[JayCT]

Front Street is suppose to have the much needed retail and housing elements that are missing from the original plan. You are correct that the city and state did not do all they needed to in order to get this project moving. Hopefully it will get done but with the economy tanking and the housing problems, it is questionable whether it will get built anytime soon.

As for Blue Back Square, that is a very unusual project since it involved a redevelopment of under-developed property near a very vibrant and upscale shopping district that already had a proven track record. Even though there was town involvement in the project, it was a private developer dirven project that did not start from nowhere like Front Street has. And the Broadway/Chapel Street area is pretty much all owned by Yale and serves as an extenision of that university.

netdragon - The improvement of Park Street and Farmingotn Avenue is already happening. It wasn't that long ago that you could not even walk on Park Street but that is changing. Mayor Perez is pushing this strongly. He does though need to work harder on improving Farmington Avenue. Unfortunately I do not think he is the best person to push Hartford in the right direction quickly. JMHO Jay

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by JayCT

netdragon - The improvement of Park Street and Farmingotn Avenue is already happening. It wasn't that long ago that you could not even walk on Park Street but that is changing. Mayor Perez is pushing this strongly. He does though need to work harder on improving Farmington Avenue. Unfortunately I do not think he is the best person to push Hartford in the right direction quickly. JMHO Jay

I walked down Park Street in the 90s and I actually think it has a lot of potential underneath the rough edges. It actually probably has the most potential of all of Hartford to be a real diverse neighborhood like people in other cities expect. I hope they left most of the historical buildings down Park Street in-tact. Please say they didn't tear too many down.

Originally Posted by JViello

Let Hartford rot, let Glastonbury shine. Not my problem, I don't live there.

Having grown up in Glastonbury and lived there until 2000 or so, I can say there's a LOT wrong with Glastonbury and every other suburban town around Hartford. In Glastonbury, taxes are very high because the town wasn't proactive enough in purchasing land to curb development and too many families moved in, overcrowding schools. Glastonbury also has a largely underdeveloped center. If the town had good leadership, they could take advantage of the land value to make the center of town much more dense and a walkable community, offsetting tax costs. Additionally, for teenagers Glastonbury is very boring. Additionally, Glastonbury hasn't done enough to encourage growth of the shopping villages outside the center (Buckingham, etc). In metro areas like Atlanta, Glastonbury would be frowned upon by people who would view it as "too suburban" and it would be passed up for other areas by many people.

[JayCT]

netdragon - You have an interesting perspective on Glastonbury, but one that I doubt most people who would want to move to Glastonbury would share. I would guess from your post that you are a young single who does not have children. If you did you would have seen the reasons that Glastonbury is so desirable for families to live in.

Also your comments on Atlanta are way off. Most of Atalnta's most desirable family areas are suburban in character, just like Glastonbury. Only thing is that they lack the character and history that we have here. In fact Atlanta's suburbs can be characterized basically as sprawl.

As for Glastonbury being boring, speaking as a parent, I can tell you that boring is good. That means that there is not a lot of places for teens to get in trouble. Some day I think you will begin to appreciate your life in Glastonbury. You will realize that you were raised in a nice safe community and given an excellent education that prepared you to go out into the world and make a good living. That is basically what most caring parents want for their children.

Finally you should know that Glastonbury's downtown is developing a more walkable feel. The new Eriktown development on Hebron Avenue is just being completed and one of the new restaurants there, Sauce, just got a RAVE review in the Courant. It is actually mobbed most nights. Other restaurants are planned as well including a rooftop restaurant with a terrace that has great views of the Connecticut River Valley. Fox Run Mall is recieving a makeover with Whole Foods taking over for Shaws as the anchor. This will be a welcome addition to the town center. And you should know that the towns new Plan for Devleopment has called for increased density of development in the center of town by reducing parking ratios to allow for larger denser development. Personally I like being able to park near where I want to go so I hope that it doesn't become too dense. Parking and then having to walk blocks can be difficult when they weather is bad or when you have small children. Best wishes to you, Jay

[skytrekker]

JayCT

I totally agree with you, I have seen several Atlanta residents on CD looking for A quick exit out of the metro area, their intended new homes; Maine, the Boston area, New Hampshire, Western Mass and CT- seems Atlanta lives up to the descriptions you described; Endless characterless cookie cutter sprawl. Plus I may add; horrible traffic, and a metro wide region of high crime, and schools that under preform.

[JayCT]

Metro Atlanta is also one of the most polluted cities in our country with massive traffic problems and does not have a sufficent drinking water supply to support itself even for just the near future. It is a recipe for diaster. JMHO Jay

[JiminCT]

Atlanta's idea of high culture is the Museum of Coca-Cola.;D

[Boomerang]

My grandmother used to dress up with her best hat, shoes, and gloves to go shopping at G. Fox, when Hartford and Bloomfield were showplaces. It went from that to a place where you hardly dared walk alone in daytime. I haven't been back in years - went to the fabulous Wadsworth Atheneum again the last time. Hartford needs to attract upscale businesses, entertainment, offer safe parking/walking districts, and really pay attention to appearances.
Geez, Hartford had it all: pretty areas, beautiful old houses, a river, a railway station, central location --- whatever happened, I hope it's never too late to turn it around again.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by JayCT

netdragon - You have an interesting perspective on Glastonbury, but one that I doubt most people who would want to move to Glastonbury would share. I would guess from your post that you are a young single who does not have children. If you did you would have seen the reasons that Glastonbury is so desirable for families to live in.

Young, not single and we have a small baby but she isn't in school yet. I moved to an inner metro city that's more like West Hartford and has much higher land value than Glastonbury, yet worse schools (which will change with the kind of money being pumped into them). However, there are even now elements that make this a MUCH better place for our daughter because it is diverse, is a walkable and livable community, and has real culture and entertainment.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Also your comments on Atlanta are way off. Most of Atlanta's most desirable family areas are suburban in character, just like Glastonbury.

Well, not really... The most desirable family areas are city-like and more like West Hartford than Glastonbury. Unfortunately, most people can't afford half a million dollars for a home or townhome on a quarter acre or less in inner-metro areas that also have great schools (e.g. Buckhead), so many families have to settle for areas that are more like Glastonbury out of necessity, which is mostly in the outer ring of suburbs, or like me they pick areas that are more liveable/walkeable don't have as good schools, and consider the possibility they may need to send their children to private schools if the schools don't improve quickly enough.

Additionally, unlike metro Hartford, the most desirable and expensive areas are urban in character and that runs in stark contrast to metro Hartford in which the most expensive areas are towns like Glastonbury with West Hartford being the only exception and being more like what you find in metro Atlanta. Additionally, most of the development is in the inner metro right now. The city I moved to has recently been almost completely rebuilt with denser housing and as a more liveable community for the 3rd time in the last 50 years. Nothing like that ever happens in Metro Hartford and you more often see denser areas being torn down to make them less dense.

Originally Posted by JayCT

As for Glastonbury being boring, speaking as a parent, I can tell you that boring is good. That means that there is not a lot of places for teens to get in trouble.

Bored teens tend to make more trouble and I wouldn't confuse the ability of parents in Glastonbury to work sane hours and be there more for their kids because they can afford it with the structure of the town being such that it is better for teenagers. Historically, Glastonbury had a HUGE issue with teen delinquency back 20 years ago. There were movements like the coffee shop, turning Academy school into a youth center and youth officers to help curb delinquency because unfortunately there was nothing much for them to do but cause trouble or drive out of town in order to do something fun and if they didn't have a car, cause trouble for the teenagers that aren't into sports or studying. Glastonbury doesn't even have a cinema and you have to go to East Hartford or Manchester. Many teenagers in Glastonbury are out on weekends doing pot, drinking, partying, vandalizing and causing trouble in other ways. If they have cars, many are not even hanging out in Glastonbury most of the time. There's plenty of that and you just don't know because everyone keeps up appearances. That's how suburbia is.

I'd say that Glastonbury is a lot better for kids than teens, and aside from education towns like Manchester are better for teenagers.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Some day I think you will begin to appreciate your life in Glastonbury. You will realize that you were raised in a nice safe community and given an excellent education that prepared you to go out into the world and make a good living.

I will agree on the education part. On the downside, the level of life education teenagers get in Glastonbury leaves a little to be desired, just like in all suburbs. Since most former Glastonbury residents are going to have to move in with their parents if they want to stay in Glastonbury after college, they are usually going to have to go out and live in the real world, which may not be suburbia. The only apartments near my university off-campus (I hated dorms) were in rather scary areas (at least from the perspective of someone living in Glastonbury) and I learned there is life outside of suburbia.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Finally you should know that Glastonbury's downtown is developing a more walkable feel. The new Eriktown development...

I visited my Dad in early 2007 and didn't see much of a change, at least from the perspective of walkability/liveability or mixed communities, which really means that you can live there and run errands or go to entertainment without having to get in a car and strip malls are the antithesis of a liveable community (unless they are strip malls with condos :-) ). I'm curious about Eriktown. Does anyone have pictures?

Originally Posted by JayCT

And you should know that the towns new Plan for Devleopment has called for increased density of development in the center of town by reducing parking ratios to allow for larger denser development.

That's promising. That's called "smart growth" in Atlanta and has been very popular here for almost a decade after decades of sprawl became out of control. In the inner metro, you'll find parking under malls instead of around it, former one-story stripmalls being double-decked. Parking on TOP of Grocery stores (yes, things like that were a shock for me coming from Glastonbury), etc. The other side of making an area liveable/walkeable is mixing in residential with shopping.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Parking and then having to walk blocks can be difficult when they weather is bad or when you have small children.

People usually walk out with the children to go on the errands and maybe stop at a park or something if they need time to run around. I can understand how cold weather could take some fun out of it, which is not as much of an issue here.

[JayCT]

WOW Netdragon - What a reply! All I can say is, you have your opinion and I have mine. You chose to live in a more urban environment which is fine but much of Atlanta's growth is and has been going on in its immense sprawling suburbs. Yes like most cities, inner areas are being rebuilt and this is happening here as well. Look at what is going on in cities like Bridgeport and Stamford. Their downtowns are being transformed. Even downtown Hartford is seeing a building boom.

As for your comments on bored teens, parents can neglect their kids just as easily in an urban area as a suburban area. The difference is that in an urban area the teen can walk to a place to get in trouble. Being a little removed from it isn't that bad of an idea. Not all parents in Glastonbury neglect their teens, just like not all people in urban areas are involved with them either.

As for the walkability of Glastonbury, you should look a little closer. There are a number of homes and apartments in the center that are walkable to shops and restaurants. They have been there for years. Just because the density isn't like an urban area doesn't mean it does not exist.

As for smart-growth, I know a lot about this and it really is a movement in other pqarts of the country to create what much of New England already has including towns like Glastonbury. I have been to seminars on this and they always refer to the typical New England village which is what Glastonbury is. Jay

[bstnguy]

The convention center is a flop. Who wants to fly to Hartford for a convention...no one. Northeast cities (with exception of NYC) are not good for conventions. People like warm weather...I know...I have conventions in AZ, FL, CA, NV every year.