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WaterFire, can we bring it to Hartford?


Leo Berman

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CHEESEY!??!?!?

Dear god, if Hartford had something unique or something with as big a turnout as the waterfire gets, everyone would be ranting and raving about it!

Definite jealousy or resentment there!!

The waterfire is great, I was there 2 weeks ago- The turnout was amazing- there was a huge vibe around the whole downtown district. Every restaurant and bar was crammed- There were people of every age group walking around and enjoying an evening with gorgeous weather!

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Even if we wanted to have such an event, I don't think it would work in Hartford. Hartford has the feel of a larger city and the river here is just as big as the city feels (please don't get so defensive Prov. posters, I'm just stating my honest opinion). We've got our boat races, concerts, and fishing derby's down by the river that draw tens of thousands. The waterfire works in Providence because it's more of an intimate city. Add to that the fact that the river there is small and it runs right through downtown. While we enjoy great access to the CT river these days, we still need improvements IMO.

Something like fireworks once a week launched from the river might be a good idea. The problem of course, would be the cost.

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Even if we wanted to have such an event, I don't think it would work in Hartford. Hartford has the feel of a larger city and the river here is just as big as the city feels (please don't get so defensive Prov. posters, I'm just stating my honest opinion). We've got our boat races, concerts, and fishing derby's down by the river that draw tens of thousands. The waterfire works in Providence because it's more of an intimate city. Add to that the fact that the river there is small and it runs right through downtown. While we enjoy great access to the CT river these days, we still need improvements IMO.

Something like fireworks once a week launched from the river might be a good idea. The problem of course, would be the cost.

hartford looks more dense and more populated than it actually is. i don't get that feeling when i'm in hartford, just when i see the skyline.

you are correct though... the CT river is far to large for a waterfire. also, barnaby evans (the artist behind waterfire) has an extremely vague trademark on the event... the wording of which could qualify people having an organized festival around a bowl full of water with candles floating in it as being a waterfire event.

however... isn't there a pond or some sort of water body in bushnell park? maybe use that? it'd be less effective than waterfire though because waterfire gets people downtown in providence as opposed to all in a park.

hartford should do something different.

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hartford looks more dense and more populated than it actually is. i don't get that feeling when i'm in hartford, just when i see the skyline.

you are correct though... the CT river is far to large for a waterfire. also, barnaby evans (the artist behind waterfire) has an extremely vague trademark on the event... the wording of which could qualify people having an organized festival around a bowl full of water with candles floating in it as being a waterfire event.

however... isn't there a pond or some sort of water body in bushnell park? maybe use that? it'd be less effective than waterfire though because waterfire gets people downtown in providence as opposed to all in a park.

hartford should do something different.

We should come up with something, but to me it's no biggie. We have plenty of hugely attended events in Hartford, and also sporting events and other shows bring people Downtown. We should just focus on getting them to live in the neighborhood of Downtown. After we do that, we can let them figure out what kind of festivals etc. they would like to see on a regular basis. Hartford feels more major on any workday and I agree with SOCOM that the intimate feeling found in PVD can't really be duplicated here.

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We should come up with something, but to me it's no biggie. We have plenty of hugely attended events in Hartford, and also sporting events and other shows bring people Downtown. We should just focus on getting them to live in the neighborhood of Downtown. After we do that, we can let them figure out what kind of festivals etc. they would like to see on a regular basis. Hartford feels more major on any workday and I agree with SOCOM that the intimate feeling found in PVD can't really be duplicated here.

if hartford had a smaller river going through downtown, that intimacy would be there. i think that's a big part of it... that the river is small and goes right through downtown providence.

in the next couple years, providence will look and feel a bit more dense with the current buildings that are going up.

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if hartford had a smaller river going through downtown, that intimacy would be there. i think that's a big part of it... that the river is small and goes right through downtown providence.

in the next couple years, providence will look and feel a bit more dense with the current buildings that are going up.

No doubt about that. If things go well here I expect the same of Hartford. More density, more buildings, very soon. We are in the expirimental phase still. Once it works and Downtown gets really hot, we will surely see our fair share new developement. Our skyline is already impressive, if we get a new tallest and few more medium to really tall ones, we will certainly have the best skyline in the U.S. among secondary cities.

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No doubt about that. If things go well here I expect the same of Hartford. More density, more buildings, very soon. We are in the expirimental phase still. Once it works and Downtown gets really hot, we will surely see our fair share new developement.

how many people go downtown on a given weekend night? something like waterfire brings in tens of thousands of people (the article says 40-60k, although i have a feeling that might be exaggerated, but i could be wrong). many of these are people who wouldn't otherwise come to downtown and might come more often (on non-waterfire nights) because they found a restaurant or bar they liked or just realized that downtown isn't that scary (it's amazing the number of people who think downtown is a dangerous scary place... this goes for any city really). it may have also helped get people to decide to move downtown...

something similar, maybe not waterfire exactly, that can bring people to downtown hartford on a very regular basis would be great for the city. many people who go to waterfire go over and over again and discover new parts of providence in the process. that would be huge for hartford because you'd get people who might not otherwise go into the city or realize that hey, it's not as bad as they thought.

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how many people go downtown on a given weekend night? something like waterfire brings in tens of thousands of people (the article says 40-60k, although i have a feeling that might be exaggerated, but i could be wrong). many of these are people who wouldn't otherwise come to downtown and might come more often (on non-waterfire nights) because they found a restaurant or bar they liked or just realized that downtown isn't that scary (it's amazing the number of people who think downtown is a dangerous scary place... this goes for any city really). it may have also helped get people to decide to move downtown...

something similar, maybe not waterfire exactly, that can bring people to downtown hartford on a very regular basis would be great for the city. many people who go to waterfire go over and over again and discover new parts of providence in the process. that would be huge for hartford because you'd get people who might not otherwise go into the city or realize that hey, it's not as bad as they thought.

I definitely see the benefit of having a Waterfire type of event. That's something that we should get our Arts Foundation to explore to figure out what sort of attraction they can come up with. I don't know how many people come into the city on your typical weekend. I do know that our populations doubles everyday when approx. 125,000 workers come into the city. Once we can just get a fraction of those people to move Downtown and even more to come to the city regularly on the weekend we will be more than okay. My point is we don't need to copy PVD or rush to recreate something that works for you guys. People come to Hartford all of the time, we need to figure what we can do here with what we have to get even more people here more of the time.

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I definitely see the benefit of having a Waterfire type of event. That's something that we should get our Arts Foundation to explore to figure out what sort of attraction they can come up with. I don't know how many people come into the city on your typical weekend. I do know that our populations doubles everyday when approx. 125,000 workers come into the city. Once we can just get a fraction of those people to move Downtown and even more to come to the city regularly on the weekend we will be more than okay. My point is we don't need to copy PVD or rush to recreate something that works for you guys. People come to Hartford all of the time, we need to figure what we can do here with what we have to get even more people here more of the time.

people come to providence all the time as well... but waterfire attracts people who wouldn't otherwise come and gives them a little "introduction" (or in many cases a re-introduction) to providence.

i'm not saying to copy providence or even do something similar. but something that can happen regularly (waterfire is just about every 2 weeks during the summer here and brings in tens of thousands, my guess is probably around 30k just for waterfire, but maybe CNN is right) will have that constant influx of people that woudln't otherwise come to hartford. i don't really have a reason to ever go to hartford, but i might if they did something like waterfire (but not waterfire because i've got it here in providence). it'd have to be something that would attract all sorts of people from all walks of life, all ages, etc...

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people come to providence all the time as well... but waterfire attracts people who wouldn't otherwise come and gives them a little "introduction" (or in many cases a re-introduction) to providence.

i'm not saying to copy providence or even do something similar. but something that can happen regularly (waterfire is just about every 2 weeks during the summer here and brings in tens of thousands, my guess is probably around 30k just for waterfire, but maybe CNN is right) will have that constant influx of people that woudln't otherwise come to hartford. i don't really have a reason to ever go to hartford, but i might if they did something like waterfire (but not waterfire because i've got it here in providence). it'd have to be something that would attract all sorts of people from all walks of life, all ages, etc...

That's a very abstract concept though. We are taking the concrete steps towards getting where we want to go. All we need to do right now is focus on filling our storefronts with quality diverse retail and leasing the rental units. I would love to see something come along, but I think it just kind of needs to click, like PVD and Waterfire. We don't need to rack our brains trying to figure out what it could be in Hartford, because it's a unique event special to Providence.

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Hartford should not copy Waterfire because Waterfire is a Providence thing. If Hartford can find something like Waterfire that happens every week or so and draws people to the city it should definitly be done.

Someone said Waterfire wouldnt work because the river in Providence is much smaller then the CT River. They are right...also the river in providence is in the heart of the city, it is near the Providence Place Mall, RI Convention Center, Union Station, Courtyard by Marriott, Westin Hotel, Biltmore Hotel, State Capital, Kennedy Plaza and the site of the Waterplace Condo Towers. The CT River is at the edge of downtown, yes it is near Adriaens Landing and Constitution Plaza but it does not go through the heart of the city.

It has been proven that Hartford draws people to itself for events it holds throughout the year such as Riverfest at the 4th of July, First Night, Greater Hartford Jazz Festival, The Hartford International Jazz Festival, Hartford Marathon, Festival of Lights, Greater Hartford Saint Patrick's Day Parade and the Front Street Reunion. I believe Riverfest this year drew 325,000 people.

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Hartford should not copy Waterfire because Waterfire is a Providence thing. If Hartford can find something like Waterfire that happens every week or so and draws people to the city it should definitly be done.

Someone said Waterfire wouldnt work because the river in Providence is much smaller then the CT River. They are right...also the river in providence is in the heart of the city, it is near the Providence Place Mall, RI Convention Center, Union Station, Courtyard by Marriott, Westin Hotel, Biltmore Hotel, State Capital, Kennedy Plaza and the site of the Waterplace Condo Towers. The CT River is at the edge of downtown, yes it is near Adriaens Landing and Constitution Plaza but it does not go through the heart of the city.

It has been proven that Hartford draws people to itself for events it holds throughout the year such as Riverfest at the 4th of July, First Night, Greater Hartford Jazz Festival, The Hartford International Jazz Festival, Hartford Marathon, Festival of Lights, Greater Hartford Saint Patrick's Day Parade and the Front Street Reunion. I believe Riverfest this year drew 325,000 people.

these are all events that bring people in from all over the place... i'm thinking of something local, something special that belongs to hartford... something intimate that would bring the locals out (by locals, i mean surrounding towns as well as hartford residents).

hartford should find something special that woudl just be hartfords... any local artists that might be able to come up with something?

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if hartford had a smaller river going through downtown, that intimacy would be there. i think that's a big part of it... that the river is small and goes right through downtown providence.

in the next couple years, providence will look and feel a bit more dense with the current buildings that are going up.

Hmmm...

Another reason to uncover the Park River!!! While river tunnel canoeing is nice -- I'd love to see the guy who rents the canoes for that... rent canoes so people could canoe in Bushnell Park tothe Connecticut River.

Jim

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Waterfire is a Providence thing. It would be silly to do in Hartford. There are thousands of cities in the world with rivers in them, many of them have much better ideas.

I love the idea of uncovering Park River... someday hopefully. Put some gorgeous bridges over it, Sidewalks around it on both sides, and the events and people will just gravitate to it.

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