,000 members, is determined to help solve many of the financial problems Connecticut is currently facing.

According to their website, “Imagine Connecticut is a broad-based, citizen-powered movement that is committed to a Connecticut that vibrantly creates jobs, attracts and retains people, addresses our economic security while improving the quality of life for all people.”

Obsitnik believes that Connecticut’s most beneficial attribute is its location, and that this factor should be one that helps Imagine Connecticut achieve its goals: one-third of the United States’ economy is within 500 miles, 40 million consumers are within a 200 mile radius and there are highways, seaports and airports.

“We have the bones of the building,” Obsitnik said. “The house just needs to be upgraded.”

Obsitnik concludes, “States are like hamburger restaurants. If you charge 100 dollars for a hamburger, how many people are you going to be able to feed? Right across the street, however, is a Shake Shack with a $4 burger with fries, custard and free music.”

If you want to keep people in the restaurant, you need the right price point and the right environment, Obsitnik points out. If all of a sudden it gets a little too expensive or your friends aren’t there anymore, then you find a new place to eat.

“We’ve just gotta turn Connecticut into a Shake Shack,” Obsitnik said.