This week’s photos have everything, and by that I mean harsh shadows, a weird filter effect from unintentionally using wrong setting for half the day, but also so many people posing near tulips that I only kept a few of the more interesting shots. But, I’m not trying to win the Internet here, just trying to show that people exist in Hartford.
After the City of Hartford re-envisioned the road around the Elizabeth Park rose garden as being for people rather than cars, there were some who pushed back on that, claiming that elderly would be unable to enjoy the garden when cars were removed from it.
Nobody had suggested shutting down all of Prospect Avenue or Asylum Avenue to motor vehicles — just the road that loops around the rose garden inside of the park — which is connected to many other parking and driving places . . . not miles off in the hinterlands.
Again, the “concern” was that elderly folks would not be able to enjoy the park.
While I don’t have a photo of it, this past week I watched an older woman (I’d say far north of age 70) climb up and stand unassisted on a high stone wall, and then pose for photos. I wouldn’t have attempted it. I’ve only seen yoga influencer types pose for pics on that wall before. I’m pretty sure there’s even a sign specifically asking people to not climb on the wall (which is why I didn’t take a photo and implicate Gran).
Sometimes, you have to question the assumptions that you make about people’s abilities.
Sometimes you need to dispose of “the way we’ve always done things” — especially because what has happened for a few generations does not equal “always”.
Now, instead of trying to dodge cars, people of all ages and abilities have gained access to more of the park. I never used to see this many people using strollers, and wheelchairs and other mobility devices at Elizabeth Park, or see this amount of people in general unless there was a concert or it was Rose Weekend.
A few more benches have been added in different areas, and there’s room for even more. This is a sensible way to maintain a peaceful atmosphere for humans while helping those who need more frequent rest breaks. Benches don’t spew disgusting tailpipe emissions.
What else helps: having proper restroom facilities open regularly and for longer hours.
Change is not objectively hard.
It’s hard for those who believe it to be so.
I’ve had a few conversations with people new to the area, who never knew the park when people could drive around the rose garden, and their reactions were the same: why?!
There was disbelief that what’s enjoyed by people now had ever been used as a road where people would idle their cars next to those picnicking, blast music, pull cars out of spaces without care for those walking to their own vehicles.
Now, there’s space for families to move about together — something that was harder on the narrow stone dust path, which is still there and also still used.
People need to check their windshield bias, and examine the ways in which it holds them back from creating better realities.
This photo below was taken outside of the park on a regular city street, and if you look carefully you can see that someone has parked a large vehicle in a driveway, but also obstructing half of the sidewalk. Those pictured walking could go single file and get around this, but that’s not an easy feat for everyone — in particular those who are using mobility devices (chairs, walkers, crutches), or pushing strollers, or who really need to have a level surface for walking. If the only time I hear someone express their “concern” for the elderly and/or those with disabilities is when it comes to reclaiming space from automobiles, well, that’s when I bring out the scare quotes.
