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.

Survey Link for Hartford Residents

Survey Link for non-Hartford Residents 

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

October NRZ Meeting

 

It was so nice to see so many neighbors on our September Zoom meeting, let's do it again!

The next SoDo NRZ meeting of the 2020-21 year will be Wednesday, October 21 at 6:00 pm on Zoom. RSVP to SoDoNRZ@gmail.com for the link and Agenda.

Shelby Williams of Voices of Women of Color will be our guest speaker, regarding CT's flavored tobacco legislation. In addition, representatives from MDC will join us with an update on their year-long road work in our area, and representatives from Link4Life will share plans for a new sculpture that potentially will be installed in Buckingham Square Park. We look forward to catching up on neighborhood news with you!

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.

Our Annual Meeting & Elections (postponed from June due to Covid) will be held at an upcoming meeting. Any member of the SoDo neighborhood is eligible for nomination to the Board. Want to know more? Email SoDoNRZ@gmail.com with your questions.

Who qualifies as a member of an NRZ? All residents (including tenants), property owners, business owners, and non-profits within an NRZ's neighborhood boundaries are automatically members of the NRZ. Our meetings are public and open to all. If you are not sure if your home, property, business, or organization lies within the SoDo NRZ boundaries, please check out this map. If you think you might qualify for another NRZ, check out this map. If you have questions, email SoDoNRZ@gmail.com.

You can view past meeting minutes and newsletter editions on this website. And don't forget to check out our Facebook and NextDoor pages for neighborhood news and photos.

Now accepting nominations for the SoDo Board

 

Interested in making our neighborhood better?

The South Downtown NRZ has openings for Board Members in the following categories: Residential Tenant, Property Owner, Social Services representative, and Business Owner.
 

Elections will be held at an upcoming meeting.

Any member of the SoDo NRZ can run for Board elections. Membership in the SoDo NRZ requires that an individual must (a) live in or, (b) own property in or, (c) own a business located in, or (d) represent a social services agency located in the South Downtown (SoDo) area. Board Terms are three years, and we request that Board members attend and actively participate in meetings and events, and have a non-partisan interest in improving the quality of life in our neighborhood. We meet on the third Wednesday of the month, September through June. Click here for more information about the NRZ and the neighborhood boundaries.

To nominate yourself for election, please send a brief paragraph about yourself and why you are interested in joining to SoDoNRZ@gmail.com by 5 pm Thursday, October 29. To nominate another person for election, please email their name and contact information to SoDoNRZ@gmail.com by 5 pm, Friday, October 2 and we will contact them regarding their interest in the Board.