The North Meadows is being included in discussion about what to do with “Downtown North,” and as you might recall, some of the ideas floated out there involved an earthen berm and public art to enhance the bridge that takes pedestrians over I-91. The final public meeting about this project happens to be scheduled for December 12, 2013.

The final meeting of the Capital Parks Master Plan will be on December 9th, giving people another chance to remark on how Hartford’s parks could be changed. Riverside Park takes up a sizable portion of the North Meadows neighborhood.

On December 14th, Real Art Ways will be hosting a discussion titled, “How Do Our Surroundings Shape Us?”. This is inspired by the work of Lourdes Correa-Carlo, whose art is currently on display at RAW.

One of her photographed places can be found in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, but the larger work is from North Meadows.

The pedestrian/cyclist bridge connecting Riverside Park to a vacant lot the other side of I-91 is one item Correa-Carlos has photographed.

The discussion will feature Toni Gold, Jamil Ragland, and Carlos Hernandez Chavez as panelists, so if you know anything, you know that this is guaranteed to not be a dull talk.

That event is free to attend, but space will be limited, so Real Art Ways asks that you rsvp. Light lunch will be available at 12:30 and the discussion begins at 1pm.

But for now, while you are here just looking, this is another walk around a small park of the North Meadows on two or three days over the past two weeks. Even as salt is being dumped as a precaution in case of snow or ice, people continue to be out, most of them jogging along the river.

The Bulkeley Bridge, at the edge of the North Meadows, has an interesting history. When we look at the built environment, it is tempting to view structures as just things, devoid of life, but we have to consider that these were made by people. In some cases, people died creating them.

This in-between period can be hard to love. The foliage is no longer vibrant, but we have no silencing blanket of snow on the ground yet.

The In Your Neighborhood photo series explores a different Hartford neighborhood every weekend. The purpose is to share what captures the attention as we walk or bicycle through the city.