[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by Leilani Vasquez

Apartments like the northend gateway are great ways to try to revitalize the city. They're being referred to as "mixed use" housing with a combination of affordable and market rate apartments. There's a similar project that went up in the southend, and other housing developments have gone underway in the past several years that have replaced the low-income housing projects.

Did the northend gateway apartments replace the old SANS (sp) projects?

Areas of Blue Hills Avenue have some beautiful homes. There are still people that take a lot of pride in their property.

I don't think the Gateway replaced the PJs. I know the Stowe Village projects on Kensington got knocked down and replaced with mixed-income housing, which also happened with Dutch Point. But I think this is different. I've actually heard ads for this on the radio, I wanted to see pics of it online. It does look nice and it does dispel the myth that there hasn't been any progress here, but the nabe overall is rough.

I'm all for mixed-use developments, but there's still a long way to go to confirm whether or not these will be successful in the long run. If those who left the slums take their inner-city values with them (as they sometimes do), then these new housing complexes will also fall apart. Unfortunately, this has happened in other places like in some parts of the Bronx, so that could happen here. There's been new housing in the North End on Bellevue and Belden streets but even here there was a shooting on oneof these streets recently. But if people are willing to take care of their homes (which even the poorest of the poor can do), then the area can stabilize a bit.

So it's been both good and bad. Structurally the new houses are better and those who live here don't live in squalor any longer, but that's still no guarantee that there won't be violence or other social ills.

Agreed that Blue Hills does have some beautiful homes. But if you ever wanted to see them, it would help to know this area a little bit, because it's still hit or miss - some really nice, well-kept areas that most people don't even know about, but not far away from these you've got Bowles Park (which really needs to be replaced) and Keney Park - which has had SERIOUS problems with crime and is rightfully regarded as a dangerous place. Unfortunately I don't know what streets these nice houses are on, I wish I did because I'd like to see them for myself.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by ctownplayer

i lived on bellvue and i live far below the poverty line but i left yesterday for danbury and i now live there.

Best wishes to you there. I have a friend inthe service who lives there now. I don't know the city well but I do know that it's very safe, you shouldn't have any issues there. Kudos to you if you can afford it, because it's not cheap.

[STRAP]

Originally Posted by cool_mommy

i won't comment on the cities you have mentioned because the population in such areas is 5 to 10 times greater than that of hartford. Instead i found some info on the fbi's web site i felt was comparable to that of hartford:

fbi uniform crime reports from 2007
cities with population rates similar to hartford, ct. The first number is population, followed by violent crimes and murder rates.

hartford, ct 124,203 – 769 – 14

burbank, ca - 105,046 – 140 – 1
irvine, ca - 188,535 – 71 – 3
pasadena, ca - 145,025 – 364 – 5
pueblo, co - 105,452 – 356 – 1
clearwater, fl - 110,520 - 452 – 4
hollywood, fl - 148,085 – 416 – 10
cedar rapids, ia – 123,773 – 246 – 2
topeka, ks – 122,807 – 378 – 5
lowell, ma – 103,729 – 517 -2
springfield, ma – 152,644 – 963 – 11
manchester, nh – 110,106 – 132 – 3
elizabeth, nj – 125,905 – 489 – 7
syracuse, ny – 142,062 – 676 – 9
fayetteville, nc – 132,521 – 610 -8
eugene, or – 146,885 – 219 – 1
providence, ri – 175,452 – 438 – 5
abilene, tx – 118,009 – 270 – 3
waco, tx – 123,879 – 529 – 3
provo, ut – 117,156 – 67 – 0
alexandria, va – 136,686 – 164 – 5
green bay, wi – 101,574 – 295 - 0

im from syracuse ny. To me hartford is overated when it comes to murders. I have chilled many summers in hartford an its average 2 me. Syracuse does not beggin to have as many hispanics but the streets are similiar in murder rates. This past year we had 25 murders. Not anything to brag about but the real population is around 140 thousand. An syracuse has a lot more whites when it comes to ratio then hartford. Listen stop actin like hartford is horrible. Yea its bad considering that its in conn. The richest state. The way yall acting is crazy. Conn is not bad like that people. Relax

[Leilani Vasquez]

You're not going to get murdered in Hartford just by walking down the street. Most of the murders that have happened are all isolated instances.