Casa Linda: August 17-23, 2010
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The featured home this week is found in the West End near the UConn Law School. This home almost appears shy, with its subdued colors and location behind several trees.
Category: housing
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Casa Linda: Week of August 10-August 16
By Kerri Provost, August 10, 2010 7:29 am
Many of the homes in this series have been rowhouses of some kind or another. I like how different parts of one structure get personalized with different paint colors or flowers. I also like how in a homebuying situation, one is making a commitment to share at least one wall of her home with someone who is most likely a stranger.
This week’s edition features a rowhouse that comes with a large front yard and is adjacent to a park. These, like a previous week’s edition, were designed by George Keller. (In writing this, I learned that what is now the Burns School used to be the Hartford Orphan Asylum!) Check out this website for a photo taken by someone lucky enough to find no cars parked out in front of the building. It’s a challenge to get photos that avoid power lines, air conditioners, cars, and political signs, all of which conspire to uglify pictures.
Casa Linda: Sixth Beautiful Home
By Kerri Provost, August 3, 2010 12:13 am
The sixth home featured in this series is actually several homes.
A Polished Performance
By Kerri Provost, June 30, 2010 5:45 am
Jazz pianist Zaccai Curtis performed solo at the Polish National Home Saturday evening. More about the stunning performance in a bit.
The Polish National Home is to the Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood, as Connecticut’s Colonial Charter was to the Charter Oak, which is to say that both are/were well hidden in plain sight.
If one approaches the building after having just exited I-91, then she may assume she took a wrong turn. On her left, while traveling up Charter Oak Avenue, she would see a closed factory with its own ecosystem– something that has a way of deadening the surrounding area. It’s simply one more forgotten building in the city, so forgotten that trees are popping out of it.
At the same time, the Polish National Home is next to an elementary school, as well as the somewhat also hidden, but lively, Pulaski Mall, a park nestled between the Sheldon Oak Cooperative housing units, which are not exactly fine examples of attractive architecture, but appeared to lack greenery inappropriately growing out of their walls. My own trip to the PNH included gallivanting around Main Street, then through Pulaski Mall, where kids, many of them, were playing outside in an area that seemed like safe refuge from traffic. Continue reading 'A Polished Performance'»
3-5 Putnam Heights
By Kerri Provost, June 26, 2010 2:15 pm
A fire this morning displaced residents from 3- 5 Putnam Heights. The Courant reports the number of displaced residents as 21.
I counted nearly a dozen fire engines, not to mention ambulances, police, and other fire-related vehicles. It does not appear that any residents were injured.
Firefighters responded promptly, which is crucial in areas where buildings are close together. They prevented the fire from spreading to other structures. Thank you!
For more photos, go to my Photobucket page.
Introducing New Photo Series
By Kerri Provost, June 24, 2010 12:10 pm
Scenes from the Sidewalk – a sporadic feature — will continue to depict the odd, random, and intriguing things I find while walking/biking through the city.
New to Real Hartford will be a weekly photo as part of the Casa Linda series. This will showcase homes (houses, apartments, condos, and other possible dwelling places) and yards throughout Hartford.
The plan to spontaneously photograph them. The owners/tenants will not be warned, so what you will see are not pictures of homes and yards that have been spruced up especially for a photo opportunity. Aside from possibly cropping out cars or powerlines ruining the picture, there will be no photoediting. Some of the homes pictured might happen to be for sale, but I am not seeking these out.
The neighborhood or general area will be posted.
Look for the first installment next week.
Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods
By Kerri Provost, February 15, 2010 10:48 am
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'»
"north end", 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, parks, photos, quality of life, south green, tax money in action, transportation
Welcome to Frog Hollow
By Kerri Provost, January 23, 2010 3:00 am
I’ve just purchased a home in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, so here’s a photo tour to acquaint readers with my new surroundings:
Benefit for Immaculate Conception Shelter
By Kerri Provost, January 20, 2010 6:00 am
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 NACA Workshop
By Kerri Provost, September 7, 2008 11:23 am
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'»
