That stupid skybridge over Asylum

[beerbeer]

Isn't that supppose to come down? It goes nowhere. I don't think it even connects to the building on the north side of the street. There's just an elevator to the ground. What's the point?

Getting rid of it would open up the streeet and let more light onto an area of Asylum that could use it.

[drc72]

I don't think the bridge is all that bad, but it wouldn't bother me, if they took it down.

[redbaron]

I don't think the bridge is all that bad, but it wouldn't bother me, if they took it down.

I believe the people in the office building wanted to keep it??

[robm324]

I would prefer it down to force people to use the street as much as possible, but I could live with it staying up. Maybe it becomes a selling point for people that work in CityPlace (the building it connects to) to take up residence in H21.

[HartfordTycoon]

It needs to come down. It's a freaking bridge to nowhere and a visual obstruction.

[jcrc]

Believe it or not, a lot of office workers miss those connecting bridges. I personally hate them, but people don't want to face the element when the element is not to their liking. I guess if all we have is pretty girls with lovely skirts using them, I would like to restore them.

[Bill Mocarsky]

I don't like the bridges over Church Street. I think they make it look like a back alley street.

The bridge that connects the Hilton (formerly Sheraton) was built as part of the Civic Center/hotel concept. Is it still needed in the way it was originally intended?

The one that connects One Commercial Plaza to the garage looks like something that you may see on the periphery of a downtown spanning a major highway.

[Luca Brasi]

This skybridge was battled over by Northland and ING. Northland wanted it to come down, but ING owned it and said that Northland would have to buy it if they wanted to demolish it. Northlnad felt they shouldn't have to buy it since it wasn't going to be used and they were the ones demolishing it. To make matters worse, ING was asking some ridiculous price in the millions for the right to demolish it.

Northland said fine - we'll make it the skybridge to nowhere on our end with an elevator right down to the street.

[Yankee.Peddler]

In my view the only pedestrian bridges that should be encouraged in urban cores are those over wide perpetually congested arteries too dangerous to cross on foot. I don't think any Hartford street fits this category.

I was also unhappy to hear that Aetna apparently plans to build a pedestrian bridge linking a new parking garage with (I believe) the building being vacated by ING.

[ctman987]

I cant stand skywalks like that. I do remember though when I was younger going for lunch at the restaurant that was in the skywalk that went over Trumbull Street.

In Baltimore there is a huge not enclosed above street level walkway (like Constitution Plaza) that links the Baltimore Convention Center with a few hotels and one side of the Inner Harbor. Down below there is a street that is barely filled (except with cars) because of this skywalk type area.

[ctman]

i thought it was citigroup that owned the easment on the skybridge...

[MadVlad]

Wtf does ING care, they are leaving the city anyways....

[drc72]

Wtf does ING care, they are leaving the city anyways....

My thoughts exactly!!!!

[mamul]

I moved to Charlotte recently and here they pride themselves on their overstreet walkways. I coudln't believe it when I came here and they talked about the skybridges as if they were manna from heaven. I find that down here the skybridges aren't necessarily ugly, but they clearly remove any pedestrian traffic from the streets. The first time I came here I couldn't find an ATM, which is odd since Wachovia and BofA own half the town...but any such amentities are located in civic-center-like malls up and inside all of the office buildings.

I have walked over that Asylum skybridge many times, however, on my way to see the Whale.

[mikel]

I moved to Charlotte recently and here they pride themselves on their overstreet walkways. I coudln't believe it when I came here and they talked about the skybridges as if they were manna from heaven. I find that down here the skybridges aren't necessarily ugly, but they clearly remove any pedestrian traffic from the streets. The first time I came here I couldn't find an ATM, which is odd since Wachovia and BofA own half the town...but any such amentities are located in civic-center-like malls up and inside all of the office buildings.

I have walked over that Asylum skybridge many times, however, on my way to see the Whale.

The further away from the northeast you get in this country, the further behind they are. In 10 years Charlotte will be dismantling those skywalks.

[jcrc]

The further away from the northeast you get in this country, the further behind they are. In 10 years Charlotte will be dismantling those skywalks.

I don't know I agree with that at all. A lot of other places in the rest of the country did not tear down historical buildings and built parking lots. Hartford did a lot of stupid things, maybe it is because we are ahead and the rest of the country saw what we did and avoid the same mistakes?

[SOCOM]

The further away from the northeast you get in this country, the further behind they are. In 10 years Charlotte will be dismantling those skywalks.

That's a typical Northeastern/New England elitist attitude. We pride ourselves on being more progressive than all of those "backwards areas", yet they are the ones constructing and expanding light rail, merging counties, and loweing taxes on businesses to adapt to the changing business climate.

We have a lot to brag about - particularly our lack of sprawl (in comparison to southern and midwestern cities), but we are behind in just as many areas as we are ahead.

As far as the skybridge, I believe it'll be gone within a year or two as people stop using it.

[Jerry2]

That's a typical Northeastern/New England elitist attitude. We pride ourselves on being more progressive than all of those "backwards areas", yet they are the ones constructing and expanding light rail, merging counties, and loweing taxes on businesses to adapt to the changing business climate.

We have a lot to brag about - particularly our lack of sprawl (in comparison to southern and midwestern cities), but we are behind in just as many areas as we are ahead.

As far as the skybridge, I believe it'll be gone within a year or two as people stop using it.

The man's right on! I never thought I would say that ....

[mikel]

Well, I think we do have quite a few more people that are ahead in the northeast, but they aren't necessarily the decision makers..

Plus, Hartford isn't exactly growing. The infrastructure laid in the 60's and 70's is still perfectly functionable, despite it only consisting of massive highways that cut right through the city center. We don't have a traffic problem that can be solved by modern ways like light rail, despite the fact that we should. (I hope petrol goes up to $8 a gallon to force people off the highways) And I do think we are example of mistakes, sadly. But in places around the country, the people there are generally still excited about new strip malls and shopping malls, SUVs, and the enlightenment that many of us share (not saying the entire CT population has it) hasn't fully formed down there yet.

Somebody from Tennessee actually told me Connecticut is more European, believe it or not.. But still, IMO, Connecticut is still a backwards oasis in the northeast unfortunately. Which is why we need to get angry and force change.