The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods.
Continue reading 'Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods'»
Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Blue Hills, Clay Arsenal, Economics, Environment, Frog Hollow, Hartford, POCD, Parkville, South End, Urban Renewal, West End, architecture/design, blight, class, commentary, community, downtown, housing, library, neighborhoods, north end, parks, photos, quality of life, south green, tax money in action, transportation
It’s way easier to delegate than to take on every last responsibility, so rather than work on gaining muscle mass or weaning myself off chocolate, I’m creating a list of things I would like to see Hartford work on in the upcoming year. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Make the Riverfront Accessible
After having my heart set on a lovely afternoon bicycle ride along the Connecticut River, my plans were thwarted. Continue reading 'Hartford 2010: Resolutions for the New Year'»
Crime & Justice, Economics, POCD, Race & Ethnicity, access, architecture/design, charter revision, health care, photos, quality of life, self-indulgence, shopping, transportation
The most interesting ideas of last evening’s One City, One Plan POCD meeting arose during the small group discussions. The meeting was held in the Connecticut Science Center.
A theme throughout several of the group discussions was that of sustainable design, planning, zoning, and ordinances. If a person, organization, or business wants to make better environmental choices, the system does not always support these. Continue reading 'A Sustainable City'»
Toni Gold, resident and one of the panelists at this morning’s forum on transportation, commented that the POCD must be less timid and more aggressive if it is to be successful. The packed house of audience participants seemed to agree with her. Continue reading 'Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development Must Be More Aggressive'»
Public participation is encouraged at these meetings of Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development. The POCD site states that “Every ten years, the Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission is charged by Section 8-23 of the Connecticut General Statutes to prepare a Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) for the City. Hartford’s last Plan was adopted in 1996.”
The first of these meetings will be held Thursday evening at the library. Others will be at the YMCA on Albany Ave, Riverside Park Boathouse, Union Station, Lincoln Culinary Institute on Sigourney, and the CT Science Center.
Downtown is to hope as Frog Hollow is to Klezmer as Asylum Hill is to beer. Continue reading 'Peace and Music and Suds'»
When my friend David told me he’d secured a reservation for a trip to the top of the Travelers’ Tower, I had no choice but to invite myself along. This would bring me downtown in the late morning, and since I had plans to be less than a block from there later in the afternoon, I figured I would just spend the time in between downtown.
At eleven we zoomed to the 21st floor. I did not think about the logistics of this. After having walked 2.5 miles to get downtown, the three flights of stairs did not seem so fun. The view was worth the panting. From the street, the tower does not look like it can hold more than two people. We had six people up there, and there was plenty of room for more. I had no luck locating my apartment.
Continue reading 'Staycation 2009'»
Art, Frog Hollow, Hartford, Raving Diva Post, architecture/design, commentary, downtown, film, food, fun, hpd, library, media, myth busting, parks, perception bias, photos, self-indulgence, shopping, tax money in action
What would Hartford be like with people on the streets? As Doug Suisman put it, “people attract more people.” A bustling city would seem like a happening place to be. One might even reserve a seat on the MegaBus from Boston to come here. One of the goals of the iQuilt project is to do just this– make Hartford a destination. Yet for those of us who live here, we know that there are people out and about in Hartford– they are just not plentiful downtown. Park Street’s activity was alluded to during the presentation on the evening of June 24th at the Belding Center for the Performing Arts, as was the need for such a downtown project to reach out to the neighborhoods, yet that part of the plan was more talk than design. It’s early still in the process and every idea was clearly up for further discussion. Some of the iQuilt ideas are hope-inducing and would be positive changes; some ideas did not go as far as they needed to and other aspects were ignored altogether. Leaving the forum, I would have felt better had Suisman asked for comments mainly from people whose names he did not already know.
David Fay–President of the Bushnell—explained that two years ago the Bushnell began thinking about a plan for Capitol Avenue, as the center is isolated from much of downtown. The iQuilt project began about six months ago; “up to this point,” Fay said, the project “has been paid for.” They want feedback and public support before an organization is developed to manage the project and move it forward. Getting questions and comments during the public forum should be a start, but not the only effort taken to gather feedback.
The presentation on Wednesday was given by Douglas Suisman, of Santa Monica, whose role as one of the project’s planning principals seemed less of an odd choice upon learning that he grew up in this area. He is the principal of Suisman Urban Design (Los Angeles), which describes its vision and guiding principles this way:
cities are complex human artifacts which evolve over time. We believe that urban design solutions must therefore incorporate a deep understanding of the physical place and a profound respect for its social and cultural fabric. We are committed to broad participation, clear communication, and high quality. We are motivated by a passion for the lived experience of cities.
Continue reading 'A Somewhat Holey Quilt'»
Art, Economics, Hartford, Urban Renewal, architecture/design, downtown, food, fun, library, parks, perception bias
iQuilt intends to improve pedestrian routes from Bushnell Park to the Connecticut River, along with connecting cultural sites in Hartford. Continue reading 'Our Charmingly Irregular Quilt'»
While at the 35th Annual Russian Tea Room and Bazaar, I decided to take a tour of the recently painted iconography in the All Saints Orthodox Church.
Continue reading 'All Saints Orthodox Church and Russian Bazaar'»
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