[Zambon]

Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo

UCONN started out as an agricultural school, so Storrs was the perfect place for it.

I know. That is why I don't think Uconn, Storrs should have been turned into the main campus. I think they should have built the main campus in Hartford, and they should have used storrs as an agricultural branch like how Avery point is a marine biology branch. If Uconn had put the main campus and medical center in the capital, Hartford would have:

Uconn main campus
Uconn law school
Uconn medical center
UHart
Trinity

[FunkOdyssey]

Originally Posted by Forestville native

The solutions are simple! And for this issue, it's not more public transportation! Society needs to be restructured ever so slightly and it will function much better!

LOL, you're on your own with that one (I recommend you hide someplace safe). While that would technically reduce traffic, I didn't shack up with a soon-to-be-nurse just to keep her in the kitchen. She needs to be out there making money to finance my lifestyle!

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by soursop

I know. That is why I don't think Uconn, Storrs should have been turned into the main campus. I think they should have built the main campus in Hartford, and they should have used storrs as an agricultural branch like how Avery point is a marine biology branch. If Uconn had put the main campus and medical center in the capital, Hartford would have:

Uconn main campus
Uconn law school
Uconn medical center
UHart
Trinity

You are speaking as if this decision was made last week-- UCONN was established in Storrs in 1881. I don't think they were giving lots of aforethought to economic development to occur 140 years later.

The main campus of UCONN as it currently stands ecompasses dozens and dozens of buildings and a daytime population of nearly 50,000 people. Do you think they could put it next to the new baseball stadium?

[BicoastalAnn]

Originally Posted by BPt111

People from Hartford suburbs won't claim Hartford it different story NYC metro area everyone is obsess with NYC. A person born and raised in Stamford will claim they from Manhattan etc.

Really? I feel like someone in Stamford might say they're in Fairfield County, no? I think people in Westchester are like this at least... the county has its own upper class cache.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by BPt111

A person born and raised in Stamford will claim they from Manhattan etc.

Complete BS! nobody does that

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by soursop

I agree with your observations about CT in general. As for Hartford in particular, in my opinion, some of the things that doomed Hartford were:

1) Uconn locating its main campus in Storrs instead of Hartford. Had it been in Hartford, that many nice, young people would have really boosted the city and made it a college town. I know Hartford has UHart and Trinity, but those are smaller private schools that have basically walled themselves off. Uconn is the main state university. Even Uconn medical center was put in Farmington instead of right in Hartford. Some developers made lots of money at the expense of Hartford it seems.

2) I84 bisected the city, and I95 took over almost the entire water front. The highways really fractured the city and took away prime real estate. The most important asset to a city is usually its water front. Adrian's landing just doesn't cut it.

3)Constitution Plaza bulldozed the old Italian/Irish neighborhood that used to be there. Now it only seems to attract people when they light the Christmas lights. Neighborhoods with character are another one of the biggest attractions to young people.

4) Winter weather. Some cities have thrived in cold climates, but that is because they were well planned. Hartford seems to have been planned with only May to September in mind.

5)Lack of links to the surrounding suburbs. People who live in Manhattan Beach, CA might say, "I live in LA", and people who live in Clearwater, FL might say "I live in Tampa Bay", but no one who lives in Newington would ever say "I live in Hartford". Non-bus public transportation might go a long way towards integrating the area with its urban center.

Unless Hartford comes up with some creative solutions to make it a more attractive place to be, it will probably continue to lose out to other larger, more innovative cities.

First of all as was noted, UConn started out as an agricultural school so it makes complete sense that it is located in Storrs. Other states have their state universities in small towns as well including UMass, URI, UNH and University of Maine. Heck even the University of Vermont is located on the very edge of the small city of Burlington. Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey is located in New Brunswick which is not a city. Penn State is in State College PA another small town. So to think that UConn should have been in Hartford is kind of off the mark with where most state universities main campuses are located.

I-95 does not go through Hartford so I am assuming you are referring to I-91 in your second comment. Back when what is now I-91 was built more than 65 years ago, the riverfront was abandoned and no one went near it. The river was not considered an amenity that it is today. It was dirty and rundown and did not have any appeal so like MANY cities, states and cities built highways along it and walled it off from a city the NEVER thought anyone would want to go near it. Hartford and its Riverfront Recapture has done a wonderful job opening up the Connecticut River to the public. There are plazas and trails in and around the highway and it is all well connected to the city itself at the Founders Bridge and at Charter Oak Landing to the south and Riverside Park to the north.

The neighborhood where Constitution Plaza stands was called Front Street and it was a slum, PERIOD. People today seem to think it was something that had charm and character and that the "evil" city leaders had some kind of plot against the immigrant neighborhood. The truth is the area was an embarrassment to the rest of the city. The homes were old, rundown tenements that lacked basic amenities like running hot water, bathrooms and heat. Most of the buildings had vermin issues and the people that lived there were of what was questionable backgrounds at the time. Also note that had the city not redeveloped the area into what was then (and still is IMHO) the stunning and world renowned Constitution Plaza, many of the major companies that were there and are still there would have left Hartford for the suburbs. Constitution Plaza was and still is a premiere address for businesses and will now be for residents of the converted hotel there and for students attending the planned Trinity College campus there.

I won't even begin to address your comment on climate because all I can say is if you do not like the winter, MOVE. You cannot change the climate of ANY city so why even complain about it.

The reason that Hartford's suburbs do not have a better connection to the city itself has more to do with history than anything else. Hartford itself is a small city surrounded by a number of small fiercely independent towns that have LONG and well regarded histories of their own. Many were founded long before Hartford even existed. They like the fact that they are separate and are proud of their own history. Not many other cities in this country can say that. Most of are surrounded by unincorporated areas that were swallowed up by the city as it grew. Not the case here.

As for your comments on mass transit here, Hartford is served by a very extensive bus network operated by CT Transit. In fact Hartford has one of the highest rates of mass transit usage in the country. The reason there is no form of non bus mass transit here is that the city is just not big enough to support it. Rail mass transit is VERY expensive and there just are not enough riders going from one point to another to support this type of transit. Believe it or not, back in the 60's the state had plans to construct a monorail system connecting downtown Hartford to Bradley Airport. The first leg of that system was actually constructed but in the 70's then Governor Ella Grasso, the cheapest and most shortsighted Governor in our history, canceled the funding to run the already built first leg. Eventually that monorail was dismantled at a cost that was likely a lot more than the state saved by not running it. The city will however begin to have rail transit once train service begins on the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line next year. If that service proves popular it will likely be expanded and who knows if someday there will be trains running in all directions from the city. Jay

[WouldLoveTo]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

The main campus of UCONN as it currently stands ecompasses dozens and dozens of buildings and a daytime population of nearly 50,000 people. Do you think they could put it next to the new baseball stadium?

Maybe it should be in PLACE of the new stadium!

[Forestville native]

Originally Posted by FunkOdyssey

LOL, you're on your own with that one (I recommend you hide someplace safe). While that would technically reduce traffic, I didn't shack up with a soon-to-be-nurse just to keep her in the kitchen. She needs to be out there making money to finance my lifestyle!

^^And that's the foolish "logic" of a lot of people these days.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree. Most of the drop has to do with the retiring baby boomers who kept their jobs longer than normal because of the recession. I believe much of the drop in job salaries many are talking about is related to that as well. Major companies took full advantage of the recession to lower pay for their employees which is kind of nasty IMHO. Again, not the end of the world. Jay

No Jay that can't be correct, as Harford never made worst 10 before. People were retiring in prior years, too.


I find the drop a curious thing, as I am perplexed by why Hartford ranks worst in Ct.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by Forestville native

^^And that's the foolish "logic" of a lot of people these days.

are you implying that women shouldn't work because it creates more traffic? lol. What kind of middle east logic is that? Lets ignore the fact that our economy would collapse if we removed the female labor market from the equation, are you saying CT traffic is the reason Hartford sucks and there's economic and population decline?

It sounds so absurd as I type that I'm probably going to be called an idiot and corrected by you or a better reader...I hope...