Snow Removal is a MUST

Clearing your sidewalk is not just a courtesy for your neighbors, it is a City Ordinance: Snow must be removed from sidewalks, curb ramps, and fire hydrants within 6 hours of a storm ending, or by 9 am if the storm was overnight, otherwise it is a $99/day fine until the issue is corrected. Contact Hartford311 for more info or to report a violation.




Capitol Avenue/Hudson Street Redevelopment & December Meeting


Although we typically don't meet in December (oh SoDo Holiday Happy Hour, how we miss you) there is a big redevelopment planned for our neighborhood, so let's talk about it. Feel free to BYO holiday beverage and/or wear a holiday sweater to channel some of those SoDo HHH vibes!

The next SoDo NRZ meeting of the 2020-21 year will be Wednesday, December 16 at 6:00 pm on Zoom. RSVP by 4pm the day of the meeting to SoDoNRZ@gmail.com for the link and Agenda, or click here to download both.

At our November meeting, Board President Robin Zaleski mentioned that the principals (Spinnaker Real Estate Group, The Bushnell, and CRDA) in the redevelopment of Capitol Avenue and Hudson Street asked for a SoDo representative for their planning committee. Board member and long-time SoDo resident Frank Sentner graciously volunteered. At our meeting this Wednesday (6pm, click here for Agenda and Zoom info), our primary focus will be a discussion of what we would and would not like to see happen to those lots. Obviously, there are no guarantees that anything we wish for will happen, but it will be useful for Frank if he has an idea before his first meeting of what the community is interested in.

Our meetings typically include reports from Hartford NEXT, Community Garden, and the Outreach and Social Committees, reports from HPD and HFD on activity in the neighborhood, and updates from various City offices such as Community Engagement, Planning & Development Services, and Sustainability. We occasionally have special guests who share information relevant to quality of life in the city or the neighborhood.

New Mural on Hudson Street Honors Local Basketball Coach

 

New mural on Hudson Street by artist Corey Pane. Photo by Matt Conway.

At the south end of Hudson Street, in Ramon Quiros Park, and next to the Hudson Street Community Garden sits a basketball court, newly painted this summer by a group of volunteers led by Leo Ramirez. Leo runs a community basketball program, Hartford Young Dreamers, whose members play regularly on this court. Flanking the court was a brick wall, the back of a Park Street auto repair shop that had the remnants of some old murals and a lot of graffiti. Through some community fundraising and grants, CT Murals -- a division of The RiseUP Group -- commissioned and installed a brand new mural on the entire back of the building. Read more about the project here, and be sure to stop by and see it in person. 


Artist Corey Pane incorporated an existing mural into the new one, and covered the graffiti. Photo by Matt Conway.



Water Bill Help Available for MDC with Overdue Bills and Balances

 

Operation Fuel is encouraging residents with overdue bills and unpaid balances on their water bills with The Metropolitan District to apply for emergency financial relief. 

 

MDC and Operation Fuel formed a partnership in 2018 whereby MDC provides financial assistance and Operation Fuel administers the program, working with MDC customers who apply for help in 12 Connecticut towns. Assistance is available for residents who live in the MDC member towns of Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford,  Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor; and the non-member towns of Glastonbury, South Windsor, Farmington, and East Granby.  


For more information about your bill, contact the MDC’s Treasury Department at (860) 278-7850  and press 3. To apply for assistance, visit www.operationfuel.org.

November Meeting and News

 

Header photo of SoDo as seen from the Travelers Tower by Jeremy Howard.

We had a record number of neighbors at our October Zoom meeting, let's do it again!

The next SoDo NRZ meeting of the 2020-21 year will be Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 pm on Zoom. Click here to download the Agenda and Zoom log-in information.

Matt Conway of The RiseUP Group will be our guest speaker, sharing information on their youth and community service programs, including one of their newest projects: a mural adjacent to the basketball court in Ramon Quiros Park on Hudson Street. In addition, John Thomas of Community Solutions will join us with information on the Swift Factory Project. We look forward to catching up on neighborhood news with you!

Click here for info on leaf pickup, a neighborhood survey,
SoDo in the Movies, free flu shots, and more.

Re-imagining Main Street - Upcoming Public Outreach Sessions


The City of Hartford will be holding two public outreach sessions to present the design concept for Main Street from Wyllys Street to Asylum Street. Individuals can plan to join either of two sessions on Thursday, November 19: 

  • 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
  • 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm 
Both sessions will be virtual. Click here to register. Upon registration, you will be sent the meeting information.  For more information about the project, click the image above to visit their website.

Your Input Needed: What Do You See as the Assets in Our Neighborhood?


What do you like about the SoDo neighborhood? What could use improvement?
Take this 5-minute anonymous survey.

Hartford Next (HNXT), the coalition of all of Hartford's NRZs, has begun a pilot project, lead by HNXT Board member Violette Haldane.  They are conducting Neighborhood Asset Mapping to identify and document neighborhood assets as part of HNXT's community economic development initiative. 

Asset mapping is an important step in understanding the resources that a community can leverage to support community economic development. This approach identifies assets in the community, including organizations, places, people (their capacities and talents), focusing on what is working in the community or neighborhood. 

The goal of the project is to document the inventory of neighborhood assets that aid in engaging the neighborhood. Asset mapping presents the neighborhood from a strength-based position and can act as a catalyst for economic, cultural, and social change.

As part of this project, Trinity College's Urban Studies program is working with HNXT and has designed a survey for those who live and work in each Hartford neighborhood to provide their opinion. The aim of the survey is to:

  • Give us a baseline understanding of each neighborhood,
  • Obtain data for various topics (economy, community, healthcare, etc.
  • Assist with analysis in support of each neighborhood, and 
  • Facilitate further in-person discussion.
The survey was first presented to the HNXT board and they seek neighborhood input. Please complete the survey relevant to you by Friday, November 6.

For any questions about the survey, please contact Violette Haldane at violette.haldane@gmail.com.