OT: Does anyone live in Downtown Hartford?

[uconndoit]

I swear that was my same apartment if you were on the second floor on the left side. I loved living there I used to forget my keys while running out to get pizza and injure myself jumping that damned fence. Place was roach infested however and the view of the rats attacking the dumpster outside en masse was something to behold.. I was probably there somewhere between 92-94. Spent a lot of time at the two bars downstairs. The Federal and something New Orleans themed that I forget the name of. Ended up moving up to this old brick mansion by Mark Twain house that was divided up into apartments. Strange times.

I was on the ground floor - the one with the huge glass window overlooking the courtyard.

Yeah I jumped that fence a few times too.

I moved there in 1995. I sort of knew the 2 guys who lived upstairs from me - I think one of them was named Travis? Iirc they worked together. They had a few fun parties...

I was living in that building during the Clinton Dole debate which took place in Hartford. I had some friends come up for it. We all went out to bars where they were having viewing parties. Downtown was atypically abuzz. After the debate we were walking back to my place and we saw the motorcade pass. Then I bought a special edition of the Courant from a guy selling them on the street with a big picture from the debate on the front page (or maybe the photo wasn't really from the debate - this was only about an hour or maybe two afterwards). As we got closer to my place - approaching from allyn street - there were plainclothes men with guns and earpieces stationed all around. They said we couldn't keep walking that way for security reasons. I told them I lived over there so he walkie- talkied ahead to say we were coming through.

So we made it to the back gate and decided to go through the courtyard to the church street gate to see what was going on. The streets were cordoned off with a path for people to walk through so we went through the apartment complex gate on to the street and walked left towards Union Station.

Immediately some guy of an official capacity asked "Are you here for the rally?" Of course we said "Yup!"

He ushered us through and we ended up in Union Station where about 100 people were gathered anxiously waiting for something.

After about 30 minutes Bubba walked in and gave a rousing speech.

To be continued... ok done with breakfast

After the speech as the crowd was clapping and yelling etc and Bill was waving I held the newspaper above my head and he pointed at me and gave the thumbs up! That was a pretty big thrill for me at the time. The others in my group all got handshakes but I liked my little interaction.

I did get a handshake a few years later when he came to Westport for a fundraiser. Afterwards he did a little palm pressing with the small crowd outside. As he shook my hand he looked me straight in the eye and seemed to make a tweaky look like he recognized me...but it could also have been that I was unshaven and probably looked a little sketchy. But in reality it was probably just Bill being Bill - the guy who has a gift for interacting with people.

 

[bigknight3]

@CTBasketball In response to your thread about buying a house. Read my comments in this thread. You named all the areas around Hartford but not Hartford. At your pricepoint, there are some nice areas in Hartford. Barry Square South of Trinity College, parts of the South End, the West end. Don't know if your into city living. Its for some people and not for others.

I didn't want to rent either, expecially at downtown prices. Price of a two br apartment downtown got me a two family house with 70% of my mortgage covered by rental income for more than 100k less that your current price point. I'm happy with the area that I live, access to I-84 and I-91, a ten minute commute to work and access to downtown bars/restaurant and activities whenever I want with a quick drive in.

I assume there are plenty of decent singel family starter homes in these areas???

 

[polycom]

Hartford’s mil rate is higher than 75 no? And as @whaler11 pointed out I’m not getting any of these taxes deducted.

All my tax money is going to the poorly run city of Hartford where they can fund stupid projects and buy school equipment for kids who hate school and authority.

Yikes. Let's not do this.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Seriously...I second what polycom said.

 

[Adios]

Bridgeport is home to Connecticut's safest college campus

There used to be a projects up the road, Marina Village. The raised ailroad does serve as a barrier for the South End to some degree.

 

[polycom]

I toured 777 Main in Hartford, Front Street Lofts also in Hartford and Heirloom Flats in Bloomfield.

My thoughts on these 3 apartments are 777 Main while it has been converted from a bank to an apartment building it still feels like you are in a bank throughout the building beside in the actual apartment unit. There are some great views if you are on the higher floors (we toured apartments that were on the 25th and 22nd floors.) Each apartment was fully carpeted which having people carpet is a pain to keep clean but they also had nice kitchens with full-size laundry appliances. The building smelled weird, not sure if they went away with time or you just got used to it but it was odd. The gym was also terrible in size and hours of operations, it opened at 6am and closed at 10pm.... With all that said the prices here were the best 1bed + den was around $1500 I believe which was plenty of space.

Front Street lofts is an amazing location next to one of the UConn downtown buildings and across the street from Bears. The building was nice the gym was a bit small but at least it was open 24 hours I believe. They had a nice outdoor patio that you could drink on which had a tv and couches. The apartments themselves had large kitchens but smaller living spaces however they had real hardwood flooring which looked very nice. We looked at a 2br 2 bath that had an absolutely colossal island, which, would allow you to go without a dining table.The bathrooms were also very large in the 2 bed. I believe the rent for the place we looked at was $2400, with very limited preferred employer benefits.

Heirloom Flats. Location is, unfortunately, Bloomfield which makes it difficult to get to anywhere easily other than the airport. The building is brand new and we were told construction wouldn't be completed until May 11 or 12. The amenities at this place were the best and it wasn't close they have a 3000 SQ ft gym that is open 24/7, a heated pool, 5 outdoor grills and an outdoor movie screen so a great space to entertain. We looked at a 2br 2 bath and a 1 bed with a den. The 1 bed with a den was handicap accessible everything was low and they had a microwave on the counter which took up an incredible amount of space, the unit also had polished concrete floors which looked horrible. The 2bed was a corner unit with a large balcony overlooking the courtyard which was very nice, the master suite room is a little small but it fits a queen bed they said but the 2nd bedroom is huge I think its 14 x 14. This place had the best-preferred employer perks. I believe the rent for the 2bed was $2100 but it was certainly smaller than the front street lofts 2bed.

If you have any other questions I can try to answer that, I signed a lease at one of these places so I will not be touring other places.

I also looked at 1 beds at all of these places but didn't feel the need to describe them here, but I can if people have questions or care.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Not sure whether this would better fit in the Jaden Delaire thread ;-P, but we spent some time in downtown Hartford this past Sunday and it was quite nice.

Easy, free, on-street weekend parking near the Public Library, lunch at the new/larger Bear's, a cappuccino from the Starbucks inside the UCONN Barnes & Noble bookstore (beneath the Lofts apartments) that we enjoyed on the plaza that now extends from Front Street past Travelers, Phoenix, access to the River, and Constitution Plaza, and a stroll between the Hartford Club & School of Social Work to the Atheneum for some great art including Rembrandt drawings and the Edward Gorey exhibition.

I've already imagined walking from Union Station through the core of downtown to this area or to a baseball game or to Monday night jazz in Bushnell Park after the New Haven-Springfield train starts up soon.

 

[Ha Who]

Hartford Officer Stabbed In Neck, Police Say

These are one of the islands I spoke of earlier in the thread. Would not leave these apartments after sunset or after latest update would not leave my apartment

 

[bigknight3]

Hartford Officer Stabbed In Neck, Police Say

These are one of the islands I spoke of earlier in the thread. Would not leave these apartments after sunset or after latest update would not leave my apartment

What random a$ s connection are you trying to make here. By islands are you claiming this apartment building is a dead area that you wouldn't walk to or from at night?

And then are you claiming the officers stabbing has anything to do with it?

The stabbing happened in broad daylight at 10am when the officer was responding to the call to assist with an eviction. There was no that of a weapon when the call when out. The situation escalated and the officer was stabbed by a woman who was educated and received awards for being a positive person in the community. She was evicted because she had been acting erratically around the apartment building.

But this has nothing to do with whether Hartford or that section of the city is safe or not. And it's irresponsible to post that article in this thread to continue to perpetuate a false narrative of the city.

This was an situation that escalated. It's an odd and sad story.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I toured 777 Main in Hartford, Front Street Lofts also in Hartford and Heirloom Flats in Bloomfield.

My thoughts on these 3 apartments are 777 Main while it has been converted from a bank to an apartment building it still feels like you are in a bank throughout the building beside in the actual apartment unit. There are some great views if you are on the higher floors (we toured apartments that were on the 25th and 22nd floors.) Each apartment was fully carpeted which having people carpet is a pain to keep clean but they also had nice kitchens with full-size laundry appliances. The building smelled weird, not sure if they went away with time or you just got used to it but it was odd. The gym was also terrible in size and hours of operations, it opened at 6am and closed at 10pm.... With all that said the prices here were the best 1bed + den was around $1500 I believe which was plenty of space.

Front Street lofts is an amazing location next to one of the UConn downtown buildings and across the street from Bears. The building was nice the gym was a bit small but at least it was open 24 hours I believe. They had a nice outdoor patio that you could drink on which had a tv and couches. The apartments themselves had large kitchens but smaller living spaces however they had real hardwood flooring which looked very nice. We looked at a 2br 2 bath that had an absolutely colossal island, which, would allow you to go without a dining table.The bathrooms were also very large in the 2 bed. I believe the rent for the place we looked at was $2400, with very limited preferred employer benefits.

Heirloom Flats. Location is, unfortunately, Bloomfield which makes it difficult to get to anywhere easily other than the airport. The building is brand new and we were told construction wouldn't be completed until May 11 or 12. The amenities at this place were the best and it wasn't close they have a 3000 SQ ft gym that is open 24/7, a heated pool, 5 outdoor grills and an outdoor movie screen so a great space to entertain. We looked at a 2br 2 bath and a 1 bed with a den. The 1 bed with a den was handicap accessible everything was low and they had a microwave on the counter which took up an incredible amount of space, the unit also had polished concrete floors which looked horrible. The 2bed was a corner unit with a large balcony overlooking the courtyard which was very nice, the master suite room is a little small but it fits a queen bed they said but the 2nd bedroom is huge I think its 14 x 14. This place had the best-preferred employer perks. I believe the rent for the 2bed was $2100 but it was certainly smaller than the front street lofts 2bed.

If you have any other questions I can try to answer that, I signed a lease at one of these places so I will not be touring other places.

I also looked at 1 beds at all of these places but didn't feel the need to describe them here, but I can if people have questions or care.

777 main has always seemed ridiculous to me. Hartford apartments need to lower their prices--why live in a 1 br in a downtown that turns to dust on weekends for such a steep price?

 

[polycom]

777 main has always seemed ridiculous to me. Hartford apartments need to lower their prices--why live in a 1 br in a downtown that turns to dust on weekends for such a steep price?

Yeah 777 main zero chance I’d live their ever. The smell alone is horrible.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Yeah 777 main zero chance I’d live their ever. The smell alone is horrible.

Haha jeez that's awful! Looks Cold War-esque from the outside, but thought maybe inside was better. Looked at prices only but thought they were too steep for location and based on pics. Hope you find a good place!

 

[UC313]

I've lived in Hartford, but in the South end, not downtown. I've had many friends who have lived downtown. Places on Bushnell Park and Hartford 21 are very nice. The coolest studio I've seen was 2nd or 3rd floor across from Union Station-all brick, high ceilings, and separate kitchen. The new spot to be is anywhere between the XL Center and Front Street though. I miss the nights at Hot Tomato's, then to Up or On the Rocks or Bears. I also miss the low rent, but the options for food/drinks are better now I'd say. I'm from Wethersfield, and moved to Hartford when I was younger and single. Now I'm back in the suburbs of Wethersfield...typical married schmuck.

In the works is apartments on Allyn st. Like 4 of those connecting builds where (im gonna date myself) the brickyard was.

 

[Ha Who]

What random a$ s connection are you trying to make here. By islands are you claiming this apartment building is a dead area that you wouldn't walk to or from at night?

And then are you claiming the officers stabbing has anything to do with it?

The stabbing happened in broad daylight at 10am when the officer was responding to the call to assist with an eviction. There was no that of a weapon when the call when out. The situation escalated and the officer was stabbed by a woman who was educated and received awards for being a positive person in the community. She was evicted because she had been acting erratically around the apartment building.

But this has nothing to do with whether Hartford or that section of the city is safe or not. And it's irresponsible to post that article in this thread to continue to perpetuate a false narrative of the city.

This was an situation that escalated. It's an odd and sad story.

While I agree this is unrelated to living in Hartford, I disagree with you about perpetuating a false narrative. I work close to these apartments and it is an island (I have worked in Hartford over 30 years). Every morning as I walk to work, the aroma of weed is there. I get harassed every morning and lunch for money (either that or I am just well respected and called sir by many people) I would not leave Spectra at night.

I had no problem walking from the crack building (now the lots near the dunk) to hoops games because of numbers on the street. Would you honestly feel safe walking from the XL to Front Street (an easy walk) at night? The area around Travelers is a dead zone.

I love Hartford. I grew up in the area, went to Whalers games, hit the bars and still go to concerts, hoops games and the Bushnell. Without sufficient numbers you can not connect all these dots and feel safe. It is just a fact. Anybody who spends any time in Hartford knows the quality of life issues (garbage, left on red, etc). I pray we can get some major businesses here to draw the numbers needed. We are just not even close

 

[Chief00]

How much of that 2.5 B is Ganim skimming?

Like Cianci and Rowland that method seems to work well with developers.

 

[Deepster]

The situation escalated and the officer was stabbed by a woman who was educated and received awards for being a positive person in the community. She was evicted because she had been acting erratically around the apartment building.

Oh. So the woman that stabbed a cop in the neck because she couldn’t pay her rent......is a positive person in the community? That don’t add up, Chief.

 

[Bezzz]

Oh. So the woman that stabbed a cop in the neck because she couldn’t pay her rent.is a positive person in the community? That don’t add up, Chief.

It's kinda true, Deepster. I don't know, could be Angel Dust. From WFSB:
"She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College. She's been an account manager at Hartford Healthcare and recently started her own business that did not generate any revenue. Pells also said her client was a community volunteer who worked in the Connecticut Gun Violence Project and helped others with taxes."

 

[Deepster]

It's kinda true, Deepster. I don't know, could be Angel Dust. From WFSB:
"She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College. She's been an account manager at Hartford Healthcare and recently started her own business that did not generate any revenue. Pells also said her client was a community volunteer who worked in the Connecticut Gun Violence Project and helped others with taxes."

And you think it’s angel dust.....another interesting take on this pillar of the community.

 

[huskymedic]

It's kinda true, Deepster. I don't know, could be Angel Dust. From WFSB:
"She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College. She's been an account manager at Hartford Healthcare and recently started her own business that did not generate any revenue. Pells also said her client was a community volunteer who worked in the Connecticut Gun Violence Project and helped others with taxes."

Nah...

From the Courant:

>>Attorneys for landlord SPC Master Tenant LLC alleged that Augustin “created numerous disturbances” for her neighbors that affected “their peaceful enjoyment of the premises” and rose to the level of an eviction.

Those disturbances included wandering the hallways "aimlessly very late at night," sleeping in the common room couch, confronting other residents in a "hostile" way and ordering food to be delivered and then not going down to pick it up, leaving the delivery person at the door or others in the building to deal with it.<<

Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs...

 

[XLCenterFan]

If those actions leading up to her to eviction don't sound like mental health issues, then I don't know what does. It could be angel dust, but something must have gone awry in this woman's life. I think this is a good example of an American health care system that is in shambles. I mean geez, this woman worked in the health care system-Imagine those who are even further detached from it. That being said, her actions towards the officer were beyond reproach, but again, I think they point to a greater societal problem.

Also, as a current Trinity College student (I am older than they typical college student, but am completing a degree I started elsewhere and never finished), and someone who has taken economics classes there as prerequisites for my major (Public Policy & Law), I can tell you that graduating with an economics degree from Trinity is one hell of an accomplishment. So many incoming students plan on working in business/finance, and as a liberal arts school, economics is the only business/finance program available. To prevent everyone from choosing that major, they make the intro-level ECON classes extremely hard, to push people into other majors-I feel that they do not want to be known as a "Wall Street feeder." And then the upper level ECON classes (Micro/Maco-theory, Econometrics, Calculus I & II, etc.)? I shudder just thinking of the work load.

 

[bigknight3]

Oh. So the woman that stabbed a cop in the neck because she couldn’t pay her rent.is a positive person in the community? That don’t add up, Chief.

No I just took the time to read the facts of the situation instead of making random assumptions. As @huskymedic pointed out. The eviction had nothing to do with payment of rent.

Hartford Officer Recovering After Stabbing; Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder

"Augustin graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1997 and was heavily involved in school activities from debates to youth programs. She was a youth counselor at the Community Action Against Substance Abuse, or CAASA, a program that trains youths to teach other youths about substance abuse prevention.

She also received the first ever Spirit Award by Citizens of Connecticut's Children and Youth Inc. in 1997 for her research on teen sexual behaviors and attitudes."

Mental illness... Stress... Something happened here that resulted in her attacked this officer. But it definitely odd not a symptom of whether this area of Hartford is safe.

 

[Chief00]

Oh. So the woman that stabbed a cop in the neck because she couldn’t pay her rent.is a positive hperson in the community? That don’t add up, Chief.

Just curious, why did you address that question to me? Chief wasn’t involved in the violent crime conversation - just had a throw away comment about CT politicians skimming money.
As far as your comment’s content, I don’t believe she was being evicted due to non payment of rent but due to bizarre behavior - not responding to food deliveries she ordered, walking the halls at night and sleeping in common areas. Sounds like mental health issues and violent behavior.
I know some cops in Hartford and I recognize the violence and dysfunction you refer to. The shot detectors detect shots often - most times it never becomes a reported crime. It’s going to be a long summer.
As far as the downtown area - there is more life to the sidewalks and restaurants in the last couple of years - hope that trend continues.

 

[bigknight3]

While I agree this is unrelated to living in Hartford, I disagree with you about perpetuating a false narrative. I work close to these apartments and it is an island (I have worked in Hartford over 30 years). Every morning as I walk to work, the aroma of weed is there. I get harassed every morning and lunch for money (either that or I am just well respected and called sir by many people) I would not leave Spectra at night.

I had no problem walking from the crack building (now the lots near the dunk) to hoops games because of numbers on the street. Would you honestly feel safe walking from the XL to Front Street (an easy walk) at night? The area around Travelers is a dead zone.

I love Hartford. I grew up in the area, went to Whalers games, hit the bars and still go to concerts, hoops games and the Bushnell. Without sufficient numbers you can not connect all these dots and feel safe. It is just a fact. Anybody who spends any time in Hartford knows the quality of life issues (garbage, left on red, etc). I pray we can get some major businesses here to draw the numbers needed. We are just not even close

Posting an article about someone stabbing a cop and then relating it to it being a symptom of how far away this apartment building is away from others is exactly perpetuating a false narrative when people's knee jerk reaction is to assume this happened in some dark alley by some seedy low life. When the truth is it happened in broad daylight, with thousands of working professionals in the area, in a 9th for an apartment that she obviously qualified for and could afford by a seemingly well educated, member of the community.

Yes I would walk from XL to Front Street I've done it plenty of times.

Yes I would leave spectra at night. You act like there's nothing around it. It's sits above a coffee shop/bar that hosts evening events. It's on the same block as Uconn business school. It's only one more block to Dish/City Steam/Sorella on Main street past an apartment building and hotel. Why would you have issue making this walk? From Spectra your like 3 blocks from Front Street and can walk along the plaza to come down the stairs next to Front Street Lofts and Uconn Hartford.

I work across the street from Spectra. I've made these walks. I've never had an issue or been hesitant to do so.

 

[Chief00]

Posting an article about someone stabbing a cop and then relating it to it being a symptom of how far away this apartment building is away from others is exactly perpetuating a false narrative when people's knee jerk reaction is top assume this happened in some dark alley by some seedy low life. When the true is it happen in broad daylight, with thousands of working professionals in the area, in a 9th for apartment that she obviously qualified for and could afford buy a seemingly well educated, member of the community.

Yes I would walk from XL to Front Street I've done it plenty of times.

Yes I would leave spectra at night. You act like there's nothing around it. It's did above a coffee shop/bar that hosts evening events. It's on the same block as Uconn business school. It's only one more block to Dish/City Steam/Sorella on Main street past an apartment building and hotel. Why would you have issue making this walk? From Spectra your like 3 blocks from Front Street and can walk along the plaza to come down the stairs next to Front Street Lofts and Uconn Hartford.

I work across the street from Spectra. I've made these walks. I've never had an issue or been hesitant to do so.

Likewise I have walked the sidewalks of Hartford many times at night - people don’t mess with the Chief.

One time at an ATM on Franklin Ave I sense trouble as some dudes congregated behind me. I just turnaround faced the dudes and deeply said Chief. That took care of business they dispersed.

 

[Robertelamin]

Likewise I have walked the sidewalks of Hartford many times at night - people don’t mess with the Chief.

Must be tough Chief. Do you sign autographs often?