- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 5,046
- Reaction Score
- 19,925
That's a pretty negative view. Remote work is here to stay, but back to the office is a trend in every city right now. Being in the office 3 days a week is a strong trend with 4 days increasing as well. Stats back that up. Will office occupancy get back to pre-Covid levels? No, but they will be higher than what they have been.Nah. Won't happen. Too many other non-Hartford options now. It's just not worth driving, parking and not being close enough to walk between establishments. And the remote work has drained what was left of any lunch/happy hour crowd.
And, I'll say it again. How long have the Yard Goats been around with that great stadium? And what else is there to do around that park? Nothing. They haven't put a single new eating or drinking establishment that takes advantage of it to this day.
In my opinion, what Hartford has lacked is a start up/growth company ecosphere. Growth companies drive employment, not mature industries like insurance. The Hartford area has a lot going for it with cheap housing and office rents (relative to Boston, NYC, Providence), a great location for outdoor recreation with the mountains and ocean very close, good schools in the suburbs,... I live in the Boston suburbs and a comparable house in West Hartford sells for less than half of what it sells for in my town and property taxes are half. And, West Hartford schools are better. Office rents are less than half of what they are in Boston. Putting apartments in Hartford is a start to rejuvenation of the city.
Development around the baseball stadium has been held up by the lawsuit which needs to be resolved.