Greater New Haven is the metropolitan area whose extent includes those towns in the U.S. state of Connecticut that share an economic, social, political, and historical focus on the city of New Haven. It occupies the south-central portion of the state, in a radius around New Haven. The region is known for its educational and economic connections to Yale University, oceanside recreation and the beach-community feel of the shoreline towns east of New Haven, and the trap rock landscapes stretching north from New Haven.