[EricS39]

Eliminating the towns in and around Hartford and looking ONLY at Hartford (half-mile radius from state house square)?

People I know are coming in from New York City and are looking for something sidestream in downtown Hartford proper (where the tallest buildings are) to hang out and embrace the night life in search of something like New York's Little Italy section, Bleeker Street, Upper West Side Manhattan, Washington Square, Midtown Manhattan feel

Something with a nice vibe. Where in downtown Hartford is this hip happening place say around 9-10pm-ish? ethnic restaurants, dim sum, bakeries, fresh gelato, rare antique book store bars, that sort of thing, outdoor entertainment like guys juggling sticks of fire, electric laser-lit water fountains,
street merchants spray painting portraits on the spot and selling their work, violinists playing music,
Art exhibitions
Tarot readings
Comic book shops
An outdoor mall with locally produced fashion design clothes
Little concert gigs in hole in the wall corner cafés

Perhaps a vintage trolley system or muni cable car that runs between Union Station and Pratt Street, Hebrew national hot dog stands along the way

[LedZep]

Good luck with that, lol.

Ride the Star Shuttle around and pretend it's a vintage trolley. That's the closest you'll get. And it's free!!

[Mr_250]

Tell them to save time and go the New Haven instead. Hartford offers slim to what they would be looking for.

[Mr_250]

[quote]

Originally Posted by EricS39

Something with a nice vibe. Where in downtown Hartford is this hip happening place say around 9-10pm-ish? ethnic restaurants, dim sum, bakeries, fresh gelato, rare antique book store bars, that sort of thing, outdoor entertainment like guys juggling sticks of fire, electric laser-lit water fountains,
street merchants spray painting portraits on the spot and selling their work, violinists playing music,
Art exhibitions
Tarot readings
Comic book shops
An outdoor mall with locally produced fashion design clothes
Little concert gigs in hole in the wall corner cafés

Hartford bars do not get busy until around 11:30p and that is only on Fridays, Saturdays and Thursdays (college nights). Honestly, what you described above does not exist in Hartford unless there is a organized "park day" of some type. Hartford is a come to to work-eat somewhere-go home at 5 city. Night life is not that great and pales in comparison to NYC.

Perhaps a vintage trolley system or muni cable car that runs between Union Station and Pratt Street, Hebrew national hot dog stands along the way

Give it about a year and you can ride the bus from New Britain to Hartford.

[Scott R]

The Walking Dead attraction (sans Walkers).

[the fish]

Originally Posted by Scott R

The Walking Dead attraction (sans Walkers).

no we have the walking heroin addicts and homeless, its just like the show!

[Mike 75]

UConn basketball games are about the only thing that will get me into downtown Hartford.

[JayCT]

Quite frankly you are asking for a lot for a small city. I doubt you will even find this in a large city other than New York. There is no concenration of nightlife in Hartford. There are things spread around downtown. You might suggest visiting City Steam which has a lot of people around it. There are various bars and restaurants around the city as well. Eventually Front Street will have more going on once Infinity Hall opens there but that is not until later this summer. Jay

[LRPct]

Originally Posted by the fish

no we have the walking heroin addicts and homeless, its just like the show!

Not these days. Much more common to see that in Middletown now.

[the fish]

Originally Posted by LRPct

Not these days. Much more common to see that in Middletown now.

ok i work in downtown Hartford every day so i must be seeing things. How often do you go downtown?