50 Ways to Love Your City (Bonus 2020 Edition)

I was going to hold off until Valentine’s Day to publish this, but I think we can all benefit now from being reminded of the ways that people in Hartford are functional and caring. I’ve divided this into two sections:

Corona-Related

1. Mutual aid efforts to get food to people during pandemic. These are definitely not unprecedented times. Such efforts were made in Hartford during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, when people who never needed assistance before were suddenly relying on others in the community. These recent efforts show an understanding that it is nothing new to care about one another and make sure everyone is fed.
     
2. Our small groceries did not have bare shelves like we saw in the major suburban supermarkets. For whatever reason, places like El Mercado and C-Town didn’t run out of staples — maybe because most shoppers arrive on foot and have to physically transport whatever they buy. If you have to carry your groceries half a mile, you will probably pass on getting the 24-pack of toilet paper.

3. Mori’s Grocery at 463-A Franklin Avenue, opened for business for the first time ever, during the pandemic. That is a baller move.

4. Similar shout out to Aurora’s Bakery, which opened in December. They have fantastic pastries and I respect the hell out of anyone who had the chutzpah to start something up after March 2020 and before widespread availability of the Covid vaccine.

5. Residents who gave their neighbors bread, toilet paper, etc. during the pandemic, rather than selfishly hoarding it

6. Our fabulous restaurants (Bear’s/Blind Pig, The Place 2 Be, and others) that donated meals to hospital workers and those that, while closed during this time, donated the masks and gloves that would’ve just sat collecting dust. When we can’t count on our government, we’ve gotta do it for ourselves.

7. People who purchased, collected, and delivered pet food and supplies for residents who were broke and/or unable to get out.

8. Those who made reusable cloth masks during the pandemic and gave them away, not only to medical professionals, but to anyone who might want them.

9. Members of the community who did not wait for government orders
    to protect others by wearing masks and/or maintaining appropriate physical distance.

10. Those who opted — during the pandemic, or any time — to beautify their yards and neighborhoods. One neighbor, along with her family members, pulled mattresses and bags upon bags of garbage out of Pope Park’s Bankside Grove. She was not paid to do that.

11. People who kept the Little Free Libraries stocked when all the brick-and-mortar libraries were completely closed. Not everyone can read for long periods on screens. Having an alternative helped keep minds active.

12. The Department of Public Works for improving parks 10,000% by the simple act of closing park roads to motor vehicle traffic. This meant having more paved spaces for people to walk or roll on without worrying about getting hit by cars. It’s too bad this was short-lived.

13. Neighbors shouting out essential workers — their neighbors — with signs

14. Keney Park Sustainability Project distributing vegetable and flower seeds so people could rely less on grocery stores and more on themselves.

15. KNOX kept open its community gardens and worked on creating even more, giving residents a place to plant all those aforementioned seeds. They encouraged people create “giving gardens” to feed others with what they grow in them.

16. Every person who looked at data from reliable sources and refused to contribute to panic, false information, myths, or all of the above

17. Hog River Brewery’s flawless beverage ordering system — place order online, give a 15-minute window, and have a contact-free pick-up that absolutely does not require one be driving a car. In fact, any business or organization that remembered it was operating within a city and immediately included those arriving on foot or by bicycle.

18. The restaurants that pivoted, or attempted to, by creating/expanding outdoor dining space.
19. A special shout out to The Place 2 Be and J Restaurant, which made their outdoor dining areas fabulous and able to be used nearly year-round. 
20. A portion of Ann Street was converted for use by people. Barriers were installed to keep people separate from motor vehicles, and tables were added to the street. Unfortunately, these were recently removed — which seems shortsighted in a way as due to climate change, we are having more milder winters and outdoor dining is still probably going to be possible during part of the winter.

21. Trinity College’s approach to handling the pandemic, at least when it came to the campus itself: here, neighbors were never greeted with the “Get Off My Lawn” signs that popped up at other universities in the Greater Hartford region. 
22. All the doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, contact tracers, and other medical professionals who are patiently trying to do public health education right now. They are up against skepticism (some understandable, some not) and a bit of anti-science zealotry coming from those who likely flunked high school science and now say things like “DO THE RESEARCH SHEEPLE!” — you all handle this tactfully and politely. AND THEN THERE IS EVERYTHING ELSE

    
    

23. More little free pantries have been popping up around Hartford, including one in the West End. The Laurel Street pantry (near Hawthorn Street) sometimes is stocked with fresh produce.
24. Joe Gaylor’s photography installments around Hartford that highlight regular people while adding visual improvement to neglected or otherwise dull buildings.
25. A number of new murals have gone up on walls or down on streets, and most have been worth the paint used. Splashing on some color does not fix Hartford’s ailments. It does make it appear like we take some pride in our place.
26. South Park Inn and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy decorating Barnard Park with lights in December, making the park more inviting.
27. Cinestudio continuing to show Baraka in December
28. The water bowls left curbside for thirsty dogs out on their walks.
29. When rural-sounding things pop up here, like the place on Franklin Avenue that sells firewood
30. New signs in our parks and cemeteries. . . even and especially the slivers of parks that might not immediately be known as public recreation areas.
31. The newly formed Friends of the Zion Hill Cemeteries group. Kvetching about litter and neglect does not improve a graveyard; cleaning up litter and paying attention does. Zion Hill has seen dramatic improvements in the last year, none of which happened through wishful thinking.
32. Crossing guards who go above and beyond by helping adults — because it’s not just the kids at risk.
33. Officer Jimmy Barrett. I’ve got a lot of problems with a lot of police, but the Homeless Outreach officer ain’t among them. The rest of y’all should be taking notes from him.
34. Those who showed up for the 2020 Black Lives Matter marches and rallies, but maybe moreso, those who showed up in previous years. Those whose “showing up” did not take the form of going to protests or putting signs on lawns, but instead had more meaning, like working to fix (racist AF) zoning laws in the suburbs, or those who have actively countered the (racist AF) false narrative of Hartford being an especially dangerous place.
35. The staff at a newer coffee shop who, when my debit card failed on a Sunday (because the bank put some restriction on it because that’s what they do now if you make a purchase using Paypal) let me still take my fancypants beverage, trusting I would return to pay…even though this was my first visit and he does not know me. There was no line forming, and I would’ve completely understood if he held my food hostage until I found payment. I’m not going to name this place in case the employee skirted a store policy, but it was not a chain. (And yes, once I freed my money from the bank I absolutely went back and paid what I owed and left a good tip because I value when someone goes out of their way to not embarass another person)

36. The attempt to make Russ Street safer for pedestrians and cyclists, accomplished by adding several painted concrete blocks and planters. People can still access what they need to, but the inconvenience is just enough to encourage thru-traffic to take Capitol Avenue instead.
37. People on the street who will chat when passing by because they are being friendly and not actively trying to get you to join their church or support their small business. These conversations are possible each and every day if you open yourself up to acknowledging other people, especially those not in office attire. On a normal day, a stranger will offer the hopeful “stay safe” or kind “have a blessed day” to me, and that is far more typical than the kinds of interactions that tend to make it on the news.
38. Six new pollinator gardens were created in the Asylum Hill neighborhood during 2020. Hopefully this move will repair some of the harm done by the numerous surface parking lots that have ravaged much of this neighborhood’s landscape. 
39. Pope Park North’s new picnic tables
40. Besides carrying books by local authors, this year the UConn Hartford bookstore held a book and food drive to help stock food pantries and Little Free Libraries in Greater Hartford. 
41. The property owners and residents who not only clear their sidewalks of snow promptly, but go beyond the letter of the law and take care of adjacent properties, etc. so that everyone can move around safely and without too much hassle. Gotta love New Englanders who just get it done instead of making excuses for why they can’t.

42. This year the Stowe Center installed Solitary Garden, an intense and creative way to teach about solitary confinement.
43. The addition of an indoor farmers’ market (via the mobile market) at the Connecticut Historical Society on Tuesdays, 11-12 PM. Getting produce without stepping inside a supermarket these days means having some normalcy but without the added stress of all those other people.

44. Although removed for the snow season, the temporary speed bumps on Flatbush Avenue completely changed the way it feels to walk along that road.
45. The Ann Street post office. For whatever reason, nobody seems to know it exists which means not having the same kind of wait that happens at others in Hartford. Plus, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the guy who works there reminds me of Luke from the Gilmore Girls.
46. This is nothing new, but Stone Field. I’m not interested in if it counts as art or anything about the artist behind it. Having large rocks in downtown is awesome. There’s so much concrete, asphalt, and steel. I welcome more nature in urban areas.

47. Seeing the Swift Factory finish its redevelopment and start taking in tenants. This project is the most investment that this neighborhood has seen in at least 40 years. They’ve done a beautiful job of maintaining the industrial feel while creating a totally functional space.

48. Any person who showed impulse control and didn’t shoot off fireworks.
49. Every year Red Rock Tavern prepares a Thanksgiving feast. They did the same in 2020, though instead of bringing those experiencing homelessness inside the restaurant, the meals were packaged up and delivered to them — maintaining tradition while creatively adjusting to meet necessary safety protocols.  
50. Props to the crazy birds of Hartford — from the heron that hangs out on a branch above the Pope Park pond to the cormorants that decided to chill at Elizabeth Park to the killdeer making an appearance on Olive Street to the sandpiper running around in a puddle in Frog Hollow to the mockingbird at Cleveland and Garden imitating car alarms. Thanks for showing up so we aren’t just looking at robins and pigeons all the time.