Our first meeting of the 2024-25 year

Autumn officially arrives this week and Hartford is still hopping with outdoor events! Farmers markets, yoga in the parks, puppy hours and street salsa on Pratt, historic tours of the Arch in Bushnell Park and the Ancient Burying Ground on Gold - there is still tons to do before the leaves start turning. Not sure what is happening when? Visit the “Things To Do” page of our website, or the Hartford.com website.

Your NRZ has two big projects in the works right now:

1. Our newly formed Community Outreach Working Group is hard at work planning a campaign to engage more of our neighbors. If you own a business or run an organization in SoDo, please take this two-minute survey. Your input will be very helpful as the committee develops a welcome/info kit, marketing materials, door-knocking, and social activities for this campaign. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com. All are welcome.
   
   
2. In conjunction with updating our NRZ Strategic Plan, we are also developing a ten-year Neighborhood Plan, with help from the City of Hartford Planning Division and FHI Studios. All neighbors are welcome to their upcoming meetings and workshop; scroll down for dates and locations. This team is also surveying how you live, work, and play in the neighborhood: how often you visit any of the local businesses or spend time with your neighbors, what other businesses you wish we had in SoDo, and what would make our neighborhood better. Your feedback is important! The survey takes only five minutes; if you wish, you can remain anonymous. The survey closes September 30.

Our next SoDo meeting is Wednesday, September 18 at 6:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Hartford, 136 Capitol Avenue (enter through the small white building to the right of the main church.) Or join us via Zoom. See below for the Meeting link and Agenda.

Are you interested in taking a more active role in our neighborhood? We have openings on our Board as well as our Social, Community Outreach, and Neighborhood Planning Committees. Please consider joining your neighbors in improving our community. For more information, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com.

Neighborhood Planning Committee meetings:

• Public Workshop to develop the South Downtown Neighborhood Plan: Tuesday, October 1, at 6 PM at Rinconcito Peruano, corner of Main and Capitol. 
• Committee Meeting: Tuesday, October 15, at 6 PM, at the Dollard Pavilion, located at the Bushnell Park Carousel.
• Committee Meeting: Tuesday, November 12, at 6 PM, at the Dollard Pavilion, located at the Bushnell Park Carousel. All are welcome!

Neighborhood Plan Survey

In conjunction with updating our NRZ Strategic Plan, we are also developing a ten-year Neighborhood Plan, with help from the City of Hartford Planning Division. 

In this survey you can share how you “live” in the neighborhood: how often you visit any of the local businesses or spend time with your neighbors, what other businesses you wish we had in SoDo, and what would make our neighborhood better. Your feedback is important! 

The survey takes only five minutes; if you wish, you can remain anonymous. The survey closes September 30.

Mayor Arulampalam to speak at June 26 Annual Meeting & Elections

Click here to read this month's newsletter.

The Summer Solstice this week kicks off the most wonderful time of the year: live music and free yoga in our parks, festivals, street fairs, athletic events… Hartford is hopping! Not sure what is happening when? Visit the “Things To Do” page of our website, or the Hartford.com website.

Our newly formed Community Outreach Working Group is hard at work planning a campaign to engage more of our neighbors. If you own a business or run an organization in SoDo, please take this two-minute survey. Your input will be very helpful as the committee develops a welcome/info kit, marketing materials, door-knocking, and social activities for this campaign. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com. All are welcome!

Our next meeting is Wednesday, June 26 at 6:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Hartford, 136 Capitol Avenue (enter through the small white building to the right of the main church.) Or join us via Zoom. Our guest speaker will be The Honorable Arunan Arulampalam, Mayor of the City of Hartford. Click here for the Agenda.

UPDATE: A recording of the meeting is available on our Google Drive.

Are you interested in taking a more active role in our neighborhood? We have openings on our Board as well as our Social, Community Outreach, and Neighborhood Planning Committees. Please consider joining your neighbors in improving our community. For more information, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com.

Please Vote for Pulaski Circle Safety Project via 2024 Hartford Decide$

 

View of Pulaski Circle looking north from Hudson Street.

Please vote TODAY to make Pulaski Circle a safer intersection.

If you have ever tried to walk across Hudson Street or Elm Street to get to or from Bushnell Park on foot you very likely have felt like you might be taking your life in your hands.

Pulaski Circle is a dangerous** intersection/rotary that functions poorly (looking at you Whitehead Highway exit ramp). Despite multiple yield signs, stop signs, painted crosswalks, and pedestrian crossing signs in neon green, this area is a hazard to motorists and pedestrians.

For the second year in a row, SoDo neighbor and Board Member Michael Robbins has submitted a Pulaski Circle Safety project to Hartford Decide$, the City of Hartford's Participatory Budgeting initiative. The project has made it to the final round and now needs as many votes as possible to be selected. This project will benefit pedestrians, particularly those walking to and from Bushnell Park, and drivers who have difficulty noticing pedestrians crossing the streets that intersect with Pulaski Circle. 

The project can succeed only if enough Hartford residents vote for it. Please visit Hartford Decide$ to read the full project description and vote for this safety initiative by 11:59 pm Thursday, June 27. Any Hartford resident aged 10 and up can vote.

**In March 2022 the Hartford Courant reported* “Between 2017 and 2021, there were 121 crashes in Pulaski Circle, 18 involving pedestrians with rear-end collisions accounting for more than half of incidents, according to traffic statistics. Nearly 20% resulted in injuries.”

*Gift link, you should be able to read this article without a subscription to the Courant.

Join our 2024-25 Board!

 

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

Elections are Wednesday, June 19, 2024, 6:00 pm during our Annual 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.

Nominees should send a brief paragraph about themselves and why they are interested in joining the SoDo NRZ Board to SoDoNRZ@gmail.com by 5 pm Friday, June 7.

May Meeting, Outreach Campaign, Neighborhood News

 

Lilacs and ivy on Buckingham. Photo by Robin Zaleski

Click here to read this month's newsletter.

Warm spring days bring lilacs to our neighborhood and the beginning of a new season of great outdoor events in our capital city. Not sure what is happening when? Visit our “Things To Do” page, or the Hartford.com website.

Our newly formed Community Outreach Working Group has already met twice to discuss and plan a campaign to engage more of our neighbors. A welcome/info kit, marketing materials, door-knocking, and social activities are all being developed for this campaign. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com. All are welcome! Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 15 at 6:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Hartford, 136 Capitol Avenue (enter through the small white building to the right of the main church.) Or join us via Zoom. Our guest speaker will be Chavon Campbell from the Mayor’s newly-formed Office of Violence Prevention. Click here for the Agenda.

UPDATE: A recording of the meeting is available on our Google Drive.

Are you interested in taking a more active role in our neighborhood? We have openings on our Board as well as our Social, Community Outreach, and Neighborhood Planning Committees. Please consider joining your neighbors in improving our community. For more information, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com.

April Hybrid Meeting + Neighborhood News

Cherry Blossoms on Capitol Avenue. Photo by Rebecca Morris.

Click here for this month's newsletter.

Snow, an earthquake, an eclipse, a UConn Championship… April, you sure have been busy!

While the Mayor was unable to attend last month’s meeting, we still had a great turnout and some lively discussions about plans for Bushnell South and South Green. Thank you to everyone who attended in person and online - we had hoped that adding Zoom to our in-person meetings meant more of you will join us, and so far we were right! We anticipate the momentum will continue, as there are many major projects planned for our community.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 17 at 6:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Hartford, 136 Capitol Avenue (enter through the small white building to the right of the main church.) Or join us via Zoom. Here are the links to the Agenda and to join the Meeting. UPDATE: A recording of the meeting is available on our Google Drive.

Are you interested in taking a more active role in our neighborhood? We have openings on our Board as well as our Social, Community Outreach, and Neighborhood Planning Committees. Please consider joining your neighbors in improving our community. For more information, send an email to sodonrz@gmail.com.