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'»
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Tonight’s transportation update meeting was geared for transportation insiders, or at least for those who have been closely following these issues for the last thirty years. Councilor Cotto and Councilor Ritter both pointed out that there should be more outreach to the community, particularly those who may be affected by the proximity of the proposed busway to their properties. Initially, one of the speakers dismissed this sentiment, saying that the New Britain-to-Hartford Busway, has been in the works for years. It has been a slow project, but expecting that all residents are up to speed with the project shows a lack of understanding about the high mobility of the Hartford community. The population is so transient that patrons are forced to renew our library cards every single year! That should indicate how unlikely it is that the average resident knows about what began years back. If you are not employed with a transportation agency or sitting on one of the transportation organizations, not a local politician, not affiliated with an NRZ, and not a nerd who spends hours sitting in meetings about electrified rail, do you really know what is going on?
Lyle Wray of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) gave voice to an earth-shaking concept that few grasp, judging from the back-and-forth editorials that have appeared in recent years: the busway/freight train issue is “not either/or. It’s both/and.” He explained that “busways are not a thing of the past” and that they are the “preferred technology” for “medium-density cities.”
State Rep. David McCluskey spoke to the need for cross town buses. I personally understand this need. If I want to go from Parkville/West End to the University of Hartford, I have to take a bus downtown and then catch another one up Albany to Bloomfield Avenue. This doubles the distance that I should be traveling from Point A to Point B. The circulating bus downtown, Star Shuttle, covers such a small distance that an able-bodied person would have trouble justifying even using it unless it’s below zero or above 90 degrees. McCluskey also talked about how what exists now for riders waiting downtown is shameful. The bus shelters along Main Street are open, and in some cases, missing windows. Creating another “Isle of Safety” or using Union Station as the local bus hub were a few options he named.
Bob Painter, speaking on behalf of the Hub of Hartford, recapped some of the discussions happening about the Aetna Viaduct. The viaduct plan will be presented to the DOT sometime in the Spring. While some may feel that racing through the city via the highway is as natural as breathing, Painter said that the highway “hinders economic development.” Continue reading 'Updates on Hartford Transportation Initiatives at City Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee: Whizzing Through the City at 110 MPH'»
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'»
Crude, a documentary, will finish its run at Real Art Ways tomorrow evening. It’s worth seeing, if for no other reason than that it does not fixate on Iraq, hybrid cars, or George W. Bush. The film documents the long, arduous, and frustrating class action lawsuit against Chevron-Texaco for allegedly contaminating the drinking water of indigenous Ecuadorians.
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'»
This morning I was greeted with one of the best surprises ever — the area of Capitol Avenue between Laurel and Forest (AKA The Stretch of Sketch AKA The Corridor of Hope) was cleaned up. There was still litter on the sidewalk, but I mean that the real annoying mess was cleaned up. The tires, toilet, boards, and random other large bits of illegally dumped trash were removed from behind the fence. A dangerous looking shack was even removed. And the area, with all the junk gone, is actually kind of pretty.
Continue reading 'The Stretch of Sketch Gets a Makeover'»
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.
They’re here!
The single-stream recycling program has expanded and the proof is lined up along the streets.
Despite the diligence of can and bottle collectors who wheel their shopping carts (or in some cases, mopeds) around town, there are still many plastic bottles littering sidewalks, streets, and grassy areas. I wonder how difficult it would be to get the city to place a few of these can and bottle recycling bins around Hartford. Placing one or two a few blocks from each high school might help to cut down on the bottles left behind by kids walking to and from school. Sure, some people are going to continue to be lazy and inconsiderate, and throw their trash wherever, but partly, there are just too few options for where empties can be disposed properly. Having this kind of receptacle nearby would also encourage others who might be more appreciative of a clean environment to pick up other people’s trash. Carrying something for a few blocks is far different from carrying it for 45 minutes.
The other item on my wish list is a municipal composting program like the one in Ottawa. Continue reading 'Wish List for Hartford'»
The West End Farmers’ Market will be offering a cup of free hot cider with every market purchase until the end of the season on October 30th. The cider is from local Rose’s Berry Farm.
The West End Farmers’ Market is open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 3:30-6:30 at the corner of South Whitney and Farmington.
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