Saturday, January 23, 2010

Let's Get Together (yeah, yeah, yeah)

This lovely Saturday morning, I woke up to a great blog entry @ www.realhartford.org. The entry contained a lot of "neighborhood pride." See, the author just purchased a home in Frog Hollow, a neighborhood right outside of downtown. She described her neighborhood in a tone that made me want to pack my bags and move, highlighting all of the vibrances of the community. This is something I often do with my own neighborhood. When asked about living downtown, and what downtown Hartford has to offer, I highlight the perks of living downtown and the changes that are well on their way. Anyway, this blog post got me thinking about collaboration. I've been thinking about how important it is for downtown Hartford business owners, residents, and employees to come together in a joint effort to revive our city. If retailers are going to be successful, they need the support of residents, employees, and visitors and to make downtown a desirable location, consumers, residents, and employees need to feel the presence of retailers and industry. I'm happy to have found a core group of "Hartford Activists" who blog, twitter, and advocate for change in our city (I have to admit, I didn't realize this group existed). Now, we have to continue to collaborate, come together, and push for the change that so many people are only talking about.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that city officials and certain (major) property owners are not joining in this collaborative effort. I recently read an article arguing that with more support from the city and state, the new CT Science Center in downtown Hartford could make our capital city a "hot spot" for potential residents, employees, and visitors from as far as western MA. If the state does not up their support now, while the facility is new, they could miss the chance to revive the city. We have to jump on things while they're hot, as we're doing with the grocery store issue. If Northland had filled all of those retails spaces in Hartford 21 for a way reduced rate back when it first opened, they would have built up the area and would now have retailers itching to get in there for a more desirable rent. Seriously, what kind of business person is handling the leasing??

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