Two weekends ago, a friend of mine from San Francisco came to Connecticut so she could get away from California for a couple of days. One night over sushi and many bottles of sake, we discussed the merits of living in a place like Hartford. Sure, I could quote everything that you would get in the Hartford Chamber of Commerce guide to the Capitol Region... but when it comes down to it, why would someone choose to relocate from somewhere like San Francisco to a place like Hartford?
1. Location, Location, Location!
One of the biggest concerns that we had moving back to Connecticut
from San Francisco was that there just wouldn't be enough to do
in the Hartford area. Well, there is really no reason to worry,
because if we get bored, we're less than an hour and a half away
from Boston and less than two hours away from New York City. Where
else in the United States (aside from the Eastern Seaboard) are
you that close to two distinctively different, yet extremely vibrant
cities? Sure, in San Francisco you are close to Oakland and San
Jose, but they just feel like smaller, less interesting copies
of San Francisco. When you walk through Boston, you just get that
strong sense of history. As you walk by graveyards where the Sons
and Daughters of the Revolution are buried on your way to the
hipper-than-thou Harvard Square, you realize that you are treading
on streets where Paul Revere rode through on that fateful night.
In New York, you can lose yourself in the neighborhoods... going
from restaurant to restaurant, bar to bar in a city that truly
never sleeps. Hartford might not be the cultural mecca of the
Eastern Seaboard, but you can get to the two biggest cultural
centers in New England in less time than it would take to drive
from San Francisco to San Jose in rush hour traffic.
2. Pizza
Ok, you don't relocate just because of pizza, but after putting
up with five years worth of that soggy California interpretation
of the classic tomato pie, you can really appreciate the pizza
scene in Connecticut. Where else in the country do people take
the production of the perfect slice so personally? Don't believe
me? Check out Bruce's ConnectiCrust
columns...
3. Regional Sausages
No, I'm not losing my mind here, and as bizarre as it sounds,
I think that one of the most telling things about Connecticut
is the fact that almost every city has its own meat processing
plant that produces distinctive sausages. The Central Connecticut
area is home to an extremely large population of 1st, 2nd and
3rd generation Eastern European immigrants, and as each ethnic
group settled in an area, they brought their indigenous sausage
style to the area. As economically unsound as it is to make this
many different types of sausages considering the population of
Connecticut, the meat packing business has flourished. Within
30 miles of Hartford, you have Muckes, Grote & Wiegel, Hummel,
Martin Rosol, Roussell and a couple other major sausage manufacturing
concerns (and that doesn't even include the Portuguese (like Gaspare's),
Mexican and other cultures that brought their sausages to this
area), and most of these plants have been making sausages for
the better part of the last 75 years. Add to this the fact that
you can find sausage and hot dog stands (see Jim's
articles for more) all throughout the Central Valley that have
special relationships with specific manufacturers that will produce
custom sized hotdogs for them, even if it is less profitable for
the manufacturer, one realizes that even on something as simple
as a hot dog, both vendors and consumers in Connecticut are willing
to go the extra distance to get a better product. The success
of the local sausage business in Central Connecticut shows the
abundance of diversity in this New England city. It also shows
the loyalty of people finding their favorite brand and sticking
to them. With that said, even though I grew up in Bloomfield (Grote
& Wiegel territory), I am a definite Martin Rosol (New Britain)
fan.
4. The History
When every state was asked to come up with a design for the back
of the new State-specific Quarters, many states chose
their state fruit or rendered the outline of their state with
their state motto for their image. However, most of the New England
states decided to take a piece of their history and throw it on
the back of their coin. Connecticut chose to place a picture of
the Charter Oak on the Connecticut Quarter. The Charter Oak is
a large tree where, when the British came in search of the State
Charter before the Revolutionary War, the State Charter was hidden
so Connecticut could remain a sovereign state. How many other
states chose something so pivotal to the development of their
state? Hartford has a tremendous amount of history ranging from
Mark Twain to Colt Manufacturing to Royal Typewriters. There are
settlements almost as old as the Pilgrims, and Native American
settlements that predate the settlers by thousands of years. There's
one of the oldest operating carousels in the nation and the oldest
rose garden in the country in Hartford. And even though the Charter
Oak is gone, Hartford was the home of that as well.
5. The Arts
While most states are cutting funding for the construction and
maintenance of Museums, Libraries, Parks and Playhouses, Hartford
is in the process of building a second Broadway-caliber theater,
adding space onto its library (which has the distinction of being
the most widely used library in the country) and is increasing
funding to its libraries and parks to keep them in pristine condition.
6. The Hartford Courant
Sure, the writing has gotten a little fluffy as of late, but considering
that The Courant is the oldest newspaper continuously in production,
doesn't that tell you something? Even though you can get door-step
delivery of the New York Times or the Boston Globe here for essentially
the same price as the Courant, people here support their local
newspaper vehemently. Where else outside of the North East do
you find that people get more of their news from the newspaper
than the television?
7. Beer
Ok, if you're a beer nut like me, Hartford's three brewpubs
are better than most in the country. Add to that the other state
microbreweries, as well as all the breweries in the whole New
England area, and you have one of the largest local beer selections
in the country.
8. Downtown
Today, Downtown Hartford is relatively... well... boring. There
isn't that much there there. All of the major department
stores left for the suburbs and there aren't any major convention
spaces or hotels in the area. But that is changing. Close to 400
million dollars of state investment are being poured into the
city to create a vibrant downtown. Within a few years, a new convention
center will be built, as well as hundreds of hotel rooms, offices
and residential spaces. Add to that a new multifunction coliseum
and an expanded Riverfront Park, and Hartford's Downtown will
rival that of any city. The work has already started on planning
the new Baseball stadium and a new Morton's Steakhouse (a high
end restaurant) will be open within a few months. Give Hartford
a couple of years and you'll end up with something really special.
Then again, there are the bad things about life in Hartford...
1. The Blue Laws
No alcohol sales in stores after 8pm. No alcohol sales on Sunday.
No wine or spirits in the supermarkets. Add to this a steep fee
to register out of state beers, wines and spirits, and most would
agree that Connecticut is not the best place to be if you get
a hankering for a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem at 9pm on a Wednesday.
However, there's always a quick 20 minute drive to Massachusetts
or you can always go to a bar (open until 2am every day) for a
drink. The upside is that the package stores in the state tend
to be very well stocked and have a very good selection as they
don't have to compete with the supermarkets.
2. The Highways
How long have they been repairing the stretch on I-84 between
exit 43 and 46? 8 years? 10 years? Seriously, unless you're a
Hartford native who knows instinctively what lane
to be in when you get on the highway and where the construction
is, driving in Hartford can be a real challenge. What other highway
system is so bad that the designer of the routes committed suicide
after too many people died due to car crashes attributed to the
layout of the exits and on-ramps?
3. Delivery Food
When it comes to delivery, Hartford residents have: one good Chinese
place, 2 good pizza places, 1 good grinder place and one good
taqueria. Then again, every household in Hartford has a car, so
getting out to pick up some takeout isn't that much of a bother...
4. Everyone Else
First it was the loss of the Whalers, then the loss of the Patriots...
when it comes to the big sporting franchises supporting Hartford,
they just want to avoid Hartford like the plague. Sure, we have
very successful minor league basketball and hockey, but even though
ESPN is located less than 15 minutes from Downtown Hartford, the
sports leagues just don't want to invest in Hartford. People in
Boston mock Hartford over the whole Patriots debacle. New York
residents don't even consider Hartford a city. Even though we
are in the midst of making Hartford something great, people outside
the state tend to bear us no mind. Then again, Hartford's business
community is ready to rebuild Hartford on their own, even if the
rest of New England turns a blind eye to the city that Mark Twain
called one of the most beautiful cities in the world.