i don't want black and blue square in my town. i'm shite out of luck on that one though 'cause it's there and i can't do a thing about it. west hartford center will now be a breeding ground for suvs and designer outfits (well it HAS been that for a while now but it will be WORSE) and martini drinking 'i want the world to see how cool i am' asses.
i'm in mourning
i want the acorn shop back
i want hilliards (sp) back
i want the lasalle shop back
i want teh central to be back
i want dunns to be back
Rents Rise, Some Worry
Longtime Businesses In West Hartford's Prime Shopping District Have Seen Lots Of Changes
By EZRA R. SILK Courant Staff Writer
WEST HARTFORD - Pfau's, an old-fashioned hardware store with tin ceilings where a homeowner can buy a single set screw and still get solid advice on house repairs, is a retail throwback in the glitzy regional shopping area that is downtown West Hartford.So is the Family Hair Care shop on LaSalle Road. The barbershop, which Tom Reddin opened 49 years ago, doesn't look like it's changed much. It has turn of the century barber chairs, a life-size pirate in the front window and hundreds of Elvis pictures and memorabilia.Reddin, 70, sports Elvis sideburns and slicked-back hair, both a testament to the King..........
.......................Now the center is a gleaming consumer bauble, soon to be enhanced by the $159 million Blue Back Square complex, complete with big-name anchor stores.............
.........Reddin is more blunt about the changes he's seen in West Hartford's retail heart: "The center has been sterilized."He remembers Hillyer's Candy Store, the LaSalle Restaurant deli, the recently shuttered War and Pieces hobby store and other evaporated retail haunts.To Reddin, high prices borne out of high rents have driven out some with smaller pockets, such as teenagers.............
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Couldn't agree more..
now we are on the road to being another Fairfield or Westport.
It's just a matter of time before Pfaus and others fold. Pity that.
Quite frankly the list of shops that BBS will have that was recently listed in the paper was .. well.. underwhelming.. a new pizza place, a jeans place, big deal.. more chain stores. I could shop and park for free many other places for the same or better items.
Meanwhile back at the ranch.. while the BOE is saying they cannot find a dime more to shave off their budget "without hurting the kids" they give Mr. Sklarz a $12,000 raise. Go figure.
I hope the "Tax me more" crowd are happy.
Sounds like the typical "gentrification" problem of neighborhoods across the nation that usually drives the low income earners out of the area.
j it is horrid what is happening to our town. there's not a thing we can do about it either. i remember how up in arms the people who lived around the center were, when restaurants with bars like max's went in. they complained about late night noise as well as people pissing on their lawns. they think THAT was bad. JUST WAIT
connecticut man, you're right. no one but the VERY rich is going to be able to live in west hartford very soon
Post a Comment