Farmer's Market on the Green

The Farmer's Market on the Waterbury Green, an event organized by Main Street Waterbury volunteers, returned today. It's held every Thursday, 11am to 3pm, until mid-October.










A new feature this year - a different chef each week will grill up recipes using ingredients for sale that day at the market. This week was Rich Yost from Bay Leaf Gourmet.




Olive oils. Sadly, the organic bread maker didn't show this week. The fresh fish vendor was sick, so he didn't show either. Next time.








The live green pepper and eggplant. You never know what path volunteering will lead you down....


Joe Geary, representing the City, with Main Street Waterbury's Carl Rosa hiding behind him, and the Market Maestro, Marianne Vandenburg, to his left.


After the speeches, Market-goers got to enjoy the music of Carnegie Clapp.

Shaw's

One of the big news items this weekend was the announcement that Shaw's will be closing. Shaw's is an extremely conveniently-located and always-busy grocery store. The corporation claims that the store is "under performing," whatever that's supposed to mean.

Today while I was at Shaw's, the PA system ran a commercial that started by criticizing the way other supermarkets have been closing their fish departments, then cheerily assured shoppers that Shaw's will never close their fish department. Ha-ha! Very funny.

I haven't heard anything about what will replace Shaw's. Certainly I hope for another grocery store. I kind of hope we can get a Whole Foods store, even though they don't carry some of my staple foods--but they do have so many other good things you can't find anywhere else, and it would be a lot more convenient than driving to West Hartford.

Home Depot en Espanol

The other day the self-checkout machines at Home Depot had a glitch that defaulted their spoken language to Spanish, even if you selected English. The woman monitoring that section immediately came over and overrode the machine for me, apologizing for the inconvenience. I really didn't mind at all. I can cope with a register in Espanol--numbers are numbers.

Just as I was finishing my transaction, a man (white) started using the register next to mine and became furious when the machine started speaking Spanish to him. He absolutely could not cope with it. Nearly 25% of this city are native speakers of Spanish, 40% in the downtown area (where Home Depot is located), and this man freaks out when the register speaks Spanish.

Maybe he's from the suburbs.

My New Neighborhood

One week ago, I moved into my first home (very exciting!). It's one of the historic Scovill Row homes, built during World War I to help ease the housing crisis of 1916. It needs a lot of cosmetic work, but it's a great house.

Several people I know have responded very poorly to the idea that I would move to this neighborhood (in the North End, off Walnut and Oak Streets, just below Long Hill). They've insisted that this is a bad, dangerous neighborhood. So far (thankfully), I have no idea why they think that. Yes, there are several large apartment buildings that have been abandoned for years. Yes, at some point in time a previous occupant of my house added bars to the first floor windows and fortified the back doors.

The people who live in this neighborhood appear to all be elderly or families with young children. In the afternoon and evening, there are dozens of children running around the neighborhood. The only dogs I've seen are small--a beagle and little yap-yap dogs (last I checked, the bad neighborhoods have lots of Rottweilers and pit bulls, and I haven't seen or heard any sign of them here). There are maybe three cats who saunter down the sidewalk like they own it. I saw a possum one night and fireflies another night.

I haven't heard any noise after 11:30pm or before 8:30am. I haven't seen any prostitutes or johns, drug dealers or junkies.

Within 24 hours of moving in, I was welcomed to the neighborhood by a very gracious lady who lives across the street. Everyone else I've encountered has been friendly.

To all of you who think this is a bad neighborhood, think again. It might be a little run down in parts, but it seems like a pretty good neighborhood to me!

Downtown Tag Sale

Saturday, June 16, 9am-1pm

I think they are expecting 65+ vendors, who will set up tables, etc. on Bank Street, South Main Street and Exchange Place. Lots of crafters, some jewelry makers, and, of course, an assortment of old stuff!

First Thursday at Mattatuck Museum

I took a short break from work this evening to enjoy First Thursday at the Mattatuck Museum. Tonight it was held in the courtyard--beautiful weather, beautiful art, beautiful music!

Rotella Magnet School

Belated congratulations to Rotella Interdistrict Magnet School, recent recipient of the Ronald Simpson Deserved Merit Award, the highest honor given to magnet schools in the country.

Waterbury's magnet schools seem to be really great all around, and definitely seem to be better than regular schools. It's great that we have one of the best schools in the country. Maybe someday all of Waterbury's schoolchildren will be able to attend schools of that caliber.

Victory for City Hall

After long months of wrangling, the Board of Aldermen finally voted to move forward with the Option 4 renovation of our Cass Gilbert-designed City Hall building. Hooray! Option 4 calls for the complete restoration of the building--I can't wait to see how beautiful it will look when the project is completed!


I've been a little irritated that DePillo refused to allow Option 5 to pass, since it would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars over the next several years.

Option 5 would have funded the construction of a new fire house, allowing the current one to be renovated for office space. This would have allowed to city to move out of rented office space, and allowed for the consolidation of the Education Department in the Chase Building, which would then allow the city to get grant funding for the renovation/restoration of that structure.

I'm sure DePillo will yammer on about how he saved taxpayer's money by threatening to block Option 5 with a referendum, but as far as I'm concerned, he has cost us money. Eventually, the city will have to find some other way to stop renting office space, so I won't get too riled up about it.

Ultimately, I think all of Waterbury should be proud of what has been accomplished. The Town Hall building in Watertown has been languishing under scaffolding for years. Other towns and cities in the state have also been unable to move forward with the renovation of their main buildings. But here in Waterbury, we're going to get the project done.

Palace Block Fest

Summer Launch '07 -- Sunday, June 3rd, 12-6pm
Music, Food & Brew on East Main Street
www.summerlaunch.com
Six hours of music in the afternoon, Blues Traveler in the evening at the Palace Theater.

Main Street Waterbury Earns National Recognition

Main Street Waterbury Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Connecticut Main Street Center


Press Release
Waterbury & Winsted Named National Main Street Communities

(Hartford, CT - May 8, 2007) Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC) announced that Waterbury and Winsted have been named 2007 National Main Street Communities by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center. Friends of Main Street, Winsted and Main Street Waterbury, both nonprofit organizations, have been recognized for outstanding accomplishments toward the goal of revitalizing their historic downtowns.

National Main Street Program Accreditation is a partnership between Connecticut Main Street Center and the National Trust's Main Street Center to establish standards of performance for local Main Street programs and provides accreditation to those that meet the standards. The National Accreditation designation process evaluates established commercial district revitalization programs according to 10 performance standards. These standards provide benchmarks and guidelines on how Main Street organizations should be functioning and serve as incentives for improvement.

Connecticut Main Street Center

Connecticut Main Street Center, a statewide nonprofit corporation funded by The Connecticut Light and Power Company and the State of Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development, is dedicated to economic and community development within the context of historic preservation. CMSC is committed to bringing Connecticut's commercial districts back to life socially and economically by providing education and training, resources and technical assistance, and advocacy.

Since the Connecticut Main Street program began in 1995, participating communities have generated over $487 million in public and private reinvestment in their downtowns. Over the same time, 340 net new businesses have opened and 1,886 net new jobs have been created. For every $1 spent on a local Main Street program, $65.93 has been reinvested in Connecticut Main Street downtowns, making the Main Street initiative one of the most successful economic development programs in the country.
Website: http://www.ctmainstreet.org

Connecticut Main Street Center
Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker
Associate Director
email: kim@ctmainstreet.org
phone: 860-280-2556


May is National Preservation Month!

Springtime Blooms

Waterbury is beautiful this time of year, with flowers and new greens everywhere. Lots of sunshine, blue skies, low humidity and temps in the 70s. For about two weeks now, I've been intending to walk or ride my bicycle through the city to get photographs of some of the more beautiful sites. Unfortunately, it looks like I won't have that kind of free time for another couple of weeks, by which point the flowers will be mostly gone.

Today, in lieu of a good walk/ride, I snapped a few photos from my car while running errands.


A flowering tree alongside the post office. All the cars spoil the view--the white minivan pulled in just before I took the photo, making the shot much less appealing than it was before.




Tulips on Grand Street. I like them, but I really wish they had chosen a different color combination. Red and yellow remind me of McDonald's. McTulips!





More McTulips (although the white tulips do help diminish the McEffect), and many dandelions, in front of the Victory House at Hamilton Park. The Victory House was positioned on the Green during WWII and was used for Bond Rallies; it served a similar purpose during WWI, when it was the Liberty House. I forget which war the cannon is from. If I had been walking instead of driving, I could have looked to see what the signage says.





The Courtyard Marriott does a nice job with their landscaping. A much better job than their neighbor across the street, Webster Bank, does. Webster has good community spirit, but they really need to get a new landscaper.






A gorgeous flowering tree near the Tower Grill on Freight Street.

It's About Time!

One of my biggest complaints about Waterbury has been the total lack of enforcement of driving regulations. When driving past Fulton Park, for example, I always keep to the speed limit because there are so many kids crossing the road. But whenever I keep to the speed limit in Waterbury, I end up with a driver behind me who becomes completely enraged and usually decides to pass me illegally and then go racing up the road at twice the speed limit. There also seems to be a tendency for Waterbury drivers to completely ignore stop signs and red lights.

The Waterbury police department has finally decided to crack down on speeders. According to today's paper, police have stopped 950 vehicles, issued 550 tickets and 250 verbal warnings. It also suggests that they are going to start going after the excessively loud cars (when I lived over on Willow Street, there was one car that drove by frequently that had speakers so loud they made everything rattle).

The downside to this police effort is that they will stop on Nov. 1st and then conduct a study to see if there were fewer crashes. Ugh. First off, I'd say most crashes in Waterbury are never reported. Second, in the past few years there have been a couple of rare fatal accidents that might never have happened if the drivers hadn't been speeding. Third, it's not just about crashes. There's a very serious quality of life issue involved. There are a lot of times when I don't feel safe walking in Waterbury, because I'm worried about getting run over by reckless drivers. Heck, I've had drivers yell at me for riding my bicycle on the side of the road, but that's the only legal place for me to ride.

I sincerely hope they decide to keep up the effort permanently.

Also, you can call the police superintendent's office at (203) 574-6906 to request traffic enforcement in your neighborhood.

Roz Russell

One of Waterbury's native celebrities is Rosalind Russell (1907-1976), who grew up on Willow Street and later went on to star in great movies including His Girl Friday (with Cary Grant) and Auntie Mame. Her last visit to Waterbury, for the premiere of her film The Girl Rush, ended with the catastrophic flood of 1955.

The Silas Bronson Library will be hosting a celebration of her 100th birthday on Monday, June 4 at 7pm. Mayor Jarjura will make a proclamation about "Rosalind Russell Day"; there will be a book talk & signing by Bernard F. Dick, author of recent publication Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell; and birthday cake.

Campaign Season

Thanks to voters being afraid to let our city officials stay in office more than two years at a time, we've got another election this fall. Odds are most of our elected officials will be re-elected, which makes me wonder why switching to a four-year system was voted down two years ago.

Tremaglio recently announced that he's running again. He says he doesn't expect to win, but that his running will help save Waterbury's Republican party. What ego! The Republicans already have two viable candidates, D'Amelio and Odle. The party has already squabbled publicly, since some of them want to just throw all their support behind D'Amelio, avoiding any divisiveness with Odle supporters. By presenting himself as a third candidate, Tremaglio will just cause more divisiveness. Not to mention that Tremaglio is kind of sleazy, and possibly racist (two years ago, he was quoted several times as saying that "there is an element on the Green that scares people"--I've been told that "element" is a code word used by Waterbury racists when they would rather use the n-word).

I haven't seen anything about whether or not Larry DePillo will be running again. He had a letter to the editor published in today's paper that sounded a bit like campaigning--praising a police officer for removing rocks from the middle of the road. DePillo seemed to think this was going above and beyond the call of duty. I suspect that removing debris from the roadway in order to prevent an accident is probably required of all police officers.

I had the impression that Karen Mulcahy was going to join DePillo's party and become their candidate, but she has announced that she's running again as Democrat. I don't think she'll do as well this time, although maybe she'll be picking up DePillo's votes. Two years ago, her campaign was based on a specific hot topic. For most of the past two years, she's been invisible in local politics. Her recent appearances have not been inspiring--just speeches designed to scare voters, without any specifics. I supported her last time, but I definitely won't support her this time. She seems bitter and ineffectual.

Vance has decided against running for mayor, but will still run for re-election as alderman. Jarjura will, of course, be running again and will almost certainly win again. Last time he won with 7,900 votes. He should be able to do that again this time (although you never know what might happen between now and November!).

It's That Time!

We've had some beautiful weather the past few days. Sunny, in the 70s, and just the right humidity level. Last night stayed warm enough for me to leave the windows open. I love waking up to fresh air.

Today the weather is supposed to go too far--predictions are for 85 degrees overall in the state. Downtown Waterbury might very well get up to 90. I think it's in a sort of basin formed by the surrounding hills, which I guess is what makes it always significantly warmer than the surrounding area.

When this weather pattern started, everyone's mood improved. We went from weeks of cold, dark and rain to warmth and sun. The first few nights sounded like the entire city was celebrating, opening windows, playing music, breaking out the grills and generally having a good time.

After tomorrow, the weather is supposed to go back to normal temps, getting up into only the 60s during the day. But that will still be better than cold, dark and rainy!

Graffiti & Litter

One of my biggest gripes about Waterbury is the litter and decay. There are a lot of properties that are either abandoned or have absentee landlords and messy tenants. The abandoned properties are the worst. They become dumping grounds almost overnight. I used to live next to two empty lots on Willow Street. The grass and weeds were usually so overgrown you couldn't see most of the trash that was everywhere. The owners of the lots hadn't paid taxes on them in years, and no one could buy the lots, because the back taxes owed were tied up in the TaxServe nightmare.

There are also properties that I assume are city owned--like the Welton Street School--which are just as abandoned and blighted as anything else. And there are untold miles of sidewalk that have deteriorated so much that they are unusable.

Last year there was a rash of graffiti that really angered city officials. It wasn't the content of the graffiti that angered them, it was just the existence of the graffiti. I didn't like the way the city handled the problem. Or, more accurately, I didn't like the way the city thought the graffiti was a bigger problem than the litter and decay.



There was a "litter summit" this past weekend. I'm hoping that the city will finally get their act together, get the city cleaned up, and keep it clean.

When visitors to the city see streets filled with litter and fences that are half falling down and rusted, they automatically assume that they are in a dangerous place. A well-maintained property inspires confidence and a feeling of safety. (Fixing up the City Hall building is tied into this--our shabby looking City Hall reflects the shabbiness of the city as a whole.)

Personally, I like some of the graffiti that's appeared lately (and I can't help but notice that most of the graffiti is showing up on properties that already look like hell). I'd like to see a little more creativity though. We've got two or three dedicated graffiti artists, and I know that there's a thing about leaving your tag, but it would be great if they came up with some new designs.



I've only got a couple examples of the graffiti photographed right now. If I ever get a little free time during the day, I'm going to do a drive through the city and snap some photos. One of my favorites is over near Waterville. It reads (in hot pink) "Peso no homo." Hot pink. There's a story there.

Pizza Places

Last week there were a couple of days when I was too busy to make dinner, and I had a craving for a calzone. It's been a while since I last had a calzone, so I forgot what my opinions are about local calzones. There are probably dozens of pizza places in Waterbury (we really don't need any more Italian restaurants!), and I can't claim to have tried them all, but here are my thoughts on the ones I have tried (now that my memory has been refreshed).

Dominick & Pia's (on Spring Street, across from UConn-Waterbury) has the best pizza. Their dough is delicious, their sauce is spectacular, and the pizza box is tied shut with string by a little old Italian lady.

Louie's Pizza (on East Main Street, across from UConn-Waterbury) has good chef salads and good pizza, but while I do like their pizza, it's not particularly memorable.

Zachary's (on East Main Street, across from the WAMS magnet school) has the best Greek salads, but I do not like the dough they use for their pizzas and calzones. It seems too processed, almost waxy or spongy. I do like, however, their cheese mix for the calzones--more mozzarella than ricotta.

The calzones from Rocky's (in Bunker Hill) have really good dough, and they're really large, but they use a little too much ricotta for my tastes.

The absolute best calzones I've ever had were at the Pizza Cafe (on West Main Street, near the intersection of Willow and Meadow Streets).

One of my other favorite craving foods is a meatball grinder. I have yet to find a place in Waterbury that makes a really great meatball grinder (although I haven't searched very hard). There's a place in Florence, Massachusetts that I used to eat at thirteen years ago. Their meatball grinders were perfection. The bread was toasted and they added grilled green peppers and onions. Someday I hope to find an equally good meatball grinder in Waterbury.

Cass Gilbert Events

There are two events this month bringing attention to Waterbury's Cass Gilbert buildings. The first will be held at the Mattatuck Museum on Saturday, April 21st. The second will be held at the Mattatuck Museum on Thursday, April 26.

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Cass Gilbert and Waterbury City Hall: Presentation and Tour
Saturday, April 21
Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center (144 West Main St.)
8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Speakers followed by lunch and tour of the downtown Cass Gilbert buildings.


Speakers:

Barbara S. Christen, Ph.D.
Co-editor, Cass Gilbert Life and Work
Speaking on the architectural significance of the building


Alan J. Plattus, Ph.D.
Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, Yale School of Architecture
Founder, Yale Urban Design Workshop
Speaking on the benefits of preservation.


John Michaels
Chairman & CEO, Michaels Jewelers
Speaking on the cost of preserving City Hall

The event is free. An optional lunch is available for $10 at the museum cafe, and must be ordered in advance. (There will be an order form to send in with payment in the event brochure that will be available around town shortly. Or you can call the museum at 203-753-0381. )

Organized by: Connecticut Community Foundation, Connecticut Historical Commission, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street Waterbury , Mattatuck Museum , Northwest Connecticut Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Industrialists' Design: Grand Street, Waterbury
Mattatuck Museum--History Bites
144 West Main Street
Waterbury, CT 06702.
Phone: 203-753-0381.

History Bites continues at the Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center with Raechel Guest, historian speaking on "Industrialists' Design: Grand Street, Waterbury" on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at noon. View the development of Waterbury's elegant gateway. Grand Street helped to beautify Waterbury, from the visions of industrialists Henry S. Chase and John H. Whittemore to the designs of nationally renowned architects. Reservations requested, but not required. Suggested donation $2

Politicking over City Hall

I made the mistake of watching channel 13. Larry DePillo and Karen Mulcahy are busy scaring up future votes. It's enough to make me sick to my stomach. They are casting aspersions about the current administration (specifically the Democrats) being corrupt and trying to swindle the taxpayers. I think it's great that someone is keeping close tabs on city government, but I think it's disgusting that they are doing it for their own personal reasons while claiming to be protecting the taxpayers. They are allowing political grievances and agendas to guide them, rather than genuine concern for the common good. Worse of all, they are using a tone of voice that causes the listener to react on an emotional level, rather than on a rational level. They are frightening viewers into reactive voting. This is politics at its worst.



Their current bone of contention is the proposal to build a new firehouse on Field Street, which would allow the existing firehouse to be converted for additional office space. DePillo and Mulcahy are insisting that no additional office space is needed, but the city is currently renting buildings around downtown because there isn't enough space. I suspect there are many good reasons for building a new firehouse. Pros and cons should be weighed carefully and thoughtfully. Slinging mud and whining about not being able to speak at a public hearing for more than five minutes when you get to speak weekly on television and you are in regular communication with the Board of Aldermen is just immature and irresponsible. This is why neither DePillo nor Mulcahy have been able to win mayoral elections.

It sounds to me like they are going to fight the new firehouse all the way to another referendum. This will probably end up pushing the project back another year. Costs are anticipated to rise 8% each year. The referendum costs $40,000. The cost of renting space for City Hall at Sovereign Bank is $396,000 per year. Currently, the estimated cost savings of not building the new firehouse is $3,267,561. Waiting another year will cost $3,305,433.

DePillo and Mulcahy, assuming they force a referendum (as suggested by Independent Party chairman Mike Telesca at the public hearing last week), will actually be costing the taxpayers a minimum of $37,872.

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An hour later... Dave Corbett's show is wonderful. He is clearly and carefully showing the ways in which DePillo and Telesca are misleading the public. I hope the people who watch DePillo also watch Corbett.

The Big Read

Tonight was the kick-off event for The Big Read in Waterbury. You can't tell from the photos, but the Silas Bronson Library was packed with people. I arrived a couple minutes before it started, so I had to sit in the aisle. But at least there were still seats left--a couple dozen late-comers were stuck standing in the stacks.

When I got to the library, the mayor and the chief of police (both of whom read excerpts from To Kill a Mockingbird) were standing on the sidewalk giving directions to someplace in Wolcott to a woman in a very large SUV with out-of-state plates. It made me giggle. I wondered if she had any idea who was giving her directions. It's such the quintessential small town image--the mayor stopping to give directions to out-of-towners.

The Big Read calendar of events is online at www.mattatuckmuseum.org/bigread/.

Tabitha again

I just received another phone call for Tabitha Allister (better known as Tabitha Mary Allister). This time it was Wachovia's debt collection people. It seems she opened an account, and then overdrew the account, and then disappeared.

Tonight's Public Hearing

There was a public hearing in the Aldermanic Chamber tonight. Hardly anyone showed up. Maybe 52 people (as pointed out by Nick Augelli). The hearing was an opportunity for the taxpayers of Waterbury to have their say about the plans to renovate City Hall. Does the poor attendance mean that nobody cares? When the project was on the ballot, thousands of people voted on the topic. Fifty-two people showed up tonight. Some heard about it watching cable access. Personally, I believe the poor attendance was in large part the fault of the Republican-American. The big news in today's paper was tonight's public hearing in Naugatuck. No mention of the one here in Waterbury. They recently dropped Waterbury from their name; lately it has seemed more like the Naugatuck Republican-American. At least they remembered to send a reporter to cover the Waterbury hearing.

Most of the taxpayers who spoke tonight have spoken before on the subject. Some have spoken numerous times on the subject. Unfortunately, it sounds like the Independents want to waste more money with another referendum. A referendum costs $40,000 and a minimum of six months time. The longer it takes to get going with the project, the higher the costs are going to be. All aspects of the decision-making process have been open to the public. It seems like everyone agrees that we need to move forward with either Option 4 or Option 5 (view full details at http://www.nvdc.org/worxcms_published/news_page175.shtml).

The city taxpayers have had plenty of opportunities to let the aldermen know what they think. Now it's time for them to make a decision.

The hearing ended with a little bit of confusion. In 2005, the Board of Aldermen voted that public speaking at public hearings would be limited to 5 minutes per speaker. DePillo wanted to be able to speak for as long as he wanted. He wasn't willing to say how much time he wanted, but it sounded like a minimum of 15-30 minutes. He asked for more time when he got up to speak, after an hour of other speakers. Alderman Penerewski did a quick check of the rulebook and found that DePillo could be granted more time if the Board voted unanimously in favor. The vote was 6-4 in favor, so a majority, but not unanimous. Alderman Booker and several members of the public did not know what unanimous meant. I can understand the general public not knowing that word, but an Alderman should be familiar with the term, especially since he was on the Board of Aldermen when that rule was established.

Nice Try

My neighborhood has a lot of stray cats. This winter my downstairs neighbors took in a young brown tabby cat, maybe 8 months old, who had clearly been out on the streets for a while and wasn't doing very well. It's more accurate to say that the cat decided to move in with them. He's very docile and even let them bathe him without too much fuss. He's doing well now, and has a small posse (two slightly younger, black cats who were completely feral when I saw them last year).

This big white tomcat has been out on the streets for a couple of years at least. Last year he refused to have anything to do with me, although the black cloth top of my car is his favorite sleeping spot. I know he sleeps there, because he leaves his white fur all over the black top.

Yesterday afternoon when I took out the trash, he was sitting outside my door in the stairwell. I expected him to run away, but he only went as far as the top step before turning to see if I might feed him. Sucker that I am, I went back inside and grabbed a handful of food for him. I set it down on the floor between us and backed away. He wolfed it down and asked for more. Giant sucker that I am, I went back inside and got another handful of food. I held it out slowly, and he almost ate it out of my hand. I think he would have, but I didn't want to risk getting bitten.

I took out the trash. I came back. He was still outside my door. I went to my desk and worked. I could hear my cat talking to him through the kitchen door for almost twenty minutes. Every now and then I would check, and he was still there, staring at the door, hoping I might let him in and give him more food. I'm not that big of a sucker. I know he made it through this winter on his own, and I'd guess he was on his own last winter too. If he wants to become a housecat, he has to go get himself neutered first.

It occurred to me later that he could be rabid. This is the first time he's ever come near me. In the past he always ran away as soon as he saw a person. Now he's all friendly and domesticated. If he's still alive and well and friendly in a few weeks, I'll consider taking care of him. But he still can't move in.

Shahi Zaika

I finally tried out the tandoori restaurant in East Gate Plaza. It was very good. The restaurant itself isn't fancy, just your basic furnishings, no ambiance (except, of course, for the large plasma tv showing the 2007 Cricket World Cup--you won't find that in any other restaurant around here). They do a buffet on weekends, and take-out any time (open daily 10am-10pm). The menu has a few goat specialties (I still have never eaten goat, but I am noticing it on more and more menus) and cow hoofs, as well as the more commonplace chicken and vegetarian dishes.

I think what I like about Shahi Zaika best is that it is "authentic," rather than the generic Indian restaurant you find in most cities (maybe because it's not strictly Indian-their dishes also include Pakistani and Bangladeshi). Granted, I really wish they had some of the dishes I frequently order, but the chicken tikka and the naan were really really good, and I certainly don't mind discovering some new dishes!

Footprints

I share a three-bay garage with my neighbors. I usually keep my door closed, while they keep their door open, which allows critters into the garage. This afternoon, when I opened the door, this is what I found:



There was just a dusting of snow inside the garage. First I noticed the cat pawprints. Then I realized the other markings were bird footprints. Inside the garage. Side by side, as if the cat and the bird went for a stroll together.

Santopietro

Former Waterbury Mayor Joseph Santopietro spent six years in federal prison in the 1990s for corruption charges. Since then, there have been numerous people in Waterbury who refused to believe he was guilty, saying that he was a "nice boy" who took the fall for a buddy, and that he never did anything wrong. A couple years ago, he expressed interest in possibly running for mayor again, as a way of showing that he was truly sorry for his wrong-doings as mayor. Fortunately that never went anywhere.

Today he pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy while he worked as a consultant for Diversified Waste Disposal in Danbury. The gist of the crime (from WTNH.com) involves trash haulers selecting routes for one another and agreeing not to compete with one another (meaning that if you live in a certain area, you can use only one company, and meaning that if you want to start up your own trash hauling business, you're out of luck).

So much for being just a "nice boy" led astray by the wrong associates.

Laundry Life

I do my laundry at Great American Laundry (I think that's what it's called) on Manor Avenue. When I lived in Naugatuck, the laundromat I went to was much smaller, with rows of machines along two walls, a soda machine, and a radio and an assortment of magazines for entertainment. Great American has a soda machine; a candy machine; small vending machines with candy, gum, toys; at least six televisions; and maybe half a dozen video games. The photo below shows the Mr. Claw machine near the window. I was sitting reading a book (have to bring your own reading materials to this laundromat), and Mr. Claw kept calling out "Come win a prize!" in a clown voice. The claw moved whenever the machine spoke. Another machine, out of view in the photo, would occasionally declare joyously "There's no limit to what you can win!" One of the two would periodically chuckle loudly. Maybe it was more of a chortle.

I felt bad for the machines. They seemed so lonely, so desperate for someone to come play with them. Usually the laundromat at least has a few little kids who will fondle the game handles. Today there weren't any kids at all, so the machines had to sit alone.

Night Noises

Last night, between 12:30 and 1:15 a.m., somebody's car alarm went off maybe a dozen times. It's not a noise I've heard in this neighborhood before. During the fourth or fifth time, I also heard a man's voice holler out "shut up!"

There was a weird sort of camaraderie. Normally there's not a lot of interaction between all the different apartments on the block. We didn't really do much interacting last night, but it did make me laugh to hear the guy yell right when I was getting annoyed enough to consider getting out of bed and complaining. It made me realize that there might be three dozen people in the immediate area all thinking pretty much the same thing.

The car alarm was the really annoying one that cycles through a variety of different types of irritating noises. When I bought my car a few years ago, my insurance company said that car alarms don't really do much to prevent theft. All they seem to do is make the neighbors angry and force the car owner to keep checking on the car.

Suspicions Confirmed

I've spent the whole winter thinking that maybe there were two squirrels coming to the bird feeder. Today I finally saw them at the same time! One is slightly larger, with slightly more tufts of white fur on his ears. He's the one who knocks on the window when he's eaten the last of the sunflower seeds. Of course, I don't know if he is really a he. Could be a she.

East Gate Plaza

The plaza that time forgot... well, not entirely, although it hasn't been refurbished in a couple of decades. If you don't know it's there, you'll probably never find it. The plaza is on Store Avenue, which doesn't get all that much traffic. It's also just off Meriden Road, but drivers on that road will never see it.

Here's the typical view from Meriden Road. No sign (literally and figuratively) of the plaza at all:


If you peer down Store Avenue, you might just barely catch sight of the plaza's sign. See it?


Here's the same image, zoomed and cropped.


And the plaza itself. Kind of sad looking, but it's doing much better than Colonial Plaza, which has fantastic visibility.


Some of the East Gate Plaza businesses have been there for eons: the Barleycorn Irish Cafe and the East Gate Restaurant (good diner breakfast) have maybe always been there. Richie's Comic Cabana moved there a few years ago. I used to shop at Richie's old location before Legends of Superheros opened. Richie's (at the old location) was the stereotypical comic book store--cramped, dark with dark wood panel walls, and operated by an unfriendly, slovenly fat man. I haven't been to the new store, so it could be different. And he's been in business for decades, so he must be doing something right.

The newcomers at the Plaza include Bismillah Grocery (Pakistan, Indian, Bangladesh) and Shahi Zaika Restaurant (curry, nan, kabab, nihari and tandoor specialist). I think Shahi Zaika opened a year ago. Quick googling shows that it used to be called Bukhara Palace. For the past ten years, I've been moaning about the lack of Indian restaurants in Waterbury. How did I miss this? Well, probably because it's in East Gate Plaza. It took me two years to remember that Richie's had moved there. Out of sight, out of mind.

Coming soon to this blog: a review of Shahi Zaika!

City Hall and Pearl Lake Road

These were the two hot topics during the public speaking portion of tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting. Hopefully the plans to renovate City Hall can start moving forward this summer. The longer it takes to get started, the more money it's going to cost.

I don't know all the details of the plans for Pearl Lake Road, but it sounds like the plans are to turn this residential road into a highway. Most of the residents complained that the plans do not include sidewalks. This is one of the big problems (in my opinion) with Waterbury's city planning over the past several decades. There is no consideration given for pedestrians. The city needs to be pedestrian-friendly and pedestrian-safe. Speed limits need to be enforced. Neighboring towns have banded together to enhance their ability to enforce speed limits. Waterbury doesn't do anything to enforce the speed limit, and most drivers become very hostile if the car in front of them is doing "only" 30 in a 25 zone.

Sorry for being repetitive. I know I've ranted about this before!

Mill Rate Goes Down, Taxes Go Up

For years everyone has been moaning about Waterbury's high mill rate, while a few people have pointed out that housing is more affordable here than anywhere nearby. Yesterday's news article makes it sound like the city is ready to make some changes.

The good news is that they want to lower the mill rate to 39.5, which is on level with other places around the state and is far less likely to scare off potential buyers. The bad news is that assessed values will be changed to reflect recent market trends. So, for example, if they do a random sampling of houses sold in the past six months and determine that the houses were sold on average for 40% more than their previous valuation, everyone's property value will be increased by 40% (at least, that's how I understand it). The mill rate is then applied to 70% of the property value.

There are going to be a lot of upset building owners when this goes through. One of Waterbury's selling points has been the affordability of housing. I'm sure there are people in the city government who wish that they could bring in as much per house in taxes as the surrounding towns do, but the reality is that most people in Waterbury can't afford to own a home in those towns. Housing in Waterbury has to stay affordable. It's one of the last affordable places in the state.

Spring is in the air

It's a balmy 52 degrees. The birds are singing, the snow is melting, and the guy across the street has the bass cranked up so loud in his car speakers my apartment windows are rattling.

The signs of Spring aren't the same as they used to be.

Tabitha Mary Allister

If that is your name, or if you know who she is, please let me know. I'd like her to stop using my phone number for her financial scams. I'm also curious to know more about who she is.

I've had the same number for maybe 5 years. It's one of the "real" Waterbury numbers (755), and I certainly don't want to go to the trouble of changing it. Ever since I've had it, I have periodically received phone calls from irate creditors looking for Tabitha. Sometimes they are looking for someone named Tatiana. I assume it's the same woman. Today was the first time I had the presence of mind to write down the name. I've tried finding out more about her from her creditors, but the most I've ever gotten out of them is the fact that she gave one of them a P.O. box in Oxford for her address.

I tried looking up Tabitha Allister on a variety of search engines, but without luck. Nothing in the phone book, either. Maybe someday she'll get arrested, and I'll learn the full details about her then.

Yeah, right!

The Republican-American ran an article today criticizing bloggers for spreading unreliable information. The author, Dan K. Thomasson, doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. He describes his target as bloggers, but then cites online magazines with political agendas as his target. Online magazines are not blogs. Blogs are like this, independent ramblings of individuals who don't claim to be any more authoritative than the next person (well, okay, some blogs are written by individuals who claim to be the only person who knows anything at all, but it's pretty clear that those bloggers are still just rambling with their opinions).

(One of the "bloggers" he refers to is Amanda Marcotte. A quick Google search led me to what Thomasson considers to be her blog. It's not a blog. It's an online magazine published in a format mimicking a blog.)

An article published by an online magazine is no different than an article published by a print magazine, except that the online magazine probably has a much, much smaller operating budget.

Thomasson preaches the merits of what he considers to be "legitimate" newspapers, implying that traditional news media publish only genuinely true facts. He should recheck his own article, since it inaccurately conflates bloggers and online magazines.

Even more, "legitimate" newspapers aren't as trustworthy as he claims. They print misinformation on a regular basis. Sometimes it's because they haven't had time to check the facts as thoroughly as they should. Sometimes it's because they've been fed deliberately false information. Sometimes it's because the editor has a political agenda. Thomasson's editorial is the cry of the traditionalist who can't adapt to the changing world.

It seems like the older you are, the more difficult change becomes. I wonder why. Is it exhaustion? Is there a limit to how many new things we can learn in a lifetime? Are some people just fuddy-duddies?

Another Explosion Downtown

At about 4:08 this afternoon, I was lecturing about the French Rococo. I had just finished talking about Fragonard's The Swing, commenting on the frivolity of the lifestyle depicted, and I was just about to change to the next slide when the power went out.

After a moment, the emergency lights switched on, but there were no alarms or anything else to indicate the cause of the problem. I realized that we don't have an emergency procedure plan. Was I supposed to evacuate my students? If so, where were we supposed to go-to the street, the courtyard, the garage?

I told my students to sit tight while I went to investigate. In the hallway were two other faculty members and one of the custodians. None knew what was going on. We looked out the window and saw a large group of students looking down the street. I walked down the hallway to look out that window. There were several men wearing bright yellow safety vests, the grates to the utilities below the sidewalk were open, and there was a faint wisp of black smoke in the air just above.

I went back to my classroom and told my students what I had seen, and that I suspected the power grid blew up again. The last time it blew up (at least, I think it was the last time... maybe there have been more explosions since), a car was destroyed and manhole covers flew 30 feet in the air. At that point in time, CL&P was doing their best to get out of fixing the power grid. They recently announced that the grid needed to be replaced and that they would do so soon.

I don't know if it was the power grid blowing up again. There was an explosion, as I learned later from people who were at that end of the building, but it looked to me like there was work being done on the utilities at the time. Unfortunately, one person was seriously injured, possibly killed. (Update: news reports confirmed what I heard from students, that one of the CL&P contract workers was killed. His name was Elias Anchundia, he lived on Long Island, and some reports said that he had a wife and children. Of course, what I heard from students at the time was along the lines of "I saw the dead guy.")

About fifteen minutes after the explosion, the school put the intercom system to work telling everyone to evacuate the building through the parking garage. As the line of cars snaked its way out to the street (using the wrong side of the drive, because the exit gate was stuck in the down position), a faculty member tried driving into campus and was told to turn around by one of the campus police (who then got into the middle of the road to direct the nightmare traffic jam.

This photo of the explosion site was taken at 4:23, just as the school began evacuating.


UPDATE 2/23: It's funny how there are always conflicting reports. Today's paper says that the body of the man who was killed stayed at East Main Street for eight hours (which seems very improbable to me; there was at least one ambulance present by 4:23--wouldn't they have taken him to the hospital morgue right away?), but earlier reports said he was rushed to St. Mary's, where he was pronounced dead. Also today, it has been reported that the transformer blew up because it was faulty, not because of anything the workers did to it. CL&P still maintains that it is unrelated to the other explosions because it is not on the same grid. In my opinion, it is absolutely related. Transformers aren't supposed to randomly explode, and Waterbury has suffered an unusual number of serious explosions over the past year or so. The last time it happened, I was really upset by CL&P's seemingly uncaring attitude. An explosion that could destroy a car and send manhole covers 30 feet in the air is serious. It's very fortunate no one was killed in that explosion. This time someone was killed. How do we know there won't be more injuries and fatalities in the future?

Meanwhile, Blumenthal is pursuing legal action against CL&P. Waterbury's not the only city having this problem. I imagine the family of the man who was killed will be looking at legal action as well.

Car Wash

Today was warm enough (upper 40s) to wash the salt off my car. Of course, "warm enough" is relative. A few weeks ago, when it was maybe 20 degrees outside, I saw the neighbor across the street washing off his car with a bucket of water and a washrag. I had to double-check the temperature.

There were a handful of other people at the car wash, all guys in their 20s and 30s, washing their vehicles too. And there were two older men standing outside the garage watching the young fools washing cars in winter.

I can't take my car through an automated wash because it has a soft top. I had to walk carefully as I walked around my car with the sprayer. The ground had a half-foot deep coating of ice, all lumpy and irregular. The snow on the roof overhead was melting quickly in the warmth of the day, and the water poured down like rain through open slots in the roof, so I got a little wet (not too wet, I was able to avoid most of the water).

Now my car is red again, with just a little bit of new salt. Much better than before, when it was a salty white car with hints of red underneath.

City Styles

I was in NYC Saturday. Took the subway some of the time, walked the rest. By the end of the day, I was sore. I'm not used to that much walking. The average New Yorker is in much better shape than I am.

In Waterbury, everybody drives to where ever they want to go. I do it myself more often than I would like. It takes me 20 minutes to walk to work, 12 minutes if I drive. I'm a four minute walk from the bus stop, and that bus can drop me off right where I work. But I've never taken the bus.

If I lived in NYC, I would never even consider driving to work. It's funny how different cities have entirely different standards. Of course, part of the reason I don't take the bus is that they stop running just after 6pm. It's entirely useless. If I used the Waterbury bus system, I would have to plan on going home by 6pm.

Today I was all set to walk to work. I was motivated after all that good walking I did in NYC. However, since it is currently 10 degrees outside with a remarkably strong wind, I'm definitely going to drive.

Three Feet of Snow

That's what we had on Sunday, Feb. 12 last year. So far this winter, we've had a grand total of maybe 4 inches over the course of three or four snowfalls. Quelle difference!

Just a Random Thought

Haven't had much time for blogging or email or phone calls or any in-person social interaction lately. I've started daydreaming about what I would do if I had a whole day off. I would sleep late and clean my apartment.

Meanwhile... I went to the Board of Alderman meeting this week. As mentioned in the paper, there was a 30 or 40 minute back-and-forth between Mayor Jarjura and Alderman Booker that felt an awful lot like a huge waste of time. The highlight (for me) came when Alderman Vance defended Jarjura's right to say whatever he wanted during his 5 minutes of public speaking. Vance said that if a citizen wanted to spend 5 minutes singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy," that was his right. Vance quickly looked over to Jarjura and asked him not to sing "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Everyone had a good, quick laugh. I spent the next ten minutes trying to keep myself from giggling. The image of Jarjura breaking into the song while doing a little jig kept popping into my head. It was very much a John Dorian ("Scrubs") moment. I guess this is what happens to me after sitting on a wood bench in a cold room for two hours after a long workday and with an empty stomach.

City Hall Options

The Waterbury Development Corporation presented six options for the Waterbury City Hall building to the Board of Aldermen on Thursday night. The details of the options are available on their website at http://wdconline.org/worxcms_published/news_page175.shtml. Personally, I hope the aldermen choose option 5 or 6 (six is not specified in the link, but it is the original plan that was voted down at referendum; it will cost $1million more than option 5).

Yes, full renovation of the building and construction of a new firehouse will cost money, but in the long run it looks like the most economically sensible plan.

Jarjura Problems

With the assorted mayoral campaigns starting up, questions about Mayor Jarjura's ethics are being loudly voiced. Two articles appeared in today's newspaper. The first is a continuation of a story printed earlier in the week about his chief-of-staff, Sheila O'Malley. O'Malley apparently lives in Watertown, but her job requires her to be a Waterbury resident. She supposedly rents a Waterbury condo from the mayor, who disavowes any knowledge of her residency there (the previous article wrote that he saw the lease, nothing about rent payments or actual residency). While conspiracy to falsify residency is low on the list of unethical behavior, it still gives me the creeps. If you're willing to flout the law in one area, why not another?

O'Malley has announced her resignation from her position, and Jarjura has announced that he wants to give her the new project manager job. Creation of the project manager job was recommended by the oversight board, and it is supposed to be a civil service job. Applications for the job have already been submitted. Certainly I can understand if Jarjura has personally reviewed all of those applications and feels that O'Malley is the best candidate for the position, but it sounds like he just wants to make sure his friend still has a job. And, presumably, the mayor is not solely responsible for hiring a new project manager.

Meanwhile, members of opposing parties are accusing Jarjura of the real estate world's equivalent of insider trading. Jarjura claims he is doing something good for the city, investing in the city, by purchasing land near Costco to build more big box stores. The accusation is that he bought the land because he knew, before anyone else did, that land across the street was also going to be developed. Personally, my only gripe about this story is Jarjura's belief that big box stores near Cheshire will benefit Waterbury. They'll take away some of our last remaining woodlands and increase traffic that's already bad enough. If he really wants to be a city benefactor, why doesn't he help improve what we already have?

Mystery Birds

I thought this was a nuthatch, but some quick research showed that it's a Tufted Titmouse. It's fairly shy, which is why I don't have a good shot of it.



I'm not sure what this other bird is. Five of them showed up together today. They keep fighting with the sparrows. From some angles, they look a little like the sparrows, but they are definitely something different.

DItka in Waterbury

I'm not a sports fan (except for soccer), but I do have a vague idea about who Mike Ditka is. The latest buzz in town (as reported in last Tuesday's paper) is that Ditka has been seen several times eating dinner at Waterbury's City Hall Cafe. He's also been seen eating at Dioro's. This is a great thing for downtown dining. More people will come downtown if there's a chance they might get to see a celebrity. The more people we have downtown, the more likely it is that downtown will flourish. Anybody know any other celebrities who'd be willing to put in a few guest appearances downtown?

City Hall flooded again

According to today's paper, someone managed to walk into the basement of the city hall building and removed a six-foot long copper pipe, causing the basement to flood. This is the height of absurdity. Maybe there should be a little more security in the building. Heck, even the newspaper has better security than City Hall. Even just a reception desk in the front lobby would be a big help with building security, and it would be a big help for people trying to find the office they're looking for.

HoJo's Goes

Today's Republican-American reported that the Howard Johnson's restaurant in Waterbury is being forced to close and dismantle after 49 years. Apparently the brand owners will be launching new product lines in the next couple of years, and they don't like the way this franchise's owners run their business. The paper also reported that there are only three other HoJo's in the country.

This is a landmark not just for Waterbury, but for the rest of the nation as well. The buildings had a distinctive retro-futuristic style that made them visually compelling. There are probably thousands of people who have happy memories of going to HoJo's as a teenager for a burger and shake.

Presumably the franchise owners can still operate a restaurant in that building, so long as they make some major changes (new menus, new distributors). They are supposed to remove all trademark images--does that mean the turquoise spire has to come down?

City Parks

An article in today's Republican-American stated that the city will be creating a master plan for the parks. They'll be looking for feedback from city residents:

Four-page questionnaires on what residents want from city parks will be available at the park offices at 2 Kendrick Ave., Mayor Michael J. Jarjura’s office in the Chase Municipal Building on Grand Street and at the city’s Web site, www.waterburyct.org. The first public information session on the fu ture of Waterbury’s parks is scheduled for Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Chase Park House, 150 Sunnyside Ave. The second is scheduled for Jan. 31 at the Washington Park House, 283 Sylvan Ave. The final session is slated for Feb. 7 at the North End Recreation Center, 262 N. Main St.

The questionnaires don't seem to be available online yet.
[Update (1/18): The PDF survey form can be downloaded at www.waterburyct.org/filestorage/609/616/632/Waterbury-Park-User-Survey.pdf.]

Things I might request: more parks and parklets; landscaping along the Naugatuck River, maybe even putting in a greenway like the one along the old Farmington Canal in Cheshire; making information about park activities available online (for example, pool hours).

More Birds

This pair of birds came to the feeder at the very end of the day, just before dark, so the photos are blurred. I've seen them only once (on November 25). Both are cardinals, one female, one male.

Winter?

The latest weather forecast is calling for the possibility of freezing rain, sleet and/or snow on Sunday night into Monday morning. This will be the first of the season, if it happens. As you can see from the photo, winter supplies like ice melt and shovels are gathering dust on the supermarket shelves. This time last winter, it was almost impossible to find a store that still had the animal-safe ice melt (the one in the red and white bag--you can use it to make ice cream!) available.

Hometown Helper

Hamburger Helper donates $15,000 every month to fund projects in towns across the country. Awards are "based on the merit of the project, including its impact and support within your community." In order to assess the community support, each project applying for a grant is posted on their website (www.myhometownhelper.com) with a comment form that community members can fill out.

Waterbury currently has four project requesting funding: restoration of the M.A. Green clock on Bank Street; repairs of the Wilby HIgh School auditorium; supplies for Wilby's Drama Club school play; and equipment for Tinker School's ballet program.

To find the Waterbury projects on the website, go to "Find a Project," then select Connecticut from the drop-down menu and write in Waterbury (then click the search button).

Once you are on the comment page, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the terms and agreement window. You won't be able to post a comment without clicking the "I Agree" box at the bottom of that scrolling window.

The more supporting comments received, the greater the chance of receiving funds.

Interesting...

[update: as noted in the comments on this post, my letter was indeed published in today's paper. I'll try to stop being cranky now.]

On Sunday, I emailed a letter to the editor of the Waterbury Republican-American telling them that Narducci's plan for city hall is ill-conceived and half-baked (to use his own words). Today they ran a letter from someone who supports his plan. I don't care if they run my letter or not, but I do care that they present opposing opinions. I'll give it the rest of the week, but if they don't let their readers see that there is opposition to Narducci's plan, I'm going to get even more riled up than I already am. The Republican-American is always happy to expose corruption in city government, but what's going on in their own offices? What is Narducci's relationship to the newspaper? Why are they trying to push through his plan?

Stupidest Idea Yet

Today's Republican-American ran an article about the city hall building, written by D.A. Narducci III, an architect from Southbury. He proposes a partial demolition of the building, keeping the front courtyard, the front facade and the clock tower, and replacing everything else with a big box office building. His plan would reinstall certain interior elements, but replace most of the building with generic modern construction.

Is he a total idiot, or was this supposed to be sarcasm? You can't save just parts of the building and then reconstruct the rest. That's probably more expensive than a straight-forward restoration, and it is in direct conflict with restoration. If a building is worth restoring, you restore the entire building, maintaining its integrity. What he's proposing is, in fact, a total demolition with decorative bits and pieces of the original building tacked onto the new building.

Narducci's plan would require the city to hire an architect to review the costs and feasibility of the plan. Narducci is an architect. Is his article an effort to get the city to hire him?

I can't believe the newspaper ran this article, and I can't believe they ran it as a major piece in the Sunday Commentary. It's probably going to add a full month of debate to the issue, because at least one alderman is going to read it and think it's a good idea.

Triple-Decker Life

Triple-Deckers Near Waterbury Hospital (not ones I live in).

One of Waterbury's characteristic housing types is the triple-decker, a three-story building with one apartment per floor. Triple-deckers were built in Waterbury primarily between 1890 and 1930. Building owners usually lived on the first floor, and the upper two floors were rented out, often to extended family members. In good condition, they are beautiful buildings with pleasant yards. First floor apartments sometimes have graceful columns on either side of the large entryway between the front door and the living room and again between the living and dining rooms. Sometimes the upper apartments will have columns between living and dining room, or they will have sliding pocket doors between the two rooms (they were built back when the living room was the front parlor). The Mattatuck Museum has some nice displays about triple-deckers in their history exhibit.


Triple-Decker Porch Detail

I've been living in the middle apartment of a 1920 triple-decker for about six months now. I haven't got columns or pocket doors, but I do like the six-foot-wide opening between the living and dining rooms, because it creates a sense of open space. There are ample windows letting in the sun, and most of the windows look out over trees, which is really pretty in the summer and fall. Now that it's winter, I can see through the trees and have just a slight view of the cross on Abrigador Hill.


My kitchen, before I moved in.

It's a two-bedroom apartment, which is standard for the triple-deckers, and I have just over 900 square feet of living space. I would like it better if the bathroom still had the original deep clawfoot tub, but overall it really is a great apartment.


Looking towards the living room from the dining room (before I moved in).

One thing I've learned, however, is that triple-deckers require a certain closeness of neighbors. The building I'm in has had some soundproofing added--the ceilings have been lowered and most rooms have wall-to-wall carpeting--so certain problems are not quite as bad as they otherwise would be. The current third floor tenants are extremely loud people. I don't really hear their voices, but their two small children make my windows rattle every time they crash down onto the floor. And they all make a huge amount of noise in the stairwell. This seems to be an unusual situation, since I never heard a sound from the previous tenants.

On the other hand, I get along well with my downstairs tenants. I can see how triple-deckers would be great for extended families (or good friends). You have your own private home, but you are still close to the people you care about.


Dining room windows, before I moved in.

Today, most of Waterbury's triple-deckers are owned by absentee landlords (my own included). Many landlords, like my own, do a good job of maintaining their properties. I know there are some city officials (and others in similar positions of influence) who see triple-deckers as a blight on the city, because a few triple-deckers are owned by slum lords who let them deteriorate while packing them with as many tenants as possible. Single-family homes are seen as being more "desirable" for the city by some people, but owning a three-family home is much more affordable for most people. Owner-occupied homes are going to be well-maintained (in most situations; there's always an exception!); it could be good for Waterbury if more of the triple-deckers were owner-occupied (and good for residents to consider buying a multi-family instead of a single-family home). But these are, of course, just thoughts.


My dining room windows this fall; not what you might expect for a city view!

City Hall Frustrations

I've watched a portion of tonight's broadcast on the presentations about the city hall bonding issues. From what I can tell, most of our aldermen have no idea what they're talking about. They keep saying that modifying the first floor of the building to meet fire codes is not a "band-aid" or a temporary fix, that it's a permanent fix. Well, sure, new fire exits are permanent, but it doesn't solve the problems with the city hall building. There are still a lot of other repairs that need to be done, both structural and cosmetic. They go on and on about the estimated $48 million total cost, but they neglect to mention that a portion of that cost is for building a new firehouse. They also seem determined to ignore the fact that the costs are estimates, that the job specs haven't been finalized and that it hasn't been put out to bid.

It all seems very simple to me. Write up a list of the repairs that are needed. Put it out to bid. Let everyone know what the costs will be. Find the money to pay for it. Hire the appropriate contractors and make the repairs.

A comprehensive plan of improvement for all city facilities would be even better. Do a thorough inventory of all municipal buildings and their immediate and future needs. Let's start planning ahead instead of waiting until it's almost too late.

Why Not Downtown?

For many months now, there has been wrangling between Town Plot residents and a developer who initially wanted to build a high-rise apartment building off Highland Avenue. The development plan has now been changed to 330 condos. That's a lot of condos for a neighborhood that's already heavily congested.

I would love to see someone build high-quality condos (or apartments) in downtown Waterbury, using existing buildings on Grand and Bank Streets. The parking garage is close enough to those streets for resident parking, and the condos could be really nice, combining historical architectural elements (like brickwork and wood moldings) with modern conveniences. It's been done in other cities, so why not in ours? The location is incredibly convenient, with the highway ramps just down the street, and there certainly are plenty of empty floors in the downtown buildings.

Special Services District

Last week there was an article in the Republican-American about the efforts of Main Street Waterbury to create a special services district in downtown. According to the article, downtown business/building owners like Phil Nargi are resisting the district, because their taxes will increase by a few dollars. Nargi was quoted as saying that he already spends money to shovel his sidewalks, and he doesn't want to pay to shovel his neighbor's sidewalk (sorry for not quoting directly; the paper's website is down right now). I think Nargi is missing several points. First, there's a good chance he would end up paying less to the services district than he currently is spending. Second, the district would do more than just shovel his walkway; they would bring a wide variety of services that will increase the number of people downtown, which would then increase Nargi's business. Third, if his sidewalk is shoveled, but none of the rest of the walk is shoveled, his business will be negatively impacted. Neighboring businesses have to work together as a team if they want to do well.

Below is an article published in today's Hartford Courant about the Downtown Manchester Special Services District. It's more than just shoveling sidewalks!

Goal Of Group: A Vibrant Main Street
Strategic Plan Offers Recommendations To Improve Downtown
January 2, 2007
By REGINE LABOSSIERE, Courant Staff Writer

MANCHESTER -- Bringing in street musicians, keeping restaurants and other businesses open at night and encouraging young professionals to move to Main Street are ways to make the area more vibrant.

Those are some of the ideas the Downtown Manchester Special Services District is counting on to help re-energize the town's center over the next several years.

The special services district commission worked to assemble a strategic plan during the past year and a half that it hopes will lead to downtown's improvement.

The study was spurred by a similar plan the town conducted 15 years ago and commission members felt it was time to conduct another one, said Tana Parseliti, downtown manager of the district.

"They really wanted to revisit downtown's place in the marketplace and how can we move forward given new conditions," Parseliti said. "It was time for us to do it again because an interval of time had passed. Since '91, there has been an explosion of Internet shopping, changes in ways of doing business, more big box stores."

And so the commission embarked on a new study, creating a vision committee that studied how the downtowns in Middletown, West Hartford and South Norwalk were reinvented by more businesses and people moving in.

The new strategic plan has various recommendations, such as property owners, businesses and the town helping to enhance downtown's appearance by removing pigeon droppings, gum and graffiti, and having the police help to continue increasing public safety. The plan also calls for developing the upper floors of downtown buildings, such as renovating apartment or office space and building on the underused parking lots, creating more real estate.

"We would certainly love to have more businesses in the downtown. ... Many times people speak about the benefit of having more street-front pedestrian-oriented businesses, anything that draws more street traffic to Main Street," Parseliti said.

Mark Pellegrini, director of economic development and neighborhood services, is an ex-officio member of the downtown commission. He said certain items of the plan, such as making the area more pedestrian friendly, have started. The street has been resurfaced and repaved and next year there will be textured crosswalks so motorists will be more aware of where pedestrians are.

"The more difficult activities will be trying to get the upper floors developed and maybe trying to get some new development in the downtown over the next few years," Pellegrini said.

He said it would be difficult to get property owners and investors to make investments. The town might be able to help with financing to come downtown.

"Certainly, there's possibilities. I think everyone would like to try to speed that up if we can, try to reach out more to the property owners who want to do something but can't quite put all the pieces together," Pellegrini said. "I think [the commission has] a very practical and achievable plan and the town will continue to work with them."

Contact Regine Labossiere at rlabossiere@courant.com.

Weather (exciting, no?)

Okay, this is a mundane posting, but I feel compelled to comment on the insanely warm weather we've been having this winter. It's January, and the forecast for the upcoming weekend says it will be 60 degrees on Saturday. That's crazy. As far as I know (I was away for a week at Christmas, so I might have missed something), Waterbury hasn't yet had any snow and the temperature has not gone below the 20s. I'm starting to wonder if it will snow at all this winter.

For the New Year

It seems like there's a lot of emphasis on the end of the year--looking back on things that happened, gathering together to party as the year ends in order to "ring in" the new year with plenty of drunken noise--but I've started developing a slightly different approach. Okay, yes, if my favorite bar (Boru's on West Main Street) were going to be open tonight, I'd go hang out there. But what I do on New Year's Eve isn't as important to me as what I do on New Year's Day. A couple of years ago, I started going to the beach (Hammonnasett - and boy is the beach different in winter!) on the first day of the year, and I use the day to think about my goals and plans for the new year. I don't think of myself as having "resolutions," since that sounds too cliched. Not to mention that I associate resolutions with self-improvement task lists that get abandonned after a few weeks.

In keeping with my tradition of New Year goals, I've put together a list of things I'd love to see happen in Waterbury (in no particular order). Feel free to add to the list!

1. More trees! There are many stretches of roadway that feel like barren wastelands, but would be pleasant and inviting with rows of tall trees (not those dinky little miniature trees they planted on West Main Street). East Main, Union and Silver Streets by the Brass Mill Mall are top candidates.

2. Improved sidewalks, more sidewalks, and more crossing lights. Waterbury is a dangerous city for pedestrians, not because of muggers, but because of speeding cars. At least half the sidewalks in the city are almost impassable to walkers and completely impassable to wheelchairs and strollers. There are a lot of busy streets where drivers go 40+ mph, but there are no crossing lights for pedestrians and nothing separating the nearly unusable sidewalks from the roadway.

3. Make the parking lot between Grand Street, Leavenworth Street and Center Street more inviting. This would involve cleaning up the backs on some of the Grand Street buildings, adding fresh paint, repaving the lot and planting a few trees and flowers.

3.5 (forgot to add this one) Bicycle racks downtown. This one might happen later this year.

4. Convert the building in front of the parking lot on Leavenworth Street into a visitors' center (with public restrooms!).

5. Spend the money to fix up City Hall. The money will have to be spent no matter what option the city takes, so let's spend it on our nationally-recognized treasure.

6. Start running the city like an efficient business. Create a maintenance program to prevent city buildings and other facilities from degrading. Fix the heating problems in the Chase building (from what I've seen, the radiators in some offices can't be regulated, so the only way to keep the room cool enough to use in the winter is to open the windows). Eliminate the chaos that seems to have been running rampant for decades; I bet there are efficiency experts who could help make big improvements on the way the city is run.

7. Make it easy to find information about the parks. What are the hours for the different swimming pools? What are the hours for ice skating? It's very easy to post that information online.

8. Make sure all sidewalks are shoveled when it snows.

9. Put in diagonal parking on Grand Street. The right hand lane is undrivable most of the time, because people are double-parked (especially in front of the dry cleaners). Diagonal parking would increase the number of parking spaces and make for a more inviting downtown.

10. We need more businesses downtown. I would love to see all the assorted antique shops around the city get together to create a single antique mall on Bank, South Main or Grand Street. I've heard from a successful Waterbury business owner who would like to move to Bank or Grand, but can't afford the rent and is also concerned about the lack of parking for his customers.

Parking downtown is already tight, filling up all the storefronts will make it impossible. Yes, there is the scary parking garage on the corner of Grand and Bank Streets, but even if it were fixed up to be more inviting, most shoppers still won't use it. This is true at the Brass Mill Mall as well. The parking garage is always at least half empty, while the parking lot is full of shoppers fighting over spaces. I always park on the top level of the garage (unless it's raining, and then I park in the sheltered area, where there are still hundreds of empty spaces), I never have trouble finding a spot, it's a short walk to get inside, and there's never any traffic to cross.

Okay, that last one digressed into a grumble about the psychology of parking garages.... I guess now's a good stopping point. Time to go work on my personal goals for the upcoming year.

Happy New Year!