APPROVED: 945 Wethersfield Ave

[The Voice of Reason]

not much info out there but it is on the city web site.

http://www.hartford.gov/Development/planni...20Decisions.pdf

http://ukrainiannationalhome.org/html/

I dont see anything here

http://www.designprofessionalsinc.com/

or anything here either.

but this project is approved, so thats something.

[Chessplayer]

I can't tell where this project is. Would it be replacing the single family residence accross from the project-type housing?

[The Voice of Reason]

I can't tell where this project is. Would it be replacing the single family residence accross from the project-type housing?

[The Voice of Reason]

I am not positive, but the large building with the very large parking lot on the West side of Wethersfield S of Bolton is the Ukrainian national home, and they are the ones applying for the permit. I would assume that this project is intended for that parking lot since there was no mention of demolition.

It is interesting to note that directly across the street there is a plan for a friend of Eddies to do a mill conversion (the building with the large front yard) and also something with the building next to the mill(to the south).

If all of these things happen this tiny area will have 3 residential projects happening.

[The Voice of Reason]

Not a bad building. there is a parking garage on the ground floor.

below this is storage, a rec room and some mechanicals.

the 2nd 3rd and 4th floor are all apartments. from 600- SF to ~1000SF most in the 7-800 range very few of the larger units.

there is an office that I realized I did not draw. it would be a square on the front of the building below the driveway, and it has the largest unit above it. ~1100SF

the 5th floor is attic storage and I do not think anything else. the building has an elevator.

and I will post a pic, but this is an ecample of the architecture, not actually a pic of this building

http://portal.oakwood.com/profiles/images/...erior___966.jpg

not a great one, but kind of the look.

or maybe

but well its one of those kind of standard looking 4 story quasi victorian things. but then again I am starting to forget. regardless, its not a bad building at all.

[Chessplayer]

And the suburbanization of Wethersfield Ave. continues. The building is set back from the street, fronted by a surface lot, and is squating on its parking.

Pure garbage.

[The Voice of Reason]

this may be a bit true, but what was one a 3 family house is now an apartment building for 30. Higher density is not a sub urban thing.

for this location it is not a bad project and well more than that it will surely strengthen the ukrainian community of Hartford.

[Chessplayer]

Higher density is not a sub urban thing.

[The Voice of Reason]

Yes and no. While urban areas need density, they more importantly define space in a different way. An urban development fronts the street, thereby focusing eyes and feet onto the sidewalk. The synergism of many such different types of urban developments is what makes a city a city: mixed uses, near constant street activity, and thus community self policing.

This parcel sticks stagnant open space against the street and provides no retail to soften the blow. The result is a dead zone: compartmentalized uses, undefined and leaky space, and thus further suburbanization of the area. Housing projects were considered a failure because (among other things) their prodigious creation of such places. Areas of little activity attracted a criminal element, crime rose, and as a result entire communities spiraled downward.

Too many such "dead zones" and the city doesn't function properly, which is what we have in Hartford today. If everything were oriented properly, Hartford would be dense enough as it is. It's the way the city has been developed that keeps it from succeeding.