[Matrix2791]

I wonder what the office space vacancy rate would of been like had all those proposed towers been built in the 80s?

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You are obviously referring to the North End which is the worst part of the city. There is a reason those units are empty and it has nothing to do with demand. Hartford has a 3.5% vacancy rate which is insane. Anything below 5% is considered full-occupancy. Jay

Actually, except the West End (and a few buildings downtown), rest of Hartford is not desirable. NorthEnd is just the worst.

Schools are also bad, in comparison, so is crime, blight, etc. You cross over to Wethersfield for example, and it is as if someone just drew a line on the ground.

Hartford's "element" has also spilled over to West Hartford. I lived on the South End, probably was consider a gentrifier, but lost and moved on to greener pastures.

Still visit the area frequently, friends, family, restaurants, etc, and Hartford does not seem to have done much progress, except isolated mega-buildings downtown.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Actually, except the West End (and a few buildings downtown), rest of Hartford is not desirable. NorthEnd is just the worst.

Schools are also bad, in comparison, so is crime, blight, etc. You cross over to Wethersfield for example, and it is as if someone just drew a line on the ground.

Hartford's "element" has also spilled over to West Hartford. I lived on the South End, probably was consider a gentrifier, but lost and moved on to greener pastures.

Still visit the area frequently, friends, family, restaurants, etc, and Hartford does not seem to have done much progress, except isolated mega-buildings downtown.

It battlefield north of I-84

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Actually, except the West End (and a few buildings downtown), rest of Hartford is not desirable. NorthEnd is just the worst.

Schools are also bad, in comparison, so is crime, blight, etc. You cross over to Wethersfield for example, and it is as if someone just drew a line on the ground.

Hartford's "element" has also spilled over to West Hartford. I lived on the South End, probably was consider a gentrifier, but lost and moved on to greener pastures.

Still visit the area frequently, friends, family, restaurants, etc, and Hartford does not seem to have done much progress, except isolated mega-buildings downtown.

Huh? Sorry, but I'd like to see proof behind this kind of statement...can be misleading to others who are looking to relocate to the area. WH remains very desirable.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Huh? Sorry, but I'd like to see proof behind this kind of statement...can be misleading to others who are looking to relocate to the area. WH remains very desirable.

Here is a map of crime in West Hartford --

Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

For some strange reason, there is more crime in closer you get to Hartford's border than Avon's. Gee, I wonder why!!!

For locals, like I used to be, the area between Park Rd to Farmington Ave is the shadiest.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Here is a map of crime in West Hartford --

Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

For some strange reason, there is more crime in closer you get to Hartford's border than Avon's. Gee, I wonder why!!!

For locals, like I used to be, the area between Park Rd to Farmington Ave is the shadiest.

Uh... I know people that live in the shadiest area and they have had no issues. I believe that this map only shows the areas which have the higher crime rates in relation to other neighborhoods. Since West Hartford is a very safe town overall, that area would still be safe by normal standards. Since you have to pay to get the actual data, I can't see what they base their findings on so I find it all highly questionable. Jay

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Uh... I know people that live in the shadiest area and they have had no issues. I believe that this map only shows the areas which have the higher crime rates in relation to other neighborhoods. Since West Hartford is a very safe town overall, that area would still be safe by normal standards. Since you have to pay to get the actual data, I can't see what they base their findings on so I find it all highly questionable. Jay

To be sure, I am not knocking West Hartford. I actually think, that maybe except Stamford, West Hartford is the best locale in CT for young professionals to move into.

My point is more on a micro level - that the eastern part of West Hartford, closest to Hartford, gets affected by Hartford's criminal element.

WH police has been trying to get on top of this, and crime in WH has dropped, but it is still there.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Ok. That's it. You are pulling our chain. I ain't no longer biting.

Ha,Getting trolled hard

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

So I take it you were one of those high school C students who had to leave? That's certainly how it works inside the Boston 128 belt. If you got into a good college and landed one of the high wage professional jobs, you stuck around. Otherwise, high housing costs pushed you out of the region. You can't afford non-frightening metro-Boston housing on service sector wages. It's like growing up in Darien and the only place you can afford housing is Bridgeport. All of a sudden, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas start looking attractive.

Close. Grew up in NY. Moved to CT at 24 YOA to wed my then fiancé. Got one of the few stem jobs. Home owner by 25. Promotions. graduate degree (Uconn, not Yale, All A's though). While I'm a scientist in central CT and not a service sector employee in metro Boston, I ALSO do consulting for major international biotech company in FFC. Choose not to live in FFC because it's more expensive and no additional biotech in area. Those cities look attractive because I can read, prognosticate and have no emotional or sentimental baggage to cloud my judgement of CT. You almost nailed it though....

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Uh... I know people that live in the shadiest area and they have had no issues. I believe that this map only shows the areas which have the higher crime rates in relation to other neighborhoods. Since West Hartford is a very safe town overall, that area would still be safe by normal standards. Since you have to pay to get the actual data, I can't see what they base their findings on so I find it all highly questionable. Jay

The map(s) on that website are not relative, but standardized to create an index value and I believe the color gradient is reflective or that index score. It's based on number of different crime stats (from property crimes to homicide). Not sure how algorithm weights and applies these values, but they appear to collect data from individual municipalities so it should be interpretable across many boundaries and scales. Biggest limitation would obviously be difference in definitions and enforcement acrosss municipalities, states etc when interpreting. For example, West Hartford may more actively charge the kids on skateboards with property crime for grinding on the rails of a pharmacy in town, while new haven or Hartford, given their more serious criminal element would likely just tell the same group of kids to "beat it! Scram!" With no documented crime. Thebtypes of data collected actually go down to the neighborhood level, which is interesting.