With our bicycles and no real plan in mind, we set out to ride around the Clay Arsenal neighborhood.

The forecast promised rain, but it was barely sprinkling and those forecasts are usually inaccurate. So, we kept going beyond Clay Arsenal, riding through the North East and Upper Albany neighborhoods, stopping our meandering only when in an actual downpour that resulted in soaked jeans and a camera needing to be secured in plastic and put away before repairs would be needed.

During our ride through the “North End” we did witness a crime: a motorist opted to not obey a stop sign.

Well, we saw other things that we would consider crimes, like various buildings being allowed to fall into disrepair, with some being vacant for a long time.

The former Swift Factory (below) has fallen into that category, though there have been developments in recent years.

We have heard that there is some action happening with the property, but the pace of change here could be picked up.

Bradley E. Clift’s “Inside Out” photography is on display outside the west side of the Swift Factory. These are photos of people in the North East neighborhood. The plan is to have these pictures on permanent display at the factory, which is expected to be converted to housing.

The former Kneset Israel Synagogue still stands at the corner of Enfield and Rockville Street, one block away from the Ebony Horsewomen Equestrian and Agricultural Center. The synagogue was built in 1946, dedicated in 1947. The Russian Orthodox congregation, after merging with another congregation, moved to West Hartford two decades later.

Most of Hartford’s former synagogues have been reused as Christian churches; Ados Israel on Pearl Street in Downtown has been used as storage space and Temple Beth Israel in the Sheldon-Charter Oak is a community center with some Jewish programming. Kneset Israel (above and below) is now the Triumphant Church of God.

We love seeing houses with post-mounted mailboxes.

Everything looks worse in winter on rainy days when it’s just slush, mud, and dreariness, but driving on front lawns makes the picture that much sadder for otherwise cute houses.

We are grateful for those not afraid of color. There was no photo-editing done for the picture below. The house is really that color.

This vehicle was not the only thing we found under cover. The centerpiece of the Circus Fire Memorial (not pictured) was well-secured under a fancy tarp. Related tablets and monuments, however, were still out in the open.

The Circus Fire Memorial is behind the Fred D. Wish School. There are some who believe that this area is figuratively haunted,  and that a school does not belong on the grounds where such a horrific tragedy occurred.

For this trip, we stayed off Albany and Main Street, as that seemed too easy. We’ve done that. (We also forced ourselves to stay out of Keney Park, since we’ve shown that several times in this series and would have easily spent the next few hours riding around there) We’ve seen that there are shops and restaurants bustling on weekends, even if stores in Downtown have not all caught on to the need for weekend hours yet.

This time, one place grabbed our attention on Windsor Street. Maybe the palm trees and sun on the sign seemed especially nice on a day when the skies just got darker and rain heavier.

The In Your Neighborhood series is the result of us walking or cycling around Hartford with cameras and no agenda. We are in the final round of this (it’s been over a year now) and are finishing up soon.