Instead of moving the West Harford campus to Hartford, why not to East Hartford???

[upstater]

Building out in Hartford is a very smart idea. There's no money for it. So, Storrs it is.

For those of you who think it's dumb, the thinking at many suburban universities these days is that it (was) is a mistake not to make these urban centers (for a variety of reasons which are much too long to go into). The money will never be there. We are talking billions of dollars. So it's not going to happen.

I was walking around New Haven today, and the place looks great. Not the New Haven of my childhood (1970s until mid 1980s). And the reason why is Yale. Urban schools like U. Minnesota, U. Wisconsin, U. Washington, Boston U., Northeastern U., U. Pennsylvania, etc., transform their cities.

 

[RMoore1999]

No objection to moving UConn WH to Hartford. But HFD wanted to relocate the whole main campus. That's nuts and counterproductive.

I worked in Harford in 89-90. Civic Pub was always packed with UConn students. Same faces I would see at Huskies and Ted's. Then somehow, a rash of stupidity took over. They replaced the Civic Pub with something useless. Replaced the 80's New Wave bar above it with something useless. Then they shut down Challenges, which was always crowded. The Russian Lady went out too, which should never have been allowed to happen. That pretty much wiped out any reason young people had to hang around Hartford.

Not sure stupidity shut down all your favorite bars from your youth. They are gone due to poor management and/or because they couldn't consistently turn a profit. Like most restaurants/bars everywhere.

You ought to try to get back downtown. A fair amount of decent bars/restaurants are packed with UConn fans on game days; probably even with some familiar faces from the good ole days. You'll even be happy to see that the Russian Lady is back up and running (for now)....

 

[UConnDan97]

Building out in Hartford is a very smart idea. There's no money for it. So, Storrs it is.

For those of you who think it's dumb, the thinking at many suburban universities these days is that it (was) is a mistake not to make these urban centers (for a variety of reasons which are much too long to go into). The money will never be there. We are talking billions of dollars. So it's not going to happen.

I was walking around New Haven today, and the place looks great. Not the New Haven of my childhood (1970s until mid 1980s). And the reason why is Yale. Urban schools like U. Minnesota, U. Wisconsin, U. Washington, Boston U., Northeastern U., U. Pennsylvania, etc., transform their cities.

I agree that Yale is doing some great things in New Haven, and I have seen their recent plans to build up yet another two blocks in the very near future. Do you know what the major difference is between Yale and UConn (besides the Ivy League designation)? One has an endowment in the 300 to 400 million dollar ballpark. The other one has an endowment of 19 BILLION.

Bringing UConn-Hartford into the city of Hartford is a fine idea. Putting the main campus in Hartford is lunacy. Sheer lunacy...

 

[noeynox]

Eek, most of New Haven is a war zone. Yale has done wonderful things down near downtown, but New Haven has to be one of the most undesirable places to live Yale or no Yale.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Coffee is now all over my shirt and desk. To where should I be sending the cleaning bill?

East Hartford would be my guess.

 

[huskymedic]

Eek, most of New Haven is a war zone. Yale has done wonderful things down near downtown, but New Haven has to be one of the most undesirable places to live Yale or no Yale.

No more - no less than any other Northeast urban city... Been to Bridgeport, Worcester or Springfield lately? Every city has it's undesirable neighborhoods. Downtown NH has turned for the better and moving in right direction (have worked in NH for a large percentage of my career).

 

[upstater]

No more - no less than any other Northeast urban city... Been to Bridgeport, Worcester or Springfield lately? Every city has it's undesirable neighborhoods. Downtown NH has turned for the better and moving in right direction (have worked in NH for a large percentage of my career).

I don't get to NH often, but I've been here the last couple of days. This place has had a huge turnaround. We were around Yale, and that's looking a lot nicer than it used to, but the 9th Square has a bunch of bars and restaurants. A decade ago, there was literally ZERO down there but Cafe9. A lot of work has been done. Even Chapel Street looks better, and that is saying something. I was over by that Co-op and bicycle shop, and it was eye opening and eye popping. A decade ago, that area looked incredibly shoddy.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I like that when we've run out of stupid ideas, we head to the lab to start inventing more.

Welcome to the offseason!

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Eek, most of New Haven is a war zone. Yale has done wonderful things down near downtown, but New Haven has to be one of the most undesirable places to live Yale or no Yale.

I couldn't disagree more. New Haven is one of the only places for young UConn graduates who want to stay in-state to enjoy cultural events, nightlife, community, etc. in Connecticut. I know a few alumni down here who love it and are excited about the revitalization efforts in the city.

 

[Dann]

stamford actually is where kids are going if they want to be ct but close to nyc. a lot of kids live in stamford and comute to nyc/wc/stam/nwalk/bpt/dbury daily. its perfect between the train and highways. its going to be a huge spot the next 10 years growth wise. meanwhile uconn thinks stamford is in new jersey.

 

[UConnDan97]

I think the whole shoreline got better. Stamford looks better, Norwalk is definitely better, and even New Haven is on an "uptick". Yale is getting some stuff done there in the next few years which will likely make it even better...

 

[Oxford Bob]

BPT could be a goldmine if the city actually cleaned up the area south of I-95. Stamford and Norwalk started to do this decades ago and are now starting to thrive in those areas. UB has started to purchase land and buildings around the school, Harbor Yard and the Arena anchor the east end of this area, Seaside Park could be the best city beach in the state. Oh well, wishful thinking.

 

[Vowelguy]

i think ppl here think iw ant to drop uconn in the middle of hartford between a coke deal and a murder street crossing. i don't want that. i have a vision of the campus being the edge of the city and the city block by block getting torn apart and included in a new city that doesn't have the iccues it has now and is a real town feel every block. ever been to boston? bc is at the end of the t green line is it? anyway its a nice little campus and when u enter u go from city or burb. as u work your way from bc to bu you get more and more city like. i have the vision of uconn being uconn green and woodsy and all that yaya with cows and squirels and **** and as u get into hartford more u reach the middle where corporate area is. with those 2 sites being connected by a mess, it takes time but flip that mess to a reppectable community. a lot of that will be live areas will college kids off campus and young professionals who now like the area as a city and are attracted to all the news jobs and infrastructure etc. ok i need to stop before i go nuts, i really do. sorry.

Yes, that model has worked out great for UHart.

 

[upstater]

Yes, that model has worked out great for UHart.

Enrollment of under 7,000.

That's not going to cut it.

You stick 25,000 undergrads in any city in the US, and you'll see a big transformation.

 

[Dann]

in my idea uhart is bought out fwiw and those students can go to uconn hatrford or storrs come the day it all happens depending on qualifying issues per student.

Yes, that model has worked out great for UHart.

i'm gald uhart and uconn are even in the same planet in your mind.

 

[auggie22]

Eek, most of New Haven is a war zone. Yale has done wonderful things down near downtown, but New Haven has to be one of the most undesirable places to live Yale or no Yale.

Dislike.

 

[ffg53]

Building out in Hartford is a very smart idea. There's no money for it. So, Storrs it is.

For those of you who think it's dumb, the thinking at many suburban universities these days is that it (was) is a mistake not to make these urban centers (for a variety of reasons which are much too long to go into). The money will never be there. We are talking billions of dollars. So it's not going to happen.

I was walking around New Haven today, and the place looks great. Not the New Haven of my childhood (1970s until mid 1980s). And the reason why is Yale. Urban schools like U. Minnesota, U. Wisconsin, U. Washington, Boston U., Northeastern U., U. Pennsylvania, etc., transform their cities.

Within reason...Granted it's been a while and when I was there it was the middle of the crack epidemic, but North Philly around both the Temple and LaSalle campuses was absolutely horrible and West Philly around Penn (and to a lesser extent, Villanova) wasn't a whole lot better. I was a Temple student but attended Tyler School of Art which at that time was in Cheltenham (across the north Philly border) and I made sure that every class I took was on campus there instead of the main campus down on Broad. I went to college after serving in the Gulf in the Navy and I felt safer in the Gulf during the tanker wars in '87 than I did in North Philly in '88-91. Of course Yale has pumped a lot more money into a much smaller city, but a university does not always make a city more livable. Syracuse is another good example...within a couple blocks of campus it's great, but watch out if you stray too far.

I'm happy UConn is moving from W. Hartford downtown. I work downtown and I hope it adds some life to the city. I actually think Hartford has promise and is moving in generally the right direction (albeit slowly), so it will certainly help having more students around. It's pretty bad when even Starbucks is closed on Sundays.

 

[ffg53]

Dislike.

I disagree 100%...New Haven around Yale is fantastic. It sucks that all the bands that used to go to Toad's now go to Northampton, and that they put a time limit on the parking lot at Broadway, and that Cutler's is history, but it's still a fun town with a ton of great restaurants, etc. And you can actually go there on a Sunday and places are open.

 

[auggie22]

I disagree 100%...New Haven around Yale is fantastic. It sucks that all the bands that used to go to Toad's now go to Northampton, and that they put a time limit on the parking lot at Broadway, and that Cutler's is history, but it's still a fun town with a ton of great restaurants, etc. And you can actually go there on a Sunday and places are open.

I think we are in agreement. I was disliking the post, not the city.

 

[upstater]

Within reason...Granted it's been a while and when I was there it was the middle of the crack epidemic, but North Philly around both the Temple and LaSalle campuses was absolutely horrible and West Philly around Penn (and to a lesser extent, Villanova) wasn't a whole lot better. I was a Temple student but attended Tyler School of Art which at that time was in Cheltenham (across the north Philly border) and I made sure that every class I took was on campus there instead of the main campus down on Broad. I went to college after serving in the Gulf in the Navy and I felt safer in the Gulf during the tanker wars in '87 than I did in North Philly in '88-91. Of course Yale has pumped a lot more money into a much smaller city, but a university does not always make a city more livable. Syracuse is another good example...within a couple blocks of campus it's great, but watch out if you stray too far.

I'm happy UConn is moving from W. Hartford downtown. I work downtown and I hope it adds some life to the city. I actually think Hartford has promise and is moving in generally the right direction (albeit slowly), so it will certainly help having more students around. It's pretty bad when even Starbucks is closed on Sundays.

Philly had a huge renaissance a while ago. It's been 10 years for them already. Villanova? That's in the wealthiest burbs.

Try to imagine Syracuse without the university there. The foundry area just in the city off the hill wouldn't even exist without the school.

 

[UConnDan97]

Philly had a huge renaissance a while ago. It's been 10 years for them already. Villanova? That's in the wealthiest burbs.

Try to imagine Syracuse without the university there. The foundry area just in the city off the hill wouldn't even exist without the school.

I know that this is an argument that can likely never be proven either way, so I'm not sure why I'm participating in it, but let me ask you the following question. Can you name a school that was founded recently (i.e., in the last 50 years or so) that was able to turn a city around just by virtue of it being there?

The reason I ask is because many schools have been mentioned in this thread as "turning cities around", even though the schools themselves were founded in the 1800's. I would argue that the schools did not turn around the cities, but rather, that they made the cities. With the exception of Philadelphia, talking about cities like Syracuse and Madison in the absence of a major university at its heart is kind of silly, in my opinion...

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

stamford actually is where kids are going if they want to be ct but close to nyc. a lot of kids live in stamford and comute to nyc/wc/stam/nwalk/bpt/dbury daily. its perfect between the train and highways. its going to be a huge spot the next 10 years growth wise. meanwhile uconn thinks stamford is in new ****ing jersey.

I'm pretty meh on Stamford. As far as I can tell it's mostly wannabe investment bankers in pinstripe suits and a very sparkly city which seems to lack any culture other than affluence. All the bars pretty much seemed the same to me when I hung out there, but I'm a scummy New Haven resident, so what do I know.

 

[Marty Jackson]

wasnt there talk of creating some sort of research or something around rentschler?

 

[Marty Jackson]

In retrospect, UConn would have been better off where CCSU is today (assuming that P&W would have continued to use most of the E Hartford campus and airfield through the early 1990’s). More centrally located, closer to jobs in Hartford, access to mass transit (bus, train) and closer to Hartford and $airfield County. May have saved New Britain, too.

if we're re-writing history, ct should have annexed nyc and put it's flagship campus in downtown manhattan.

oh well. hooker was an idiot who lacked vision and apparently hated college sports.

 

[upstater]

I know that this is an argument that can likely never be proven either way, so I'm not sure why I'm participating in it, but let me ask you the following question. Can you name a school that was founded recently (i.e., in the last 50 years or so) that was able to turn a city around just by virtue of it being there?

The reason I ask is because many schools have been mentioned in this thread as "turning cities around", even though the schools themselves were founded in the 1800's. I would argue that the schools did not turn around the cities, but rather, that they made the cities. With the exception of Philadelphia, talking about cities like Syracuse and Madison in the absence of a major university at its heart is kind of silly, in my opinion...

Universities that were founded recently? Huurrhh? Like what?

The point is, there are lots of schools that have been crucial to urban development, and since urban development is clearly a post-1960s (mostly post 1990s) phenomenon, this is what you'd have to look at. And there has been a lot of research on this, from the likes of Richard Florida and others. The basic ideas are simple: you create enough density (esp. in restaurants and boutiques) that it draws enough people into the city center, and pretty soon you have entrepreneurial start-ups associated with the university.

Yale has been around forever, but how do you explain New Haven's sad state in the 1970s given the presence of Yale, and then you look at Yale's proactivity in the 1990s contributing to New Haven's rebirth? Think of the research triangle in North Carolina. There was literally no there there 3 decades ago. These were cities back then, but dead cities. In fact, in cities like Albany and Buffalo, you have students who want to live downtown and who are willing to commute 30 minutes to the burbs (by public transport) which speaks to the opportunities missed in building on the outskirts.

Think of Columbus, Ohio and where it would be without the university. This is a 2nd tier city, not a college town. Like Austin, Texas, also not a college town. These two are very different than Ann Arbor (still very much a college town).