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I think the worst thing WestConn did was build the Westside campus. Not only did they destroy valuable land, they eliminated much of a nature preserve. They should have expanded downtown. Razed the old beat up plaza between the two White Street "one-ways" near Main St. Revived the old buildings with amazing architecture. Heck, with the train and bus stations walkable to all of downtown, students and staff alike could take full advantage.
I think WestConn is an integral part of Danbury's community, and they really blew this opportunity.
Its 5,300 people , its called an Investment. Reducing the travel time to NYC to 70mins and 45mins for Stamford will attract alot of ridership , projections will the all the developments factored in are as high as 25,000 daily riders with the Full build and expansion to New Milford. If CT can waste money on a busway and numerous other smaller pork projects it can invest in the neglected Branch system. All 3 Branches need 1.5 Billion in total in upgrades including the busy New Canaan Branch which has the same amount of Ridership as the Danbury Branch. Without these upgrades more service can't be added and redevelopments along the line won't happen. The reason why only 5,000 use both branches and not more is due to the lousy service if you improve service then more people will use the lines. NJT and the LIRR both upgraded all there smaller lines and have seen huge ridership spikes , same the MBTA , SEPTA and METRA... People aren't going to use a service when its horrible...seeing how their are huge redevelopments tied to all the lines hopefully Hartford finally wakes up from its short term thinking dream and start thinking long term... There are about 6,000 who drive over to the Harlem line , restoring service along the Beacon/Maybrook line would get a decent amount of Ridership and would add a one seat ride to White Plains , New Haven , Bridgeport and Poughkeepsie...it would also connect 12 colleges and Universities and at least 60,000 students....
At the end of the day it does't really matter how much people love their cars , if you give them a reliable form of Transportation they will switch for long distance commuting and trips... For Food shopping and short trips around town people will still drive , but hopefully with pedestrian upgrades and other walkable improvements even that will change.... Its happening as we speak in the City of Portland,Maine , a shift from car based lifestyled to a walk/transit based lifestyle. It takes time , but with investment in city and regional transit and other alt modes of Transportation its possible to switch opinions and get ridership up. WCSU's is disconnected from Danbury itself , linking it up with Downtown Danbury and other nearby towns would spark a renewal...and give students a place to go to on weekends on their days off.
As for the Shopping Malls and Chain Restaurants , the Malls all over the country are in decline and the Internet and the Rise of Main Street shopping are the cause of that along with the Market being oversaturated.... Towns in the FFC took advantage of that and fixed up their downtowns and rode of the Main Street renewal Wave. Danbury and other similar towns can do the same , its not as hard as it sounds.
As someone who rides the Danbury line out of Wilton on occasion (although S. Norwalk most days), I would welcome any shortening of ride duration. However, as a taxpayer, I also would rather see the mainline get the focus. Even if we could deliver quicker trips to NY and Stamford, I still prefer the mainline since trains always run with much greater frequency. The same holds true for most NYC bound workers, as our schedules and commitments after hours necessitate we travel the mainline. The New Canaan and the Danbury lines only have three trains that run direct to their respective terminus in the AM and 3 direct return trains in the PM. That is not enough to rely on.
Also can you help me with your "time math". 45 minutes to Stamford and 70 mins total to NYC? The Stamford leg I comprehend, but how can it only be 25 minutes more from Stamford to GCT? I also have grown tired of the hipster urbanist rant. Is Portland really changing its habits? Are folks hopping on the train to run errands in town?
As someone who rides the Danbury line out of Wilton on occasion (although S. Norwalk most days), I would welcome any shortening of ride duration. However, as a taxpayer, I also would rather see the mainline get the focus. Even if we could deliver quicker trips to NY and Stamford, I still prefer the mainline since trains always run with much greater frequency. The same holds true for most NYC bound workers, as our schedules and commitments after hours necessitate we travel the mainline. The New Canaan and the Danbury lines only have three trains that run direct to their respective terminus in the AM and 3 direct return trains in the PM. That is not enough to rely on.
Also can you help me with your "time math". 45 minutes to Stamford and 70 mins total to NYC? The Stamford leg I comprehend, but how can it only be 25 minutes more from Stamford to GCT? I also have grown tired of the hipster urbanist rant. Is Portland really changing its habits? Are folks hopping on the train to run errands in town?
The Main line is being upgraded , however you need to improve the rest of the system. You can't neglect the Branches , NJ did for a while but all it did was jam up the Main line stations so they upgraded all the branches and now ridership is booming along with reinvestment. With the Branch upgrades trains will run every 30-45minutes bi-directional...if thats not enough then I don't know what is? I guess you were under the impression that trains would remain the same but operate faster , service will not only be doubled but bi-directional which its not now. So it makes the Branches even more attractive to use , the New Canaan Branch will have service every 20-30 minutes bi-directional... The New Canaan Branch upgrade will greatly improve transit in the Glenbrook and Springdale sections of Stamford along with spur redevelopment that has been stalled in both those neighborhoods. The Branch is also operating near capacity and during rush hour has overcrowding issues so an upgrade is needed. It will be the smallest of the 3 with the Danbury Branch being the largest. They all have large redevelopments hinging on the upgrade of the line.
Of course not all these trains will go to Grand Central due to Capacity issues and Ridership not warranting it on 30 minute basis but there will be 1-2hr through trains. Danbury Service will shuttle from Stamford to Danbury and New Milford , every 30-45mins. Waterbury Service will terminate at the restored Devon station in Milford , with Rush Hour service to New Haven Upgraded Waterbury Service will be every 30-60minutes bi-directional.
As for Speeding up the segment between Stamford and GCT , I mean't 35mins....not 25mins. There are some unfinished speed upgrades on the NY and CT side along with wire replacement and an Interchange upgrade which will knock off 10-15mins... The New York improvements are underway as we speak...although the Interchange in New Rochelle which causes a slow down is not.
Driving is down and Transit is up , but not everyone will stop driving....and thats fine. Making it easier for those of us who choose not to drive and the growing amount who can't drive due to age or a disability improves quality of life and opens up new areas for people to live which adds to the local economy in a very positive way. People are still going to drive for errands , however if you make a town walkable enough they will walk or bike to do errands depending on how compact or centralized the town is and most New England towns and cities are centralized. These Branch Upgrades target the long distance commuters which clog up the roads and highways , while traffic won't be completely eliminated it will be reduced....if theres 10-20,000 cars driving down from the Branch towns to the Main lines then these upgrades will have reduce congestion by half. These upgrades will target people commuting to Stamford , Grand Central , Norwalk , Bridgeport , New Haven and other Main line destinations and each year that commuter class grows. Putting a strain on the system... Theres also a growing reverse commuting trend.
When did West Hartford get a mall? Actually, it looks like they've moved the address for Westfarms to West Hartford, but all local taxes go to Farmington. Interesting.
West Farms has always been partially in West Hartford. The town line runs through the middle of it. Part of the mall is in West Hartford, part of it is in Farmington. Not all of the taxes go to Farmington. West Hartford gets some too. Always has. Jay
Although I don't think downtown Danbury is that bad, especially when compared to places like Ansonia or Derby.
I agree that Danbury's downtown isn't that bad. It's certainly busy and has some decent businesses around. I also don't think Ansonia's downtown is too bad. It's not upscale but it has a few good restaurants and stores around.
Derby's downtown needs to be flattened and turned into a commuter parking lot. It's awful and beyond saving IMO.
Wow. Whats so bad about it? I've never seen Derby or even met a person from Derby before.
It is rundown and very unattractive. I would even go so far to say I wouldn't walk around there at night because of how sketchy it can be. It is probably the worst downtown in the state IMO. It also puts Shelton at a disadvantage, because it's just over the bridge from Shelton's downtown - which developers have been doing a good job reviving in recent years.
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Originally Posted by Stylo
I honestly don't find it much better than Derby...
Oh come on now. Derby's downtown is crumbling - literally - and there are crime ridden neighborhoods surrounding it. That's not how Danbury's downtown is at all.
I appreciate your post Stylo, I lived in Danbury from 1972 to 1988 and visited most recently in 2007. As expected I saw the elimination of many independant stores and the opening of the usual chains. Main Street was pretty lame in 1988 and worse in 2007. They even built an oppressive thruway from around Franklin St towards Federal Rd (roughly). An awful monument to concrete and car travel.
I went to the once great Candlewood Lake and found it to still be pretty, but it seemed oddly sleepy. Maybe no one can afford boats on it anymore? And they built some forgetable condos where a marina used to be, they seemed empty. The Town Park (once Danbury's public beach) appeared to be gone although this was May, not yet summer.
I drove up Clapboard Ridge past the High School and up in the neighborhoods that lead to Brewster, NY. Things seemed fine, less change in the residential areas but seemingly a bit depressed, like incomes have fallen. I suspect there aren't many big corporate employers there anymore (chain stores and restaurants don't count).
Maybe I'll just blame the whole decline on the Danbury Mall. That space used to be for a terrific State Fair including a race track for saturday night stock car races. But they stripped out all that culture and replaced it with a mall by about 1985.
I also tried to imagine where teenagers and young adults could hang out nowadays. Besides the mall, I guess they just hang out in the rec-room at home (with some decent drugs if they are lucky). Alas, this is what consumerist, suburban modern America is like.
It is rundown and very unattractive. I would even go so far to say I wouldn't walk around there at night because of how sketchy it can be. It is probably the worst downtown in the state IMO. It also puts Shelton at a disadvantage, because it's just over the bridge from Shelton's downtown - which developers have been doing a good job reviving in recent years.
Oh come on now. Derby's downtown is crumbling - literally - and there are crime ridden neighborhoods surrounding it. That's not how Danbury's downtown is at all.
Did'nt Derby knock down much of its downtown? I know that they have these grand plans for redevelopment but honestly I think they should have worked with what they had. Those buildings had some charm and just needed to be rehabbed. They could have looked much better than the Home Depot that was built there 15 years ago. Talk about bad planning in an urban area. Jay
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