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Old 07-23-2015, 01:52 PM
 
2,152 posts, read 3,383,179 times
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Willimantic Brewery is a Gem, whenever im around the area or visiting Uconn i stop off there. Really great beer and food
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Old 07-23-2015, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
5,104 posts, read 4,780,306 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quiettimect View Post
I'm not sure anything can be done insofar as poverty and drug addiction in town. Willimantic is a regional center for halfway houses, has a methadone clinic, a soup kitchen, no-freeze shelters, sympathetic places of worship and most importantly a kind, tolerant population.

I remember back in the late 80's two guys, I think Mark Svetz and Tony Clark, ran a needle exchange program to stem the tide of AIDS ................... The State told them to shut down or be arrested, they choose to be arrested. No matter how you feel about their actions you have to admire their "walking the walk". I brought this up because while this was all going on I would see Tony Clark eating breakfast with the prosecutor like old friends. That is Willimantic.

As I said earlier the town is not for everyone, but it is not as portrayed.
Like I said before drug addicts don't garner a lot of sympathy. Stray cats get better treatment.
The fact that needle exchange programs were illegal is a great illustration of that. (altho I think needle exchange is now legal in CT)

One needle at best costs 5 cents, yet society would rather see a druggie get a terminal illness and die instead. And we haven't even considered the medical costs a person with HIV/AIDS will receive BEFORE he dies. I don't know that cost, but it's greater than zero and its certainly greater than whatever needles would have cost.

There's no easy solutions and whatever could work in Willimantic could be applied to other cities as well. For now drug addicts just keep dying off and cycling in and out of prison(s) and to date that is the way society has chosen to deal with them. It has the added benefit of being out of sight out of mind.

After all, how many regular people ever visit a prison? Most of society doesn't have a clue what prison is like and how it operates. Perhaps if they did societies attitude would change.
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Old 07-23-2015, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,636 posts, read 56,391,795 times
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I remember back right after the 60 Minutes story one of the radio stations ran a contest to help improve Willimantic's image. Someone came up with the slogan "Romantic Willimantic". It sticks in my head to this day. Jay
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Old 07-23-2015, 04:43 PM
 
Location: New Canaan, CT
854 posts, read 1,231,141 times
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who is this woman named Willa Mantic?
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Old 07-23-2015, 08:44 PM
 
47 posts, read 41,396 times
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I heard of some place called abracadabra.
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Old 07-23-2015, 08:55 PM
 
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It has some really pretty spots, especially if you like old Victorians. My husband grew up in Willimantic; I grew up in a rural town not all that far away. He had a much more well-rounded experience in terms of seeing people from all walks of life and with different ethnic backgrounds; my experience was homogenous. His mother's house has been robbed once. There have been two robberies in the past year on the very quiet country road I grew up on, so really, the drug problem is everywhere.

It's a fairly convenient place to live if you work at UConn or in Hartford. I can't speak about the school system; the scores overall for the town skew low, but children of my husband's friends have been admitted to some very top-tier colleges.

There are some decent restaurants, there's a great shoe repair guy and plenty of grocery stores. It has all the conveniences.
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Old 11-30-2015, 03:34 PM
 
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Used to work in Hartford area and drive home to Bristol, RI. Stopped into Willimantic along the way. Simply the best food co-op between work (central CT) and home (RI). Cute and picturesque town, too. Also, my car died in willimantic one day and had a great experience with the auto repair shop right before they declared it dead beyond dead and took my car to the junk yard, where it sits even now. A beautiful car in mint condition, save the ruined engine. Why is it that the towns I am naturally attracted to are the heroin capitals of the world/nation/state/county?
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