Most Best Awesome Superlatives of 2014

There are people who hate year-end lists because it sounds like the creator is putting out some clickbait while spending his days going to Christmas parties.

We’re using this opportunity to review the operation of the city and the City– what helped to build up Hartford and who needs to have a time out to think about what he has done.

Edibles

The (new) Front Street development has been a slow moving creature and we have stuck to the “we’ll believe it when we see it” mantra, as so many big ideas in Hartford wind up collapsing, leaving residents and speculators alike disappointed.

The word “excited” is overused these days, thus, devoid of any real meaning. We are not excited about Front Street. We are relieved that it is finally alive. Relieved that we can all stop trying to convince suburban acquaintances that there is food, entertainment, and parking here. The signs are up to prove it.

There are still some things that could be worked out, but that’s on the end of those operating the businesses. The cinema could go ahead and give notice on what films are playing, so that they might attract more than the last minute or “I will watch anything” crowd. Infinity could diversify its acts more — what is a draw in the Litchfield Hills is not necessarily what will appeal to those in Greater Hartford. The restaurants seem to be doing okay.

Around the corner from this development, a popular barbecue spot opened, helping to energize the block of Arch Street that long felt like an island. Bear’s has, from the start, been very generous with food donations in the community. The mural on the side of the building — painted by local artist Tao LaBossiere — gives it character. At lunch time on a weekday, the sidewalks are busy, even during colder weather.

Best New Dining

50 Elm: We like the re-use of an existing building and the filling of a long-vacant space. It’s fancy enough for the movers and shakers, but has enough flavor for it not to feel stuffy. It had a slow start — maybe too much reliance on word of mouth — but has picked up. It’s about time this side of Bushnell Park saw some energy.

The potential for patio dining is somewhat complicated by proximity to Conlin-Whitehead Highway, Pulaski Circle, and that sprawl of surface parking — it’s not that it couldn’t happen, but that the views could be improved upon.

Best Guacamole

(We say) El Sarape at 931 Broad Street: Is there anything to say besides that? It’s a down-to-earth place and the waiters are friendly.

(Readers say) Monte Alban, El Sarape, and some variation of “my kitchen.” Nobody provided the address for “my kitchen” and there were at least three suggestions of that.

Sweetest Under-the-Radar Spot

Queen Bee’s at 510 Park Street: They arrived at the end of 2013 as a bakery and candy store. Ice cream has been added. If someone tells you that to get a cone of ice cream you have to travel to West Hartford, go on ahead and school that person.

Coffee Needs

We asked readers about how many Registrars of Voters we should have, but realized that maybe people care more about having coffee needs met. We were right. Readers were split between wanting a decent coffee house in each neighborhood, and replacing the chain “coffee” places with independent coffee shops. We know that a coffee house is planning to open at Asylum and Ann. We know there is talk of getting another coffee joint up and operating, location to-be-announced. But right now…well…it’s not that Hartford lacks coffee, it’s that it is often unreliable. One shop has opened without espresso beans. Some are seasonal. One seems to open only when the mood strikes.

We need our coffee houses to stop acting like overgrown child actors and just do the basics: show up and know your damn lines!

Here’s what we have:

• Backstage Cafe, 35 Westbourne Parkway: Mon-Fri, 9-7; Sat, 8-4 (Hours posted on FB vary)
• First & Last Bakery Cafe, 920 Maple Ave: Mon-Fri, 7-3; Sat-Sun, 8-3.
• Jojo’s Coffee and Tea, 22 Pratt: Mon-Fri, 7-5; Sat-Sun, 9-3.
• Peter B’s Espresso, 300 Summit Street: Mon-Thurs, 8-midnight; Fri, 8-6; Sat, 10-6; Sun 10-midnight. (Hours change during semester breaks)
• Starbucks, Marriott Lobby (200 Columbus Blvd): Mon-Sat, 6-4; Sun, 6-3. or Sun, 7-3 (website vs. Marriott info)
• Starbucks, City Place (185 Asylum): Mon-Fri, 5:30a.m.-6:30 p.m
• The Kitchen Cafe (at Billings Forge), 559 Broad: Mon-Fri, 8-4.
• The Kitchen Cafe at Hartford Public Library, 500 Main: Mon-Fri, 8-4.
• Tisane, 537 Farmington: Mon-Thur, 7:30-1a.m.; Fri, 7:30-2 a.m.; Sat, 8-2a.m.; Sun, 8-2a.m.
• Underground Coffeehouse, 300 Summit Street: Mon-Thurs, 8-midnight; Fri 8-8; Sat 10am-11p.m.; Sun, 10-midnight (Hours change during semester breaks)
• a billion and a half Dunkin Donuts scattered throughout city

Maybe not a coffee shop by definition, but:

• Modern Pastry, 422 Franklin: Tue-Sat, 8-7; Sun, 8-6.
• Mozzicato-DePasquale’s, 329 Franklin: posted hours are 7 a.m.-9 p.m.?

Most Robust Coffee House Fails

This one is a tie: Backstage Cafe, JoJo’s, and Starbucks–Marriott Lobby.

Here’s why.

There is no evidence that Backstage Cafe is ever open during posted hours. We called one listed number and the message said the person could not be reached. We tried a second number, which just rang and rang. We tried again on a weekday during posted open time– non-stop ringing.

The Marriott Lobby Starbucks has had consistently slow service, but that was often overlooked because they would be open at times when others were not. For instance, during some conventions, they would remain open until midnight. They made this list because they have not been open, more than once, during posted hours and have had no sign up even giving an explanation for closure. After several experiences of this, we called the Marriott. Customer service was friendly, attributing the closures to holiday hours. That’s appreciated, but having notice online and at the cafe itself would go a long way.

JoJo’s is the real heartbreaker on this list though. The open secret is that service has been lousy for years. Customers return out of some sense of loyalty, a desire for the underdog to do well. But pity is not a plan for sustaining one’s business. In the last year, we have heard reports of them being out of espresso beans. On multiple occasions, they have been closed during hours they say they will be open. Sometimes, these closures went without explanation. No sign on the door. No notice on Facebook. Their coffee and sandwiches are great, but we need reliable.

What all three of these “winners” share is really a failure of communication. People get sick. Hours change. If those things happen, update the information and let customers know so that they do not waste their time making a pointless trip.

Parks & Rec

It’s a little weird that Hartford does not have a Parks & Rec department. If you want information about a recreation program, you can spend all morning wandering around in the maze of Hartford.gov until you give up or accidentally happen upon, not the information you were looking for, but a phone number to somewhere. The calendars do not seem to be updated. As far as we can tell, not all Hartford parks are even listed on the City website.

Most Improved Park

(We say)

Heaven at New Ross, County Wexford Park.

The concrete might not look appealing, but these ramps have attracted park users with skateboards, bikes, scooters, and rollerblades since it opened in July. It had seen this type of use previously, with smaller numbers of visitors and less diversity in their ranks.

This is a year-round park. On a recent weekday, six men were using the skate park at lunch time– skateboards and BMX bikes. We have seen it used when it has been raining, snowing, and very windy.

The park could continue to improve with the addition of bollards to prevent motor vehicles from dangerously entering the area. There is nearby on-street parking, and, while the surrounding area is being redeveloped as part of the Downtown North project, it would be worth investigating the necessity of allowing Chapel Street to act like a continuation of I-84 instead of as a city street.

(Readers say)

There was no consensus. George Day Park, Hyland, Keney, No Name Park, Pope Park North, and Sigourney Square Park were all named. Completely new playgrounds or fields (or both) were installed to replace the old ones at George Day Park, Hyland, Pope Park North, and Sigourney Square; we have to disqualify Sigourney Square because those improvements happened in 2013. It is unclear what has changed at No Name Park or Keney Park. Those votes might have been wishful thinking?

Best Low-Expense Improvements

Bushnell Park.

There is still a ways to go in terms of fixing the pond and healing that gash around the north section.

Here’s what has shown improvement here: tables at lunch time and fencing around grass.

We all want the tables to be out longer than just for the lunch crowd, but knowing that some have already relocated themselves to new homes, it is basically required that these get locked away. We don’t know how these unique, brightly colored tables can just go missing either.

It might not seem like a big deal, but if your lunch is anything more than a sandwich that can be held in one hand, you need an upgrade from a mere bench. For some, this is the difference between lingering in the park and returning to the office. Those who work from home have another option for taking a break and being more social. It’s good to see the ice rink space getting use during non-ice rink months.

The fence around the grass has flummoxed some, understandably. Installing protect-the-grass fences is not really something that happens every day here.

There are still places where it could be installed. What would be even better is to see more enforcement when it comes to keeping vehicles off the grass. Even those dropping off tents and so forth can keep on the sidewalk and unload from there. The wear-and-tear related to vehicles is much more than that of a few people running around after a ball.

Culture and Community

Biggest Bang for Buck from Non-Profit

The Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective has been providing the community with an array of free and low-cost services, from STD/STI, PAP, Hep C, and HIV testing to breast exams. They’ve been around for awhile, but in 2014, expanded their offerings to include affordable dental care. Multiple Real Hartford readers have sung their praises.

Most Meaningful Event

(Readers say)

Move of Tangiers from West Hartford to the West End of Hartford.

(We say…we agree)

A few blocks can make a difference.

In one way, this is about having a decent, small grocery store. Tangiers sells fresh fruits and vegetables, locally-baked bread, and other staples, along with the types of food they stocked at the former location.  The dining area is expanded, allowing families to eat at tables instead of only at the counter. They have a little patio and free, open wifi. Suburbanites have been heard complimenting the availability of parking at this new location, and since parking is the only thing some people care about, well, props to them. (We see no big difference in parking from the former spot to this one, but whatever. Illusion.)

In another way, this is a solid statement. One town okayed the demolition of a dated-but-structurally-sound building in order for one business — the chain drugstore — to rebuild in its place. This left other business tenants homeless. Hartford welcomed them.

While the first thing some do is to threaten to pack up and leave Hartford when the going gets tough, it says something more when others — who have been in the area for a long time and know what’s what — come into the city. Props to Tangiers, UConn, and others for countering that move-to-the-burbs trend.

Weirdest Waste of Time

We stay away from the productivity killers known as certain pages on Facebook, but no matter how much distance we try to achieve, it does not stop individuals from sending us links via email and social media to the latest think piece or listicle dreck that is inevitably written by someone who has (1) spent one year in Hartford during grad school three years ago, or (2) spent a weekend here once, or (3) lives in the suburbs but feels qualified to write about life in a place he has experienced only as a visitor, or (4) has actually not even been to Hartford but thinks it is fine to go ahead and form an opinion since he has one whole person quoted in the column.

What is the obsession with this stuff? Why do Hartfordites care about the baseless rants or raves enough to float those around for three days? Would we circulate articles about health written by someone who is not a doctor but took a Biology class in college 15 years ago? Actually, that does happen. Nevermind.

But seriously, it gets tiring having to respond to this.

Please, just stop. It does nothing to build community. It offers no perspective worth considering.

Livable & Sustainable

I’m Still Standing Award

64 Babcock.

It has been ignored. It has been allowed to fall into such deterioration that the neighborhood has even approved its demolition. It has developed a hole large enough for an adult to crawl under its porch. It has been featured in a Real Art Ways exhibit. The land it sits on has been eyed as a potential expansion space for the church next door, the church that owns the structure. There is no reason for this house to not have collapsed in on itself, yet still, it stands. Bravo, stubborn house, bravo.

Creative Re-Use

It’s actually not that creative.

The house at 68 Scarborough is still being used as a house.

With all the outrage coming from a handful of individuals, one would think they opened a brothel or a Barcade.

Instead, the structure — vacant for four years before their purchase — is being used as a home for a family that is not all related by marriage or blood.

What is completely outrageous for some is simply a way for working class individuals to live comfortably within the city of Hartford.

Downtown Development

Rudest Thunder-Stealing

Haphazard announcement of stadium detracted from the news that UConn would be relocating its Greater Hartford campus to actual Hartford.

It distracted from the news that 250 faculty and 2,300 students would be contributing to the local economy in the not-so-distant future. This would not be a drive into Downtown, park the car, take the elevator in the same building, go to class, go back to elevator, get in car, and drive out scenario. The university is collaborating with a number of nearby organizations, making it possible for UConn’s own building to be more compact, while engaging its students and faculty with the city. They will need to leave the main building to take classes in places like the Hartford Public Library and Wadsworth Atheneum. This means adding feet to the street.

Instead of speculating over how many people would arrive or how often, the UConn numbers are known quantities. Enrollment changes a little each year, but academia is a known quantity. The academic calendar for 2014-2015 gives us an idea of how many days students would be potentially in Hartford when the campus is completed: September 1- December 14 (minus Sundays and  a few days for Thanksgiving break); December 29-January 16 (Winter Term would mean fewer students, but still some); January 20-May 9 (minus Sundays and Spring Break); May 11-May 29 (May Term, fewer students); June 1-August 28 (Summer Session, fewer students). That’s year round.

Although their thunder was not stolen and many details still need figuring out, it is worth mentioning that Trinity College is also making plans to have some presence in Downtown.

That need for college students (disposable income) in a concentrated area? That’s, like, a thing now: Trinity College, UConn, University of Saint Joseph, University of Hartford (housing on Temple Street), Capital Community College, and Rensselaer.

Maybe it’s time for someone to open an off-campus bookstore downtown where students from all nearby colleges can find textbooks and supplies. Students are still using paper books and there is still a need for the campus bookstore monopoly to have some competition.

Transportation

Jane Jacobs Cognitive Dissonance Award

(We say)

The absence of a thoughtful plan for construction in the downtown and Asylum Hill area. This includes the ditch around Bushnell Park and construction around Union Station, along with the ongoing Flower-Broad-Farmington changes.

We do not know if this will result in better infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, or not, when it is complete. What we do know is that the planning for this appears to have forgotten to take existing pedestrians into account. Those who walk across parts of Bushnell Park because it speeds up the commute are finding that they have to go the long way, or are walking through construction zones, because the paths just end. Instead of doing one section at a time, the whole north side is basically non-functional. Not all pedestrians use Bushnell Park for strolling during their lunch break. {insert a long, exasperated sigh here} In the neighborhoods, there were days when people attempting to use the DOT’s “mitigation” path between Flower and Broad ended up having to back track because that was unexpectedly closed.

A detour on foot isn’t the same as one in a vehicle. There generally are no traffic officers waiting to help redirect pedestrians. The detours are not necessarily following any sensible route — for instance, traveling in the same direction.

None of this construction was done in an emergency capacity, like fixing a burst water main, where such poor planning would be more forgivable. There are people paid a lot of money to figure this stuff out. Where are they?

(Readers say)

The bike lane on Broad Street between Farmington and Capitol. It connects to no other segments of bicycle lane and while it is very visible and well-marked, motorists hurrying onto I-84 do not seem to all buy into the whole cyclist-has-the-right-to-not-get-hit thing.

Though it is clearly a bike lane, cyclists are still seen riding on sidewalks along Broad Street.

Why? Is it out of habit or fear of being in the street?

This is the first green lane in Hartford. When this lane — which connects to no other bike lanes and is in the danger zone of highway ramps — does not show an increase of cyclist usage or safety, how many other green lanes do you think we will get?

Politics

It is unfair to judge a place based on its political climate or by how the local mainstream media portrays crime there, yet those are the two things that seem to hurt Hartford the most.

In a lot of ways, Hartford is a small town. This comes into focus when one starts to scratch the surface of politics. Earlier this month, Mayor Segarra announced that there would be — these are his words — an “independent task force” to look into the Hartford Fire Department’s multitude of issues. But who is on that task force? Former chiefs from Hartford. Having knowledge in the field is necessary, no doubt about that, but bringing in individuals who have not worked with those under investigation would give this task force more teeth.

As it is a small town, it does not seem impossible, either, to turn to the voting population for assistance when solving issues. The media — local mainstream and national mainstream — paid attention to the screw ups with the Registrars during the November 2014 election. It was shameful, but also laughable for those who have been tuned in to Hartford’s elections every year. Not having voters’ lists on Election Day? Does that rank better or worse than the perennial habit of not counting and recording write-in votes? While one mainstream local publication was pressing the eradication of three registrars of voters, we favored looking at who was not doing her job and addressing that individual (or individuals) specifically. Deal with that, then worry about the bigger picture.

It’s not that having three registrars is exactly sensible. There is no reason for the number to be tied to political party. But the issues in Hartford have nothing to do with the magic number of three, and a simple look into the SEEC records would show this.

Real Hartford readers suggest one might be the appropriate number, while some agreed that it does not matter how many hold the position, as long as those doing so are competent. Does it matter if there is one Santa Claus or three? There are many, many elves to help prepare for that one big day.

Avoidance Learning Award AKA The Dodgeball Award

This goes to the Segarra/Deller team in the stadium announcement aftermath. When the public asked questions that went beyond a canned enthusiastic “When do we start?,” the duo ducked and dodged. When the public grew angry at the prospect of public dollars being used without the most basic of details being shared, the Mayor scolded the media for disseminating “misinformation.” This is all while Segarra, through Maribel La Luz, refused to answer questions asked by the media. (We should know — the mayor’s press person offered to answer questions in a phone call but would not respond in writing). A few days into this dodgeball game, we noticed a shift from the non-response to that plus the utterance of the safe word, “spark.” Could there be any other explanation for it? When it got too hot, we heard that word again and again.

Slimiest Political Move of the Year

(We say)

The stadium deal.

The secrecy was bad form. If the secret meetings were held for one week before going public, then those public apologies from Segarra about said secrecy would have some meaning. Making bad choices over the course of a year and a half is not something that can be erased with a “my bad.” At some point, the choice becomes a behavior, a lifestyle.

This is not so much about an arena as it is the complete evaporation of trust between the public and this administration. If several parties were willing to keep this one thing under wraps for a year and a half, what else is not being dealt with on the up and up?

Whether or not the stadium improves the economy, whether or not the stadium ever even materializes — does the developer have enough funding? — the legacy for Mayor Segarra, Thom Deller, and company is this: deep distrust.

Beyond the trust issue, this has raised questions about the role of elected and appointed officials — is it to represent the will of the people, or to make decisions and then try to sell the public on them, to convince the rest of us that this is all in our best interest?

The backlash to the stadium has revealed broken process and disrespectful elected officials. Meetings have not been noticed properly. Officials were ready to sign off on a plan that lacked detail and did not have adequate legal protection for the City. Councilpersons, more than one of them, have had no trouble dissing the voting public when their views diverge.

And from the day this plan went public, we saw that elected officials are willing to stand on the steps of City Hall without knowing what they were standing behind.

(Readers say)

“[L]ack of transparency with major decisions, i.e. both stadium deals” and various other versions of that same sentiment.

It’s clear that lack of transparency is bugging everyone.