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Hartford Negativity


Whaler0718

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I think the Blue Hills area is a viable middle class option. Economically its similar to some of our mid- income suburbs like Manchester, Newington, Wethersfield, and Bloomfield to name a few. I'll concede it has crime issues but an influx of people would change the demographics enough to lower crime and attract more shopping and retail.

Blue Hills

"The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,859, and the median income for a family was $52,361. Males had a median income of $36,842 versus $30,972 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,618. About 3.9% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over"

Manchester

"The median income for a household in the town was $49,426, and the median income for a family was $58,769. Males had a median income of $41,893 versus $32,562 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,989. About 6.0% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over"

Newington

"The median income for a household in the town is $57,118, and the median income for a family is $67,085. Males have a median income of $43,475 versus $35,601 for females. The per capita income for the town is $26,881. 3.5% of the population and 2.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.7% of those under the age of 18 and 3.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line."

Wethersfield

"The median income for a household in the town was $53,289, and the median income for a family was $68,154. Males had a median income of $43,998 versus $37,443 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,930. About 2.4% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over."

Bloomfield

"The median income for a household in the town was $53,812, and the median income for a family was $64,892. Males had a median income of $42,860 versus $36,778 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,843. About 5.1% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.2% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over."

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This is slightly off topic:

blink55184, if you are looking for a cheaper way to get to Boston or NYC you should try the Chinatown bus.

They run out of Chinatown in Manhattan and end up in the Chinatown in Boston. There is one company that stops in Hartford in the Charter Oak Supermarket. If I recall correctly my friend told me it wasn't actually a bus but it was a van. There website says $30 roundtrip. They have their phone number listed on the website if you want more info.

www.gotobus.com

Another buddy of mine recently told me there is another van service that runs out of Hartford direct to the Bronx. It leaves someplace on Park Street and they run about 6 trips a day he told me.

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Right ... people are leaving in droves. Half of them are 25-35, the essential demographic for growth; the talent companies want to employ. I'm telling you how to fix that! Transit-oriented development, revitalized downtown Hartford. Young people leave because they explicitly do not want to live the way you do. Hey, it's cool for you, and nobody is threatening that. In fact, you benefit from this plan if you like your rural environment, becuase it would be more likely to stay rural. You won't get a substandard highway, you just won't get a bigger one. And if you have the means, you can continue to drive and enjoy the space created by those who shift to the train. But if you want your state to have businesses and revenue, putting them on corporate office park road is not the solution because the folks who like that style of living will retire soon, and the rest of us will have moved to New York and Boston.
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I think the Blue Hills area is a viable middle class option. Economically its similar to some of our mid- income suburbs like Manchester, Newington, Wethersfield, and Bloomfield to name a few. I'll concede it has crime issues but an influx of people would change the demographics enough to lower crime and attract more shopping and retail.

Blue Hills

"The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,859, and the median income for a family was $52,361. Males had a median income of $36,842 versus $30,972 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,618. About 3.9% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over"

Manchester

"The median income for a household in the town was $49,426, and the median income for a family was $58,769. Males had a median income of $41,893 versus $32,562 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,989. About 6.0% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over"

Newington

"The median income for a household in the town is $57,118, and the median income for a family is $67,085. Males have a median income of $43,475 versus $35,601 for females. The per capita income for the town is $26,881. 3.5% of the population and 2.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.7% of those under the age of 18 and 3.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line."

Wethersfield

"The median income for a household in the town was $53,289, and the median income for a family was $68,154. Males had a median income of $43,998 versus $37,443 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,930. About 2.4% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over."

Bloomfield

"The median income for a household in the town was $53,812, and the median income for a family was $64,892. Males had a median income of $42,860 versus $36,778 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,843. About 5.1% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.2% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over."

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I discuss the idea of linking Hartford to Boston and New York via rail with a friend of mine and he always makes the point that all the top executives in Hartford either fly or have a private driver take them to NYC or Boston when needed. That is true, that is how the big dogs roll, but I always tell him that the "middle tier" employees need to connect to their companies offices in those cities as well and you know they aren't going to get to travel in a helicoptor. Think for example of a large company based out west that wants to have a prescence in the northeast. They could have their office in Hartford and get their people to meetings in Boston/NYC/DC easily via rail.
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And there are a number of firms in Greater Hartford that do work in both Boston and New York--law firms, financial consulting outfits, and the like. They're not big enough to afford private air travel, and flying out of Bradley to LGA and then traveling into NYC would take longer than it takes to drive. In fact, taking Amtrak takes longer than it does to drive. Get some regular rail service in here and cut the time down, and I think it'll really make a difference. Also--we never got a highway built between Hartford and Providence. I propose a rail line. It would make it easier to get from here to Boston, and it would connect the two state capitols.

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And there are a number of firms in Greater Hartford that do work in both Boston and New York--law firms, financial consulting outfits, and the like. They're not big enough to afford private air travel, and flying out of Bradley to LGA and then traveling into NYC would take longer than it takes to drive. In fact, taking Amtrak takes longer than it does to drive. Get some regular rail service in here and cut the time down, and I think it'll really make a difference. Also--we never got a highway built between Hartford and Providence. I propose a rail line. It would make it easier to get from here to Boston, and it would connect the two state capitols.
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  • 1 month later...
I realize it's been a while since you made this post, but I took your advice--and I've also read a few others on the topic. Rather than give you my thoughts about Bruegmann's work, take a look at this link to James Howard Kunstler's review. He wrote a book called "Geography of Nowhere" which I highly recommend. http://www.kunstler.com/Mags_Bruegmann.html
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They should emphasize more of this kind of stuff at the CCC.

Trail-Tested Hikers' City Route Passes Through Cemetery, Park

March 23, 2007

Glastonbury resident Ed Richardson called me last week and asked whether I'd ever been on an urban hike.

An urban hike?

I once considered that an oxymoron right up there with jumbo shrimp, adult children and deafening silence. That was until I visited Cedar Hill Cemetery with Richardson and dozens of hikers from the Connecticut Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club Thursday morning.

The group hikes several times a month and the 270-acre "peaceful oasis," along with nearby Goodwin Park in Hartford was the setting. Although the real destination after a 5-mile hike, as group members pointed out, was the First and Last Tavern.

"We will be winding a labyrinthine path," Richardson said. "Keeping in mind our main objective is lunch."

And to get an idea of just how vast the cemetery is? It is located in parts of Hartford, Newington and Wethersfield. And as the group gathered at a large flagpole near the cemetery entrance in Hartford, Richardson said they would drive along the roads through the cemetery to a point one mile away and walk back to the entrance. See? Vast.

From the moment visitors enter the 140-year-old cemetery, they are surrounded by nature. Huge trees tower above the beautiful and striking monuments and gravestones. Tracks made by white-tailed deer mix with footprints created by hiking boots. A pair of mallards glided past an opening in the thawing ice on a pond known as Llyn Maur or "great lake."

Before we set out to explore the cemetery, Richardson said the cemetery was "built more for the living than the dead." He said it was the epitome of the rural cemetery movement when it was built in 1831. According to one of the brochures, Cedar Hill was seen as a "vast temple to the transcendent being where the visitor senses the eminence of God in nature."

Richardson has spent several decades identifying and measuring big trees throughout the state for the Connecticut Botanical Society's Notable Tree Project. Over the years, he helped find a couple of thousand notable trees, including several state champion specimens.

During the trip, he pointed out several notable trees in the cemetery, including a 100-year-old Japanese pine and the "West coast corner" of Cedar Hill where a white fir, blue spruce and Douglas fir tower above the surroundings. With no buildings or other trees nearby, the firs and spruce look even more massive.

The forests within the cemetery have been relatively untouched over the years. So there are some rare species flourishing, like the hackberry. The hackberry, a state native, is known as an ornamental tree planted in parks and along the street. But they are also the lone tree attractive to the Hackberry Emperor or American Snout butterfly. On a hot day in June, anyone in the woods near the hackberry are bound to encounter the rare orange and black butterfly, Richardson said.

For those looking for nature in an urban setting, the 65-acre ornamental foreground is the best place to visit. Located just beyond the front entrance, the foreground is heavily forested and has small walking paths.

Many are drawn to Cedar Hill for the monuments to people such as revolver inventor Samuel Colt, financier J.P. Morgan and Gideon Welles, Abraham Lincoln's secretary of the navy. All had ties to Hartford. And many are drawn to the cemetery for a brief respite from life in the city. Whatever the reason, come visit Cedar Hill and take an urban hike.

Two helpful brochures are available at a kiosk just inside the front gate at 453 Fairfield Ave., Hartford. "A Tour of Cedar Hill for the Young (And Young at Heart)" and "Cedar Hill Cemetery, Guide For Visitors." For more on Cedar Hill visit www.cedarhillcemetery.org. The main gate is open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk. Jogging is permitted only before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m., so don't walk or hike too fast. Dogs should remain in their vehicles at all times.

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Many people are of the belief that the World is their trash-bin and it's up to others to pick up their mess. I have a friend from Newington that would just throw his trash out the window of his car. I'd rip into him about it and he'd just say "who cares?". I cared, of course, but other than physically abusing him there would have been nothing I could have done to stop him.

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I got into a shouting match one day in Stratford. I was sitting outside Dunkin Donuts on Lordship Boulevard reading the paper and the girl in the next car over rolls down her window and drops her trash and bag outside. There is literally a trash can at the front bumper of her car. I beep my horn, she looks over, and I point to the bag. She lifts her hands up like "huh?" and I point again. She still looks like she doesn't understand, so I motion for her to roll down the window. She does and I say "you dropped something". Her face immediately changes and she says "mind your own business", so I say "no, really, look, you dropped something". She starts swearing at me, telling me to mind my f'ing business and leaver her alone, and I just kepot saying 'look, it's right there, you dropped it". Needless to say she drove away and I picked it up after she was out of sight....
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Sometimes I wonder about the education system in Stratford. Or the water. Everyone I met from down there isn't right in the head. By any chance, it wasn't a 96 white Honda crapbox was it?

But seriously, it's unfortunate that people can't take care of their own cities. They have to live and work in them, and chances are good many complain about how crummy their neighborhoods are. So why do they then treat them so badly?

As for the dead chickens in the vacant lot, I now just randomly thought up of billywitchdoctor.com from that episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Chicken arise! (and get off that vacant lot.)

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