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Hartford in 2018


MichaelQReilly

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Hartford magazine had a nice article in this month's issue about what the city will be like in 10 years. Unfortunately their website is about a month out of date so I have no linke, but I will try and recap.

In some ways the article is a fluff piece, in that it doesn't really offer much that readers of this board wouldn't already know or expect. On the other hand, the article shares our vision and has quotes from most of the major players in the city. In particular, Larry G talks about his plans for the future of the city, and likens his work done so far to making the border of a puzzle and not filling in the inside. He talks about the YMCA site as if its a done deal, which is a good thing. He also talks about how he envisions making Bushnell Park the focus of the downtown housing market by developing some of the other parcels surrounding the park. Since I don't have the article in front of me, I'm not sure if its him or the city's economic developer, who mentions getting state offices out of the buildings surrounding the park, replacing them with housing, and building a new office building for them. Larry G also outlines his plans for the Northland property on Pratt St, saying that he wants to make it like a Newbury Street in Boston. He also mentions that he recognizes the need for more less expensive one bedrooms for young workers, given how quickly they have moved. The economic director had some good quotes in the article as well. He stresses that there isn't going to be one big project, but that the city will best make progress incrimentally though smaller projects. He mentions in particular developing the lot at the corner of Main and Asylum and also growing the downtown further down Asylum past 84. Other than that, the article also mentions that the city views a new arena as essential and is trying to move forward on that. There are probably a few other things I missed, I will reread it again when I get home.

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Hartford magazine had a nice article in this month's issue about what the city will be like in 10 years. Unfortunately their website is about a month out of date so I have no linke, but I will try and recap.

In some ways the article is a fluff piece, in that it doesn't really offer much that readers of this board wouldn't already know or expect. On the other hand, the article shares our vision and has quotes from most of the major players in the city. In particular, Larry G talks about his plans for the future of the city, and likens his work done so far to making the border of a puzzle and not filling in the inside. He talks about the YMCA site as if its a done deal, which is a good thing. He also talks about how he envisions making Bushnell Park the focus of the downtown housing market by developing some of the other parcels surrounding the park. Since I don't have the article in front of me, I'm not sure if its him or the city's economic developer, who mentions getting state offices out of the buildings surrounding the park, replacing them with housing, and building a new office building for them. Larry G also outlines his plans for the Northland property on Pratt St, saying that he wants to make it like a Newbury Street in Boston. He also mentions that he recognizes the need for more less expensive one bedrooms for young workers, given how quickly they have moved. The economic director had some good quotes in the article as well. He stresses that there isn't going to be one big project, but that the city will best make progress incrimentally though smaller projects. He mentions in particular developing the lot at the corner of Main and Asylum and also growing the downtown further down Asylum past 84. Other than that, the article also mentions that the city views a new arena as essential and is trying to move forward on that. There are probably a few other things I missed, I will reread it again when I get home.

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Thanks for taking the time to type this up.

If we look at a Hartford 2018 with the YMCA tower, a New Arena, a pro sport team. add in the many small projects in the works like 410 Asylum and 111 Pearl. add in several other office conversions and you have a pretty decent city. I am sure that things are getting better here in hartford.

10 years from now is always a funny thing to think about though. it is easy to imagine 10 years from now in todays climate, but the further you look out the more there are what ifs.

will gas prices continue to skyrocket? or will they drop back down. will the comodities market crash? (I think it will) If construction maerials drop and transportation costs continue to rise I think the next 10 years could be a very interesting time for Americas cities. I just yesterday read something about the cost of commuting as it effects the cost of buying a house. Walking to work would save me about $4000 per year. Walking is not an option in Manchester, but IIRC the article was talking about Houston and equated every 30 minutes of commute time to $4700. Being able to eliminate one of our cars and 30 minutes off of my wifes commute would save us about 8,000 according to some fuzzy math web sites. if that were true, it would surely cover some of the increased cost of buying downtown.(if there were good condo options)

so back to my point is that we could see some crazy downtown developments if associated commute costs continue to rise.

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yes sir!

55 Elm is a wonderful building.

If I recall the thread I started about dream office conversions 55 Elm was one of the most popular choices.

If in fact all of the older offices on Elm along the park on the South side were converted, downtown would have it's first upscale area. Elm street to Linden place to Charter Oak Place.

The side effect is that the state and city would likely find cost savings in a new office building as well.

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yes sir!

55 Elm is a wonderful building.

If I recall the thread I started about dream office conversions 55 Elm was one of the most popular choices.

If in fact all of the older offices on Elm along the park on the South side were converted, downtown would have it's first upscale area. Elm street to Linden place to Charter Oak Place.

The side effect is that the state and city would likely find cost savings in a new office building as well.

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With all the rising costs of energy and transportation, it's quite probable Hartford will change for the better in the next 10 years. People that currently are on the far flung suburbs will stop due to the economic nightmare, and come in closer. And those who come in will want to change and improve on whatever they move into. With 6-7 dollar a gallon gas prices, how much commuting to Hartford from Colchester or Stafford Springs or Torrington or somewhere on the fringes do you expect someone to be doing?

My prediction: Hartford's population rises at a much quicker rate, especially with people from the far suburbs pushing inward ... either Hartford itself or inner ring suburbs. Lots of development in and near downtown will accomodate this massive influx of people who can no longer afford the high cost of commuting to their jobs in the Hartford area. This may take a couple of years to start seeing, but by 2018 things will be quite different.

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Northland owns several properties in the city, including Goodwin Square, City Place II and Metro Center. It built Hartford 21, which has 262 rental units, and is on deck to develop a 36-story building, formerly the site of the YMCA at 160 Jewel Street, into 250 luxury condominiums.
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