steep slopes? In addition, many modern industrial installations are big operations that require large stretches of level ground. Thus, the gentle landscapes of the Central Valley and Coastal Slope became very attractive to industry, and during the first half of the 20th century they developed into Connecticut's most populous, urbanized, and industrialized regions.

The best development land in the state is undeniably in the Central Valley, particularly in the former basin of Glacial Lake Hitchcock. The thick deposits of glacial sediments so favorable for agriculture are equally suited to supporting residential, commercial, or industrial development. Most of the soils that formed from the glacial deposits are well-drained, meaning that water from a heavy rain flows freely through without turning the ground into a quagmire. Thus, the sewage systems essential to intensive land use are much less likely to back up and fail. The thickness and good permeability of the deposits also act as a natural water filter and storage tank; hence, wells drilled in the Central Valley have an excellent chance of yielding a good flow of clean water. And, of course, the flatness of the ground greatly reduces construction costs.

There is, however, one type of landscape in the Central Valley which is quite difficult to develop: the traprock ridges. The erosion-resistant traprock backbone of the Central Valley was left standing high while rivers and glacial ice scooped out the surrounding soft brownstone. Consequently, most glacial deposits were laid down in the brownstone basins, leaving bare rock at or very close to the ground surface on the traprock ridges. It is possible to develop these rocky slopes, but the lack of sandy ground for sewage systems, the necessity of drilling through rock for water wells, and the steepness of the ground make construction a very expensive undertaking. Throughout the industrial period, people have given a heft to their wallets and almost always thought better of any scheme to develop a traprock ridge. With such thin soils, farming as well was hardly ever attempted on the ridges - even during the 1800s when land was so much in demand. Thus, traprock ridges like the Metacomet Ridge have remained green and forested, strips of wild land that bisect the heavily developed Central Valley.

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