after 20 years and much consideration........

[nor'easter 0]

Hi everyone. I don’t live in Hartford. I have worked there and played there and have enjoyed what Hartford has to offer. I have been watching Hartford and its development issues for about 20 years. I was in my 40’s when I started and things are worse now than then. We all want housing, retail, commuter rail service, an airport that truly is international, and much more. but it is not happening for one reason: There is no job growth. Hartford had the jobs. The jobs went away in significant numbers to the suburbs. As the companies grew, the jobs grew, in the suburbs. Not one company has moved to Hartford that has made a significant impact. So, why?

First of all, don’t blame the companies. They would not stay here when a better deal is 10 miles away. Don’t blame the state. They have been inefficient in creating improvement for whatever reason you want to specify, for all of our lives. Plus, I don’t think they ever cared if the jobs were in the suburbs, as long as they stayed in the state. As an example, does anyone think Hartford was too good for casinos? what a display of incompetance and corruption to let the so-called tribes become the entertainment capitol of New England, while Hartford slides toward the abyss. Another example, Rowland was so cavalier about just letting the Whalers go and good riddance. Politically for him, it was a no brainer.

You can't blame the companies for not changing their stripes. the state 's interests are not Hartford's interests. So who is left to blame for the job problem? It’s the city. Only the city government could have stopped the exodus of jobs to the suburbs and brought new industry to the city. There are square miles of underutilized properties in Hartford. If the city had leaders that pulled together and made jobs the Number 1 priority permanently, tens of thousands of jobs that the handful of large corporations have in the state and elsewhere in Hartford would be here. And everything we wanted would be here, including the sports options and media outlets who are now in North Carolina, Rocky Hill and Farmington.

No amount of front streets, entertainment venues, converting retail and offices to residential, and busways will bring what we want without thousands of more jobs being in the city. The jobs will not be the affect of these projects. The jobs must come first. the rest will follow. If the last 20 years were not wasted, there would be no empty space north of church street, no surface parking lots everywhere. Capitol Av to Hartford Hospital would be part of a larger central business district and over to Trinity, then over to Aetna. Farmington Av would be the place to live instead of a gauntlet of street nonsense. I don’t see how Hartford will ever come out of its downward spiral, without jobs.

I have respect for all the good people on this site, but this city has a percentage of down, out, and damaged people on the street and elsewhere that is second to none in the state and that cant be ignored. it is not about education or replacement housing for the poor, and options for the poor. if a large enough percentage of the people in a group (the city) are a negative force, it presents virtually insurmountable burdens on the city and on their children. The amount of people who are begging, nodding, stumbling, and being physically and verbally abusive, are the product of the failure of Hartford’s government.

The corrupt elected officials, taking care of themselves and their people and to hell with the rest, caved in and put their focus where it did little good, but was fashionable and profitable for them at the same time. The mayors of Hartford during the last 30 years have been a carnival of showboats, hacks, corrupt ex-gangbangers, and ineffective leaders; regardless of our feelings for them. I liked a couple of them , but that was just on a personal level. They were not affective at pulling the other leaders together and addressing the jobs issue.

So go to the train station in Hartford. Only Meriden has a more depressing train stop. use the facilities at your own risk. What kind of capitol city cannot be reached by commuters by train from the rest of the state in any direction except from Springfield, Ma? What kind of state capitol cant be reached from the other counties by bus, except by 2 express buses in the morning and 2 in the evening to return? Highway to hell, indeed.

So you younger folks keep fighting for change, but while pondering change, remember the line about doing the same thing over and over with same unsuccessful result and expecting a good one to suddenly occur. Good luck and be well.

[beerbeer 6]

Nor'easter, your post is well thought out and documents a number of ills.

However, to give a pass to state of Connecticut is a huge oversight. The reason that Hartford loses jobs is not the problem of Hartford alone. Connecticut has a dismal record of creating jobs over the last 25 years. By some measures the state is last in the country, LAST! Recently Forbes Magazine ranked Connecticut 35th in business climate, not too good. But it's worse when you realize they ranked Connecticut #2 in quality of life and that artificially propped up the business climate score.

Connecticut has some of the most anti-business regulations in the country. Recently two new mandates are ONLY in effect in Connecticut. Energy costs are among the highest in the nation. The tax burden on corporations is close to the highest in the nation. And in the past two months alone, the state's largest newspaper has been running stories on CEO pay and how greedy the heads of corporations have become. Nice. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I won't even get into the incestuous relationship between the state government and the state unions. Both New York and Massachusetts had budget problems just like Connecticut. Both are run by Democrats, neither raised spending or taxes. Connecticut raise both spending and taxes and gave the union workers a salary hike and a promise to not to fire any of them for years. Noticing a trend here?

There isn’t a single problem in Hartford that wouldn’t be improved by the state ending its war on business. How likely is that?

[drc72 5]

Yeah I laughed my ass off when he said the State should have a pass as well..... As for Hartford? Look at what party has been running the show for decades. The democrats have been an utter disaster to the city, Their big social experimentation is not working no matter how much they try. I truly believe that if the income tax had not been passed, the State would of been a lot better off economically. I generally agree with the OP that things are still not that good.