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
I’ve just purchased a home in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, so here’s a photo tour to acquaint readers with my new surroundings:
Continue reading 'Welcome to Frog Hollow'»
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.
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) is a program I’ve heard about for a few years, and I attended the homebuyer workshop yesterday. While the person leading the workshop had some interesting anecdotes, most of the workshop was an introduction to the NACA program, and not to homebuying. He even said this later in the day.
He addressed the reasons why the NACA process can be a slow one–few employees, a growing number of people seeking NACA assistance including those being referred because they have been victims of subprime/predatory lending situations, and people who do not complete all steps of the process. One of the stories he used to explain the last reason was of a woman who was living with her parents, rent-free, and had considerable savings but was not demonstrating the ability to save regularly. There was no record that she could make a mortgage payment on a monthly basis because her savings account was the result of several “one-time” deposits, like tax returns and a settlement. He said that she balked on putting something like $800 into her account every month, and this slowed down her ability to go forward. He also talked about people who were unwilling to explain where large sums of money were coming from or going. I found this interesting because I assumed that only my amount of savings, employment records, rental history, and credit would be checked out, not that my spending habits might be evaluated.
Continue reading 'The NACA Workshop'»
Late last night I was notified that the workshop planned to happen today in the Hartford Public Library was moved to the Windsor Public Library because of a scheduling error. I’m wondering how many residents were not notified and how many won’t be able to attend now. I’m also wondering why another acceptable venue for this could not be found in Hartford itself. I know that tons of red tape would probably be involved, but there is that lovely facility in the old G.Fox building that contains many classrooms, only a few of which get used on Saturdays. My plan is to still attend, and give a report on it later this weekend.
If you are thinking of waiting until homes are dirt cheap to buy, you might want to learn about the process, so as not to get screwed on subprime mortgages and loans like many currently losing their homes were. On Saturday September 6th (10am-2pm) there will be a free workshop at the Hartford Public Library (downtown) put together by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), an activist organization that has gathered some interesting mixed reviews. NACA helps potential buyers go through the process, in exchange for the promise of engaging in five kinds of activities each year to support the goals of NACA (fighting predatory lending).
Continue reading 'Free Workshop for First-Time Homebuyers'»
UPSTAIRS DOWNTOWN, an all day event, is planned for Friday July 25th at the Lyceum Center at 227 Lawrence Street. Connecticut Main Street Center is sponsoring this workshop. They host four workshops each year, which are based on the “Main Street Four Point Approach.” This approach deals with organization, promotion, design, and economic restructuring.
The Connecticut Main Street Center provides the following description for the UPSTAIRS DOWNTOWN workshop:
There are thousands of buildings in America’s older downtowns with vacant upper floors. These spaces boast a central location, high visibility, complete community infrastructure, and are prime candidates for redevelopment. UPSTAIRS DOWNTOWN is an award winning initiative created to help owners reclaim and reuse these vacant upper floors, and turn them into income producing properties.
Continue reading 'Downtown Housing: Workshop and Panel Discussions'»
Saturday June 28th from 9:30-1 at The Artists Collective (1200 Albany Ave): The City of Hartford along with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority will be sponsoring a seminar to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. They will be providing information about refinancing and CHFA’s CT FAMILIES program; attendees will also be able to meet with loan counselors and CT FAMILIES lenders.
There will be a panel discussion on the housing crisis at the Hartford Public Library on May 20th (6pm). Among others, there will be a rep from Fannie Mae, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and the Sanborn Mortgage Corporation. The discussion is supposed to be specific to the impact on the Hartford community and families.
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