October 21, 2009
Downtown Hartford. Or rather, the one Avenue I could take a photo of in Hartford that would make it look like an actual downtown. Hartford has so much potential- old brick buildings with tons of character, an influx of young people drawn by a decent job market, and strong suburban towns full of bars and restaurants. But something needs to give. No one will invest in Hartford until people move downtown, but people won’t move downtown until businesses invest (i.e. a grocery store and a department store, for starters…). So for now, we will all continue to live in surrounding towns like West Hartford, where we can pay 1/2 the rent of a Hartford highrise (no, seriously) for a much nicer apartment, in a hip young area where we can go outside after sunset without worrying about getting shot, and a grocery store and gas station are less then a mile away. Sigh. Someday, Hartford, you will ACTUALLY be the “rising star of New England” as your new campaign boasts…

Downtown Hartford. Or rather, the one Avenue I could take a photo of in Hartford that would make it look like an actual downtown. Hartford has so much potential- old brick buildings with tons of character, an influx of young people drawn by a decent job market, and strong suburban towns full of bars and restaurants.

But something needs to give. No one will invest in Hartford until people move downtown, but people won’t move downtown until businesses invest (i.e. a grocery store and a department store, for starters…).

So for now, we will all continue to live in surrounding towns like West Hartford, where we can pay 1/2 the rent of a Hartford highrise (no, seriously) for a much nicer apartment, in a hip young area where we can go outside after sunset without worrying about getting shot, and a grocery store and gas station are less then a mile away.

Sigh. Someday, Hartford, you will ACTUALLY be the “rising star of New England” as your new campaign boasts…