The Department of Public Works has announced a parking ban from August 23rd-29th on certain streets due to milling and paving. They say “no parking will be allowed within the limits of construction area during milling and paving operations.” This schedule depends on weather conditions, so the ban may be extended if necessary. The streets with parking bans include:
This information comes from the City of Hartford. If you want to know more about the details of this, contact Keith Rapoza at (860) 757-9984.
The 49th Annual Greater Hartford West Indian Day Parade tried out a different route Saturday afternoon. Continue reading 'A Glance at the West Indian Day Parade'»
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The parade begins at Main and Battles Streets at noon. It heads South on Main Street, turns onto Trumbull, then continues on Jewell, Ford, and Asylum before ending in Bushnell Park around 2pm.
Dr. Neil Parsan — the Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago — will be the parade’s Grand Marshall.
There will be a reggae festival beginning around 3pm in Bushnell Park, following parade.
Click here to see photos from the event.
Not fatigued yet by all these development meetings? Here are four more to add to your schedule then:
June 22: Handel Performing Arts Center on the corner of Albany Avenue and Westbourne Parkway will host the discussion pertaining to Asylum Hill, Blue Hills, Parkville, and the West End.
June 23: Metzner Recreation Center at 680 Franklin Avenue. This meeting is for the Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, South End, and Southwest neighborhoods.
June 27: Hartford Public Library will host the meeting for Downtown, Frog Hollow, Sheldon/Charter Oak, and South Green.
June 29: Parker Community Center at 2621 Main Street will host meeting for Clay Arsenal, Northeast, and Upper Albany neighborhoods.
The meetings about Livable & Sustainable Neighborhoods are described as opportunities for the public to learn about how the One City One Plan projects are being implemented. Literature sent from the City of Hartford says this will pertain to “infrastructure, community development, and anti-blight projects” happening “over the next two years.” A press release from the City indicates that this is part of the One City, One Plan. The One City, One Plan — the Plan of Conservation and Development through 2020 — was developed after receiving input from NRZs and the public. The projects vary from neighborhood-to-neighborhood. All of these meetings run from 6-7:30pm.
Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Blue Hills, Clay Arsenal, Frog Hollow, Hartford, North East, POCD, Parkville, Sheldon/Charter Oak, South End, South West, Upper Albany, Urban Renewal, West End, blight, community, downtown, south green
On Monday we looked at what residents are concerned about in the Upper Albany, Clay Arsenal, North East, Blue Hills, West End, and Parkville neighborhoods; yesterday, we examined the data from Downtown, and from South Green, Sheldon/Charter Oak, South Meadows, South End, and South West neighborhoods. Today, we’re going to look at the rest: Behind the Rocks, Barry Square, Frog Hollow, and Asylum Hill.
Behind the Rocks’ three most frequent 311 cases are related to pesky trees, graffiti, and housing concerns. Housing concerns were the major cause of complaint for folks in Barry Square — almost three times as many as the next highest item of concern, trees. The top two issues for Frog Hollow right now are housing complaints and bedbugs. There are 28 cases related to housing in Asylum Hill; all other 311 cases in that neighborhood currently total in at 28. Continue reading 'The 311 Data Dump: What Do Hartfordians Worry About? (part 3/3)'»
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Today, supporters of immigrants’ rights marched through Hartford.
Continue reading 'Pro-Immigration March'»
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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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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'»
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It’s been reported that the Guardian Angels had been contacted after a series of murders; on Sunday, a group of the Guardian Angels walked the Garden Street area. This “patrol” was designed to assess the situation. The Hartford Courant reports that Guardian Angels will begin weekly patrols, and that the group’s founder wants there to be a Hartford chapter; an earlier attempt to do just that failed in the 80s. For those who do not remember, there was controversy about the group then. Recent news about the GA’s visit to Hartford reference controversy, without really spelling out what the issues are.
According to their own website, they have won presidential praise, are global, and are a way for people to do community service.
In the recent Courant article, someone questioning the group was described as a thug:
“That’s for show,” said one bystander, a young man with a mouthful of gold-capped teeth and dressed in a matching yellow shirt that read “Born Killers.” “They can’t stop nothing. We’re out there every day. When they leave, there’s gonna be a shooting.” The man would not give his name.
His comments — which might have been construed differently had he been described as an elderly man or a shop owner — only echo a critique of the Guardian Angels that has been made elsewhere. In a discussion about the GA’s presence in New Bedford, one person commented:
They came to Brockton, and are hardly seen… ** ONLY ** when a news camera is around, they come out!
Continue reading 'Whose Guardians?'»
I like to avoid talking about race, mostly because whenever it comes up, people get defensive, they shut down, and then nothing productive comes of it. So, I don’t really want to go there, but there is here.
I think it’s really hard to talk about transportation without pointing out the obvious– only a particular demographic is fuel addicted in America. When the idea of reducing private motorized transportation comes up in certain circles, it’s deemed radical (or too radical). It should not be. The reality is that many Americans do not own automobiles. If, however, a person lives in an area where the ethnic and racial groups with low rates of vehicle ownership do not tend to live, there can be a distorted idea of how life is for everyone everywhere.
In the city of Hartford, 36.1% of households do not have a vehicle. Continue reading 'Getting Around'»
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