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
On Saturday, January 23rd, a performance of Handel’s Messiah (part I and the Hallelujah chorus) will take place at Our Lady of Sorrows on New Park Avenue at 6pm. This concert is a benefit for the Immaculate Conception Shelter, which operates two no-freeze shelters — one on Park Street and one on Lafayette Street.
Admission is free, but they welcome donations, including the non-monetary kind: men’s winter coats and clothing, blankets, men’s toiletries, and food.
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.
After a few days away, I returned to find obnoxious (but fairly routine) comments littering the Topix forum that one is routed to from the online Hartford Courant.
On my trip, I was thinking about civic pride and the need for community and cooperation between neighboring towns. I am not talking about these qualities on a political level, but on a personal level. There is community here, within the city, but it’s not something that gets much press. Crime and corruption are made public. Poverty and illiteracy are treated as mascots for my city.
What does not make the news are the minutiae.
One Friday night I gathered with a half dozen women to eat local pizza in the host’s dining room. We wolfed down three pizzas and laughed. Nobody got shot or stabbed.
Last week, I ventured with a friend and two of her children to Colt Park. We were hoping to catch a women’s rugby game. Though it seemed to be canceled, we picked up some delicious goodies from Modern Pastry, watched runners cross the finish line at the Hartford Marathon in Bushnell Park, and then headed to La Paloma Sabanera for an actual lunch. At the coffee house, we ran into more friends. Again, nobody got shot or stabbed.
Continue reading 'Words vs. Pictures'»
Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Clay Arsenal, Frog Hollow, Hartford, Parkville, Regionalism, South End, West End, community, downtown, food, fun, myth busting, north end, not Hartford, parks, perception bias, photos, quality of life, south green, transportation
On Wednesday, July 22nd, the West End Civic Association Beautification & Planting Committee will be planting greenery in front of the Fire House in Sisson Avenue. Interested parties can meet on the corner of Girard and Farmington at 6:30 pm. They will also be planting and beautifying on August 15th beginning at 9 am.
The LGH Corridor of Hope II project (area along Capitol Avenue under the railroad bridge) went on a rain delay. Some mural work is slated to also happen Wednesday evening.
When new in town, it can be difficult for some people to adjust or get involved in their new community. I have never been welcomed with a plate of cookies, but I’ve never felt like a stranger either. Even when I moved away from home for the first time, I made it a point to wander, mostly on foot, to learn about what was around me. Doing this I found a train bridge, a food co-op, and a little coffee shop with the best vegan carrot cake I have ever eaten in my life. In that little city, I also saw homeless people, youth tripping on acid by the river, and was threatened with a gun by a man in his boxer shorts because he assumed that I was going to ditch a shopping cart on his front lawn.
Continue reading 'Discovering Where You Live'»
This Friday, from noon until 1:30, there will be a discussion titled “Strategies to Assure that Basic Human Needs Sustained During Recession & Economic Downturn” [sic]. This talk will look at data regarding “gaps in basic human services in Hartford,” and will include a brainstorming session for ideas about how to sustain these services. This will take place at City Hall in the City Council Chambers.
One of the many events happening this coming week:
On Tuesday, November 18, the young leaders of Public Allies Hartford will need your help.
Last month, the group of 9 AmeriCorps social change makers initiated a 10-month long Team Service Project aimed at strengthening Hartford’s non-profits, which an October 2008 United Way survey says are already suffering from the global economic crisis.
As a way for the Allies to better understand what initiatives the city needs to help the nonprofit sector, the team is holding an open Community Conversation from 6-8 p.m. in the Christ Church Cathedral House Auditorium at 45 Church Street, Hartford. Free parking will be available in the lot on the corner of Market and Columbus Blvd and free food and a free gift will also be provided. Continue reading 'Community Conversation on Hartford Non-Profits'»
commentary
There’s been a lot to digest lately. My emotions about the violence in Hartford are similar to those I felt following 9/11. The violence saddens me. I don’t feel a lot of surprise or anger about the actual acts of violence. I reserve my anger for how people respond to the violence.
When the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred (and if your theory is that the government had something to do with it, I think the word “terrorist” still applies), I tried to comprehend what the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people meant. I had to figure out if I even knew the same number of people as were killed. With the local violence, the victimization is more sporadic, easier to understand in terms of its possibility. I worry when I read the headlines that one of my students from Capital Community College, many of whom live in Hartford, will be among those either killed or doing the killing.
As with the terrorist attacks, I feel a range of disappointment-to-anger regarding how we are responding to the violence in Hartford. My political perspective is such that I must question whenever a new law or ordinance of some kind is introduced. Before asking if it’s a good or effective law, I have to think about whether it’s necessary to even have a law. Of course, this gets complicated because we live in a culture which, on the surface, pretends to be one of laws. Continue reading '"Uncle Eddie Wants You Home by Nine" "But Mom, You Said…"'»
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