[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

What does any of this have to do with Aetna leaving Hartford?

In case you missed it, I was replying to hvexpatinct's comment on Hartford and those contending that Hartford does not offer much which is why Aetna is considering moving its corporate headquarters. hvexpatinct said that Hartford is not the best for foodies and that there are only two restaurants they take out-of-towners to. I was pointing out a number of other restaurants in Hartford that they could go to, many of them quite good and interesting. Jay

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by hvexpatinct

I work in Hartford and have spent time in RTP. Not the same at all. Not even close.

I suggest you drive down Farmington in Hartford & West Hartford then if you think there's no good restaurants in Hartford county. There's at least 100 restaurants on this stretch and except for some fast food places none of them are chain restaurants.

As for hiking you have West Hartford reservoir and Hueblin tower for starters. There's also the "charter oak greenway" bicycle trail which starts/ends in Hartford & Bolton.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

In case you missed it, I was replying to hvexpatinct's comment on Hartford and those contending that Hartford does not offer much which is why Aetna is considering moving its corporate headquarters. hvexpatinct said that Hartford is not the best for foodies and that there are only two restaurants they take out-of-towners to. I was pointing out a number of other restaurants in Hartford that they could go to, many of them quite good and interesting. Jay

Aren't both comments completely off topic to the original post?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Aren't both comments completely off topic to the original post?

No, not sure why you think so. The discussion is on reasons why Aetna is considering moving out of Hartford. It is related, certainly more so than other discussions on this forum. Jay

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

What does any of this have to do with Aetna leaving Hartford?

The food scene certainly is on-topic for why large corporations depart. Aetna is pretty much a fortress. You commute in at 8am and flee promptly at 5pm. If you walk north from that complex, you're in the hood. It's not like you're going to take a leisurely noon stroll up Sigourney Street for a quick lunch at a sidewalk cafe with that certain je ne sais quois ambiance.

If I'm a young high skill professional white collar worker, why would I ever pick that complex?

[JayCT]

Though Aetna is considering moving its corporate headquarters out of Hartford, they are still investing in their employees here. They just opened Mindfulness Center in Hartford. Looks pretty interesting. Jay

Aetna commits to 'mindful' workplace with new Hartford center | HartfordBusiness.com

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The food scene certainly is on-topic for why large corporations depart. Aetna is pretty much a fortress. You commute in at 8am and flee promptly at 5pm. If you walk north from that complex, you're in the hood. It's not like you're going to take a leisurely noon stroll up Sigourney Street for a quick lunch at a sidewalk cafe with that certain je ne sais quois ambiance.

If I'm a young high skill professional white collar worker, why would I ever pick that complex?

I completely agree with this. It's just far enough away from the eateries further east on Asylum, and Bushnell Park, to deter that kind of lunchtime strolling. There's practically nothing worth walking to, in the immediate neighborhood, and you're right if you go in the wrong direction, it ain't good.

Same thing with The Hartford, by the way. Hopefully those guys have a good cafeteria!

[hvexpatinct]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

I suggest you drive down Farmington in Hartford & West Hartford then if you think there's no good restaurants in Hartford county. There's at least 100 restaurants on this stretch and except for some fast food places none of them are chain restaurants.

As for hiking you have West Hartford reservoir and Hueblin tower for starters. There's also the "charter oak greenway" bicycle trail which starts/ends in Hartford & Bolton.

If I could walk to the Heublein Tower or WH reservoir from Columbus Ave or Asylum, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm familiar with nearly every restaurant around Blue Back and WH Center. See above re: walkability but also the accessibility of that area just stinks. If I have been fighting traffic to get out of downtown the last thing I want to do is slog up Farmington or fight the poor traffic patterns from exit 43 onto Trout Brook. Specific to Aetna, a whole lot of their employees park in that Capitol Ave lot underneath 84 - nothing like driving past active drug deals to get to happy hour.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by hvexpatinct

If I could walk to the Heublein Tower or WH reservoir from Columbus Ave or Asylum, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm familiar with nearly every restaurant around Blue Back and WH Center. See above re: walkability but also the accessibility of that area just stinks. If I have been fighting traffic to get out of downtown the last thing I want to do is slog up Farmington or fight the poor traffic patterns from exit 43 onto Trout Brook. Specific to Aetna, a whole lot of their employees park in that Capitol Ave lot underneath 84 - nothing like driving past active drug deals to get to happy hour.

The sketchy people milling around on Farmington and Asylum in front of Aetna during business hours also detracts from walkability. On weekends, the sidewalks are empty.

I'm trying to figure out how to bicycle in the area without getting killed. It's not much of a ride to the reservoirs but I'd prefer to not get run down like a dog.

We're also trying to figure out which WH Center restaurants are the real thing and which are expensive, faux trendy paper mache versions of a good restaurant. It's almost like being in a resort town where they can get top dollar no matter what kind of food and service quality they have.

[BobNJ1960]

https://www.cbia.com/news/inside-the...olicy-choices/

Good column.