IQUILT FEATURED IN DISCUSSION OF DOWNTOWN HARTFORD DEVELOPMENT ON WNPR

Development in Downtown on Where We Live, with John Dankosky
WNPR - January 18, 2013

Driving through downtown Hartford, you’ll see a lot of empty storefronts, plenty of parking garages, and some impressive high rises. And while the city has a hard time getting businesses to fill the office space - now at 26% vacancy -- developers can’t build housing fast enough to meet demand.

In fact, several of those old office buildings are being retrofitted for new housing. So people are voting for downtown housing with their dollars, but is there enough retail to keep feet on the street?

Developers hope more residents downtown will hopefully spur more action in those sad storefronts.  

And with new tenants in Front Street, iQuilt in the works, UCONN moving downtown, things are looking up for the hart beat.

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WORK ON FIRST PHASE OF HARTFORD'S IQUILT PLAN COULD START NEXT SPRING

By Kenneth R. Gosselin
The Hartford Courant
January 9, 2013

Construction is expected to begin next spring on three areas crucial to the iQuilt plan — State House Square, Gold Street and Union Station — a first major step in making the city's center more easily navigated by pedestrians, cyclists and those who ride the bus.

City officials and urban design consultants unveiled the latest plans Wednesday under iQuilt, a vision for making the city more walkable and capitalizing on its arts and cultural assets as well as Bushnell Park and the Connecticut River.

The first phase, expected to cost $23 million, includes sweeping changes in how buses crisscross downtown and the way the central business district handles bus traffic from CTfastrak, the New Britain-Hartford busway now under construction.

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iQuilt Forum Scheduled for September 12, 2012

Wayfinding Signs Installed

Eight wayfinding signs have been installed at the intersection of Trumbull St. and Asylum St. The signs are there to promote walking in Downtown Hartford by letting pedestrians know where and how far away many civic and cultural landmarks are located. The signs are mounted on the backs of the “walk/don’t walk” signals (also known as “pedheads"), which is where pedestrians most need information about the locations of key destinations in oder to chose their walking route.

These signs are still in the testing phases, and we are constantly improving them based on the feedback of the community. If you have any comments about this project, we invite you to send us an email from the Contact page. 

Here is one of the way finding signs installed on the back of a pedhead (click for larger image)If you see one of the wayfinding signs, the plaque below it will give you more information (click for larger image)

This icon indicates one of the locations for the wayfinding signs (click for larger image) 

To  view more photos, please visit our Gallery page.

iQUILT ON NBC CONNECTICUT

 http://nbcconnecticut.com.

This short video says that The iQuilt Plan "may make a big difference without the big price tag."

OP-ED IN THE HARTFORD COURANT

Doug Suisman of Suisman Urban Design, the design firm leading the iQuilt Plan effort, has written an Op Ed piece for this Sunday's Hartford Courant. "Hartford Revival: It’s iQuilt, Not I-Quit" presents the Plan as an opportunity for Hartford to complete the transformation it started 12 years ago with Riverfront Recapture.

"Thriving cities are in a constant process of transformation. If they don't grow and change, they wither. From the opening of Riverfront in 1999, Hartford is 12 years into a 35-year transformation. By the time of its 400th birthday in 2035, I believe it will be one the most culturally vibrant small cities in the country. Why not? With the public behind it, the iQuilt plan can help write the next chapter that we all would love to see."

Read more here

THE HARTFORD NEWS COVERS THE iQUILT

Can iQuilt Turn Hartford Around? Andy Hart asks this question in his latest article on The Hartford News. Take a look at the article here.

THE COURANT'S RICK GREEN ON THE iQUILT

"Bite-size, affordable pieces that add up to a changed city" is at the heart of the iQuilt and Rick Green's latest article on courant.com entitled "Hartford's iQuilt - A Big Idea Where Somebody Needs To Step Up." Take a look.

COURANT EDITORIAL COVERS iQUILT AND BUILDINGS

The Courant editorial board encourages everyone to think about filling empty buildings downtown as a key goal of the iQuilt Plan. Buildings Are Major Piece of Hartford Revival

HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL ON iQUILT

The Hartford Business Journal says that the iQuilt Plan is moving from planning towards implementation:  iQuilt Moves Beyond Planning

THE iQUILT ON ONLINE NEWS.TV

Adam Chiara, a reporter for the CT LocalOnlineNews.TV has put together a great news piece on the iQuilt project titled "The iQuilt Plan To Redesign Downtown Hartford"  which includes some clips from the recent public forum. Take a look at the video here.

You can follow Adam Chiara's work at:

Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamChiara

Twitterwww.twitter.com/AdamChiara 

PUBLIC FORUM SEPTEMBER 27TH AND 28TH AT THE LIBRARY

Please join us at the Public Library to have a look at the iQuilt Plan’s progress as the design concepts are being refined and prepared for completion by the end of the year. Two dates have been made available for your convenience where the design team will be presenting the plan to the community (Tuesday, September 27th from 3:30-5:00pm and Wednesday, September 28th from 5:30-7:30pm). The team would like to invite you to comment on the final design concepts for the various project areas including the Bushnell Park Renovation Plan and the GreenWalk Master Plan.  Please download the invite here. We look forward to seeing you there!

NEA AWARDS 150K TO iQUILT PHASE 3

The National endowment for the Arts awards the iQuilt Plan with $150,000 to support the third phase of the iQuilt project, an arts-based economic development plan designed to capitalize on Hartford's unique heritage and cultural assets. Phase Three includes the design of Bushnell Park North and the inauguration of the Hartford Innovations Festival, an event honoring the wealth of cultural and technological innovations that have origins in Hartford.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the inaugural round of "Our Town" funding, totaling $6.575 million in grants to 51 communities in 34 states that have created public-private partnerships to strengthen the arts while shaping the social, physical, and economic characters of their neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions. NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman made the announcement during an online press conference.

NEA - Our Town Page

iQUILT ON FACE THE STATE

iQuilt on WFSB Dennis House's Face the State (Part 1 of 2)

The video above is currently unavailable. We will get it back up soon!

iQuilt on WFSB Dennis House's Face the State (Part 2 of 2)